Oravi Island, Sonia Sea.

A hidden bar somewhere on Oravi Port.

The hidden bar, a gathering place for pirates to trade information and socialize—not the civilized one tho.

Usually, the bar is filled with chaos and violence. But somehow, today the bar was silent—no one spoke even though many pirates attend the gathering.

Since the bar opened, the only sound inside was someone grunt, occasional whispering, and the sound of someone drinking. Eventually, a fed-up pirate broke the silent atmosphere.

"F*ckin CHICK!"

BAMM

The pirate stood up and hit his table hard, glaring at the eyes of all pirates.

"..."

With just one shout, many pirates couldn't control themselves to yell, shout, curse at each other.

"Aren't you dogs pirates? DAMN IT! I had ENOUGH HIDING GOD DAMN IT!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!? LOOKIN' FOR FIGHT C*NT!?"

"WHO TF HIDING!? It's only YOU MTFCKER!."

"DAMN SH*T I HAD ENOUGH!"

"LETS JUST GANGED UP THAT B*TCH!"

"EVEN IF YOU'RE DUMB, THINK AGAIN DOGSH*T!"

 

"WE SHOULD BE FEARED INSTEAD GOD DAMN IT!"

"You SMALL FRIES DON'T KNOW SH*T!"

"WHAT!? What's THAT B*TCH DOIN' NOW!?"

"..."

"OY SAY SOMETHIN' C*NT!"

"F*CK THIS GATHERING!"

"WHAT DID YA SAY!?"

Chaos eventually erupts throughout the pirate's gathering, the usual violence and havoc. Several minutes of pirate's brawl was stopped by the host of the gathering, who finally decide to show his face.

"ENOUGH YOU BRUTES!"

The pirates stopped and glanced at the one who came from the bar's backdoor. 

The man wore a red long coat with a white shirt underneath, wearing a gold necklace, black tricorne hat, and gray baggy trousers with a cutlass and a flintlock pistol attached to its belt.

Black beard and black seaweed hair covering the man's face. His face looked murderous, instilling fear in the onlookers.

"Ca-Captain DeathBeard."

Captain DeathBeard, the pirate captain of the infamous BeardSkull and the one who was backed by Rear Admiral Dusk.

"TODAY GATHERING WILL BE THE LAST."

Confusion at the sudden announcement, many pirates questioned DeathBeard's decision. This is one of the safest gathering places for pirates after all.

"Rear Admiral Deep Sea Howl and Rear Admiral Dusk head was collected yesterday."

"..."

"..."

"B-by w-who?"

"You sh*t already know who."

"STOP JOKING!"

"NOT JUST ONE? BUT TWO ADMIRALS DEAD IN A SPAN OF TWO MONTHS!?"

"DOGSH*T DON'T BELIEVE ME THEN."

With the last statement, DeathBeard leaves the bewildered and scared pirates, leaving the bar.

Silence shortly follow with the sound of the door locked. Why did DeadBeard lock the door though? 

"Even Admirals were the hunted deer."

"Damnit, DAMN IT ALL! THOSE FCKN ADVENTURERS! THAT DAMNED COLLECTOR!"

"Just SHUT UP DOGSH*T"

"F*CK THIS HELL HOLE!"

The screaming pirate walked with rage towards the front door of the bar. But shortly after he opened the door, he closed it, turned around, and dash towards the window. 

The rest of the pirates can only look at the sudden shift of action.

But soon enough, they know why, and they regretted not following his action.

Looking at the now opened door, they could see a pale blonde-haired lady, wearing a black Gothic regal dress and a veil covering her face. Horror and despair soon filled the faces of the pirates.

Some of them manage to follow the first one to run towards the window while the rest couldn't move their body. 

Because at one point, their body was already turned to stone. Leaving their heads with a horrified look.

Swoosh

All of the runaway pirates were frozen after a light blue-colored ice hit their back accurately, and only the first one to run managed to break out of the window. But sadly, even he couldn't escape the Collector, as black flame flew towards him and burned him—leaving only his head.

The only question on those pirates' minds was 'How? How did she know the date and place of the pirates gathering, did someone betray them—'

Then, the Headless Collector spoke for the first time she got here. Confirming their thoughts, as if she knew what's on their little mind.

"Yes, DeathBeard was the one who set this trap for me, in exchange to let him live another day of course."

With a horrified and betrayed look on each of their faces, the Headless Collector only shrugged off and closed into her first head.

You can't blame DeathBeard though, human—after all a selfish being.

