strictlysupreme Chapter 1031 The Last Routine 210
Chapter 1031 The Last Routine 210
Chapter 1031 The Last Routine 210
"Watch me—"
"Wow! I lost again! My sister is so strong!"
"Hehehe, I've got a little grasp of the trick. Come on, let's have another match... No, no." Alice, engrossed in the game, suddenly remembered that she still had a mission to complete and couldn't continue playing here. She said to the puzzled child in front of her, "Excuse me, it's about time I said goodbye. Thank you for playing with me."
"Okay, goodbye, sister!" the little girl said with a smile. Having had enough fun, she no longer clung to being with Alice and ran home.
Alice, having parted ways with the child, walked down the street, lost in thought, and said, "Alright, let's start looking for my brother again. But where should I begin...?"
Just as Alice was feeling awkward and at a loss, a middle-aged man with a mohawk suddenly appeared beside her. He waved to Alice and said, "Little girl... is this your first time in town?"
"Uh...yes, that's about it." Alice answered instinctively, then looked at the kind-looking middle-aged man and asked curiously, "Excuse me, who are you...?"
"Haha! It's been a long time since I've met someone who isn't afraid of my appearance!" The middle-aged man with the mohawk said happily, giving Alice a thumbs-up and saying with approval, "I really like you, little girl!"
Then, he shoved a strange object into Alice's hand and said in a lighthearted yet provocative tone, "This is my farewell gift to you... Welcome to the entrance to Hell."
"This is... dango!?" Alice looked at the handful of dango balls in her hands and said happily, "So you're from the dango shop!"
"It's freshly made...eat it." The middle-aged man with the mohawk said with a smile. Indeed, as he said, although he looked a little scary, he was not a bad person.
“Thank you,” Alice said with a smile. “Then, I’ll gladly accept your offer…” She took a bite of the dumpling and groaned with satisfaction, “Delicious! This… this is…! The sweetness and chewy texture are so irresistible!”
"Hehe...!" The middle-aged man with a mohawk wiped his nose with a smug look on his face, while taking out various small dishes from under the counter and saying, "Soy sauce, red beans, and Mitarai sauce are all available...?"
"Is that alright?!" Alice was slightly surprised, then smiled and said, "Then you'll be welcome—"
"Aaaaaah! This isn't the time for this kind of thing!"
As Alice was happily enjoying the dumplings, a familiar shout suddenly came from not far away. Upon hearing it, Alice exclaimed excitedly, "Was that... my brother's voice!?" Then, she bowed to the middle-aged man with the mohawk and said, "I'm sorry, I have urgent business... I will return the favor someday!" After saying that, she quickly ran towards that direction and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
“…Heh.” The middle-aged man with the mohawk watched her leave quickly, closed his eyes, and said with satisfaction, “That kind of straightforward guy might just drive the development of the next era.”
And so, everyone missed each other again.
After rescuing Youyou, Kobayashi and the others headed straight for the interior of the city. However, when they arrived and saw an empty room, they asked in surprise, "Is this the city?...Is Lady Alice here? We don't see her."
“In any case, I hope you can pass on this message…” Darkness said to his retainer with a headache, but the retainer had no time to deal with them. Instead, he shouted to the servants, “Search the entire town! There have been reports of murders committed while testing a knife! We must find Her Highness the Princess as soon as possible!”
"It seems like we've come at the wrong time." Huihui looked at the people coming and going in the city, all with anxious expressions on their faces, and said, "The security personnel seem very flustered."
"Wait a minute, did they say something unpleasant?" Kobayashi couldn't help but twitch his lips, saying with a worried expression, "Find the princess or something...!"
"And what exactly is this about testing a knife to kill someone...?" Youyou asked, equally worried. She looked puzzled and confused. To be honest, she really didn't know this historical allusion.
Aqua then took the opportunity to explain, "It was a guy who suddenly attacked pedestrians at night when no one was paying attention. In short, he was a very serious criminal."
Hearing her words, Youyou was immediately terrified; she seemed to have never imagined there could be such a vicious villain. Equally worried was Yujian Xiangye, who immediately declared, "Lady Alice is in danger! Everyone, split up and search!"
"Ah, it's rare to see everyone on the same page." Kobayashi gave Mitsurugi Kyouya an approving look, then said to his companions, "Well then, let's go!"
So everyone began searching for Alice in the streets.
Then, let's return to the present.
"We didn't find them here either." Alice looked around but didn't see any familiar figures. She sighed with disappointment, "I think I heard a sound just now, but... where are my brothers?"
She couldn't help but wonder if she was hallucinating, but when she rushed over, she couldn't find Xiaolin anywhere.
As Alice searched for the familiar figure, she heard someone shout in exasperation, "What's wrong with selling me the knife! You stingy shopkeeper!... That's enough!!"
"Wow!"
"Well!"
Before Alice could react, the little boy bumped into her, but Alice, with her superhuman strength, knocked him to the ground.
Alice immediately became extremely nervous and asked, "Are you alright?! I'm sorry, I was looking around and bumped into you."
"...Sister, who are you?" the little boy asked impatiently, covering his head, then added with some confusion, "You're wearing very expensive clothes."
"Um..." Alice thought for a moment, then chose her usual false identity and introduced herself, "I'm Eliza, the granddaughter of a silk wholesaler. If you'd like, could you tell me about yourself?"
"...I want to buy a knife." The little boy said, his expression twisted with pain, but mostly with resentment. Finally, he moved his lips and said, "I need a weapon that can kill the guy who tried to kill me!"
"Testing a knife to kill... what is that...?" Alice asked, her face full of confusion. She, too, had no idea what it meant.
