Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1249 Can you be the only one to teach me?

As a glorious people's teacher, it is his unshirkable responsibility to help young people who are in a confused period to solve their problems and guide their healthy spiritual growth towards a brighter future. Lingge was purely driven by his sense of mission as a teacher, so he chose to patiently listen to Leticia's concerns, and it had nothing to do with her threats.

After all, he is an upright man, and his noble character is well-known on Yunjingkong Island. How could he be afraid of the rumors of a little girl?
"Obviously he's scared."

Leticia looked at the young man in front of her with disdain: "Why don't you just admit it directly? You have to find so many excuses. It's just like what grandma said... you are deceiving yourself! Yes, you are deceiving yourself! Lingge, you are becoming worse, even worse than Alice!"

Worse than Alice! ?

This comment was a bit hurtful. Linger's mouth twitched. He wanted to teach this child a lesson and let her know what it meant to be careful with her words and actions, but when he thought of her threat just now, this idea was immediately dispelled. Well, since Leticia was in a bad mood, don't provoke her too much. If Ieta is pushed into a corner, she will bite people. Young people dare not imagine what the little bat will do when pushed into a corner.

"Cough cough."

He coughed twice and returned to the topic: "Those are trivial matters and are not important. Tell me why you are in a bad mood, Leticia. Maybe I can give you some advice?"

Leticia thought about it for a while. She felt that although Lingge was arrogant and mean, and always liked to discipline herself, and now he was even worse than Alice, he was simply the worst man in the world, but he was really good at coaxing girls. Even the ruthless Xiaoxia (yes) was coaxed by him. Maybe this was his nature, sweet talk, bewitching people! Although Leticia didn't expect him to solve her troubles, it was not a bad idea to say a few nice words to coax herself and make her feel better.

"Okay, then I'll be merciful and tell you!"

She readily agreed, and then gave a serious warning: "But you are not allowed to tell anyone else after you hear this, especially Grandma, Metien, Shemi, and Xiaoxia."

There are too many people who are not allowed to tell this, why don't you just tell them to keep it a secret?

Lingge pretended to listen attentively.

Seeing his humble appearance, the little bat nodded in satisfaction. Then she crossed her arms, leaned back in her chair and thought seriously for a few minutes, as if she was organizing her words. How could she make the problem seem more serious? No, it was already serious! The little bat said in a deep voice: "Metien will not play with me anymore."

Then there was nothing more to say.

Ling Ge waited for a long time, but only heard this sentence. He couldn't help but ask: "No more?"

"Nothing."

"That's it?"

"What do you mean that's all!" Leticia was so angry that she was waving her teeth and claws, wishing she could pounce on him and bite him: "It's obviously very serious, okay!"

Lingge thought about it and realized that if he looked at it from Leticia's perspective, this matter was indeed quite serious. After all, children always value friendship more than anything else. Even if they have only known each other for a few days, they will be very sad if they part ways. Moreover, Metien and Leticia have such a good relationship. So he readily admitted his mistake and barely calmed down the little bat's claws, and then asked: "Why didn't Metien play with you? Did you have any conflicts? I think it's just a misunderstanding, and it can be resolved by finding an opportunity to communicate?"

"There's no conflict." Leticia glared at him and said viciously, "Stupid Lingge, if you can't guess, don't guess!"

"Then you have to tell me a reason, right?"

"Because Metien is growing up."

"what?"

This reason was beyond Ling Ge's expectation, and he was a little confused. The little bat said solemnly, "This morning, I finally finished the homework assigned by Xiao Xia, and was about to go back to the hotel to play with Metien, but Shelia told me that she was about to leave Yunjingkong Island to help those humans fight on the battlefield!"

After hearing the news, the little bat was very anxious and immediately rushed to find Metien to ask her to give up the idea, but the bartender stopped her and told her that Metien made the decision after careful consideration. She was very determined and strong, so everyone, including her brother Linger, did not dissuade her, but silently supported her behind the scenes. Since you are her friend, shouldn't you understand, respect and support her choice? Or do you actually not care about what Metien wants at all, but only care about what you want?

These words stunned the little bat on the spot. She didn't know that the bartender had said this secretly at the behest of the countess. After all, the latter always loved her granddaughter and was reluctant to say such harsh words to her, so she had to let others do it for her. And its effect was also very obvious. The little bat, who had never thought about these problems, was confused. On the one hand, she was worried about Metien and wanted to keep her. On the other hand, she was afraid that, as Shelia said, she did this only out of selfishness and had never understood Metien's thoughts.

In a daze, she came to Metien's room, but she didn't dare to knock on the door. At that time, Sister Livia was helping Metien pack her belongings. Whether she was really confused or she noticed someone eavesdropping behind the door, the nun asked Metien the question that Little Bat wanted to know most: Why did she make such a decision suddenly? Was it inspired by the goddess, or was it her own wish?
And the answer given by Metien was the same as the one she gave to her brother last night.

It was her answer that made Leticia suddenly realize that her friend had thought so much about this in a place she couldn't see.

She never knew that the battle of Mitch and the others, and the death of Moya and others, had brought such a heavy blow to Metien, and such complicated thoughts. Perhaps it was because she had long been accustomed to death, so she often ignored some touchable emotions. She played with Metien every day, watching her finish her homework seriously, and at the same time thinking about how to preach; she accompanied her to study game skills, and listened to her nagging complaints that Mitch and Kadora had not come for a long time, and they should come next time, right? Even when building the cemetery, she participated in the whole process and contributed her own strength. But she did these things only because her friends wanted to do it, everyone was doing it, and she didn't care whether she did it or not, so she did it, unlike Metien, who always thought while doing it. When you do something, but not purely complete it, but start to think about why it is like this, why it becomes like this, and how to avoid it from becoming like this..., you grow up.

