Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1166 Are you free now?
Metien exaggerated what happened in Tianxin Church today. When they heard that Lingge actually used games to preach and even personally bullied the children, except for a few people who were present at the time, everyone looked at him with surprise. It was hard to imagine that a young man would do such a thing, but the person involved did not change his expression and pretended not to see it.

Then the pink-haired girl complained to Alice that her gaming skills were too bad, and she was always beaten unilaterally, which made her feel insecure when she was preaching. At this time, she needed a genius player who was proficient in all kinds of games, skilled in operation, superb reaction ability, and could easily use all kinds of difficult skills, who was the best among the best in the gaming field and undefeated, to help her improve her gaming skills! But where can such a genius player be found?

Metien clasped his hands together in front of his chest, looking at Alice with sparkling eyes. His enthusiasm was so strong that it was hard to resist.

"Even if you say so..."

If it was the old Alice, she would have been flattered to the point of forgetting everything and agreeing to it immediately. But now she was a little hesitant: "But I have other things to do, very important things..."

Everyone knew the important thing Alice said, but they also knew another thing, that the genius player was just doing useless work. The game console was not a real machine. Even if Alice put it back together intact, she still couldn't start it when she lost confidence in herself and the fantasy kingship. Alice herself knew this, but she still had a fluke and desperately wanted to grab a life-saving straw, even if the weight of this straw was not enough to support her fall.

"How important is it?" Metien put his hands on the table, his upper body almost crossed the table, and looked directly into Alice's eyes across the empty dessert tray, and asked word by word: "Is it more important than the game?"

This sentence was like an arrow that suddenly hit Alice's heart, making her dazed for a long time and speechless. Once upon a time, there was indeed a girl who regarded games as the most important thing in her life, because she had no memory, no past, and no concept of self. From the first moment she opened her eyes and woke up, she saw the brightly shining game screen and the ups and downs, sad and happy plots being played out on the screen. She loved those naive fantasies and could immerse herself in them wholeheartedly, as if it was a natural instinct; she often imagined herself as a brave man, destroying the dragon and saving the people; or a hero, defeating the devil and protecting the country; she never felt lonely in that room that was as cold as a petri dish, but made friends with all the greatest people she knew in her life, and they taught her friendship, courage, justice and strength...

But where has all this gone now? With the death of that girl, has it disappeared into a place far, far away that Alice can never reach? If games are no longer the most important thing in life, where will you go? Someone asked Alice a question she had never thought about before, but this is exactly the situation she is facing today.

"Go ahead and give it a try, Alice."

Ling Ge suddenly said to her: "Don't be afraid, just like in the past."

After all, that's your favorite thing.

"..." Alice stammered a few times, as if she was still worried. But when she looked up, she happened to meet Metien's concerned and expectant eyes, and she couldn't say no. Finally, the genius player nodded hesitantly, very slightly, and if everyone's eyes were not focused on her, it would be almost invisible: "Then I'll go... give it a try?"

She muttered in a voice that only she could hear: "If you fail... don't blame me."

But Metien had never considered failure. All she needed was an answer from Alice. She waved her hands and cheered, "Great!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Although I don’t know how effective this method will be, it is finally a difficult step forward.

"Humph." Leticia pretended to be disdainful and said, "What a worrying guy."

This rude behavior brought disaster upon herself. Countess Nevill gently tapped her granddaughter's forehead and said, "Eat your meal properly. You ate a lot of meat, but you didn't touch any vegetables at all?"

“No way!” Leticia complained, “I ate it all. Look, there’s nothing on my plate… Eh!?”

She was surprised to find some familiar food. Didn’t she exchange these with Lingge for pies? Why did they come back again?
Of course, it was sent back by a young man who wished to remain anonymous. He took great pains to cooperate with the Countess's healthy growth plan.

"Okay, Leticia." Nevile showed her granddaughter a friendly smile: "Eat them all. If it's not enough, I'll ask Miss Shesta to cook another portion. Of course, you are still in the stage of growing up, so this amount of vegetables is definitely not enough, right? So..."

"Ahhhh, I don't want it! The vegetables are disgusting! Grandma is despicable! Lingge is abominable and deserves to be killed!"

“Leticia, stop right there! Don’t run away! Also, haven’t I told you many times not to use these violent words as your catchphrases?!”

"Oh, oh, oh, Leticia is also a bad child who makes people worry. The vegetables are so delicious, but she doesn't like them. This will make everyone who has worked hard to grow in the herb garden very sad. Little sheep, you can't learn from that bad child. Come, I will feed you carrots. After dinner, let's go to the flower field to play. Metien still has to do homework. If I play in the hotel, my sister will definitely scold me for not making progress. Sigh."

"BAA Baa baa!"

"Ms. Rorona, would you like to try my latest masterpiece: Heart of Frost? I'd like to hear the opinions of professionals."

"That's not necessary. Even though I'm a mirror elf, I can't accept all kinds of water, okay?"

"Well, that's really sad!"

"Haa, I'm so sleepy... By the way, Yieta, how are my violets? Are they showing any signs of blooming?"

"Well, this is worth looking forward to?" "That's good."

"Ms. Livia, what can I do to look like a real nun? Like you."

"How about starting by reading the Goddess's Canon?"

"It seems I can only leave it to you, Bai Ye."

"roll!"

