Chapter 215: A Close Call
Alger breathed a sigh of relief.
The Storm Church bishop noticed Alice's movements, but thanks to Amon changing his body's appearance to female in advance, the bishop only glanced briefly before losing interest.
Who says being discriminated against and ignored can't be an advantage?
Step one was successfully completed.
Next, as she had planned, Alice took out the 1-pound banknote. Upon touching the donation box...
Travel!
Her body, along with the donation box, quickly turned transparent. The bishop certainly wouldn't allow this to happen, but Alice had already rehearsed her next move - Steal Thought!
After losing his thoughts of attack, the poor bishop was momentarily stunned. This brief daze was enough for Alice to disappear from the church.
Now, all that was left for the unfortunate bishop was the impending wrath of the Lord of Storms and a room full of ordinary people to deal with.
...
Alice wasn't foolish enough to go straight home. She appeared in a forest on the outskirts of town, clutching the donation box.
After performing anti-divination rituals, Alice teleported to another forest, still holding the box.
Alice knew her actions were enough to incur a true god's fury. She had to completely cover her tracks before the Lord of Storms could react, pinning the blame entirely on Amon.
After changing locations three times, Alice unhesitatingly abandoned the donation box, taking only the money before leaving again.
Back home in her own body, Alice smoothly proceeded to the next step.
Last time, she had returned Amon's body out of fear and to make it easier for Amon to find. This time...
Alice deeply realized that showing weakness before Amon would only make Him more aggressive!
Return it to Amon? Dream on.
But Alice had no intention of keeping it herself either. She clearly remembered that Leonard had a Thief pathway angel, who seemed to have a poor relationship with Amon, so...
Of course, she would dump both Amon's body and this whole affair on the Goddess!
After all, Leonard was now a Red Glove... Ah, how envious. She could never complete even the entry mission for the Nighthawks...
Speaking of which, how was the captain doing? Had he digested the potion? Advanced to Sequence 6?
In the end, Alice simply clenched her fist. Following the habit she developed with Klein, she first set up a ritual to pray and ask the Goddess if she could make an offering.
Fortunately, she had a special channel.
"Goddess of the Night, more noble than the stars, more eternal than eternity,
"You are the Lord of Crimson, Mother of Secrets,
"You are the Lord of Slumber and Silence,
"You are the Queen of Misfortune and Fear,
"I beseech Your gaze,
"I beseech Your listening,
"I have discovered that a 'Thief' angel, seemingly at odds with Amon, is parasitizing Leonard Mitchell of the Red Glove team. Additionally, I have acquired one of Amon's avatars..."
After completing her prayer, Alice opened her eyes and successfully saw a puzzling word appear on the white paper: "Read."
...Read?
Alice blinked twice in confusion, unable to help but reflect on what she might have done in the past to make the Goddess so unwilling to respond to her.
...Had she really been that excessive?
Alice resisted the urge to pray again and question the Goddess. She decided to ignore it and directly offer the sacrifice to the Goddess. If it wasn't accepted, she'd haul it to the church door and dump it there.
Even though she knew the herbs and essential oils in the ritual were essentially to please the deity, and that if the deity paid special attention, it wouldn't matter if the requirements weren't followed exactly, Alice still meticulously chose the corresponding herbs and oils.
After tossing Amon's avatar into the sacrificial channel, Alice finally lay down with a clear conscience and began counting the money.
The donation box contained a mishmash of currency, mostly 5-pound notes, with quite a few soli mixed in, and even some loose coins.
There were a few 10-pound notes, but they were rare. What surprised Alice was that there were also some coins that looked different from Loen currency.
Alice was only briefly surprised before realizing - unlike the Church of the Evernight Goddess, the Storm Church's followers were mostly active at sea, so it was quite normal to find foreign currency among the donations.
After picking out the miscellaneous foreign coins, Alice counted the remaining money, totaling 478 pounds, 17 soli, and 6 pence.
Well... it could be considered a small fortune?
After smoothing out the crumpled banknotes and sorting them by denomination and condition, Alice smiled with satisfaction.
She temporarily stuffed the stacks of banknotes into the cabinet, while the coins were left out for use.
As for the non-Loen currency... Alice decided to toss them into the Church of the Evernight Goddess's donation box.
A reasonable arrangement!
...
Chris Bourne was the new bishop recently assigned by the Storm Church to replace "God's Singer" Ace Snake.
Finally, after "God's Singer," Bishop Bourne also faced his own workplace crisis.
On this day, someone broke into the church right under his nose and stole the church's donation box!
Perhaps he couldn't be blamed, as even the Lord of Storms probably never imagined someone would do such a thing.
But there always needs to be a scapegoat. Alice chose Amon, and the Storm Church chose Bishop Bourne, that's all.
Poor Bishop Bourne, just weeks after taking office, successfully stepped down, completing his brief career.
...
In the next morning's newspaper, Alice was pleased to find the big news - or rather, the wanted notice - she had created.
"Criminals infiltrated the 'Lord of Storms' Church and stole the donation box. Citizens, please be cautious!
"The criminal likes to wear a crystal monocle on their right eye. If you spot any suspicious individuals, please report immediately!"
Alice had an exceptionally pleasant morning.
...
In the God-forsaken land, a young man wearing a black wizard's robe and a pointed hat turned the monocle on his right eye with an amused smile.
"Light... Key of Light?" He mused to himself, "Doesn't like being treated as a toy? Hmm... actually, as long as it's not discovered, it should be fine, right?"
After a while, he asked, as if puzzled yet amused:
"Did any of you steal a donation box from the Storm's church?"
...
In the "City of Generosity" Bayam, inside the Sea God Cathedral.
"This is the latest wanted notice," the district bishop said gravely. "This person broke into the church in the Backlund diocese and stole the donation box. The Lord is extremely angry about this."
Alger's heart tightened slightly. This unusual behavior made him instinctively think of Miss "Fate."
Alger took the portrait, which showed a young woman with black hair and eyes.
He breathed a sigh of relief.