7-2

64 Perfume

The first thing Alice saw was an island.

The picture zooms in, and a magnificent bell tower appears on the island. It should be a church, and the holy emblem is that of the "Lord of Storms". The architectural design of the bell tower is very bold, with red, blue and yellow interwoven, which makes people feel bright.

The picture moves back along the bell tower, and finally turns to an alley behind the church, freezing on an ordinary house.

This was not a bridge tunnel. Alice was confused when the noise of reality came in. She realized that the divination was over. She could only watch in confusion as the picture disintegrated before her eyes.

"What do you mean..." Alice frowned, full of confusion, "I, I'll go find that room first?"

She pursed her lips, walked forward, and whispered as she walked: "Maybe I should look for that church..."

Alice returned home with her mind wandering. After hesitating for a moment, she decided to draw the scene she saw first.

This was not difficult, but most of the painting supplies, including paints, had been moved to Klein's Source Castle. If she was not going to solve the problem with a sloppy sketch, she would probably need to ask Klein for help.

Alice didn't hesitate to ask Klein to bring her things down. After all, Klein knew that she was going to set up a stall under the overpass.

What's more, Alice didn't think that a line drawing alone could help people recognize the origin of a church - after all, many churches actually look similar.

She talked about this with Klein. This afternoon was Klein's rare free time. He had finished his messy classes and appeared at the banquet for the first time. He was now waiting for an invitation.

Klein leisurely came above the gray fog and listened to Alice's request. After feeling his remaining spiritual energy, he did not call Alice up directly because that meant that his remaining spiritual energy would not be able to guarantee his safety.

After agreeing with Alice on the ceremony time of 8 o'clock in the evening, he went back to rest and recover his spirit, while Alice lay down to sleep.

Alice woke up on time at 8 o'clock in the evening, and then got up to prepare for the ceremony. Klein also appeared above the gray fog at 8 o'clock in the evening. After waiting for a long time without seeing Alice, he tentatively asked:

"Alice? What are you doing? Are you asleep?"

Alice looked at the ceremony she had half-finished and told him the truth:

"Didn't you say eight o'clock? I'm preparing for the ceremony..."

Klein withdrew his spiritual power blankly above the gray fog and looked forward, his heart filled with confusion.

——Mr. Fool, who has never gone out with a procrastinator, cannot understand that arriving at 8 o'clock and leaving home at 8 o'clock are the same thing.

Fortunately, the preparation time for the ceremony was not long. Klein finally waited for Alice above the gray fog. He threw down the things Alice wanted. At the end, he suddenly remembered and shouted to Alice:

"By the way, give me the 'Puppet' extraordinary characteristic, and then I will take you to transfer the bicycle shares when I have time."

This was something they had agreed on early in the morning. Alice suddenly remembered it. After packing her things, she asked directly:

"So should I arrange the ceremony now? Well, you'd better take me to transfer the shares quickly, because I don't know when I will forget about this matter."

This was a rather euphemistic statement. Klein was dismissive after hearing it. He felt that Alice would forget about it completely in the next second.

"Let's arrange the ceremony now," he responded, "I will take you to transfer the shares tomorrow."

So Alice set up the sacrificial ceremony again. While placing the essential oils, she couldn't help but ask Klein,

"Why did you choose these herbs? Did you like their smell?"

Klein replied silently:

"No.

"Actually, I just try to pick the most relevant herbs I know."

Alice was silent for a moment, then took the initiative to change the subject:

"You know, sometimes I feel that the process of arranging a ceremony is a lot like mixing perfume… although I've never seen a perfumer.

"I sometimes wonder if naming herbs when chanting a spell is like introducing perfume to the spirits. If so, why can't we just say..."

She paused, then cleared her throat and continued:

"This is the perfume I prepared for you. The top notes are night-blooming vanilla and moon flower, the middle notes are deep sleep flower and rose, and the base notes are lemon and mint..."

Klein lowered his head above the gray fog and began to ponder.

The herbs Alice mentioned were exactly the ones the goddess liked. It was obvious that she was very familiar with them. She was not as perfunctory when performing the ceremony as she was when she was with him. Klein had seen her use the wrong herbs many times.

I always feel like she uses whatever she has, whatever is cheaper... Klein shook his head and quickly thought of a response:

"But if you do this, no god will respond to you."

Oh yes, whether the gods are willing to respond is actually the key to a ceremony... Alice sighed and gave up her previous inspiration, concentrating on arranging the sacrificial ceremony, and then threw the extraordinary characteristics of the "puppet" into it.

