After nearly an hour of testing her abilities, plus an hour of instruction, Alice finally managed to give her new familiar, Eve, the basic qualities she should possess.
First were the two familiar skills inscribed in the crystal core: "Camouflage" and "Ghost Hand."
The former, as the name suggests, provides the familiar with camouflage illusions that blend into the environment, making it easier to disguise and infiltrate.
Considering Eve's own feather color, she would be quite conspicuous in most situations.
For a "thief," this wasn't a good thing.
However, the clever little one quickly learned to use the core skill and enthusiastically experimented with various colors of camouflage.
—As for the latter, it was a modified spell based on the magic trick "Mage's Hand," incorporating Alice's personal understanding.
This modified spell allowed the caster to control an invisible "Ghost Hand," its manifestation purely composed of spiritual power. It could move and lift objects weighing no more than 7 pounds, and control the movements of the fingers to perform more delicate actions, such as unlocking locks and writing.
Basically, anything a human can do with their hands, the "Ghost Hand" can also be performed with practice.
The significance of this spell lies in giving the familiar Eve an invisible hand similar to a human's, allowing her to accomplish tasks that were previously too difficult for her.
Furthermore, the "Thief's Potion" enhanced Eve's physique and agility, teaching her the skills of using short swords and daggers—though she claims she has no intention of using weapons—allowing her to silently remove items from others' pockets, and consequently, her dexterity with the "Ghost Hand" is surprisingly good.
Of course, for Alice, the results weren't all good.
The familiar Eve's problems, or rather her weaknesses, were quite obvious and fatal.
Even with an intelligence level comparable to an adult human, Eve's mind was still no different from a child's; she lacked common sense, was overly curious, and loved to play…
Most importantly, despite her intelligence and quick wit, if Alice didn't give her clear instructions, only a general command, she would find it difficult to think for herself and complete the task independently.
Exploring the secrets of "robin role-playing" is a prime example.
Strictly speaking, only a few days have passed since Eve gained sentience; she herself is merely a tiny robin, barely reaching adulthood and not yet a year old.
It's perfectly normal for her to develop a dependence on her master, Alice, and a chick-like attachment to her.
However, Alice has absolutely no interest in being a babysitter.
After a moment's thought, she made a decision—to find someone skilled in role-playing to teach her familiars.
As for the candidate… well, she'd already considered it; a free spirit would be perfect for this kind of mentally taxing work.
Perfect timing, since the subsequent recipes for "The Thief" are still undetermined, the exploration of role-playing can proceed slowly.
The Church of the Steam God's database only contains the Sequence 9 recipe, and it's kept hidden away in the most confidential Kusher area, almost as if they don't want ordinary members to discover it.
And according to Alice's observations, there are indeed no members in the Mechanical Heart team in Tingen City who have chosen the "Thief" path.
It seemed there was no hope in finding clues from the church.
But she couldn't use a cheating wish spell like she had before, to obtain the Hunter Sequence 7 "Fire Mage" recipe…
that was originally just a simple experiment.
In her former world, wishes were manipulations and alterations of the world's rules, miracles achieved without the aid of any divine power—of course, no miracle comes without a price, but that wasn't her focus now.
The key point was that here, in her current world, the nature of this spell had changed.
When she made a tentative wish in the wish spell, the spell returned a voice, providing her with the Hunter's Path Sequence 7 potion recipe and indicating the main areas where the materials were distributed.
The price taken by the spell had also changed, becoming quite bizarre…
She should have been weakened by spellcasting for about five days, but that wasn't the case. Instead, the voice, seemingly a response from the spell, demanded a price from her.
A request.
A very simple request, so simple it was almost strange.
"Tell me, who are you?"
What was so difficult about that?
Alice gave the pseudonym she used most often in this world, and the effect of the wish spell ended.
Looking back, she thought she might have unintentionally connected with a being akin to a god… Well, surprisingly, the other party was so kind, so helpful, and so selfless…
But one attempt was enough. One was enough for her to understand the changes in the world's rules and stop thinking about things the old way. Using the wish spell too many times would probably attract trouble from a god-like being; just imagining it was a headache.
One step at a time. She'd find another way to solve the problem of the follow-up potion for her familiar, Eve.
Thinking this, Alice terminated the spell on the magic house, erased her traces in the wilderness, took out the materials needed for teleportation, and faced the direction of the city.
…
Early morning, Golden Phoenix District.
A rumble of thunder startled many light sleepers in the neighborhood. Some, still in their pajamas, went to their beds to look outside, found no rain on the street and no lightning strike in their yards, and then grumbled as they returned to bed to continue their sweet dreams.
Like many of her neighbors, Danitalie was also awakened by the earlier thunder, but her first reaction was to pull out her revolver from under her pillow, instinctively disengage the safety, and then leap to a position close to the wall, holding her breath until it became barely audible.
Her hunter's instincts told her that something was approaching from the other side of the wall.
About ten seconds later, a slight noise came from the window.
Danitalie silently shifted her gaze and saw the window latch pulled up without any external force, accompanied by a chilling gust of wind, and the window next to her slowly opened.
A thief, or perhaps a burglar?
Either way, whoever had dared to mess with her was in deep trouble.
As Danital pondered this, she remained vigilant, holding her gun to the windowsill with one hand, ready to fire immediately should anyone appear there.
Simultaneously, her seemingly empty right hand was behind her back, her loosely clenched fist suggesting something was brewing within it.
Just then, she saw a shadow, almost blending into the night, swiftly dart into her room.
Danital was visibly startled.
Her dynamic vision was excellent, and the garden streetlights provided illumination from the window, so she could clearly see that it was a small bird, about the size of a sparrow, covered in inconspicuous gray-black feathers.
