'Fucking hell…' Exhausted and deep breaths left Matthias' mouth as he walked through Iliasville, covered in old and new bruises.
His nose was clearly swollen and bleeding, making it hard for him to breathe properly, and he even had to keep an eye shut because of pain around that general area.
Anybody who didn't know any better would've thought he just came out from a five-on-one brawl, with his life barely hanging on the line…
…Of course, everyone knew that wasn't the case, as his fall from the temple's staircase was put on display for everyone to see.
But, even though he wished to rest for days to end, or – at the very least – simply recover from his injuries, Matthias still moved forward and kept his guard high.
He couldn't let this slow him down, not for as long as he could still walk.
Looking around, Matthias took notice that – just like in the early morning – the village was still under martial law, keeping the village mostly secluded for everyone's sake.
However, he also noticed that soldiers weren't the only people walking under the high sun.
There were also a few armed people who weren't dressed in the same way as the others… Travelers wanting to be heroes, perhaps?
As Matthias mused at the sight, a few soldiers approached him in an attempt to get him back to safety. They most likely thought he was a non-combatant traveler, considering that he was injured all across his body and missing an arm.
However, through gestures alone, he simply swatted them off and made it clear that he didn't want to be disturbed.
Fortunately, they weren't that much insistent, albeit it was unknown why that was the case considering their job's obligations.
None of that was of interest to him, either way; all he wanted to do was get his stuff back from Luka's inn and think of a solution to his problems in silence.
He had enough problems as it was, he couldn't afford to worry about other stuff too.
Speaking of…
'Where is Luka's house?' Matthias complained in his head as he looked ahead, only to suddenly come to a stop as he found himself directly at his destination's entrance doors.
'...Nevermind then.'
He gradually approached the doors, adjusting his lone arm until he was confident enough he could open both doors at once, and then pushed forward.
With a slow creak, the double-lidded entrance opened, parting ways for Matthias as he stepped inside the building.
Immediately, his eyes wandered across the reception room, finding his clothes with surprising quickness and—
—Before he could even move beyond the doors, his body instinctively found itself taking hurried steps back until he was left outside the inn, and his extended arm receded back to his chest.
He blankly stared at the closed doors with a lost expression, frozen on the spot for a solid minute, before he slowly turned around and observed the sky above his head with his good eye, silent and listless.
Did… Did he just see Black Alice sitting on the same table his clothes were at?
Yes, yes he did.
She was even drinking tea over there…
…
…What did he do to deserve this treatment? Was Ilias holding some sort of grudge on him? Or did fate find this funny?
Suddenly, the doors behind him opened all of a sudden, and as Matthias unconsciously turned his back around, he found himself standing face-to-face with his nemesis' smiling visage.
「あら ,こんにちは～」
Black Alice spoke with a welcoming tone, setting her crimson gaze on his green eyes.
On the other hand…
"..." Matthias stared back listlessly, unable to muster the strength to even scream in terror or run away.
He was so done with this…
It was always one thing after another, and it didn't even matter what he did about it.
Whenever he attempted to resist, he was pushed back; whenever he attempted to fight, he was struck down even harder; he couldn't even do anything at all or outright nothing because it would simply worsen things for him.
But as he kept staring without the slightest bit of reaction, as if he were waiting for something to happen…
"Dear, oh dear."
…Well, something happened.
A familiar sound unlike his inner voice echoed within Matthias' mind, momentarily freezing him on the spot in surprise as he got genuinely caught off guard.
"When someone salutes you, it's only proper manners to greet them back. Did your parents not teach you that?" The voice surfaced once again, speaking with a tone of amusement despite the meaning behind the words uttered.
"...Huh?"
Matthias' eyes narrowed as he tried to process the situation, and with newfound vigor, they then actually put focus on Black Alice's being instead of blankly staring at the void.
He… He wasn't hallucinating this, was he? This voice inside his head clearly belonged to…
「以前,あなたはわたしのこと全く理解していなかった気づいたけれども,わざとではなかったようですね.」
Black Alice muttered words under her breath – unintelligible words of course – but just as Matthias was double-guessing the voice in his head, he was taken aback when it surfaced for a third way.
