Chapter 335 Alice House
Chapter 335 Alice’s public house
The new squire is here.
As if this sentence had activated some kind of organ, along with a low, muffled sound that reached his ears, numerous shadowy outlines abruptly emerged in the darkness before the Annihilationist’s eyes – a shimmering light from nowhere wavered and floated into the air, illuminating an unusually open yet ancient and elegant hall!
He stared wide-eyed and saw that the hall was as gorgeous as a palace, but as old as if it had been abandoned for decades, that there were curved staircases circling up at the end, connecting the corridors and platforms on the upper floors, that huge pillars stood vaguely in the dimness, and that there were exquisite drapes hanging down from the tops of the pillars, swaying gently in the breeze from nowhere, and that the walls around the hall were lined with dark, empty windows! –Those holes were like the mouths of evil beasts, there was no light outside the windows, the windows themselves were blocked by crisscrossing steel, and huge paintings that were impossible to see hung between the windows, with no specific figures or landscapes on them, but only creepy patches of color.
The Annihilationist stared at the scene before him in shock, then suddenly realized that the binding sensation acting on his arms and legs had disappeared at some point, and he took two steps forward, feeling his body return to his control before subconsciously calling out to the demon that was symbiotic with his soul.
However, only a hollow whine came from his soul, the profound demon that had accompanied him for many years was as if it had never existed, and nothing responded to his call.
“Squire, forward, to the end of the carpet.”
That low, muffled voice sounded once more, this time even coming directly from his mind.
“Who is it?!” The Annihilationist’s eyes widened in horror as he looked around the ornate yet empty and eerie halls of the townhouse, yet no one was visible in his field of vision.
He raised his head again and looked towards the end of the hall – a dark red carpet stretched from his feet into the distance, and at the end of the carpet was the staircase that connected to the second floor along an arc like a flying wing.
For some reason, his legs moved uncontrollably as he looked there – as if in obedience to the voice he had just heard, he stepped towards the end of the carpet and stopped a few meters away from the staircase.
A figure appeared there abruptly.
It was a body in a black dress – a body without a head.
The figure stood straight in front of the stairs, his gown immaculate, the corner of a folded handkerchief visible in his breast pocket, and the thin golden chain of a pocket watch peeking out of the other side pocket, a brass bell in one hand, the other hand stretched out in front-a gesture like a butler welcoming a newcomer to the house, a trusted chief steward in charge of a townhouse. A trusted chief steward of a townhouse.
But he has no head, on the body in black dress, only bare neck, as if …… dolls are connected mouth.
“What is this …… place!?”
“New squire” voice a little shaking said, he can not remember why he came to this closed big ocean room, also can not remember his name and origin, he only felt an instinctive fear, a strange and weird feeling is a little bit eroding his heart, he looked at the headless steward in front of him, and gathered the courage to ask, and the While making a sound, whispers and the feeling of being spied on came from all directions.
He looked back in consternation at the sight in the hall–the
Figures dressed in the attire of attendants and maids were busy in the hall, those were obviously the servants who tended to this huge townhouse, and these servants would stop as they passed the stairway and seemed to be curiously surveying the newcomers.
Low voices of discussion, on the other hand, came from their chests – for these servants, all of them, were headless.
Above their necks, there were only smooth, bulbous protrusions, as if they were the connecting parts of a mannequin, presenting a texture that was somewhere between wood and ceramic.
The “new squire” looked in dismay at the servants moving about the hall, and for a moment was in a trance.
Had there been so many people here before? Had it been so bustling when he first came to this hall?
“This is the Alice House, and you are the new squire,” the butler’s deep voice suddenly sounded, interrupting the new squire’s wandering, “follow me, your next post is upstairs. ”
With a subconscious nod, the new squire stepped behind the headless butler, who unconsciously glanced down and realized that he too had been dressed in a squire’s outfit at some point – just like the manservants in the hall.
His mind became more and more clouded, more and more memories were being pulled out of his body, as if they were “no longer needed”, impurities that prevented him from fulfilling his duties as a servant in this townhouse.
Every step he took, the more hesitant and hesitant he became. At first, he vaguely remembered that he didn’t belong here, then he only remembered that he seemed to be trapped in a strange house, and when he was only a few steps away from the second floor, he only remembered the butler’s instructions to him—.