One by one, the pirate's head roll on the wooden floor with each slash from a cutlass the Headless Collector held.

But shortly after the twelfth head, the Headless Collector stopped.

***

Alice stood still on the wooden floor of the bar, looking at the thirteenth pirate she was about to harvest.

The Pirate, approximately thirty years of age with charred yellow-colored hair and eyebrows, while his eyes were dark blue and his face isn't too chiseled.

She knows who he is, both from her favorite novel and the bounties notice board. 

Blazing Danitz, a pirate worth 3000 pounds and a Sequence 7 Beyonder of the Red Priest Pathway, Pyromaniac.

Looking at the horrified look on Blazing Danitz's face, Alice couldn't help but let out a small chuckle after remembering Danitz and Gehrman Sparrow's interaction in the novel.

Shortly after her chuckle, Blazing Danitz and the rest of the pirates were confused but mostly were terrified at the sudden chuckle from the Collector herself. Especially Danitz, as his imagination was already running wild in his mind.

Seeing Alice move again, Danitz could only close his eyes.

'Captain… I wish I could see you for the last time.'

Danitz's thoughts as he waits for his inevitable death.

.

.

.

.

Danitz could only wait and wait for his death, but several seconds have passed and he still didn't feel the pain of having his head sliced. Maybe the slash was so quick and powerful that he didn't feel any pain?

Thud—

Hearing a sudden sound beside him, he brave himself to take a peek.

"..."

Thud—

"..."

Thud—

"..."

Thud—

With the last pirate's head falling on the floor, Danitz couldn't keep his curiosity.

"Miss Collector? Aren't you forgetting me?"

'Dogsh*t why did I ask!'

Danitz's thoughts as he quickly regretted his action.

"No, I'm not. Blazing Danitz with a bounty worth 3000 pounds right? And Rear Admiral Iceberg's subordinate?"

Alice asks even though she does already know.

"...y-yes"

'Dogsh*t is her next target Captain? Did she let me alive to get Captain's information?'

Danitz's thoughts with a face that no matter how you look at it, conveying 'I already know what you want' but with a determined look.

"... Okay"

Alice could only nod looking at his face, she was confused with that look on his face. With a sigh, Alice undid her petrification ability on Danitz's body and all of the headless pirate's bodies, receiving a confused look on his face.

With that done, Alice leaves the bar without explaining her action to the poor confused Blazing Danitz. Of course, after she collects all of the heads and Beyonder Characteristics.

Danitz was looking at the faded back of the Headless Collector, he was truly confused why she let him live without prying a single piece of information about his Captain.

"I-I'm… alive? From the Collector? Is she afraid of Captain—no she won't, she's already killed two admirals."

"Why though?"

With that last mumble, Blazing Danitz shrugged and quickly ran from the bloody scene.

***

Looking at the horrid look on DeathBeard face, Alice laughed at his stupidity. 

"Didn't I say I let you live for another day? What I mean is to live another day besides that day when I caught you! Pfft ahahhahaahhaha—"

Alice told the cold corpse of the now-dead 'Death'Beard. Pretty ironic if I'd say. With the name and all

But damn, in just eight months our lovely Angel turns into a wicked Angel!

That's why she's a Demoness?!

Damn it, author.

"What did you say, stupid narrator!? I'm still LOVELY AS I ALWAYS BEEN."

As our Angel was ignored by me—like always, Our wicked Angel stopped her useless rant.

"Huuhh—it's been almost three months since I leave Backlund. And three days left till my vacation ended, I should exchange today bounties first before going back to Backlund."

With that said, Alice went to Tiana Port to meet Mavis.

After two months of hunting pirates, Alice's financial power soared across the sky. From a pirate worth 50 pounds to a pirate Admiral worth 25.000 pounds Alice exchanges all of their bounties without discrimination, purging almost all of the pirate population in the Sonia Sea.

Her helpers the adventurers and Mavis, of course, got hundreds of pounds themselves, from doing each of their tasks. 

With the pirates declining in the Sonia Sea, many tourists from the northern continent can safely travel to the Rorsted Archipelago. Truly a win-win situation for everyone involved in the Rorsted Archipelago, except the pirates and the Church of the Lord of the Storms though. The former could only watch their back and their occupational colleagues from the bounty hunter, while the latter was bewildered by the sudden appearances of a powerful Beyonder with the strength to hunt two pirate Admirals. 

Truly an eventful months for the whole residents in the Sonia Sea, and the cause was only one person.