"You can understand me this way, yes?"
"Uhh… Yeah?" Matthias blankly answered with a nod, which prompted Black Alice's smile to widen considerably.
And then, once again, her voice managed to reach him despite her lips not moving at all, akin to a telepathic communication. "You see, I was actually looking forward to talking with you since this morning."
…Oh.
That… That didn't sound good.
Not at all…
"If it is in your interest, I'd like to converse over a cup of tea with you. Of course, that is if you aren't too busy."
"..." Matthias' face contorted into befuddlement as he was put in a terrible situation once more.
A conversation with Black Alice out of all people?
Was it about what happened back then when they first met? Or did Ilias tell her something he didn't know about?
Well, whatever…
He couldn't refuse anyway, could he?
"Ssssure, I guess." He shrugged at Black Alice, albeit she only stared at him in return.
"This kind of communication works only from my side, I still cannot understand your speech." She commented, followed by another request of confirmation.
"A nod or shake should be enough for now."
As understanding flashed in Matthias' good eye, he nodded at her to answer her question.
Black Alice's smile widened at the answer she received, and at the sight – for a moment – Matthias almost forgot that he was actually speaking with the Devil incarnate: tricked by her seemingly ordinary and cute countenance.
He blinked, recovering from being pulled too far into her acting and thinking about the situation logically.
He couldn't let himself fall for her acting, she was only behaving this way because she found it funny.
If she felt like it, she still could kill him with ease and he wouldn't be able to do anything about it.
Even as tired as he was, he couldn't afford to let down his guard.
He had to take this seriously.
With everything having been said, Black Alice turned around and walked back inside, closely followed by Matthias who shut the doors behind his back.
Peace reigned in the atmosphere within the inn as soon as the doors closed, but for Matthias, things only started to get tenser as seconds ticked by.
Slowly, the two reached the table Black Alice previously sat on, with her taking her former seat while Matthias sat on the opposite chair holding his jacket.
A quick glance to the side revealed Black Alice's toy bear sitting beside them, reaching up to their level thanks to a tall stack of books on top of its own chair.
Coincidentally, each occupied side of the table also presented an elegant tea cup in front of them. Matthias' cup was dry and empty, while Black Alice's and the toy bear's were filled up to different amounts respectively
「クマちゃん～♪」
Suddenly, Black Alice spoke up in her language, prompting Matthias' eyes to set immediately on the speaker.
「新しいお客様の持て成しをしてくれませんか?」
However, he relaxed a bit upon seeing her speaking at the toy bear, rather than him.
Even so, he couldn't help but feel weirded out by the sight: a grown woman playing around with a teddy bear like a child.
It wasn't like he had any doubt in regards to this, but he could clearly see that there was something wrong with… with…
*Shuffle!* *Shuffle!*
…Black Alice's… brain?
*Pat!* *Pat!*
Huh?
Matthias couldn't help but blink as he saw the toy bear stand up on its two legs, hopping up on the table and approaching the teapot in the middle.
It hugged the teapot, which was practically about half as tall as it was, before approaching him with its two fingerless arms holding on to the container.
And yet, all it did was pour the content of the teapot within his cup, as if it was… serving him…
…
…The toy bear was alive.
Matthias blinked again as he saw the toy bear acting like a genuine member of the tea party, pouring him tea, putting the teapot back where it once was, and returning to its own seat.
Meanwhile, he listlessly stared as the toy bear lost all of its life it displayed just now, flopping on its seat and appearing like the normal teddy bear he originally thought it was.
But…
…The toy bear was alive.
Of course it was alive.
As if there was anything normal about his situation…
Matthias looked back at his own teacup, seeing the bright brown solution sitting within the cup. It was clearly warm, if the vapor coming from the surface was of any hint, and it also had a fragrant smell.
Still, he couldn't help but doubt if this was actually just hot tea, or something else entirely.
Did it have some sort of poison? Maybe a truth serum of some kind? Was it even tea, to begin with? Could it be something like liquid pain?
"You aren't going to drink it?" Black Alice's voice snuck inside his mind, appearing between his thoughts and concerns.