Taking the last step of the ladder, he lifted his head to the platform in front of him, with the corridor on the inside of it.
Several servants were passing through the corridor, and even though they had no line of sight, the “new squire” felt the prying eyes.
“Why is everyone looking at me?”
“Because you’re the first servant with a head,” the steward stopped and turned around, a seeming smirk in his voice, “and there hasn’t been a newcomer here in years.”
“What am I to do?” The new squire asked cautiously.
“Serve our Mistress, become a member of this place, you will naturally know what to do, but before that, you should go and say hello to the Mistress ……” The butler slowly raised his arm and pointed to a black door at the end of the corridor.
“Go ahead and push right through that door and greet the Mistress.”
The new squire nodded and turned toward that door.
His steps were steady, his expression gradually becoming calmer, his limbs swinging, finally becoming a little bit as stiff and stilted as those servants in the hall, as he reached that door and stretched out his hands, his eyes calmly sweeping over the wrists that had turned into spherical joints – it pushed the door open with a slight force.
The puppet took a step forward.
Inside the elegant bedroom, which could almost be described as huge, an ornate king-sized bed was positioned in the center of the room, with intricately patterned drapes and tasseled drapes draped around it, and the silver-haired mannequin lay silently on the bed, sound asleep.
And beyond that bed, at the end of the bedroom, where the walls should have been, there was only a piece of open and boundless darkness – as if leading to some distant and deep space, where the floors, walls and roofs appeared in a fragmented state, with chaotic dark shadows and countless flickering points of light in the distance slowly undulating and transforming into a strange and bizarre light and shadow illusion. visions of light and shadow that drummed silently at the end of this bedroom, whispering and wandering in the darkness.
The surging darkness and points of light were like the dream world of the mannequin’s light and weirdness, but also as if they were invisible things trying to invade this house, blocked from reality by the mannequin’s slumber.
The new valet, who had been transformed into a puppet, stood in the doorway of the bedroom, staring stonily at the beautiful doll sleeping soundly on the bed, and the darkness that rose and fell behind the doll – then it bent down and paid respectful homage to its mistress.
Some bright threads of silk extended from his limbs, floating into the air and disappearing in an instant.
The new squire bent thus, and slowly backed away, until he quitted the room, and the door of Sleeping Alice slammed shut before his eyes with a low, majestic roar.
But the squire’s face would never again change expression.
The puppet stooped, took his handkerchief from his pocket, and gently wiped the ornaments near the gate.
……
“Plop–“
“Clatter–“
The sound of a heavy object falling to the ground resounded at the entrance of the alley, the Annihilationist who had just attempted to escape suddenly fell from mid-air, and he landed with a loud clang, his body instantly falling into tattered pieces like porcelain, even his clothes were no exception.
Not the slightest trace of blood could be seen in those shattered porcelain shards, as if he had been nothing more than a burnt-out mannequin from the very beginning – flesh and blood, just a half-life illusion of his.
Alice was momentarily taken aback, “Waaaah!”
A gusty whine sounded behind her, Vanna had rushed to the entrance of the alley, she stared daggers at the sight in front of her and froze for half a second before turning her head to look at the mannequin next to her, “Is this …… what you did?”
“…… I don’t know,” Alice blinked, looking back a little sluggishly, “Um …… probably? ”
“What do you mean probably?!”
“It means that I grabbed his line and made a push – he made the first move, and I was a little scared …… ” Alice spoke upside down, gesturing as she did so, her explanation was fruitful, and in three or two words made Vanna understand even less, “Got it?”
“…… didn’t get it,” Vanna shook her head, then glanced back into the depths of the alley, where a charred mass of debris was smoldering with faint black smoke, “Damn, the cleric I dealt with didn’t say a word until the end, and your side The one that simply shattered, leaving no intel in the end.”
“Meaning the Captain will not be satisfied?”
“Too late to think about that, we need to get out of here,” Vanna spoke quickly, “There’s been too much commotion, even if we’re not in the center of the city, the night patrol should be reacting.”
As she spoke, she raised her head and looked toward the mansion not far away.
(End of chapter)