Chapter 174: Waiting
Since arriving in Backlund, these nearly three months have felt exceptionally long for Alice.
Compared to the beginning, although she still lacks experience, she has learned to think before acting, and if that fails, to seek help from others.
Of course, "others" does not specifically refer to Klein, definitely not.
Initially, she felt deeply out of place and wary of this era, but by now, Alice has come to accept it peacefully.
At the very least, she is living here, and that is enough.
She no longer rejects the different lives in her memories as much. Perhaps those past lives were not the same person as her, but they are inseparable from her now.
Collecting her thoughts, Alice looked at herself in the mirror and sighed.
Although her temperament had changed drastically, and her physique had undergone some changes, Alice's face still bore traces of her past features.
...If I join the Church of the Night like this, will the Goddess abandon me in anger?
This dangerous thought flashed through her mind, but Alice ultimately did not dare to attempt it.
After all, the Church of the Night knows Briel Rose, but they shouldn't know that she is the resurrected Alice Kingsley...
At least not for now.
Alice sighed, packed the disguise items prepared according to Klein's instructions, put on a mask and Amon's monocle, and prepared to set off.
...
"Sherlock Moriarty somehow learned that Edessak Augustus's beloved commoner girl might be a witch and reported this to the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery before heading to the Red Rose Manor. This is logical."
...
"The Church of the God of Steam and Machinery wouldn't arrest the third prince based on an uncertain report. They accepted the report but planned to investigate first. This is logical."
...
"An accident occurred! Tris Chick found another opportunity, escaped surveillance, and met Sherlock Moriarty outside the Red Rose Manor.
"Upon learning that Sherlock Moriarty had informed the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, she pretended to flee to attract the attention of the 'Mechanical Heart' squad."
...
"Another accident occurred. During her escape, Tris Chick encountered a wild Extraordinary. For some reason, this wild Extraordinary diverted the 'Mechanical Heart' squad's attention, allowing Tris Chick to escape smoothly. This is logical."
...
"The wild Extraordinary that Tris Chick encountered was a girl named Briel Rose. She keenly sensed Tris Chick's difference and..."
In the quiet room, the quill pen writing by itself suddenly trembled violently, causing ink to drip and obscure the following lines.
After a while, the quill pen calmed down and resumed writing:
"Briel Rose successfully left the 'Mechanical Heart' squad and decided to head to the East District alone to seek her promotion opportunity."
...
Alice arrived in the East District alone.
At this critical juncture, she decided to come to the East District. Klein had tried to stop her and even persuaded her to find someone to accompany her.
But Alice refused.
She had to go alone; she had known this since she felt the revelation.
Approaching the edge of the East District, Alice looked up at the increasingly dense fog and stepped into the legendary East District.
After disguising herself in the only cheap hotel in the East District, Alice stood on the streets of the East District again.
Alice blinked, following her intuition to find her target.
Where could it be?
Alice's gaze swept blankly over the passersby. With the New Year approaching, even the people of the East District had more vitality on their faces.
They were looking forward to the New Year...
Thinking that these joyful and expectant people might soon die, Alice suddenly felt a twinge of sadness.
"Ding-dong—"
Alice suddenly heard a sound and instinctively looked down. It was a smooth, rounded stone, still a stone but much prettier than usual.
Alice squatted down to pick up the stone and looked up to see a little boy standing not far away, looking at her timidly.
...Timid?
Alice was slightly stunned, then gently lowered her head, realizing a problem she hadn't considered.
She had a quality that girls of her age in the East District would never have—that was the ease of someone who didn't worry about life.
Alice was silent for a moment, deciding to pretend she didn't know this.
...She really couldn't act this out!
"Is this yours?" Alice squatted down, raising a cautious smile, and extended her hand to the gray child.
"Thank you, sister." She saw the child seem to breathe a sigh of relief, quickly grabbed the stone from her hand, thanked her, and ran off.
Alice watched his back, quiet for two seconds, then stood up and whispered to herself, "What are you looking at? Do you really plan to stop the plague?"
The answer to this question had always been firm. Alice pursed her lips and continued to move forward aimlessly, guided by her feelings.
...Where is fate leading her?
Just as Alice was about to lose patience, she suddenly stopped, then quickened her pace to the alley ahead, stopping blankly.
...What is different about this alley compared to the others?
Alice stood there, blinking blankly.
Near the alley, a homeless man in a worn jacket with a sallow face was slumped on the ground. Occasionally, passersby walked by, but no one wanted to step into the alley.
—Even in the slums, this alley seemed too terrible.
Alice pondered for two seconds, confirmed no one was around, walked to the homeless man, squatted down, and hesitantly greeted, "Hi?"
The homeless man weakly raised his head.
No, giving him too much money would harm him...
Alice closed her eyes, took out a one-souler bill from her pocket, handed it to him, and said, "Here's one souler. Give me this place, and it's yours."
Alice tried to keep a straight face and a solemn tone to appear more authoritative.
She wasn't sure if she succeeded or failed because the homeless man, as if afraid of missing such a fool, grabbed the one-souler bill and ran off with his weak body.
Alice looked at the rag the homeless man left behind to cushion the ground and fell into thought.
...How long has this thing not been washed?
Alice hesitated for a moment, then gave up kicking the rag away and squatted down at a distance where she could see the alley entrance.