Capítulo 16: Chapter 16: The Plump Pharmacist
Chapter 16: The Plump Pharmacist
Alice steadied herself against the doorframe, quickly regaining her bearings, and then she smiled at Bogda.
Bogda, however, looked at her with a respectful gaze, counted out six pence, and said, "You are a fortune-teller worthy of respect."
"I'm just a lucky person who occasionally catches a glimpse of fate," Alice said, her mind wandering to the phrase—why would "Huanhuan" write such a sentence?
Subconsciously, Alice felt that it was a very important matter, and that sentence itself might also be very important…
Immersed in her thoughts, Alice left the fortune-tellers' club, hesitating about her next move.
"…Should I visit that herbal shop?"
Alice instinctively resisted the idea, as encountering Bogda on the road or in the shop would not be a pleasant experience for her.
…Right! Alice slapped her forehead. Since it was possible to run into Bogda anyway, why not just follow him directly?
Alice, using the tracking skills she had learned, quietly followed Bogda. As he walked from the head to the tail of Vlad Street for the third time, Alice began to doubt her decision.
Fortunately—this gentleman was troubled by his liver and couldn't make a fourth round, ah, that was really too good…
Alice sighed helplessly and rested near Rosen's folk herbal shop.
After Bogda left with a bag of herbs, Alice walked in.
The shopkeeper, who was about to shout something at the back door, paused. He looked at Alice, gave her a once-over, and asked with a somewhat strange expression, "Miss, you… uh, are you of age?"
Alice looked at him puzzledly, clearly not understanding what this had to do with her being of age.
"What I mean is, you look very healthy," the shopkeeper wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead.
"Hmm…" Alice pondered, looking at him. After several turns in her mind without finding a tactful way, she asked bluntly, "Do you know where to find monsters?"
The plump pharmacist, encountering such a straightforward Beyonder for the first time, shuddered, looking at Alice's youthful face still tinged with innocence, unsure of what to do.
"I mean no harm," Alice blinked, deciding to reveal a bit of information, "I'm just… um, is it convenient to talk here?"
The plump pharmacist looked at Alice for a while, perhaps realizing that she had no intention of starting a fight, he locked the door, set up a spiritual wall, and then turned to Alice.
"I accidentally became a Beyonder," Alice explained.
"Accidentally?" The pharmacist's eyes were full of distrust.
"I swallowed a portion of extraordinary characteristics, and then…" Alice explained hesitantly, successfully seeing the pharmacist's expression turn strange.
"Is it… 'monsters'?" The pharmacist asked uncertainly—if it was a monster, it was indeed possible to find him, as monsters often see things they shouldn't due to too high inspiration, but occasionally see useful things.
"No, worse than that," Alice said with a headache, twisting her brow, "I swallowed the extraordinary characteristics of a lucky person."
"That is…?" The pharmacist guessed, remembering his teacher saying that the monster path could make people lucky, but he was not clear about the sequence number.
"'Monster' path sequence 7," Alice replied.
The pharmacist opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he seemed to temporarily lose the ability to control his language and facial muscles, only maintaining a stunned expression as he looked at Alice.
"I now believe that the 'monster' path can really improve luck," the pharmacist said after regaining his speech, "How should I contact you?"
"I guess you'll pack up and move tomorrow," Alice guessed, seeing the flesh on the pharmacist's face tremble, "I said I have no malice, I just want to know more about this path, and meet other Beyonder beings of the same path. You can contact the School of Life first, and if there's no problem, you can find me at the Church of Night, or write to…"
Alice left her address and contact information, then left the herbal shop without hesitation, not worried about the lack of response— even if it was suspected to be a trap, someone would come to investigate her situation.
And…
Alice thoughtfully lowered her head to look at herself, although it didn't reveal anything.
"Maybe, the real problem with the initial incident is actually with me?"
…
On Monday morning, Alice heard a shocking piece of news at the Blackthorn Security Company.
"So, the captain entered Hainas Vincent's dream and the person died before he came out?"
"Yes," Leonard replied.
Alice immediately jumped up to find Dunn.
Entering Dunn's office, Dunn sat behind the desk as usual, and Alice quietly observed him—he seemed to be alright.
"What do you want to ask?" Dunn questioned after Alice had been sizing him up for a while.
"I heard about last night's incident from Leonard, and I was a bit worried about you…" Alice explained her behavior.
"That's it," Dunn looked at Alice gently, "Don't worry, I'm fine."
"…Can you tell me what you saw in the dream?" Alice was still not reassured and continued to ask.
Dunn was silent for a moment, but still answered Alice, "It's not a pleasant memory… In Hainas Vincent's dream, I saw a huge cross filling the sky, with a naked man nailed to it with black nails…"
Alice listened carefully to Dunn's description, the man hanging upside down on the cross easily reminded her of an image—the Hanged Man card from the tarot.
Considering Dunn's coma, considering that the tarot is said to be related to the twenty-two paths of the gods, Alice suddenly remembered the phrase again—"Do not look directly at God."
What if the captain really saw a deity in his dream? Especially since it sounds like a malevolent god…
This thought uncontrollably appeared in Alice's mind, and as Alice had already begun to suspect that Dunn's predicament and loss of control were related, the thought became even more terrifying.
She looked at Dunn and the thick shadow enveloping him, pursed her lips, and abruptly asked a question unrelated to the topic, "Captain, do you say, the names of the sequence potions, are they just to reflect the effects?"
(End of Chapter)
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