Therefore, Metien found that everyone was careless when she preached, but everyone listened carefully when her brother preached. She couldn't help wondering why this was the case and what was the difference? She found that everyone was happy when playing games, but they were unwilling to stay here and had to participate in the dangerous battle. So she thought about their beliefs and felt their awareness; she heard many people leave last words before death. Will the life that withered in blood and fire be reborn under the embrace of the oak tree? She has been thinking about the distant past and the no longer distant future, and she has been growing up.

This kind of growth is unimaginable for Leticia, because time has stopped for her, and growth is just a dream. After waking up from the dream, everything is the same as before, without any change. Sometimes she realizes what she lacks, and sometimes she doesn't take it to heart, because she has been like this for so many years. If it doesn't affect herself, then growth and stagnation, past and future, adults and children... are no longer important.

"But--"

The little bat said this, slowly pursed his lips, and a trace of grievance flashed in the depths of his eyes: "I feel that Metien is suddenly very far away from me, and is getting farther and farther away. She will become an adult soon, and she will never play with me again. I have never thought about this kind of thing. What about you, Lingge, have you imagined it?"

When Leticia asked this question, the young man understood her problem. This is a difficult problem to solve, especially when you are facing a vampire who has lived for thousands of years but always looks like a child. He thought about it, but did not answer the question directly. Instead, he said to himself: "I remember that when Metien was still young and Mr. Yanke had passed away, I always thought about letting my sister live a peaceful and stable life and protecting her from the wind and rain of the outside world until one day she grows up and no longer needs my help."

"As expected." This answer inevitably disappointed the little bat: "You are just like everyone else, you think growing up is a good thing."

"Do you think it's a bad thing?"

"I... I don't know." The little bat shook his head in confusion and murmured, "But I don't feel so happy. I still have a very strange feeling in my heart, just like eating unripe fruit, sour and astringent. In this case, it should be considered... a bad thing, right?"

Her judgment criteria are always so simple: what makes her happy is a good thing, and what makes her unhappy is a bad thing.

"In that case," Lingge suggested to her, "You can go and play with Shemi. She is also your friend."

"No way!" When the little elf who always goes against her was mentioned, Leticia's face immediately changed, and she said with disdain: "That girl is too childish, always clamoring to play hide-and-seek and shuttlecock, which are games that only children play. If it weren't for Metien letting her, I wouldn't want to play! Let's wait until she grows up and is not so childish!"

Linger looked at her with a strange look, which made the little bat a little scared. She shrank her neck guiltily, but she didn't forget to threaten with her teeth bared: "What, what are you doing? Did I say something wrong?"

That's true, Xie Mi is indeed very naive, but she is a traveling fairy, and the fairy race is inherently innocent. There are mature and steady ones like the proprietress Xiesta, and funny ones like the bartender Xiesta... ahem, I mean the weird ones, which are exceptions.

"I just think it's funny. Don't you find your attitude contradictory?" Linger smiled and said, "On the one hand, I am worried about Metien growing up, and I think that's a bad thing; on the other hand, I think Shemi is too childish and don't want to play with her. So the question is, do you want to grow up, or do you want to stay like this and be a child forever, Leticia?"

Leticia was stunned and speechless for a long time. It is human instinct to not be able to see one's true heart, or to hide it even though one has seen it clearly. However, the young man's words mercilessly pierced through her last disguise, and made the girl suddenly realize one thing -

"So, you are not afraid of Metien's growth, but you are afraid that after Metien grows up, you will stay in the same place, unable to catch up with her pace, and will be left further and further behind by her." Linger looked at the girl in front of him with a complicated look. In the past, her height was about the same as Metien, and when she sat down, she was about at Linger's chest. But two years have passed, and now when Metien sits down, she can already lean on her brother's shoulder, while this girl is still standing still, without any change. It's not just the body that can't grow. Over the years, the constant cycle, constant rebirth, constant loss of memory and gaining new memories have made this girl gradually forget the meaning of growth. In other words, even if she wants to grow up and catch up with her friends, she doesn't know how to do it.

"You don't know what to do to grow up, do you, Leticia?" he asked softly.

Leticia lowered her head, not daring to look him in the eye, much less answer his questions. The lowered white head actually looked somewhat aggrieved and pitiful.

"It doesn't matter." Lingge said, "If you don't know how to grow up, then learn it again. Anyway, the curse on you has been weakened and has not recurred for a long time. This is the most appropriate time to teach you how to relearn the emotions necessary for living as a human being. It doesn't matter even if it recurs in the future, because as you grow up, your heart will be tempered and become firm. Such a mature, brave, and fearless heart will definitely help you regain everything you have lost after reincarnation."

After saying this, as if to encourage this girl who was afraid of growing up, the young man naturally reached out his hand and gently stroked her hair.

What I can no longer do to my sister, I can still do to her for the time being.

When the young man's fingertips touched her hair, the little bat's body trembled slightly. She did not struggle, but was thinking, or perhaps hesitating. Is growing up easy? It must be full of pain, after all, Metien had shed so many tears for the death of her friend. Will you grow up if you are willing to grow up? Not necessarily, after all, Shemi always said that he wanted to grow up, but he still has a child's temper. It sounds like growing up is not always satisfactory, but Leticia knows that if she is afraid of these and is unwilling to take that step, she will always stay where she is, watching her friends gradually walk away, until they disappear in a place that she can never reach.

After thinking for a short while, the girl made a decision.

She reached out and grabbed the young man's wrist, gently moving it away from her head, then raised her head, stared at the young man in front of her, and said word by word: "In that case, Lingge, you come and teach me."

When the young man showed a surprised expression, she emphasized again: "Teach me how to become an adult!"

Give me some meow