Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1253: Farewell before departure?
"Have you brought everything you need? Is there anything you missed? If you are not sure, check again. It is not too late to go back and get it now. Also, when you are alone outside, you must eat and rest on time. I know you want to help others, but that must be based on taking good care of yourself. Don't be too impulsive when encountering any things. Learn to think calmly and remember to ask for the opinions of people around you, such as Miss Nevill and Sister Livia. Learn to protect yourself and stay away from dangerous places. This is not to teach you to be a coward, but to say that you are a doctor. Only by protecting yourself can you protect more people. I won't say anything else. In short, just do your best. As long as you do your best, no matter what the final result is, no one can blame you. And, Metien--"

The young man paused for a moment, then gently placed his hand on his sister's shoulder, conveying to her a warm encouragement and firm confidence: "Have hope, and believe that the war will end soon."

Metien curved his eyebrows and nodded vigorously: "Yes!"

She whispered, as if she were whispering to her brother: "I will be patient, Lingge, until you come and end the war!"

Seeing his sister's quirky appearance, Lingge couldn't help laughing. Even though he knew that she was an adult, he couldn't help but raise his hand and rubbed Metien's head affectionately: "Patience is right, but I am not the one who wants to end the war."

It should be Carson Borg, General Fransander, the soldiers of the Liberation Front and the Kingdom Army, Olvera who silently provided them with intelligence, the proprietress who generously donated a lot of supplies, and even the female knight who has been waiting for the perfect opportunity and will directly lay the foundation for victory once she takes action... That's right, they are the key to determining the outcome of this war.

As for Lingge, he felt that it was good enough if he could do some small things within his ability.

Metien chuckled and did not refute.

In fact, she felt that her brother was too unconfident.

A strange premonition told the girl that her brother was the one who could end the war, but this premonition had no source and could not be verified. She was afraid that even if she told it to Lingge, he would not believe it.

She decided to keep it deep in her heart until the day her premonition came true.

The young man didn't know what his sister was thinking. He had already said what he wanted to say, but he still felt a little worried and reluctant, probably because of his brother's status. So he took his sister's hand and said a lot of things. It was nothing more than the same old things, such as taking a rest on time and taking care of your health. At the end, he quietly added that if you feel stressed, you can always return to Yunjingkong Island. Anyway, you are not a soldier, and no one will blame you for being a deserter.

When he said this, he deliberately lowered his voice to prevent it from being heard by others, especially Mitch and Kadora who were also present. This made Metien laugh and cry. Although he could understand his brother's psychology, he inexplicably felt that he was exaggerating.

Coincidentally, she was not the only one who felt this way.

"When did Lingge become so long-winded?" Avella hummed, with a hint of dissatisfaction in her tone, but it was not because of Metien, but because the young man broke his promise again last night and did not come to coax her to sleep, causing Her Royal Highness to be sleepless all night. Now she is in a bad mood: "He always said that the novels I wrote were cumbersome and redundant. It seems that he is not much better!"

"This is what we call family love." Rorona said with a smile, "I also have brothers and sisters, so I can understand him."

Although she ran away secretly and was not very sad when she left Nereids, she may have felt a little homesick, but it was soon washed away by her lofty ambitions. The two years of traveling were much shorter than the six years she lived in Rotdana City. So far, Princess Haixi has not missed her hometown that much, but because she has achieved nothing, she is a little afraid to go back.

But someone had promised to go back with her. Thinking of this, Lorena actually felt a little excited again.

While they were talking, Lingge had already said goodbye to his sister. Of course, he didn't take the initiative to end it, but Leticia, who had been waiting behind him, became impatient. The little bat said goodbye to her grandmother first, and repeatedly assured her that during her absence, she would be obedient and study hard, and try her best to act like a good granddaughter. As a result, maybe she acted too much, the countess believed it and actually assigned her a lot of homework. By the way, she also asked the boss lady to supervise her granddaughter's diet and not to pick out vegetables from the food.

The little bat, who thought that he could do whatever he wanted without any supervision after his grandmother left, ended up making things worse. He was very depressed and was about to tell Metien what was in his heart. But when he turned around, he found that Lingge was still dithering there. What nonsense was he talking about? Didn't he see that Metien was already very embarrassed, with only a wry smile on his face?
"Stupid Lingge!" She put her head on the young man's waist: "Get out of the way! I want to talk to Metien!"

Lingge was not able to defend himself and was nearly knocked to the ground by her. Fortunately, this kind of thing happened frequently and he was used to it. He just took two steps back to steady himself. Then he raised his eyebrows and was about to teach this little bat a lesson and let her know what politeness was. But Leticia suddenly turned her head and made a face at him, and said something silently. Judging from her lip shape, she seemed to be saying... don't forget what happened last night.

What happened last night... Ling Ge subconsciously glanced at Saint Xia Liya.

The shepherdess tilted her head, looking puzzled: "What's wrong, Lingge?"

"No, nothing." Linger quickly retracted his gaze. He knew that Little Bat was playing a trick that would hurt both sides. Once this matter was exposed, neither he nor she would be able to get away with it. However, Little Bat obviously didn't care about being scolded. After all, there was not a day that she didn't get scolded by someone, either her grandmother or Saint Shallia. In Alice's words, a dead pig is not afraid of boiling water; but Linger didn't want to experience that feeling, and he didn't want to face Saint Shallia's anger directly.

If one party has concerns and the other party has no concerns, then it is inevitable that someone will compromise.