"I'll wait for you to come see me tomorrow." Having said this, she lay down on the bed with peace of mind.

Alice didn't go out much during the day the next day. She was trying to draw what she saw yesterday.

To make it easier to identify, Alice painted the picture in great detail and with as realistic colors as possible. She not only painted the clock tower, but also a miniature version of the island, the alley, and the house.

After a little thought, Alice decided to start with the islands, because she found that the thumbnails of the islands she saw could actually show the shapes of the islands.

Maps of this era are not as common and convenient as those in modern society, nor are they detailed enough, and they are not updated quickly enough, but they still exist.

After comparing the map, Alice finally found her target and circled the island of Oravi.

Oh, by the way, she was in Mr. Fool's study right now - she couldn't possibly spend money to buy books.

In order to avoid being discovered by mistake, Alice told Klein about this matter. I don't know how Klein explained it, but in the end, no one came to the study when Alice was looking through the materials.

This was perfect. Alice read it carefully and found some geography magazines, from which she found the introduction to Olavin Island.

Olawei is located northeast of the Rorsted Islands. The straight-line distance is not far, but the safe waterway is winding, adding hundreds of nautical miles.

It was originally a primitive island with many extraordinary creatures and no human inhabitants. After the hunting era ended, the Kingdom of Loen used it as a place of exile for some criminals, and gradually villages and towns appeared on Oravi Island.

When the islands further east were discovered and colonized one by one, the convenience of the shipping routes and the abundance of natural resources attracted many new immigrants and formed relatively prosperous port cities.

While searching, Alice remembered that she had been to this island before. When Klein pretended to be Admiral Amyrius as Gehrman Sparrow, the location seemed to be here.

She tried to recall, but unfortunately, she didn't remember ever having been to such a church.

So Alice gave up. She picked up the painting of the clock tower and did not choose to go to Oravi immediately. After all, she and Klein had an appointment today.

At 3:10 in the afternoon, a gray mist enveloped Alice's eyes. She heard Klein's voice saying to her:

"Open the door."

"Huh? Why didn't he knock on the door..." Alice was a little surprised. She got up and went to open the door, but there was no one outside.

She looked around blankly, trying to find a familiar figure. At this moment, a cat's cry from her feet made her lower her head:

"Meow~"

Alice just didn't try to argue. It was a black cat, but its fur was a dirty gray-black color, and many of the hairs were even clumping.

It was skinny, and Alice could tell at a glance that it was a stray cat, but...

"Klein?" she cried in surprise, "How did you become... No, that's not right, this is different... Is this a doll? No, that's not quite the same either..."

Alice looked at the black cat in amazement. Since Klein was promoted to the Master of Dolls, she had seen dolls before. In fact, Senior became a doll in front of her.

But this cat was a little strange. It was not like a doll. Alice could feel that it was still alive, not like a dead doll. But...

Alice suddenly thought of something, and she exclaimed:

"This is the possession of the 'ghost'!"

"That's right." A human voice came out of the black cat's mouth.

Alice raised her eyebrows after hearing the voice and asked curiously,

"What should I call you now?"

"Sherlock Moriarty," the black cat replied.

"Oh~" Alice stretched out her voice, "It turns out to be Sheriff Black Cat!"

Klein didn't respond to her words, but changed the subject coldly: "...Let's go."

Alice looked down at the cat and frowned slightly. Theoretically, if she wanted to travel with a cat, she should probably pick it up, but the black cat in front of her...

It's a bit too dirty.

Alice hesitated for two seconds. Under Klein's confused gaze, she reached out and grabbed the cat by the scruff of the neck, closed the door, and walked into the room.

"What are you doing!" The black cat struggled desperately in Alice's hands.

"Give you a bath." Alice replied expressionlessly.

Klein paused for a moment after hearing this answer. Then, he began to struggle in even greater fear, shouting,

"Alice! You're a girl!"

"This is a cat," Alice looked down at the cat and reminded him calmly, "If you care about this, then I have to remind you that your doll is actually naked in front of me now - by the way, are you a male or female cat?"

Klein, or rather the black cat in Alice's hand, stopped struggling. It didn't look down, but felt it for a while - roughly speaking, in short, Alice got the answer to her question:

"Tomcat."

Alice looked down at the black cat, and after two seconds of hesitation, she said,

"No, you are a human."

"…Hurry up." Klein gave up on communicating with her and struggling. He closed his eyes and pretended to be dead in her hands.

