This successfully caused Ian to show a clearly surprised expression.
She actually… is apologizing?
Alice didn't care what Ian was thinking in his heart, after all… she wasn't actually feeling sorry.
She already said thanks, saying one more sorry didn't cost anything… Alice touched her chin, impatiently steering the topic back on track:
"Then… pray to me."
"P-pray?" Ian felt like a string in his brain completely snapped.
"That's right," Alice tilted her head, "pray to me, is there a problem?"
Ian didn't speak; he just stared blankly at Alice, recalling the moment just now that was like a divine miracle.
This… is this an evil god?
Ian, using his simple understanding, came to a conclusion. While he was still dazed, a hand waved twice in front of him.
"You gone dumb?" The girl across from him asked curiously.
Yes, the girl — whether in appearance or behavior, she was like a child.
"Pa!" Alice gave up on waiting for him to recover and slammed the table hard, pulling back his attention.
"Do you know Ancient Hermes?" Alice looked at him and asked.
Ian shook his head, so Alice continued, "Alright, then just follow me and recite, hmm…"
She taught Ian the pronunciation of that reverent name in Ancient Hermes, word by word, and then jumped down from her chair and said:
"Don't forget, if there's real danger, you can use that reverent name to call me for help — though I might not respond to you."
After that, she didn't wait for Ian to speak and turned around to leave.
"Wait a moment," Ian suddenly gathered his courage and called out to her, "The reverent name… what does that name mean?"
"Eh?" Alice turned back in surprise, glanced at Ian.
It wasn't a secret, she just didn't feel like explaining. But since Ian asked, she didn't intend to hide it. However, Alice opened her mouth and then stopped. She found it really awkward to say it like this, so she silently turned her body around before saying:
"Eternally innocent child,
Incarnation of luck and miracle,
Origin of disaster and chaos."
After a pause, she asked again: "Any other questions?"
Ian shook his head.
He immediately associated the first phrase with Alice herself, and the latter two, combined with his recent experience, he understood most of it too.
Of course, if Alice knew what he was thinking, she'd probably quote something very fitting here:
"Blessings hide within misfortune, and misfortune leans on blessings."
Luck and calamity never exist in isolation.
But Alice didn't know that, so she just touched her chin and finally reminded:
"Then… remember to help me sell the diary, okay?"
Ian nodded.
"Then bye-bye~" Alice waved at Ian, turned around and left without looking back.
After she closed the door, Ian collapsed into the chair, his body sliding down weakly.
…
When she saw the situation around her clearly, Alice realized she was on a small boat.
Ahead was a clean and tidy sailboat, several dozen meters long, with the main cannon facing them, its sigils overlapping and light circulating.
After a moment of daze, Alice's body reacted faster than her brain — she raised both hands.
Klein pressed her hands down, and in her confused gaze, reminded: "That should be the 'Golden Dream'…"
Alice silently withdrew her hands from the surrender pose.
It didn't take long for them to be transferred onto the "Golden Dream." Before Alice could get excited, she saw her future teacher and was taken into the captain's room.
"Iceberg Vice Admiral" Edwina had an oval face, a high nose bridge, thin lips, brown long hair parted in the middle and tied back, blue eyes clear as spring water.
Alice had to admit, Edwina indeed looked more like a teacher than a pirate — whether in temperament or attire.
White shirt, dark blazer, knee-length skirt, leather shoes… this was quite a modern-style outfit.
Alice knew this type of clothing came from Intis, the handiwork of Emperor Roselle. Looking at Edwina's outfit and then her own loose school uniform, she couldn't help but start pondering a question.
Why didn't Emperor Roselle "invent" school uniforms too?
"Maybe because that way, you can't see a girl's figure…" After staring at Edwina's knee-length skirt for a few seconds, she muttered.
Clearly, no one understood what she was saying. Edwina just glanced at her and then asked Gehrman Sparrow: "Is this the child you mentioned earlier?"
Klein nodded.
Alice looked up at Edwina. At this moment, Edwina also turned toward Alice and asked:
"What's your name? How old are you this year? Have you studied before? Why did you stop?"
Alice wanted to cover her face with her hand, but after looking at Edwina, she gave up, looked up at the sky and answered:
"My name is Alice, Alice Kingsley.
"This year… it's the year 1350, and this body's birthday already passed this year, so I guess I'm 16 now…
"Studied… I did before, but what I studied before probably doesn't fit the current context… and as for not continuing now, it's because… physical reasons, yeah, it was inconvenient due to health before."
Some of the phrasing in that sentence was rather odd. As Edwina listened, her brow furrowed. Before she could question further, Alice looked around and raised her hand:
"Um, I have a question.
"How is he going to go back?"
She pointed at Klein.
…
After Alice sent Klein off and returned, Edwina looked at Alice and asked with furrowed brows:
"You're a Beyonder?"
Alice nodded.
Edwina thought for a moment, then asked: "Mid-sequence?"
Alice shook her head.
Edwina's brows furrowed tighter. Looking at Alice, she repeated her earlier words:
"This body's birthday already passed this year?"
Alice swallowed nervously, her gaze flickering.
…So the reason Edwina agreed so easily was because Klein never told her the truth about Alice!
Doesn't this count as hiding a serious mental illness for school enrollment… No, I'm not sick! I'm perfectly normal!
No low-sequence power could be like this, and the way she talks… Edwina looked at Alice, whose eyes were drifting, and asked with a frown:
"You're… a Saint?"
She ultimately didn't dare guess a higher-ranking Angel, but Alice's answer shattered her fantasy:
"Th-this question…
"In a certain sense, you could consider me as…
"Accidentally swallowed a Zero-grade Sealed Artifact."