In reaction, Matthias looked up to the monster girl, noticing that her crimson gaze was now set onto him specifically.
"There's also milk and sugar if black tea isn't to your liking." Along those words, she gestured to the center of the table, where a milk pitcher and a sugar bowl sat alongside the teapot.
However, his eyes laid on them for merely a moment before he looked at Black Alice once again, showing his answer with pure inaction.
Fortunately, unlike Luka and the soldiers in the village, she appeared rather perceptive of his body language as she immediately understood him.
"Well, then." She commented before taking a sip of her own cup, silently and delicately like a proper lady. And yet, her eyes never left Matthias' figure throughout the whole act.
It was only when she put the cup back down to her saucer that she began to talk, starting with…
"You know, I never actually got your name before. May I hear it?"
…A casual introduction.
"Oh." Matthias softly exclaimed in slight surprise, not expecting Black Alice to start like that. Even so, he didn't take much time to answer her and replied with the following:
"Matthias, I'm… I'm Matthias."
Black Alice paused for a few seconds as she listened, processing his foreign language as best as she could.
「マティアス?そんな一般的な名前だとは予想していなかったわ.」
Matthias heard something that sounded akin to his name in those words, albeit twisted by a certain degree. He didn't bother to correct the strange pronunciation, however, as he neither had the willpower nor the actual desire to do so.
"It's a pleasure to learn about you, Matthias. My name is Alipheese, Alipheese Fateburn."
A familiar name entered his mind, and yet the face in front of him was completely different from the true owner of it.
Regardless, he nodded in understanding, ignoring the uncomfortable feelings festering within him.
"The weather is nice today, isn't it? Matthias."
Matthias froze at the unexpected question, originally thinking that she would ask for something much more personal rather than… starting a casual conversation…
Even so, prompted by the question, he glanced at one of the open windows in the hall, seeing bright light sneaking through the hole.
It did look like a good day, yes.
"Uhh… Yeah, it is." He nodded at Black Alice, answering her.
It wasn't like he could do anything else, unable to communicate to her by his own initiative, which meant he had to abide by her flow of the conversation whether he liked it or not.
Seconds of awkward silence passed by, silence that Black Alice didn't appear to appreciate judging by her soft sigh later on.
「これほどの一方的な会話は,かなり退屈ですわね.」
She muttered words to herself before sipping on her tea once again, and after she was done with it, the everlasting smile on her visage visibly got smaller.
"Well, enough with the small talk." She declared, preparing a hard-hitting question out of blue. "I was wondering about one thing, actually. What happened between you and Ilias?"
"..." Matthias' lips slightly parted open, albeit only a silent soft breath left his mouth. Just as he expected, Black Alice finally asked the question he guessed she was most interested in.
This was most likely why she was here, to begin with.
After all, Ilias did intervene to prevent Black Alice from killing him, back in the woods.
Why did Ilias do that?
What did he say to make the Goddess do that?
What happened after Black Alice left?
Why was he still alive?
Black Alice had to be wondering about such things by now, considering that none of those actions fit Ilias' modus operandi.
And yet… Could he even answer that question?
"Did you know? In normal circumstances, you wouldn't even be here… Not alive, at the very least." Black Alice commented, with her gaze sharpening up.
"I know Ilias had to do something with it, because it was her who actually stopped me from ending your life."
She began tapping on the table, methodically but firmly. "I was thinking along the lines of 'Maybe he was shouting something terrible', 'Did he curse Ilias in his last moments?', or 'Was this why she wanted to take care of him even though I was about to finish the job on my own?'... And yet, here you are—"
"—Breathing, lively… Although you don't appear to be fine, however." She mused to him. "Did you perhaps get in a fight on your way here?"
Before Matthias could answer the random question thrown at him, Black Alice sighed and shook her head. "Well, it doesn't matter anymore."
"So, what did you say back—Oh, right, you can't speak the common language."
She was suddenly reminded of the peculiar issue of the language barrier, prompting her to pause on her words.
Black Alice placed a hand beneath her chin, thinking over the problem with a thoughtful expression, and it was then that she got an idea.