……

After a brief episode, the restaurant became lively again - or it would be more accurate to describe it as noisy. However, this atmosphere did not annoy Alice, on the contrary, she felt a subtle sense of security. Even though she had finished the food on the plate, she still had no intention of getting up and leaving. Instead, she sat in her seat, staring at the scene in a daze, wondering what she was thinking.

"Ling Ge." In a corner where no one was paying attention, Saint Xia Liya whispered to the young man beside her: "So you had expected this a long time ago?"

I thought you asked Metien to play games with those kids just to preach, but I didn't expect it was to pave the way for this moment. This shows that young people's understanding of talented players has indeed reached a certain level, otherwise, they would never have come up with such a win-win method.

The girl looked at Linge with admiration.

Ling Ge was quite embarrassed by her praise. He couldn't say that he didn't think that far ahead and it was just a sudden inspiration, right? Fortunately, Saint Xia Liya didn't intend to continue asking questions. After satisfying her curiosity a little, she retracted her gaze, and finally did not let Ling Ge continue to be embarrassed.

After dinner, everyone went their separate ways, some playing, some taking a walk, while Olvera staggered upstairs, probably to her room. Alice wanted to follow her, and she also planned to go back to her room to continue trying to fix the game console. But how could Metien, who had finally made her agree, allow this to happen? So under the soft and hard persuasion of the pink-haired girl, Alice dazedly agreed to go to Tianxin Church with her, saying that it was to prepare for the missionary work tomorrow.

"Please teach me more advanced game techniques, Sister Alice!"

When Metien said this, the talented player had no room to refuse.

Linger did not intend to interfere with his sister's actions. Since he had entrusted her with this important task, he should trust her ability. Besides, the young man also had important things to do. Regarding the alliance with the Ash Guerrillas, he needed the help of someone else. It could even be said that she was the most critical link in this plan, and she determined whether the chess game on the chessboard could develop into what Linger wanted.

……

"Haah~"

Walking in the dim corridor, the kerosene lamp hanging on the wall emitted a dim warm light. Princess Beman yawned casually, and the tired yawn echoed with the unhurried footsteps, and then drifted away quietly towards the distant night. When the wind blew, it disappeared. In fact, this does not mean that Ovira is really sleepy. Since leaving the Holy Temple of Heaven, although the curse has returned, it has been weakened a lot, so that she can close her eyes and squint for a while when she is tired occasionally. If you observe carefully, you will find that Princess Beman’s dark circles have faded a lot, and her whole spirit has improved a lot. It is a world of difference from the way she looked when she just left the castle two years ago.

As for why she kept yawning, it was just a habit, just like people who had been hungry before would desperately hoard food even after getting rid of poverty. The only difference was that the latter got satisfaction from this habit, while Olvera only felt empty. It seemed that the more she yawned, the more she resisted closing her eyes. The sleepiness was extinguished in her thoughts again and again, and everything she once longed for seemed no longer important. She still hadn't experienced a complete sleep, but the reason for her insomnia seemed to be different from yesterday.

Ovella occasionally pondered the reasons, but such pondering would never end, and there would be no answer. So gradually she learned to let things take their course, yawning when she wanted to, closing her eyes for a while when she felt tired, and opening her eyes again when she felt irritated and unable to fall asleep, facing the same scene. Nothing had changed in half a month, and her life seemed to be no different from before, but the girl no longer walked down the stairs at midnight to ask the bartender for a glass of water, so much so that the latter once thought that her insomnia had been completely cured, and that she had lost a good comrade who had spent the long nights with her.

The wind blew in from the window, whirring through the corridor. Although there was a glass lampshade between them, the flame in the kerosene lamp still flickered, as if a stone had been thrown into the water, and it swayed violently. The shadows were stretched out, waving on the wall, trying to swallow up the long-lasting light, causing the monsters lurking in the corners and ceiling to make a comeback.

Darkness, darkness everywhere.

Olvera couldn't help thinking that even if she closed her eyes, she couldn't fall asleep peacefully. All she saw before her was darkness. Emptiness, confusion, and fear that she was too ashamed to admit. In comparison, it was better when she didn't need to close her eyes at all.

The wind is so strong, I wonder if the lamp my father left for me has gone out?
The princess put her hand on the doorknob and couldn't help thinking. The fragment that she could not erase from her memory was the moment when the dark witch stood in the sea of ​​the universe and brought down darkness expressionlessly. Those bottomless shadows were like the tide, cold and turbulent, flooding over her ankles and palms. She had imagined how she would raise her sword to the witch angrily and firmly when she met her again, but in the end, she could only wait for death alone in the tide. The darkness was ink, but it dyed her face and heart pale. If the young man had not arrived in time with the lantern left by his father, she would probably have drowned in it, right?

From that day on, whether it was day or night, Olvera would make sure the lamp was burning before she could feel at ease. She carefully nurtured the young flame, but instead of drawing strength from it, she felt deeply sad and helpless, and sometimes even wanted to cry loudly, although she didn't know why.

It is probably a very complex emotion, as complex as human beings.

The girl sighed imperceptibly, and at this moment, she suddenly heard footsteps coming from the stairs, smooth and even, as natural as breathing, and appeared beside her.

She guessed the identity of the person without thinking, but her head still turned subconsciously and blinked in the dark, like two bright cat's eyes.
"Olvera," the young man said to her, "are you free now?"

Give me some meow