The gathering of the Beyonders in Bayam wasn't hard to find, but Alice encountered an insurmountable obstacle along the way, delaying her journey.
"How much for the ice cream?" she asked calmly.
"The hero encounters the devil's temptation on the path forward…" Alice muttered cryptically as no one understood what she was saying. She accepted the ice cream while the vendor looked on in confusion.
Even though it wasn't the sea salt flavor she remembered, Alice still managed to find a faint sense of familiarity in it—the ice cream carried a refreshing sensation.
It seemed to be mint… Alice licked her lips and concluded.
That could barely count as a local specialty of Bayam. Licking her ice cream happily, Alice decided to go grab a meal first.
—Even though mythical beings technically didn't need to eat or sleep, Alice still insisted on eating on time and sleeping on time.
"If I don't even eat, then what's the point of living… From this angle, Amon's life is truly a failure… No, He was already a failure to begin with," Alice mumbled after swallowing a piece of fish.
At that moment, she was gracelessly gripping the tail of the grilled fish with her hand, oil smeared around her mouth. She had already been given many speechless looks by passersby.
Alice had excellent mental fortitude. Without changing expression, she finished eating, licked the oil off her fingers as usual, glanced at the people sneaking peeks at her, hesitated for a second, and then calmly got up and left the restaurant.
Once she was out of sight, Alice held out her hand and watched the grease vanish under the effect of her "restart" ability. She murmured thoughtfully:
"So the restart really can be used to refresh your state… That means I don't have to worry about overeating!
"And no need to wash hands or take baths either… Hmm, but baths are mainly for enjoyment, right?
"But…
"Does that mean I can't grow any taller?"
Alice tiptoed experimentally, stretched her hand above her head to measure, and fell into deep thought.
That faint sense of melancholy was quickly discarded. She started looking for the Beyonder gathering.
What had once been a challenge for her was now a breeze. Alice quickly found a low building and slipped in through an inconspicuous side door. After walking through a corridor and into the main hall, her eyes widened in shock.
It was her first time seeing a truly local casino in this world.
The furnishings and lighting inside gave off a drunken, hazy yellow glow. Heavy curtains covered all doors and windows. It wasn't a high-class casino, so there was no music playing.
Of course, Alice believed even music wouldn't have enticed her. She furrowed her brows tightly and covered her nose and mouth.
The smell of tobacco, sweat, fish, and who knows what else filled the sealed room. While it wasn't harmful, it was enough to make Alice miserable.
…Calm down. You don't want to end up on the news, do you?
Recalling Klein's warning, Alice withdrew her stirring spirituality, closed her eyes, and slowly calmed herself.
She could clearly hear the excited shouts of gamblers, the rattling of dice, and the sound of cards slapping on tabletops.
It was undeniably noisy.
Expressionless, Alice walked through the casino and into a more secluded interior room. As the door closed, all sound and smell were cut off. She exhaled in relief.
In Bayam, where Beyonders weren't a secret, such gatherings were often loosely organized, open to almost anyone. Naturally, this meant there wouldn't be anything too high-end for sale.
But Alice didn't mind that. After all, buying things wasn't her main goal… Uh, come to think of it, should she be collecting potion ingredients ahead of time?
She didn't even recognize the two monsters listed as the main materials… Ah, maybe she really should attend some classes.
Alice closed her eyes and pulled up the Sequence 4 potion formula from her mind:
Potion Name: Misfortune Mage
Main Ingredients: Spiritual dust of a Calamity Wraith, heart of an adult Shadow Serpent
Auxiliary Ingredients: 200ml of Shadow Serpent blood, 30g of obsidian fragments, full body scales of a Silver-Scaled Carp, 10g of Golden-Patterned Willow bark
Advancement Ritual: Find a turning point within a calamity created by a powerhouse above demigod level
Obviously, the most bizarre part of this formula was the advancement ritual.
…Could she herself count as a powerhouse above demigod level?
No, rather… did she even need a ritual?
Alice didn't dwell on that question. After all, she hadn't even seen the shadow of any potion ingredients yet, so why rush?
She confidently entered the gathering and waited for it to begin.
People trickled in. Some were heavily disguised, hiding their faces and figures, while others, like her, didn't bother concealing themselves at all.
After observing for a while, Alice decided she'd prepare a robe and mask next time—definitely felt more appropriate for secret gatherings.
Once most of the people had arrived, a hooded figure in a robe stepped out and sat in a single armchair in the center. At the same time, a server came out and placed two blackboards nearby.
Alice suddenly had the urge to attend the gathering again in the future and impersonate the host before everyone arrived.
No, Alice, you can't mess around like that. Behave yourself!
She sternly warned herself and began reading the blackboards.
They listed materials and requests from the host—it was obvious.
People continued handing their own requests written on slips of paper to the server, who then copied them onto the blackboard. After thinking for a moment, Alice wrote down:
"Selling two pages of Roselle's diary, 5 copies per page."
After a brief pause, Alice revised the price to 5 pounds per page.
As it turned out, that price was dirt cheap. The text on the small blackboard was soon erased, and Alice received her payment.
Staring at the 50 pounds in her hands, Alice's eyes rolled around in her sockets. Then she looked up at the blackboard again.
To everyone's shock, the writing on the board began disappearing like water stains, returning to its original state from the beginning of the gathering, with only the host's materials and requests remaining—everyone else's trade requests had vanished.
Heeheehee, that was fun.
The spiritual fluctuation wasn't very well hidden. Alice sensed a gaze land on her. She immediately concealed herself and vanished from her spot.
"Ssssh… This much should be fine, Klein won't be mad, right?"
Back in her hotel room, Alice muttered thoughtfully to herself.