"Ah, I got it." She exclaimed in his head, raising a finger from her lifted hand and twirling it playfully. "Let's play twenty questions!"
"Do you know the game?"
Matthias shook his head, no bell ringing in his head at the mention of such a game.
"Well…" She momentarily trailed off. "...In simple terms, I'll give you up to twenty questions, and you will have to answer with yes or no. It's nothing too complicated, albeit lying is forbidden in this game."
…Basically, it was a kid-friendly version of a police interrogation, from what he garnered.
Either way, Matthias couldn't possibly tell Black Alice about what he and Ilias actually talked about. The Goddess would kill him immediately if word came out, for sure.
"Are you up to it?" Black Alice asked, amused at the prospect of playing games with him.
Unfortunately for her, however, Matthias shook his head in refusal, much to her surprise.
Her eyes visibly widened at the sight, prompting her to ask for confirmation. "You do not wish to tell me anything?"
The young man shook his head again, making his stance clear.
Black Alice hummed as she stared at Matthias with narrow eyes, before the raised tip of her finger fell on the table with a soft thump.
"You do realize what your situation is at the moment, right?" She tentatively asked with a deeper tone, just to make sure her thoughts on the matter were correct; but, upon seeing Matthias nod in affirmation, an unique spark shone in her eyes.
And yet, she said nothing for the following seconds after his answer.
Something was going through her mind, and even though Matthias had no way to understand what it was, he could still tell from the sheer tension of the atmosphere that it wasn't a good thing…
…No.
She… She wouldn't try to hypnotize him with her magic just to get the truth out of him, would she?
She wouldn't do that, right?
Because he knew she could do that, she had the capability…
Matthias' eyes trailed downward to the table, avoiding eye contact with Black Alice just in case, as futile as it was.
'What am I even thinking? It's not like she couldn't force eye contact on her own if it came to that—'
"—Let's do things this way, then!"
The exhausted young man jumped in surprise, caught off guard by the sudden enthusiastic voice of Black Alice echoing in his head without any warning.
"We will play the game, and if I still can't manage to guess what you have in mind, then I shall not ask anything else out of you." Black Alice suggested, prompting Matthias to look back at her with one eye widened.
Upon seeing the young man's focus back at her, her smile also widened. "I'm not going to force the answer out of you, torture you for it, nor extract it through magic or any other way. No strings attached or loopholes of any kind."
"Of course, you can't refuse to participate either. I'm not going to accept a no this time." She elaborated, putting an elbow down on the table and supporting her head on top of it, while her other hand held up a wagging finger aimed in his direction.
"You're afraid of betraying your Goddess' expectations, isn't that right? If you still wish to live, this is the opportunity for you." Black Alice playfully said, although her words were anything but that.
The entire situation was getting way too dangerous for Matthias' tastes, even with his exhausted state keeping him off from trembling all over the place like last time.
But it was because of this tired state of mind that he managed to give her a quick and short answer.
He nodded, accepting the deal.
If he refuted, he would get on Black Alice's bad side. At that point, only fate could guess what she would do to him: hypnosis, physical torture, or mental torture… Either way, he was going to end up dead.
On the other hand, if Black Alice managed to guess what happened between him and Ilias, it would be the latter the one to end his life.
Even so, even though both choices would potentially end up with his death, it wasn't hard for him to make the right choice.
After all, just as Black Alice said, there was still a possibility that she couldn't guess the truth…
Meanwhile, as the monster girl saw Matthias accepting her offer, she smiled with her eyes and declared: "Then, let's not keep this going any longer."
"The game will begin now!"
At that announcement, the surroundings around Matthias started to change.
Purple tentacles spread from the table in the middle of the hall, covering the wooden floor and encroaching to the walls.
They climbed up, shutting down windows and doors, and crawled through the ceiling until everything in his field of sight was full of tentacles.
With no way for sunlight to enter the room, complete darkness overtook the atmosphere, but it was at that time when a lit-up candle appeared between him and Black Alice, supplying them with enough light for them to look at each other clearly…
…Wait, since when was there a candle? He didn't remember any being present on the table before.
But, before Matthias could even process all these changes, Black Alice's voice telepathically got transmitted to his head once again, interrupting his thoughts.