As the water splashed onto the cat, Alice looked down at the still compliant cat in her hands with a slightly surprised expression.

Cats are afraid of water, but now it seems that the doll may not have this characteristic?

Alice scratched her chin thoughtfully, then unceremoniously increased the amount of water, applied foam, and rubbed the cat in her hand as if it were Klein - although in a sense this was Klein, and she rubbed it wantonly.

After rinsing off the foam on the black cat, Alice confirmed one thing - bathing the cat in this way did not get rid of the clumps of hair.

So Alice wiped the black cat dry and took it out again, putting it aside. Under Klein's confused eyes, she went into the house and found the scissors.

"What are you doing!!!" Seeing Alice walking out with a pair of scissors in her hand, Klein jumped up in fear again.

"I want to cut off the clumps of hair on your body," Alice spread her hands. "I've already washed it, it would be a pity to give up halfway."

Klein opened his mouth, but finally gave up trying to stop Alice. Instead, he closed his eyes and said to her,

"Okay, hurry up."

Alice nodded and completed the task quickly and hastily, leaving them with a black cat with ragged fur.

"Okay, where are we going...By the way, why did you have to turn into a cat to find me?" Alice asked as she walked out holding the cat.

"I'm worried that someone might come after me because of you…" Klein tried to explain.

Alice touched the black cat's cat in her hand, then silently withdrew her hand because of the uneven feel, and said as she walked:

"To be honest, for those who really need to monitor me, your worry is in vain."

"…How many people?" Klein asked hesitantly.

"Adam, the Goddess, Amon, Will Auceptin, the 'True Creator', Ouroboros..." Alice listed a bunch of names.

The black cat didn't speak for a long time, so Alice had to stop and remind him, "You haven't told me where you're going."

Next, Alice hired a carriage under Klein's guidance. She sat in the carriage and directed the driver to move forward. Finally, they stopped in front of an inconspicuous house in the Hillston district.

Alice reached out and knocked on the door. A man who looked like an assistant came to open the door. Before the other party could ask any questions, Alice picked up the black cat with uneven hair that had just been cut.

"I'm Sherlock Moriarty," the black cat said in her arms, "I want to see Mr. Isengard Stanton."

"Here," Alice pulled her hand back and looked into her assistant's eyes. "That's what you see."

There was a very obvious surprise in the assistant's eyes, and then he calmly turned aside to let Alice in.

Alice walked into the door holding the black cat. The assistant closed the door on her and said to her,

"Follow me." (End of this chapter)

65 Selina's Divination Experience

When the assistant turned around and led the way, Alice saw him look at her and the black cat in his arms with surprise and curiosity.

Alice glanced at Klein and when she found that he had no intention of explaining, she ignored his look. After all, it had nothing to do with her.

The man dressed as an assistant took Alice up to the second floor, and after a moment's hesitation, he took her into a small reception room.

Alice obediently sat on the single sofa, then placed the black cat possessed by Klein with Senior on her lap and lowered her head to stroke its fur.

The black cat fell on her knees as she pushed, revealing its soft waist and abdomen. Alice reached out and touched it without hesitation, praying:

"I wish I could touch your mythical creature form..."

"Why can't it be your own that I can touch?" Klein couldn't help but complain.

Alice replied while stroking his fur:

"Because my mythical creature form has been determined - the 'Mercury Snake' not only has no hair, it doesn't even have scales!"

"...So you really want to touch your own fur?" Klein was shocked.

"I even the goddess…" Alice's raised voice suddenly stopped and she looked in the direction of Mendu.

Klein followed her and shut up. Not long after, the man dressed as an assistant opened the door. An older man with graying temples and a thin face came in and sat on another single sofa.

The assistant also followed in. Alice watched him take out tea leaves and tea sets from under the coffee table. After brewing them, he poured a cup for her and the strange man, then poured himself a cup and sat down.

Alice thought for a moment, put Klein on the last remaining sofa, pushed the teacup over, and then asked the assistant,

"Is there any ice cream?"

The assistant was stunned for a moment, and Klein quickly said, "I'll buy it for you when I get back."

Alice turned her head to look at Klein, then lifted the black cat back onto her lap and brought back the teacup.

The older man who had been watching from the side finally couldn't help himself and asked in a curious tone:

"Sherlock, what are you doing?"

Klein then turned his attention away from Alice and explained his purpose:

"Mr. Isengard, I remember telling you before that I don't plan to sell my bicycle shares for the time being. I want to transfer them to a friend..."