Before she could even process what was happening, nor shift her gaze to observe the seemingly ordinary bird, the person who appeared in her field of vision the next second almost made her forget to breathe.
Alice calmly jumped off the windowsill, casually brushing aside the slightly drooping and crooked revolver.
"What's wrong? So surprised to see me?"
Seemingly awakened by Alice's action of brushing aside the revolver, Danitalia almost immediately dropped her wary and serious expression, a faint and mournful smile on her face as she lowered the revolver and approached.
"Of course it's a surprise! Have you counted how long it's been since we last saw each other? Five days, a full five days! I even wondered if you hated me. Just thinking about that possibility makes me feel like there's a knife cutting into my heart…"
"Stop." Alice glanced at her, impatiently interrupting the insincere small talk. "Enough with the nonsense. I came to you because I want you to do me a favor."
With that, she beckoned her familiar, which was quietly perched on the bookshelf beside her, and let the little robin settle on the back of her hand. Then she looked up at Danitali, who was wearing a silk nightgown and had her hair down.
"Let me introduce you. This is Eve, my recently tamed pet. She is also a Sequence 9 Beyonder… well, in this case, I'd say an Beyonder animal?"
Alice paused slightly, stroking the bird's soft, downy head with her fingers, and instructed,
"Eve, you can talk to this person now, and tell her what I want her to do."
Under Danitalie's astonished and bewildered gaze, the grey-black bird flapped its wings dramatically twice, then opened its beak, vibrating the air and producing a clear, childlike song.
"Alice, Alice, the beautiful and clever Alice wants me to find Danitalie, the servant Danitalie! She says she'll teach me all sorts of common sense, and how to play the role of a 'thief'!"
"Is this what you wanted me to do? Train an extraordinary animal, teach it how to play..." Danitalie reached out and touched the strange little bird, feeling its soft warmth. "Aren't you worried that after spending so much time with me, it won't recognize you as its master?"
"That's not your concern."
With the bond of the familiar contract, Alice wasn't worried about the situation Danitalie mentioned.
Danitalie herself loved novelty and agreed after a moment's thought.
"Since you've said so, how could I refuse?"
Sure enough, her focus wasn't on teaching the "playing method" at all... This only daughter of Sir Deville clearly knew about the "playing method," and might even be connected to some secret organization.
Alice had vaguely guessed her reaction before, and now she just had a feeling that she knew it.
She had no interest in investigating the details, so she nodded slightly, warned Eve not to instill any strange ideas or knowledge in her, and finally said,
"That's all I have to say. If there's nothing else, I'll be going."
"Wait!"
Having finally seen the person she had been thinking about, how could Danitalia let her leave so easily?
Taking advantage of her height, she braced herself against the wall, trapping the aloof and beautiful witch in a cage she could look down upon. Her half-length dark golden hair fell down, softening the beautiful face that was always presented from a masculine angle.
"Alice, don't you have anything to say to me? Hmm? At the café, you only left a message saying you were planning to resign, and you haven't been back even once... Did you enjoy the dinner party on Saturday? I wanted to ask you that, but you just disappeared without a trace, and I couldn't find you anywhere..."
The girl whose name was called was about to push her arm away, but when she saw the familiar Eve's actions, she almost couldn't keep her expression in check.
The little creature feigned concern by covering its eyes with its wings, but its tiny green eyes peeked out from between the feathers, casting a curious and lively gaze in this direction.
"...After what you said to me, do you expect me to give you a friendly look?" she replied, a beat behind.
"Hmm...you're really angry?" Danitalie smiled, a strange inquisitiveness flowing from her azure eyes. "At the time, I didn't think much of it, assuming you were 'provoked' by me. But afterwards, when I recalled that night, a strange feeling arose...it was as if your anger was just an act, a performance for me. In reality, you weren't angry at all, were you?"
...Was her acting really that bad? Surely not.
Alice tilted her head slightly, simply looking at the beautiful woman before her, without answering.
"You weren't angered by my 'provocation,' yet you're acting angry… I can probably guess why." Danitalie's smile deepened, becoming more alluring. "In other words, you're a rare witch who didn't go through a sex change—you were a woman from the beginning, but you didn't want others to discover that, so you pretended to be a man… Am I right?"
"What does it matter if I am or not? Do you think you can use this to blackmail me into doing anything for you?" Alice deliberately let out a contemptuous sneer.
"Blackmail? How could you even think of that?"
To everyone's surprise, Danitalie blinked, then lowered her head and moved closer.
"I feel like, after realizing this, I'm even more fascinated by you… Alice, are you really going to refuse me? Even if it's just for the sake of acting, you should consider it. I promise I'll bring you the ultimate pleasure…"
"Stop." She said expressionlessly, easily pushing away the huntress whose arm was covered in a thin layer of ice crystals.
"That's it… that's what makes you uneasy. I asked you before why you know so much about witches. Before you met me, you were just a Sequence 8 struggling with the 'Fire Mage' potion, but now? You're practically rattling off the name of a Sequence 6 Assassin's Approach potion. Since you know so much about 'witches,' why don't you choose that path instead of becoming a 'hunter'?"
Seeing that she seemed annoyed, Danitalia was more pleased than surprised, completely ignoring the increasing layer of ice spreading around her as she got closer.
"Want to know? If you want to know, we can—"
"No… never mind, I'm not interested." Alice slowly shook her head. "You don't need to test me anymore. I'm picky, not just anyone is qualified to experience pleasure with me… As for the reason for refusing you, is it because you think I didn't explain it clearly enough last time and need to repeat myself?"
"…Just because I'm not a man?" Danitalia revealed a somewhat strange expression.