"Alright then," She began. "To start with, when you called Ilias' name in front of me, did you say something bad?"
She was obviously referring to when she was about to kill him in the forest, right before he spewed Ilias' plans to the four winds…
After some hesitation from getting his wits together in this scary atmosphere, Matthias slowly nodded.
「なるほど,なるほど.」
Black Alice mumbled words in a low voice, before she followed with her second question.
"Did you curse her?"
Matthias shook his head, prompting her to hum in thoughtfulness.
Hopefully, she'd only shoot blanks at him across all the remaining 18 questions, but he should have known better than to pray for such a miracle…
"...Was it a threat, perhaps? Did you threaten her?"
Matthias froze for a moment as the question was brought up.
Yes, he threatened Ilias.
Even though it wasn't an explicit threat, he did appear to know information he wasn't supposed to have, which could be considered as a subtle threat to Ilias.
Seconds passed by, and eventually, Matthias nodded in affirmation.
Black Alice's crimson eyes sparkled in curiosity at the revelation, but she said nothing as she quickly proceeded to the next question.
"Were you threatening her reputation?"
It was a question thrown out of blue, which in itself caught Matthias off guard.
Was she trying to discover what sort of threat it was?
To begin with, as mentioned before, it wasn't a proper threat, so Black Alice might find it difficult to continue from here-on.
He shook his head negatively.
And yet, soon after, he was blindsided by a question that was instead way too close to the truth.
"Was it something that could compromise her in some way?"
Matthias scrunched his eyebrows in frustration as he heard those words.
Why did she have to use such vague wording? Couldn't she ask instead if he was threatening something else? Maybe threaten some random people that Ilias deemed important? Or threaten her life?
Ultimately, he could only nod.
There were still 15 questions left… Could he manage to keep things secret with that many attempts left?
"Perhaps…" Black Alice trailed off for a moment. "Is the information in question something related to the past?"
Matthias paused as he processed the question, incomparable to the 4th one in terms of randomness.
The past… A threat related to the past… Did Black Alice assume he knew something about the Six Ancestors' Great Seal?
He did, yes, but that wasn't what she had been asking for.
Matthias shook his head.
However, if it wasn't about the past, then—
"—What about the future?"
Of course, Black Alice decided to go through a process of elimination, and of course, she had to ask a question he was forced to concede to her.
He nodded, which surprisingly prompted Black Alice to muse out an exclamation in surprise.
Matthias could feel goosebumps at the sight: did she catch onto something?
"Is it related to a plan of some kind?"
…She did.
'Damn it.' Matthias cursed Black Alice in his mind before proceeding to nod again.
There were 12 questions left, but – at this point – he started doubting whether he could survive through them. This woman was way too perceptive for his liking.
"Then, is the plan related to me?"
"..." Matthias' face scrunched even further as the 9th question echoed in his mind.
That… That was way too close to bullseye: way too sudden, way too soon.
Fear started to grip around his heart, fear that surpassed his apathetic exhaustion that carried him so far.
His lone fist clenched tightly; his body tensed firmly; with great hesitation, he shook—
*—Crackle!*
Matthias flinched in surprise as the flame on the candle blazed with great intensity, way beyond what should have been logically possible, only to return back to its small and dim form.
"Ah," Black Alice softly exclaimed, smiling in amusement at the sight. "Remember, no lies~"
The young man stared at the candle with ragged breaths, trying but failing to calm down from the jumpscare.
This was getting bad for him, he was beginning to feel the same emotions he once underwent through in the forest…
"So? Is it a yes or a no?" Black Alice insisted, urging Matthias to resume the game.
In reaction, he glanced back to her amused gaze with his grieving face, and – in between his heavy breathings – he ultimately gave her a hesitant nod.
It hadn't even been ten questions… Not even ten questions, and she was already catching on Ilias' secret plan.
He was going to die, he was going to die…! He should have just run away when he had the chance…!
"You actually know more than you let on, don't you?" Black Alice mused with curiosity.
"..."
"Well then," She resumed her questioning. "If it's something related to me that Ilias didn't want to tell me about… I assume it might be a plan that involves my death, hmm?"
