Of course, all killed... Thinking of the ending of the three people mentioned by Bilt, Alice subconsciously wanted to blurt it out. The corner of her eye caught a glimpse of Klein to the side, and she shut her mouth again.
Klein didn't notice this scene. He was doing his best to control the muscles of his face to prevent himself from revealing any strange expression.
"According to the information, ponder seriously." he said calmly.
After speaking, he stood up, took his hat, and made a slight bow: "I should take my leave."
"Pleasure working with you." Bilt responded with a smile.
Alice looked at Bilt, then looked at Klein. After thinking for two seconds, she reached out her right hand and placed it in the middle of the three people.
Klein looked her in the eyes for a few seconds, then also placed his right hand on top.
Then, they both looked at Bilt.
Bilt, not knowing what was going on, with a blank face, also put his right hand on top.
This isn't some weird ritual, right...? Uh, what are they doing?
Bilt stared in bewilderment as Alice and Klein shouted in unison, "Pleasure working with you," and then forcefully swung their hands downward—now only his hand was awkwardly suspended in mid-air.
He very much wanted to withdraw his hand without leaving a trace, pretending nothing had happened, but after hesitating a moment, he still imitated Alice and Klein's movement, swung his hand downward forcefully, and said in an excited tone:
"Pleasure working with you!"
Alice smiled in satisfaction. She waved at Bilt and said in a light tone: "Bye-bye~"
After speaking, without waiting for Bilt to respond, she turned around and pulled Klein away.
As they walked down the stairs, a burst of cheers happened to ring out. Alice looked over curiously—oh, so a black-market boxing match had just ended.
Alice suddenly recalled the person she had seen before going upstairs. Her eyes searched through the crowd for a moment and easily found the target.
The young man with black hair and blue eyes could barely conceal the excitement in his smile. Alice tilted her head slightly, realizing he had probably won.
Alice, uninterested, withdrew her gaze, turned her head, and asked Klein:
"Mr. Adventurer, are you interested in gambling?
"What do you think, can we find a casino and win a lot of money...
"Get rich overnight!"
"Wouldn't the casino refuse to give you the money if that happened?" Klein gently reminded.
Alice touched her chin, turned her head, and asked:
"Isn't that just perfect? They broke the promise first, so we'd have a reason to rob the casino...
"Hey, wouldn't that count as winning a casino back?"
Klein gave her a look, showing a gentle smile, but before he could respond, Alice clutched her head and screamed:
"I know I was wrong! I won't do that! I swear!"
She successfully attracted the attention of everyone on the first floor of the "Sweet Lemon" bar.
In terms of shamelessness, Klein obviously couldn't compare to Alice. He didn't take well to being the center of attention. He silently withdrew his hand, looked down, and smiled as he said:
"Shut up."
Alice silently moved the hands clutching her head down to cover her mouth.
Klein shot her a cold glance, then turned and left without mercy.
Alice stood there in a daze for a moment. Only when Klein was almost at the door did she snap out of it, and her figure subconsciously disappeared on the spot, only to reappear again right where she had been.
"Wait for me!" she called, jogging after him.
Klein, along with the surrounding people, gave her a look full of confusion and bewilderment. So Alice stopped next to Klein, blinked, and explained:
"According to human standards, jogging shows more sincerity... Though in terms of efficiency, it's not as good as brisk walking."
According to human standards...? A good portion of the onlookers withdrew their gazes.
Well... that does kind of make sense... But is jogging faster than brisk walking?
Klein's thoughts were momentarily led astray, but he still remembered the setting and didn't think too deeply or comment. He just glanced at Alice and left.
So Alice put down her hand, tugged her clothes twice, and followed along.
Once they were out of sight of the people in the tavern, Klein turned his head and proposed: "Alice, how about you go back to class?"
He really worried about all the wild ideas constantly filling Alice's head.
This wasn't the first time Klein made such a suggestion. With his repeated proposals, Alice's attitude had gradually softened. This time, she didn't outright reject it. Instead, after a brief moment of thought, she asked:
"Do you think 'Iceberg Lieutenant General' Edwina would know the main ingredients of my Sequence 4 potion? I think it's called... Shadow of Misfortune and Serpent of Raven Shadow?"
"Maybe." Klein gave a non-committal answer.
Actually, going to take a look and running away if it doesn't work is fine too. After all, skipping class as a student, usually the school just contacts the parents...
Alice cast a discreet glance at Klein.
Klein seriously searched through his occult knowledge for traces of those two creatures, finally confirming he knew nothing about them, then suggested:
"You can ask during the Tarot Club? Or I could write a letter to ask Mr. Azik, or..."
His voice paused for a moment. Thinking of Arrodes' mechanism, he hesitated slightly, then introduced:
"'Heart of Mechanics' has a sealed item, '2-111'. It's a magic mirror that can answer your questions.
"But, as a price, you must truthfully answer one of its questions. And someone must be present to witness it. The questions might be very profound knowledge, or they might..."
Klein suddenly stopped talking. Alice looked at him in confusion and asked: "Might what?"
"Might be more socially fatal." Klein completed the sentence. Seeing the sudden sparkle in Alice's eyes, he had a "just as I thought" feeling.
"Truth or Dare!" Alice exclaimed excitedly. "The mirror also has to tell the truth? Eh, but seems like there's no 'Dare' part..."
Klein felt like the last hope in his heart had died. He took a deep breath and continued:
"There is.
"You both must tell the truth. If you lie or refuse to answer, you must either complete a task or accept a punishment."
He didn't emphasize the matter of using cleverly phrased language to obscure key points. In his view, Alice had already reached the pinnacle of that art.
It was obvious she probably used to cause a lot of trouble.
Alice's body tensed up in barely concealed excitement, then relaxed again. She sighed and said:
"But it's inside the 'Heart of Mechanics' church..."
Her first reaction actually wasn't to steal or rob it, or to go in and "borrow" it... Klein felt a wave of gratification at the results of his moral guidance.