If Alice had previously found Melusine's arrival troublesome and worrisome, the situation was now completely reversed.
"Actually, if you have need of it, I can provide you with the location of that Divine Ancestor, Guinevere's, fairyland," Alice said enthusiastically, a proper smile on her face.
"Although I haven't personally gone there, I was fortunate enough to record it through Spirit Vision during a certain incident."
Melusine hadn't expected this unexpected harvest; this way, she didn't need to go through the trouble of finding bait.
Finding people on Earth or in the Immortal Realm was simple; the tricky part was the Netherworld.
Once she knew where Guinevere's home base was, the complications of the Netherworld weren't really so complicated anymore, and this undoubtedly moved the progress of finding Guinevere ahead by a huge margin.
"My thanks." Melusine instantly pulled herself together, returning directly to 'Knight Mode'. "I will keep this favor in mind."
Athena didn't really care about other things, but seeing Melusine snap out of her lazy state, she smiled and nodded.
"You have done well, witch."
Although the two were satisfied for different reasons, Alice accepted it all.
Walking behind everyone, Erica felt a surge of insecurity and annoyance.
She actually knew Alice.
While they couldn't be called close friends, they were definitely 'internet friends' who had exchanged plenty of messages on the witches' network.
They had met offline too, but it couldn't compare to their online rapport.
Right now, Erica was frustrated that her talent in witchcraft was too meager. Princess Alice and Lord Melusine had only just met, yet Alice was already helping so much.
Liliana, on the other hand, had absolutely no thoughts on the matter.
She was always single-minded, not the type to overanalyze, and would only faithfully execute orders.
That was precisely why Voban liked using her.
Otherwise, why would Liliana be the one appearing before him most often out of all those Grand Knights?
Having obtained useful intelligence, Melusine was in a great mood, and since Melusine was in a good mood, Athena was in a good mood too.
After following Alice to the garden for a pleasant small tea party where both host and guests enjoyed themselves, Alice prepared to lead them to the mansion where Alexander had lived and conducted his research.
In most cases, authorities vanish along with their master's dissipation.
However, most of Alexander's authorities were of the trigger type.
Even if the master was gone, the magical power remaining would sustain them for a while, let alone the fact that his mansion was protected not only by his authorities but also by quite a bit of sorcery.
These things weren't even considered a nuisance to Melusine and Athena, but they didn't want to trigger any self-destruct magic by accident.
Alice hadn't personally been here before.
Due to her physical condition, combined with Alexander's swift, decisive actions and his rationality—different from other Campiones—he would always go directly to Alice rather than making her come to him, which was inefficient.
But this didn't mean Alice knew nothing about this mansion; in fact, the defensive works of this place were completed jointly by her and Alexander.
"Do you not harbor resentment toward me?"
Hearing Alice explaining the mansion while leading the way in front, Melusine asked out of curiosity.
It wasn't that she wanted to be hated or was looking for a reason to kill Alice too; she was genuinely curious.
Whether it was Andrea, whose close friend she had killed, or Alice, whose good friend and collaborator she had killed, neither seemed to hold any resentment or objection to her actions.
At first, she thought this was due to the immense gap in strength, but after spending time with Alice, she felt that wasn't the case.
"Resentment?" Alice didn't expect Melusine to ask this question.
Of course, she didn't feel that Melusine was testing her reaction—such a boring thing didn't seem like something the god before her would do.
Furthermore, her tone completely didn't match that intention.
This question clearly stemmed from curiosity, but... being curious about whether someone felt 'resentment'—that was the kind of curiosity that only appeared when contemplating the psychological state and thoughts of the other party.
Do Heretic Gods also consider such things?
Alice felt a bit of doubt and was flattered, but her reply was prompt. "The battles between gods and Campiones are not matters for us mortals to mix emotions into."
Having said that, she looked toward Athena, only to find that Athena was completely indifferent to this topic.
Athena was long accustomed to Melusine being different from other Heretic Gods.
Besides, wasn't she, Athena, a special Heretic God herself? Caring about human emotions was no big deal.
Although Alice's answer was a bit formulaic, it did explain her stance.
"I see. To humans, I am merely like a natural disaster incapable of harboring emotion."
Melusine wasn't surprised by the answer, though it wasn't what she wanted to hear.
Having spent so much time together, Erica knew Melusine's awkwardness very well.
Seeing her give her own interpretation without asking further, she knew Melusine wasn't very satisfied with the answer.
Therefore, she did something rather brazen for a retainer knight.
"Princess Alice, it should be more than that, shouldn't it? Being able to chat and laugh with a Campione, and even having plotted against a Divine Ancestor, you surely aren't the type to merely regard Campiones and Heretic Gods as natural disasters."
"..."
Sis, I didn't offend you, did I?
Alice felt cold sweat breaking out.
Noticing that Melusine's gaze, which had previously drifted away, was now back on her, she felt as if her heart had nearly stopped, even if this wasn't her original body.
However, her sweating didn't last long. Before she could continue thinking of her phrasing, a familiar yet unfamiliar magical power appeared before them.
It was Guinevere.
Melusine had never seen her before. Although they both knew each other's names, this was the first time they were meeting.
Just as Alice was about to reveal her identity, she saw the golden-haired young girl perform a curtsy towards Melusine, then conventionally and properly fold her hands in front of her, saying with her head lowered, "Lord Lancelot, I have come to plead for punishment."
Although she didn't know why this Melusine was going by the name of Lancelot, it didn't stop Guinevere from trying to use the name 'Lancelot' to see if she could get close.
"I didn't expect you to dare appear before me?" Melusine looked at Guinevere with some surprise.
"Due to some special reasons, I utilized your power. I am deeply sorry."
Guinevere didn't actually know how much Melusine had chatted with Alexander, or how hostile she was towards herself, so she simply brushed over the specifics.
For her right now, it was best to make any attempt possible.
She was already at rock bottom, so any way she went was up.
At worst, she would just die.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.