Alice Swayne

Alice Swayne (アリス, Arisu) is a Sorcerer and Renfred's apprentice.

Appearance
Alice has wavy blonde hair, her bangs styles to the left. Later she cuts it to chin-length in order to weave her hair into a pouch to put a piece of coal in it as part of her contract with Will o' The Wisp.

She often ties her hair and wears a coat. During the events of the Dragon in London arc, she sported a professional suit.

Personality
Alice is a woman who speaks her mind for the most part, having had a rough upbringing until she was found by Renfred, who took her into his care as his apprentice. Because of this she has a soft-spot for him and even admits that he's the person she loves the most. She also has a rather good friendship with Chise due to the fact that they shared in being taken in by older mages from a bad situation, and so she turns to her for advice and comes to her rescue when the call goes out.

She feels an immense amount of hatred towards her own weakness at allowing Renfred to lose his arm in protecting her, despite the fact that she was his guardian, and could only watch as Joseph proceeded to essentially chain him to his will.

History
Alice's father was a substance abuser. He drugged Alice at a young age so she would become dependent and earn him his fix. He then died, leaving Alice as a junkie, forced to continue selling as a means to live.

Renfred spotted her in an alley and found she had magic potential. She was fed an elixir that caused her a month's worth of pain, though, in exchange, it seemed to offset any long-term drug withdrawal.

Working to earn her keep with Renfred, she opened a cursed book, prompting Renfred to save her. After injuring himself for her sake, Alice promised to become his guardian.

Plot
Alice first appears as an antagonist during the events in Uthar, pushing Chise into the water and holding her hostage while her master tried to retrieve the blight. Later on, she attempts to capture Ruth due to the fact that Cartaphilus threatened Renfred, confessing to Chise that was the only reason she was doing it.

Cartaphilus attempted to kill her, but Chise intercepted the strike and suffered a great injury because of it, and she was forced to watch as Elias transformed in an effort to kill the one responsible. Once Renfred appeared, she was freed and then shot off Caraphilus' stolen arm in retribution.

She later appears close to Christmas in search of a gift for Renfred with Chise and then later during the attempt to retrieve the Dragon in London from the auction house.

After Chise is kidnapped, she's among those called forth to help retrieve her by Will-o-Wisp. She puts down several of the chimeras that Cartaphilus calls up before Blue Flame requests to use her magic in order to send off the summoned wraiths, finding her soul irresistible due to having an alignment to fire. In the aftermath, Blue Flame decides to continue to follow her.

College Arc
During the College Arc, she initially shows Chise around the campus until they have a shared class with Elias where they both act as assistants in a demonstration. Blue Flame overhears some students making fun of her but rebukes them and then shows her hidden anger by making a candle flare up before they continue to oversee the class until Elias' true identity is revealed.

Later on she overhears Elias asking Renfred about yearning for intimacy, which leads to her learning that he didn't believe Alice had much talent and wasn't chosen to continue his bloodline, but he was raising her as his daughter and intended to keep her safe until she could make her own decisions and live her own life. Alice then later asks Chise if she could stay at her place for the night, which Chise consents to and picks her up that night with Simon acting as their chauffeur. He refers to Alice as being Chise's friend, seeing as they were willing to go through so much for each other, in contrast to himself and Elias, and tells them to cherish it.

Then, while sleeping over at Chise's place, she reveals her frustrations at having not gotten any stronger despite being older by telling her of how Joseph invaded their home and she could only watch. The fact that he referred to her as his daughter instead of his guardian, hurt her because in her mind she can only associate that word with the drug-addled man who addicted her and used her to make money. Chise and Blue Flame both try to console her until the next day, when she sees Renfried again and confesses that whatever his reasoning for choosing her she still wants to be his guardian rather than his daughter.

After that she spends more time in training rather than going to class, earning the attention of one of her instructors who advises her not to rush into it because she would be prone to making more mistakes. However, he ultimately decides to allow her to increase her training and see about getting additional funding for her instead at seeing her desire.

Skills and Abilities

 * Magical Knowledge: Being a student of the College and Renfred's bodyguard, Alice has knowledge of magic, though to what extent isn't clearly defined.
 * Weapon Use: She's proficient in using firearms and knives, in line with her bodyguard duties.
 * Teleportation: Using one of Renfred's tools, she's capable of teleporting to fixed coordinates.

Trivia

 * It is assumed that she has a sentimental "love" attachment for her master.
 * She is from England.
 * From the gossip by the students of the College, the Swayne family used to have roots in the magical community though it was decades ago.
 * In Official Guidebook: Merkmal, her height is 167cm (5'6") and weight is 59kg (130lb).

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Alice