Alice leaned back in her chair with a grin so smug it should have been illegal.
"Told you it'd work."
Kai stared at her.
"You literally brought me to your office."
"Secretly."
"You sat me down."
"Strategically."
"You told me your name."
"Part of the plan."
"You have giant magical billboards with your face all over the city."
Alice pointed at him.
"And yet you still didn't figure it out."
Kai opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
Unfortunately, she had a point.
Alice immediately stood from her chair.
"Raj!"
The cat girl looked up from a nearby couch.
"What?"
"Since you helped me earlier, you can have anything you want from the vending machines."
Raj narrowed her eyes.
"You mean it?"
"Of course."
"You aren't taking it back?"
"Nope."
Raj immediately stood.
The suspicion vanished the moment she spotted her favorite snack behind the glass.
A few moments later she was standing before the machine like it was a sacred relic.
"No taking back words now."
Alice waved her away.
"Go wild."
Raj vanished from the conversation entirely.
The sound of buttons being pressed echoed across the room.
Alice turned back toward Kai.
"Now then."
She held out a hand.
"The letter."
Kai blinked.
Right.
The entire reason he was here.
He reached into his bag and handed it over.
Alice examined the seal.
The insignia of Yggdrasil remained intact.
No forgery.
No tampering.
No tricks.
The smile disappeared from her face.
She broke the seal.
And read.
The room became quiet.