At this point, Matthias couldn't even sweat despite the ever-increasing pressure of Black Alice getting a full picture, he was way too dehydrated to even do that.
It seemed like she did also notice that, seeing him trying to moisten up his dry lips and his general sense of discomfort.
She gestured at the cup of tea lying in front of him, speaking so calmly one might even believe she didn't have any idea of what was going on with him: "Please feel free to take a small break if you need, I'm not trying to rush you to answer me."
And yet, this time, Matthias couldn't help but look down at the teacup, feeling a temptation that he didn't feel a few minutes ago.
He gulped a mouthful of saliva at the sight, wishing to sate his thirst, and decided to risk it as he grabbed the cup and downed its content all at once.
After all this time, the tea had gotten cold by now, and with the small amount of liquid that was originally in the small cup, he barely felt any change within himself.
Admittedly, however, the fragrance and the new moisture within his mouth did help him a bit.
He exhaled a long breath, calming down from the gradual panic attack he was about to have. His breathing rhythm started to take a more regular pace, while his tense muscles began to relax.
For a moment, he was wondering… He didn't appear as scared about death as he was during the other times.
Was it because of the tea? Did it have actual calming effects imbued within?
Or maybe, it could have been due to the fact he had already faced death three times in a row prior to this, and could have gotten used to it.
It might also just be because of his general feeling of exhaustion.
Between his missing arm, the feeling of starvation in his empty stomach, and the aching bruises covering his entire body… Honestly, it was a miracle he was still thinking with some degrees of clarity.
There was also the possibility for it to be all three, or something else that eluded him at the moment.
He glanced at Black Alice, who was waiting for an answer to her latest question…
'Was Ilias' plan related to her death,' she asked him.
As soon as he answered the question, there was no coming back… Or maybe, he had already reached the point of no-return even earlier.
Maybe, it was fate for him to die this way, ever since he first arrived in this world, or even from the very day he was born…
But he had his hands tied now, he couldn't lie.
He couldn't fight back.
He couldn't run.
He couldn't stay silent.
He could only nod, answering her question with a positive reply.
Black Alice didn't ask her next question immediately, however, giving him some moments of respite.
「勿論,彼女は私をいつまでも生かしておいてくれるはずがないわ.」
She muttered words under her breath, all while scratching her chin in thoughtfulness; but, from this point on, Matthias couldn't even properly hear what she was saying even if he were able to understand it.
Ten questions were answered, ten more were left, but with Black Alice encroaching ever so close to the truth, he already stopped considering the number of questions left.
What was going through his mind was a simple eerie thought, instead.
Which one of the ten remaining questions would trigger Ilias into killing him?
It was like he was being forced into playing a realistic version of Minesweeper, and he had to step on every square foot of the area until the game ended by its own accord.
Any step from now on could easily symbolize his death, with a fifty-fifty chance for each: like a coin toss with death being heads and life being tails.
And, as Black Alice resumed the game after spending time in her own thoughts, the metaphorical coin was tossed in the air, and…
"Do you fully know the details of Ilias' plan?"
…It landed on tails, this time.
Matthias slowly nodded.
Now, after one successful toss, the total chances for a save were 25%.
"Interesting. interesting…" She softly spoke in his mind. "So, that implies you also know when and how she will end up killing me, is that right?"
And just like that, it landed once again onto tails, and his chances for success consequently fell down to 12,5%.
Yet, Matthias couldn't help but also feel some degrees of anger rising within him, alongside with the quiet feelings of dread.
And how could he not? It was starting to get ridiculous… She was practically toying around with him with these roundabout questions, at this point.
Of course he'd know about the details of her death if he knew about the whole thing, to begin with.
"I can't help but wonder… How did a human like you even manage to learn about stuff like this? You are a normal human, aren't you?"
6,25%, those were now his chances for another successful coin toss.
Matthias nodded awkwardly. There was the whole deal about coming from another world that definitely classified him out of the ordinary, but he assumed she wasn't referring to that with her question.
However, at this point, Black Alice already learned plenty out of him; all she needed was a couple more questions, and not only would she also be fully in the known like he was, but his fate would also be ultimately sealed.