Isengard nodded. He remembered this incident. At the critical moment of the bidding, his old friend suddenly decided not to sell his shares and transferred them to a friend. He had been curious about the identity of that friend for a long time. Now...

Isengard looked at Alice thoughtfully.

After explaining to Isengard, Klein turned back and introduced Alice:

"This is Mr. Isengard Stanton, a very capable detective and one of my friends from the past. If you have anything to do… never mind, you probably don't need it.

"Anyway, before I left Backlund, I entrusted him with the handling of my bicycle shares."

"Hello?" Alice waved to Isengard.

The detective seemed to have not been greeted like this in many years. He raised his hand somewhat awkwardly and responded tentatively:

"Hello?"

Alice stared at Isengard for two seconds, then reached out and poked Klein on his knee and instructed him:

"Go on."

In order to make it easier for Klein to talk, Alice simply picked him up and threw him on the coffee table.

Klein stood up from the coffee table with great difficulty, and was thankful that the doll had no sense of pain—at least not for the time being.

"Mr. Eisinger," he cried, "as you can see... I am going to transfer my shares to her."

Isengard glanced at Alice, then at Klein, and finally asked the same question as Alice:

"Why did you become like this?"

"This…" Klein turned around and glanced at Alice. "At first, it was to prevent others from noticing my presence near her. Later, I realized it was futile. But… I'm here now."

Isengard Stanton glanced at the two of them again. As if he had confirmed something, he carefully considered his tone and persuaded Klein,

"Normally, I wouldn't say anything about my friends' feelings, but...

"This child, is she an adult?"

Alice looked at Isengard Stanton with a slightly hesitant look. She intuitively felt that there was something wrong with what he said, but she lacked relevant experience and just frowned. She thought about it for a moment in confusion, then lowered her head and asked Klein,

"What does he mean?"

"...It's not what you think," Klein looked at Alice with mixed feelings and explained to Isengard, "We are just friends. Besides, she actually paid for the shares. It's just that what she paid is not suitable for regular trading channels..."

Isengard Stanton was slightly stunned, then understood what Klein meant. He stopped talking about it and smiled:

"So that's how it is. After we sign the agreement, you can get the shares."

"So easy?" Alice asked in confusion.

Signing the agreement was not a complicated process. Isengard Stanton had a prepared agreement template. After getting Klein's confirmation, Isengard immediately ordered his assistant to get the template.

Then, Isengard copied two identical agreements and pushed them in front of Alice. Alice pressed Klein's head to read the agreement. After confirming that there were no problems, she picked up the pen and signed.

After watching Alice finish signing, Klein said,

"I've been outside for a long time. I have to leave first.

"If you want to inform me of something, you can find her. She's been in Backlund recently...I think she's here, right?"

"Not necessarily," Alice spread her hands, "Maybe I have to go to Oravi. I have to look for the bridge arch in the prophecy."

"You should be able to receive the letter, right?" Klein asked.

That's right, Alice nodded and left her address to Isengard Stanton.

…

After hearing Selina mention the magic mirror divination through eavesdropping outside the ward the day before, Allen had been looking for an opportunity to ask about it.

This was not an intuitive reminder; he just didn't want to miss any suspicious clues. Anything related to fate or divination would attract his attention.

Alan was absent-minded throughout the entire night and day. He kept looking for an opportunity to ask clearly, but unfortunately, he had to finish his work first.

But Allen did not forget the promise he had received. The girl who appeared in his dream promised to give him a chance not to be disturbed. If this was the case, it would not be difficult for him to get rid of his wife, or to get rid of Will Auceptin.

He is a doctor in the hospital after all.

It only took one examination for Alan to easily lead his wife away, and then he entered Selina's ward, which was also his wife's ward.

"Dr. Allen?" Selina greeted him in surprise. "You're not with Ms. Wilma? I thought..."

Selina took the initiative to bring up the topic, which relieved Alan of his worries. He revealed his worries during this period without any dignity and told his half-truths:

"Velma I had a checkup, and I…I'm a little worried…I've been worried ever since Velma got pregnant.

"You know, Wilma should have told you that this is not our first child, but I'm still very worried. I always feel that this child seems to be different from the previous ones. And, as you can see, the child is in a very bad condition now..."

Selina nodded with understanding and said comfortingly:

"I understand your concern, just like when I was in a car accident before, my family was also worried about me.

"But it's no use worrying like this..."

Alan sighed heavily and casually mentioned:

"I seem to have heard you and Wilma mention some magic mirror divination before, saying that it can... bring peace of mind?"

