"Children should go to bed early and wake up early," Alice stared at the ceiling, earnestly advising herself. Then she couldn't help but feel puzzled.
"But I'm clearly not going to grow any taller... so why should I still do this?"
Alice fell into deep thought.
After pondering for a few minutes, she pulled the blanket up, closed her eyes, emptied her mind, and went to sleep.
…Why do children have to think so much!
She slept soundly with a clear conscience, and after crawling out of bed, Alice blinked twice and suddenly thought of something.
"I could've just checked out of the hotel and visited Bayam during the day, then gone back to Backlund to sleep at night..."
Realizing this money-saving trick, Alice didn't hesitate to check out of the hotel and flashed back to her home in Backlund.
Perfect.
Alice gave herself a thumbs-up in the mirror. After confirming no one had broken in while she was gone, she ritualistically began… brushing her teeth and washing her face.
"Ah," she sighed in relief after spitting out the foam, speaking to the mirror, "This feels much better."
Even though she technically didn't need it anymore, Alice still sighed, having to accept the fact that from now on she'd be doing a bunch of time-wasting things daily—
—Otherwise, it would just feel wrong.
So, the next step in the daily ritual… was eating breakfast while reading the newspaper?
Alice blinked, left the room, and brought in the mail and newspaper from the mailbox.
She bit into a Dixi meat pie. The fresh and sweet-and-sour flavor of the filling instantly captured her taste buds, and for a fleeting moment, she had the urge to learn how to cook.
But that was it.
Just thinking about all the things she'd have to prepare to cook, Alice felt it was better to stick to just eating instead.
But maybe she could convince someone she knew to learn to cook… Speaking of which, Klein can cook, right? When should she go mooch a meal…
So, the early-rising mad adventurer, Gehrman Sparrow, began to wonder whether a mad adventurer should be able to cook.
…Wait, why did he agree to something like that?
Klein ground his teeth in silence, starting to think about what to cook for Alice.
That thought didn't stop until he was told to scrub toilets at the Medical Relief Foundation.
…Alice must never find out about this!
Staring at the toilet bowls stained with yellow and black grime, Klein had the exact same thought he had back when he disguised himself as Elaine.
At the same time, Alice exited a dream used for divination, her eyes full of confusion.
…Why is he scrubbing toilets?
—She only wanted to see what Klein was up to at the moment.
Blinking in confusion, Alice decided kindly not to ask such an awkward question.
"Maybe it's a weird personal hobby of his? If he doesn't want to talk about it, then never mind…" she murmured to herself as she opened a letter addressed to Evelyn.
What appeared first, however, wasn't the letter's contents.
In dim light, by the flickering of candle flames, Alice saw a man with dark blue hair.
That hair color was more or less a sign of someone on the "Seafarer" path—or their descendants. Of course, it wasn't conclusive evidence.
The doubt flickered away quickly, as Alice soon recognized the other face in the scene.
"Evelyn…?"
Alice paused, puzzled, and then saw the man take out a beautifully wrapped gift box, hand it to Evelyn, and smile as he said:
"Happy birthday, Ivy." (Note 1)
Evelyn happily accepted the birthday gift, opened the box, and inside was a beautiful brooch with a vivid green gemstone… Damn it!
Alice jumped up from her seat in shock.
Of course she recognized that thing—it was the ""Fortune Accessory" accessory" she had sold off after hiding its negative effects!
It had been two months since she sold that accessory!
And the problem—this scene from the revelation only showed the ""Fortune Accessory" accessory" being gifted as a birthday present. Which meant Alice had no idea who its current owner was, mystically speaking, or when they received it.
—Which meant the fact that it would kill its owner in three months likely still hadn't been exposed.
Nervously rubbing the envelope in her hand, Alice pushed aside her worries to finally read the letter:
Dear Brier:
By the time you see this letter, you should be back from sea, right?
You know, I've always longed for the ocean since I was young—ah, I probably never told you, but my father used to be a sailor.
He doesn't like talking about the past much. Hey, just like you. You both probably have amazing secrets, huh?
But now, I'm like you—someone with secrets! Oh, you absolutely can't tell my dad, I really can't imagine his reaction…
Haha, this is the surprise I mentioned before—surprised? Didn't expect that, huh?
Now I'm just like you!
Actually, the reason I'm writing is to tell you that tomorrow is my birthday. But… I guess you won't make it back in time?
Sigh, such a pity, I really wanted to invite you…
That's it for now. Hopefully the next time I write to you, you'll already be back!
Sincerely,
Evelyn
…Damn it!
Who gave her the potion formula!?
Without thinking, Alice dropped the envelope and rushed out to knock on Evelyn's door. Evelyn herself opened it, and on her chest… was the brooch from Alice's dream.
Alice figured she didn't need to wonder anymore about where Evelyn got that potion formula.
She looked into the shadows behind Evelyn, where a pair of eyes—familiar yet strange—watched her: pitch black, cold, and without eyelashes.
Alice took a deep breath, subtly increased the likelihood of her next words being believed, and gently smiled as she said:
"Evelyn, I saw your letter, and I was so surprised and excited—sorry, I'm a bit tongue-tied, I really don't know how to say this properly.
"By the way, could you tell me more about how this all happened? Oh, I'm so curious…"
But Evelyn hesitated, staring at Alice for a few seconds before asking in confusion:
"But… who are you? Do we know each other?"
Alice's breath caught in her throat—she finally realized something she had overlooked.
During her trip to and stay in Bayam, she had gotten used to not wearing "Matilda" when going out.
So the Evelyn standing before her wasn't seeing her best friend and next-door neighbor, Brier Rose…
…but Alice Kingsley!
"…Brier?" Evelyn asked after a long silence, as if she had guessed something, "Is that you, Brier?"