"In that case, you must be involved in the plan in some way, aren't you?"
Matthias' body tensed up as soon as he processed those words.
On one hand, the question was way too close to the truth, practically at its doorsteps. It wouldn't be weird if he was struck down by lightning at this very moment.
On the other hand… It hadn't happened yet.
Was this not enough to trigger Ilias' judgement? Apparently not.
In the end, Matthias nodded, unable to do anything else.
At this point, there was supposedly a 3,125% chance for the next question to not be the one to trigger the Goddess, but he was starting to doubt his actual chances at the moment.
After all, he told her that he knew of a plan between him and Ilias, he told her that the plan involved her death, he told her that he participated in the plan in some way…
…All that was left was one question, one last piece of the puzzle.
Was he involved in her death?
Was Ilias' plan about him killing her?
Was he supposed to kill her?
Any such question would definitely end up provoking Ilias, especially considering he was obligated to answer Black Alice properly – unless he wanted to die by her hand instead.
"You know," she began, albeit Matthias couldn't find the courage to look her into the eyes anymore.
"With all this stuff you're telling me about, I can't help but wonder…"
He inhaled a long breath.
This was it—
"Do you perhaps know of a person going by the name of Promestein?"
*—Fshh!* His breath got sharper as he clenched his teeth in between, caught off guard by the unexpected question.
Did he know someone named Promestein—Where did that one come from?
…Was Black Alice going to waste the last five questions before the 20th to accumulate more information out of him?
Matthias blinked as he stared back at her, confusion swirling into his eyes.
How… How was he even supposed to answer this one?
He did know Promestein, but it wasn't like she knew him, considering his knowledge came from the game rather than some eventful moment in his life.
In the end, he nodded, since that was the case if technicalities were counted in.
But, instead of proceeding to the next question, Black Alice kept staring at him with a soft gaze as she laid her upper body's weight onto the table, softly humming in wonder.
With a fist supporting her tilted head, she maintained eye contact with him all while staying silent, deep into her own thoughts.
*Tap!* One of her fingers tapped on the table.
Was she thinking of another question unrelated to his involvement in her death? Or did she feel playful enough to toy around with his fears?
*Tap!*
Knowing her, she had to be thinking of some nefarious thoughts behind that smile.
This person was a tyrant, in the end: no matter how cute or innocent she may look.
*Tap!*
In the original game, she was considered so cruel that even her fellow monsters were scared of her, to the point the only people who looked up to her were man-eating creatures;
*Tap!*
In Paradox, she managed to become a Goddess on her own through a long series of coincidences, and decided to use her newfound powers to spread destruction and chaos wherever she liked;
*Tap!*
Even putting those aside, she even went so far as to amputate him just because he soiled himself out of fear;
She was cruel for the love of the game, it was her default emotion…
*Tap!*
…And yet, the next question never came.
*Tap!*
Matthias started fidgeting in nervousness, with the eerie silence in the atmosphere clawing at his heart.
A feeling of impending doom clutched down his soul… But it never arrived.
*Tap!*
*Tap!*
*Tap!*
Seconds passed and became minutes, but regardless of how much time passed, all he was thinking of was a single question.
When was the next question going to arrive?
*Tap!*
When?
*Tap!*
Was it in the next second?
*Tap!*
…Maybe in this other one?
*Tap!*
…No, that wasn't it either.
*Tap!*
How much time did Black Alice need to think about her next question? What was going through her head?
*Tap!*
She was so quick to understand the situation between him and Ilias, and yet, why was she acting so slow now?
*Tap!*
"Just stop teasing me already…" Matthias muttered in defeat, knowing fully well Black Alice couldn't understand his language.
*...*
*...*
*...*
And then, the rhythmic tapping stopped.
Looking at the monster girl, he could see that she closed her eyes in silence, before she straightened her back and released a soft sigh.
「じゃ,それでは.」
She mumbled words to herself before she opened her crimson eyes again, setting her gaze on the surrendering figure of Matthias.
And then, she spoke to him with a delicate smile.
"The game is over."
"I bid you my congratulations, you've won."