"Oh, about this," Selina said listlessly, "Whenever I encounter something that makes me feel uneasy, I like to try fortune-telling. It can also be regarded as a way to seek peace of mind. I originally thought that if you are also worried, you can also try it..."

After a pause, she smiled again:

"However, seeing you like this, I hope you won't go. After all, if the calculation turns out to be a bad result, then wouldn't it be..."

Allen also sighed. He simply sat on the bed and chatted with Selina as if he needed to divert his attention:

"It sounds like this is a hobby of yours? I don't know much about this, can you tell me more about it? That magic mirror divination..."

"Well..." Selina cooperated and brought up the relevant topic. "To be honest, I don't really want to talk to you about it. The main thing is that my divination... The results can't be said to be inaccurate, but... well, it's very random."

Accurate and very random... This statement made Alan stunned for a moment. He realized that this probably meant inaccurate. After all, it was probably like this for normal people's divination. If you are lucky and it happens, then it will be accurate. If you are unlucky and it doesn't happen, then it will be inaccurate.

Selina's experience sounded normal. Allen was a little disappointed, but Selina's next words caught his attention again:

"However, I once did a very accurate divination... well... that happened to be divination with the magic mirror."

Selina's eyes drifted upwards, as if she was recalling the scene at that time. Then, Alan saw her patting her chest with lingering fear and said,

"However, my friend told me at the time that I was not feeling well at all. It was only after she pulled me out that I got better. Besides, I really don't remember what happened at that time...

"I just secretly read the teacher's name on his notebook, but I didn't expect it to have such serious consequences... And then the teacher also..."

Your honorific name...? Alan's mind moved, and he continued calmly:

"Your name?"

"Oh, right," Selina suddenly woke up, "If you don't often come into contact with the mysticism, you probably haven't heard of this concept... Well, you probably don't know the process of magic mirror divination?"

Allen nodded, glanced at the door with genuine anxiety, and then said to Selina,

"Can you tell me about it?"

Doctor Allen said he wanted to divert attention by chatting... Selina, who had a good impression of Allen Chris, decided to cooperate with this matter. She smiled and shook her head and said,

"This is not inconvenient. After all, it is not a secret. I just happen to be more interested in this aspect, so I just happened to know it.

"Magic mirror divination is a divination method that asks a mysterious being for an answer.

"If you want to do magic mirror divination, first of all, you have to choose a suitable date and time according to the gods you believe in. This can be determined by the Astrology Handbook... Do you know this book?"

"I've heard of it." Alan nodded.

Then Selina continued:

"For example, we all know that Sunday is the symbol of the goddess of night and the embodiment of rest. The hours from 2 to 3 a.m., 9 to 10 a.m., 4 to 5 p.m., and 11 p.m. to midnight are the moon hours, which are dominated by the goddess of night. Therefore, fortune-tellers who believe in the goddess of night can perform 'magic mirror divination' during these time periods on Sunday."

This was not what Allen wanted to know, but he was not in a hurry. He intuitively knew that what he wanted was within reach, so he listened patiently to Selina's story and continued to ask,

"What's next?"

Selina then continued:

"Secondly, we carefully wipe the mirror, which must be silver-plated, and place it in the position in the house that symbolizes the moon..."

At this point, Selina subconsciously stood up and tried to find a mirror, but there was no suitable mirror nearby and her legs were not convenient for movement, so she just looked around and gave up, and continued to introduce:

"After finishing the bath, make sure all the curtains are closed and the door is locked and closed. Then, light a candle and place it in front of the mirror. Pray devoutly to the gods you believe in. Try to keep the questions simple and don't use complicated embellishments... After praying seven times, pick up your mirror and gently drop it on the ground. It must be very gentle... Remember the broken shape, which is a revelation from the gods."

Next, Selina was going to introduce the main revelations. Allen listened to her story patiently and wanted to ask about what happened during the abnormal magic mirror divination, such as the honorific name she recited at that time, but Selina reminded him:

"Dr. Allen, Ms. Velma's examination should be almost complete, right?"

Alan had to regretfully give up asking further questions. He knew that if he continued asking, he would expose his abnormality.

Being discovered by Selina was not a big deal. When it came to his wife Velma, Alan actually couldn't care less. He was still concerned about Will Auceptin.

——If Will Auceptin found out what he was looking for, this matter would probably be difficult to resolve.

Thinking of this, Alan let out a breath, stood up absentmindedly and said,

"Yeah, it's time to end it..."

"Sigh..." Selina sighed sympathetically behind him and shook her head.

(End of this chapter)