While the Church of the Lord of the Storms speculates the Sequence and Pathways of the 'Headless Collector', nobody could provide a single clue and information as no one is alive when the 'Headless Collector' was using her abilities. 

Though, now that Blazing Danitz was spared for some unknown reason. He is the only one who knew her abilities, not that he would tell the Church about it. But he sure tells his captain—Rear Admiral Iceberg, who in the future would be 'Vice Admiral' instead of 'Rear Admiral'.

the Church of the Lord of Storms has already tried to use the divination method to probe information about the Headless Collector, but the attempt was useless as Alice is a Sequence 2 Angel and one of her Pathway abilities is 'Disruption¹'. Meaning, they need a higher Sequence Beyonder and a divination specialist pathway. 

With that done, the Church of the Lord of the Storms tries to get a piece of information from trailing the bounties the Headless Collector exchange from.

However, her connection doesn't know of her abilities too. They only knew that she has an easier way to travel throughout the Sonia Sea. And by the time the Church of the Lord of Storms contact her connection, the Headless Collector—Alice had already done her business in the Rorsted Archipelago and didn't appear on Tiana Port ever again.

The Church of the Lord of Storms truly wasted their time until Alice killed two pirate Admirals. 

With all of the summary done, Alice is now situated in one of the cities in Desi County, Conant City. She was standing at its train station, intending to go to Backlund with a steam locomotive, like a normal person. 

She's now wearing a gray coat and white loen-styled dress underneath, with her dark brown hair tied up in braids and two leather suitcases. One is a suitcase full of her belongings and the other one is full of pound notes.

Yes, a suitcase full of pound notes. She's going to put her money in Backlund's bank for convenience sake.

Choo-choo!

The steam locomotive whistle as the train with more than twenty carriages in tow started to move, leaving a trail of steam along the way. 

Destination: Backlund, the capital of the Loen Kingdom.

Inside one of the carriages, Alice was sitting idly while watching the scenery outside the carriage as the train traveled to Backlund.

The journey to Backlund was peaceful and smooth, from the Conant City's train station to Backlund's train station didn't need to transit to another station. Passing the Southville County and Stratford River, Alice finally arrived at the Backlund's train station.

Choo-choo!

A train whistle resounded throughout Backlund's train station as a metal behemoth, in the form of a steam locomotive, came to a slow stop with more than twenty carriages in tow.

Dressed in a gray coat with a white loen-styled dress underneath, Alice was carrying two leather suitcases that appear heavy and big contradicting her delicate figure. 

Backlund is still the same as ever, faint haze can be seen everywhere throughout Backlund. And the train station is still busy as ever, as many people come and go, crowding the whole station. 

Finished sightseeing Backlund's eternal pollution, Alice went straight to Cherwood Borough. Intending to go to Cherwood Borough's City Family Servant Assistance Association at 9 Canylowell Street.

Arrived at 9 Canylowell Street, Alice immediately went inside the building, straight towards the receptionist counter. And as always, the receptionist waiting at the counter was Baylin, her first acquaintance in Backlund.

"Hello, Miss. Baylin."

Alice greets Baylin with her usual lovely smile.

Hearing the unique lullaby-like voice again, Baylin looks up the counter and saw the beautiful Alice with her pale lilac-colored eyes and usual loen-styled dress.

"Miss. Alice, long time no see. How's your vacation in Desi Bay?"

Baylin replied with a smile. 

"It's nice, seeing my hometown again. How about you Miss. Baylin? Any luck with a handsome gentleman yet?"

"It's good that you enjoy your vacation, and for your question Miss. Alice, sadly I haven't seen any handsome gentleman I like."

Baylin replied shaking her head in a joking manner.

Hearing the reply, Alice let out a small giggle. And unbeknownst to Alice, her small giggle was enough to light up the tired employees' spirits.

If the pirates heard her giggle, they would be terrified no doubt.

"—Ah, Miss. Alice, your employer—Earl Hall told us to give you this—"

Baylin said as she extended her hand to give an item to Alice.

The item is an envelope with a wax seal attached to it, outlining the Hall family's emblem.

"And to go directly to his villa after you rest from your journey to Backlund."

"Okay, thank you, Miss. Baylin. I have to go now, see you next time."

After she says goodbye to Baylin, she went straight to the Hall's Villa. As for the address, it was mentioned on the back of the envelope with a note.

"Mhhm… Empress Borough. And the note said to give this envelope to the security for getting inside the Hall's Villa…. Okay."

Thus, Alice's first encounter with the future Miss. Justice of the Tarot Club.

***