Klein looked at Alice, hesitated for a moment, and suddenly asked:
"Will you still grow up?"
"Uh," Alice's movements paused slightly, she thought of that terrifying guess of never being able to grow taller, "Have I ever told you, I can now return my body's state to a period in the past…"
That is to say, growth had, to some extent, already lost its meaning… Before Klein had time to analyze seriously, he heard Alice add another sentence:
"But in a certain sense, it still can— I can be reborn, grow up again. If you're willing, maybe one day in the future I can call you father… or mother?"
Bilt began to hesitate whether he should reach out and cover his ears.
Alice blinked, then suddenly turned her head and said: "I can also let you return to a few minutes ago, that way you won't remember what I just said."
Bilt's hesitation turned into whether he should run away right now.
Klein controlled the muscles of his eyes and mouth, avoiding showing too strange an expression, then curiously asked Alice:
"Looks like I don't need to worry about you getting drunk?"
Alice looked at him and blinked twice, suddenly remembering the expression of "The Hanged Man" Alger a few months ago when she asked whether she'd get seasick.
For some reason, she felt the two matters had some indescribable similarity… Alice lightly furrowed her brow, gave up analyzing, and turned to ask Bilt:
"Can we only glance at that person at the banquet like this?"
Klein also looked over.
"Of course not," Bilt smiled, "After the banquet, His Excellency the Admiral might wish to see the two of you."
Alice stared at him and lightly furrowed her brow, somewhat uncertainly asked: "Did you not report my situation…"
Bilt fell into deep thought.
A dozen seconds later, Alice looked at him in surprise, then looked at Klein, with a tone that couldn't be distinguished as mocking or praising said:
"Looks like, as he said, you really treated me as nonexistent."
Bilt lowered his head.
This action made Alice tilt her head—after all, she had seen too many scenes of people pretending to be dead by lowering their heads during the Tarot gatherings.
Alice looked down at the plate in her hand, then looked at the richly varied dining table, hesitated for a moment, then decided to stop pursuing the matter, and instead waved her hand and said:
"Hope next time at your banquet there'll be more ice cream or other desserts."
She didn't wait for Bilt to respond before disappearing, completely leaving the space to Klein and Bilt, and started doing the thing most important to her—eating.
After tasting each dish one by one, Alice felt like she somewhat understood why some animals had become protected species.
For the inexplicable guilt in her heart, Alice silently lowered her head. A few seconds later, she raised her head again, her gaze regaining firmness.
Why should she feel guilty! These animals here weren't protected animals!
Besides, what does human law have to do with me, a sealed artifact…
Alice, feeling justified, began to search for the next target on the dining table.
...
Out of respect for the entrusted task, Klein only took a glass of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter, and began to observe Admiral Emelius's every move.
Under the ability of the "Faceless Man," his brain operated rapidly. During this time, he only sipped a bit of champagne, and didn't even taste the flavor.
Only when the information was nearly gathered did he shift his attention to his hungry stomach, looked at the waiter not far away, glanced at the glass in his hand, hesitated for a second, and still placed the glass back on the tray, preparing to get some food.
At this moment, Bilt came closer and said: "I've received the signal from His Excellency the Admiral… is Her Grace present?"
You're not a child anymore, you're a mature adult… Klein advised himself inwardly, restrainedly withdrawing his gaze from the roasted spring chicken, and swept an indifferent glance at Bilt.
Bilt suddenly felt the surrounding air a bit cold. He shrank his body slightly, subconsciously wanted to say something, but saw Gehrman Sparrow lower his head, hands placed over his chest, reciting in ancient Hermes:
"Forever innocent child,
"Embodiment of luck and miracle,
"Source of calamity and chaos,
"..."
Honorific name!
Three-part structure!
Bilt clenched his back molars, avoiding letting his trembling get too noticeable. He stared at Gehrman Sparrow until that familiar figure appeared fully in the air. Only then did he calm down again.
—The first thing Alice did after appearing was to hand Klein a golden-brown, fat-dripping roasted chicken leg.
This really didn't seem like something an angel on earth should do. Bilt, for a moment, forgot his fear—until Alice turned her head and blankly asked him:
"…Do you want one too?
"Hmm… I'll, I'll go pick one for you too?"
…What church's style is this?
Bilt looked at Alice, who was seriously seeking his opinion, then at Gehrman Sparrow, who had accepted the chicken leg and bitten into it without changing expression after only a moment of silence, and suddenly felt a bit lost.
Alice's image really was far too different from the superior figures Bilt had in his impression. Thinking of that earlier line in the three-part honorific name, "Forever pure child," and looking again at the current Alice, he suddenly realized how fitting that description truly was.
She was like a child toying with ants on the ground. At this moment, they were the ants that had caught her interest.
After recognizing his own position, Bilt calmly replied: "That's too much trouble for you. You're too courteous."
After staring at him for over ten seconds, Alice snap snapped her fingers. Bilt suddenly sensed that the hunger in his abdomen disappeared rapidly.
He froze for a moment, didn't have time to speak, when he saw Alice rub her chin, mutter to herself thoughtfully:
"Can I set a cycle of fate to trap someone in the just-fed state forever…
"That way they won't be able to eat anything!"
Bilt's gaze completely turned blank. Though he didn't fully understand, but, but this usage seemed kind of… strange?
In contrast, Klein, who had some understanding, had clearly thought of more. He had to stop his actions, free his mouth, and said to Alice with a complicated mood:
"Do you know how many things you could do with this kind of near-static state ability?"
Alice looked at Klein, seriously thought for over ten seconds, then clapped her hands and suddenly realized:
"I got it!
"I can trap you in a cycle of gnawing the chicken leg, letting you gnaw this chicken leg over and over again, gnaw it hundreds of times!"
(End of this chapter)