He sighed softly, took two steps back silently, and gave the space for communication to his sister and her two friends. Yes, although Lingge was driven away, Leticia did not get the opportunity to be alone with Metien as she wished, because Shemi appeared out of nowhere. She would never allow her friends to form a small group behind her back, even at this time of separation.

"What are you talking about?" The little elf naturally landed on Metien's head and glanced at Leticia proudly: "I want to listen too!"

In the past, Leticia could not tolerate such naked provocation, but she felt that she had grown up a lot after one night, and no longer needed to care about such childish things, so she did not take it to heart, but said to her good friend very seriously: "Metien, you have to be careful and come back safely, I will wait for you!"

"Don't worry." Medien said with a smile, "I'm going to be a doctor. I won't go to the battlefield. It's very safe." Safe is weird. The safest place is Yunjingkong Island! Leticia thought to herself. In fact, she had proposed to Medien that she drink her blood, so that it would be safe. But the pink-haired girl still rejected the proposal as before. Leticia felt regretful and felt a little awkward: My ability is obviously very powerful, why does no one want it except Lingge, the idiot?

Even the drop of blood that Lingge drank was forced into his mouth by her in some way.

"Oh, Metien." She suddenly remembered something and couldn't wait to share the good news with her friend: "I have found a way to become an adult. I am working hard now. You will be surprised when you come back!"

"Eh..." Metien blinked and didn't react for a moment: "How to become an adult?"

"What's the big deal?" Xie Mi sneered, "I can become an adult too. My eldest and second sisters told me that as long as I practice fairy magic hard, I will be able to do it one day!"

"That's not the case!" Leticia retorted loudly: "You are only grown up physically, but you are still a child at heart. You are not a real adult at all!"

"Nonsense! As the body grows, the mind will also grow!"

"What a naive idea! Xie Mi, you really don't know anything!"

"It's you who doesn't understand, Leticia!"

As they talked, they started arguing again. However, this was their daily task, so Metien didn't take it seriously. Instead, she was more interested in the "way to become an adult" mentioned by Leticia. She could roughly imagine the adult version of Shemy, referring to Miss Shesta and Miss Shelia who used fairy magic to transform into human form. But what would the adult version of Leticia look like? It really made her curious.

If it's just like she said, I can see her when I come back.

But it shouldn't be possible. Becoming an adult is a long process. Besides, Leticia is a vampire, a young queen, and cursed by reincarnation. It's much harder for her to grow up than ordinary people. Moreover, why do Leticia and Shemi suddenly want to grow up? They didn't care about this before. They always said that being a child is not bad. At least when they were caught eating snacks, they wouldn't be scolded by sister Xiaoxia like Alice.

Adults are always very tolerant towards children.

Metien was just thinking casually and didn't take it to heart. She knew that her two friends were very strange, one was selfish and self-centered, the other was noisy and careless, and they would always do whatever ideas came to their minds without caring about the reasons and consequences. So it was not so strange that they suddenly wanted to grow up.

Probably everyone felt the same way, so they just glanced at the quarrel happening in front of them and paid no more attention. Saint Shallia felt that it was not a good idea for children to quarrel in public, but considering that the current occasion was not appropriate, she decided to teach them a lesson later.

Only one person heard some clues from the quarrel between Leticia and Shemi. A gleam of light flashed in her eyes, and then she showed a thoughtful expression.

It seems like I heard some very interesting things.

The corners of Princess Haiqi's mouth slowly curved into an arc, and a great idea quietly took shape.

……

Regarding the issue of growth, Leticia and Shemi argued for more than ten minutes, and they did not reach a consensus until they were about to leave. If Medien had not been about to leave, they would probably have continued arguing.

When the time came, Mitch and Kadora showed up on time. Together with the young army, they would take Metien and the other two to the official base of the rebels, the iron forging city of Bad Ain, which was captured not long ago. There, the young army would carry out their beliefs and continue to fight for the dead; and Metien would also fulfill her duties as a doctor for the first time, treating the wounded and bringing hope. That was her dream that had sprouted after the death of her adoptive father. She had thought that it would be realized in the Red Cross hospital in the future, but she did not expect that a bumpy journey of fate would eventually put her in her current position.

The girl was troubled, confused, and pondered before finally making a decision. This was her growth, and Lingge had no right to interfere.

After all, the girl who once tugged at her adoptive father's clothes and hid behind him, looking at her timidly, is now a mature adult. At that time, there were still fear and tears in her eyes, but now there is only a firm belief.

While Kadora was chatting with Metien, Mitch quietly promised Lingge that he would take good care of Metien and never let her be in danger. He also asked Lingge to take good care of the children in the school and the comrades buried in the cemetery. It would be even better if he could send flowers every once in a while to convey their grief. This was not an excessive request, so Lingge naturally agreed. Mitch was so happy that he seemed to forget that he was the one who needed to worry. He said a few words to Alice, saying that although Ai Guidance's game was poorly balanced, it was actually quite fun. Then he turned around and slipped away before Ai Guidance got angry.

He waved goodbye and quietly watched Metien's figure gradually go away accompanied by Sister Livia and Countess Nevi'er, and finally completely disappeared at the junction of Cloud Whale Sky Island and Black Forest. When even the footsteps could no longer be heard, a trace of melancholy appeared on the young man's face. Since the death of his adoptive father, his heart has never been so empty, as if the girl was not actually leaving temporarily, but was completely swallowed up by this ancient and dark forest, or turned into foam like the little mermaid in the fairy tale, returned to the ocean, and would never come back again.

Give me some meow