The little boy seemed surprised that Alice would ask such a stupid question. He opened his eyes wide and shouted, "They're the bad guys who suddenly start slashing people! My father was also slashed by those guys...!" It seemed that his resentment and anger were directed at the guys who randomly slashed people.
“Your father…is so pitiful…”
Alice said this with some heartache. It's so pitiful that such a young child has to take care of his father because he was slashed, and even wants to buy a knife.
I'm worried about my brother and the others... but I can't just leave this child alone... It's too dangerous and reckless for him to fight bad guys alone. I have to convince him to stop!
Thinking this through, Alice nodded seriously and said, "Thank you for telling me all this, but I don't approve of this kind of revenge. Let's discuss it with the adults; there must be another way. Let's start thinking about it again now..."
Her advice was earnest and simple, but the little boy, blinded by anger, completely ignored it. Or rather, he was too preoccupied with the fact that his father had been slashed in front of him to care about anything else.
"...Are you going to get in my way too?" the little boy said angrily, baring his teeth as he shouted, "Enough! I'll figure something out myself...!"
With that, he turned and ran.
"Ah, wait a minute!"
But Alice grabbed him, and although the little boy tried to break free, he was too weak and Alice was too strong, so he could only struggle. At that moment, Alice said, "Um... if I made you uncomfortable, I apologize. But please, can you leave this to me?"
"It has nothing to do with Sister Eliza, right?" the little boy said reluctantly, though he had to admit there was a lot of spite involved.
“No,” Alice shook her head and said, “I can’t just stand by and watch a child like you be in danger… So, I will help you resolve this!”
"...They're treating me like a little kid!" The little boy was a bit unhappy. He shouted, "Isn't Sister Eliza a little kid too?!"
“But I’m the older sister,” Alice said, stroking his head. “And I’m pretty strong, you know? So, I’ll definitely catch the bad guy who tried to kill me!” She made a gesture of flexing her arm muscles, but unfortunately, her arms were too thin to be convincing at all.
"What...?" The little boy felt underestimated, pouted, and turned his head away, saying, "If my sister can do it, so can I—"
"Hey Kobayashi! Over there! Under the eaves of the dango shop!!"
Just as the little boy was complaining, Aqua's voice suddenly reached Alice's ears, followed by Kobayashi and the others.
"Yes, yes, what's wrong... Alice!?" Kobayashi said this somewhat perfunctorily, but when she looked at the dango house that Aqua was pointing to, she saw Alice, whom they had been searching for for a long time.
"Brother!!?" Alice exclaimed in surprise when she saw them.
The group gathered together.
Darkness breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's great...! Thank goodness you're safe and sound."
"When we went to the city, we found that the princess was missing, and there was complete chaos," Huihui said, following closely behind. "Should we go back and tell them?"
"Please don't, or I'll be grounded," Alice quickly refused. She then said to the others, "I'm sorry to have worried you. I'm sure everyone's here."
"Ah, it's probably the scroll's fault." Kobayashi nodded, looking a little annoyed, but after seeing Alice's gorgeous attire, he smiled and said, "Speaking of which, Alice is a princess here too."
"Lady Alice, let's start working together from now on," said Mikami Hibiki with some concern. "It's said that a very dangerous sword-testing killer has appeared in town."
"That's right! The knife-testing murder!" Alice exclaimed as if she had just remembered something. "We were just discussing that knife-testing murderer!"
"We...?" Youyou looked at Alice with a puzzled expression, then glanced around at the people beside her and said with some doubt, "But, there's only Lady Alice here..."
"Huh, that's strange...?" Alice looked around but didn't see the small figure. She became tense and anxious, saying, "There was a little boy here just now..." Then, as if she had thought of something, her expression changed, and she said, "Could it be... that he went to find the one who tested the knife and killed someone...? No, that child will be in danger if this continues! Everyone, I'm sorry, please lend me your power!"
Then, under Alice's direction, the group began searching for the missing little boy.
Time goes by.
As darkness fell, the others grew increasingly anxious, wondering what terrible things the little boy might do. It was said that the one who had tested the knife and committed murder was coming out to cause trouble at this time.
And until—
“Ahhhh——————”
A little boy's terrified screams echoed from the depths of the alley. Immediately following were sinister voices.
"This won't do! A child walking alone at night like this. Such a careless child, may he become a victim of my blade...!"
"Wait a moment!!"
"Hmm, who is it!?"
Just as the assailant was about to strike the little boy, Alice arrived in time. She entered the alley and declared righteously, "Attacks on children are utterly despicable! Even if heaven spares you, I, Eliza, will never forgive you!!"
"Sister Eliza!?"
The little boy said this excitedly after seeing Alice. Although he did not appear to be injured, his whole body was tattered and torn, and there were obvious tears in the corners of his eyes. He looked very disheveled, mixed with the dust.
"Are you alright?" Alice asked with concern when she saw him, then shielded the little boy behind her and said, "It's dangerous here, step back!"
"Eliza?" the killer said nonchalantly, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Hmph, even if there's one more brat...!"
But what he didn't know was that Kobayashi and the others had been waiting outside the alley for a long time, ready to rush in and take down the man who had tested the knife and killed someone.
Seeing Alice's figure, Huihui said with considerable resentment, "I really envy Eliza! Announcing her name at such a perfect moment isn't something everyone can do!!"
"Huihui, focus your attention on the enemy in front of you!" Youyou scolded her unhappily.
However, because of this, the man who tested the knife and committed the murder found himself surrounded by a group of people and could no longer escape.
(End of this chapter)