Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1312 Should we avoid unnecessary sacrifices?

Considering that destroying the enemy's force field device would be crucial to this war, Grayhill Eagle proposed to General Franzand that an elite force be formed, drawing members with extraordinary strength and infiltration capabilities from the Liberator Front, the Adventurers' Guild, mercenaries, and even support personnel sent by the Church. This force would then infiltrate Suarez from the flank and rear to reconnoiter the enemy's military deployments and defenses, especially locating the control room of the force field device. Without destroying the core of the force field device at its control center, even if its defenses were temporarily breached by force, it would quickly be re-established.

At Ling's request, Countess Neville became the temporary commander of this unified force. Although her origins were mysterious, her attitude casual, and she was a vampire, her demigod-level strength was enough to suppress all dissent. Admittedly, the Countess always maintained an outsider's perspective, showing no concern for the outcome of the war. However, she possessed rich battlefield experience. For the Bloodfang progenitor who had fought alongside Saint Neo on the Tagu'ao Wasteland and jointly built an unparalleled empire, this war taking place on the Gray Hills was far from enough to move her.

Lin Ge didn't expect the Countess to risk her life for a group of strangers, but he knew that given her character of valuing honor and keeping her promises, she would definitely fulfill her duties diligently once she agreed. Therefore, entrusting this matter to Neville was a reassuring decision.

Unexpectedly, the problem didn't lie with the Countess, but with someone else.

Even though everyone is united under the same banner and fighting for the same goal, their hearts are divided—a fact no one can change. Expecting a hastily assembled force to serve as a surprise attack is far too idealistic, especially given the inherent contradictions within its members. The Liberator Front's rebels look down on the Adventurers' Guild and mercenaries, believing them to have feigned ignorance until the war turned for them, only joining the rebellion out of cowardice and a desire for personal gain. Due to conflicting areas of expertise, the Adventurers' Guild and mercenaries despise each other; one side believes mercenaries have no bottom line, doing anything for money, while the other thinks the Adventurers' Guild is a mixed bag, producing many strong individuals but mostly weaklings only capable of menial jobs like finding cats and walking dogs, devoid of professional dignity. The self-righteous church members look down on all three groups equally, but the former three groups, when facing church members, set aside their differences and confront them head-on…

After learning about the complicated inside story, Hino once sighed with admiration. The countess's methods were already quite clever, as she was able to unite these people into a force and lead them to carry out the most difficult infiltration and reconnaissance missions. Despite repeated failures, she always managed to escape unscathed. Although there were casualties, they were still within an acceptable range. As for the problem of missions always failing and making no progress, that really couldn't be blamed on her.

“Sometimes I think,” Neville walked to Xino’s side and looked with her toward the direction of Suarez City. As they watched the fiery red sunset gradually sink into the ocean below the horizon, slowly engulfing all the scars and ruins on the battlefield, she said from the bottom of her heart, “If only Alice’s game console and cartridges could still work. That kind of power, though unreasonable, is truly effective.”

Whether it's Sky Orbit: Zero Beast, which transforms the Cloud Whale Sky Island into a sky battleship, or Celestial Armed: Birth, which can summon divine mechs, both can easily solve the immediate problem. Even Neville's proud infiltration and reconnaissance can be done better by the game cartridge called Blood Creed; that power to turn all real matter into data and then pursue incredible miracles in cold data is the essence of Fantasy Kingdom.

"What a pity," she sighed again. "I wonder what Alice is doing now."

"She's probably still trying to fix her game console, right?" Hino guessed. "After all, it's her most important and cherished possession."

"If it can be repaired, that would be a real relief." The countess stretched slowly. "At least, an old man like me can stay at home and wait for the good news of the victory, instead of going through all the trouble of sneaking into the city and being dragged down by a few stupid teammates, almost getting blown to smithereens by the enemy's magic turrets."

This slightly languid posture accentuated the Countess's beautiful figure, but it also drew Xinuo's attention to the tears in her cuffs and hems, which carried a faint, hot, and pungent magical aura. The Countess, always mindful of her appearance, would never allow herself to be so disheveled. Therefore, her seemingly casual description concealed countless perilous moments, far from the lighthearted tone she presented.

"Is that so?" Hino tilted his head, looking at the Countess with a half-smile. "But I have a feeling that even if Alice's game console is fixed, you won't allow her to use it."

Because the person controlling the Blood Creed cartridge was not Alice, but rather the Countess's most beloved granddaughter, Leticia.

Just a few days earlier, on that morning, she had firmly refused the latter's request to go to the battlefield with her. Although the little bat was jumping around anxiously and repeatedly promised that he would be obedient and not run around causing trouble for everyone, the countess still refused resolutely, for a simple reason: "You are not old enough to step onto the battlefield, Leticia."

So just stay home and be with the rest of the family.

But everyone knew that age was just an excuse; the Countess truly meant something else. Otherwise, by actual age, both Saint Charlotte and Ovira were much older than Hino, so why was she the one standing here in the end, while the other two remained at the Fairy Slumber Inn? Why could Medien go to the battlefield while Shamy and Leticia, who were many times older than her, couldn't? Why could Mitch and Cardora, the young soldiers, go to the battlefield while the older students in school had to stay in the rear, waiting for news of victory…

So what exactly determines who has the right to step onto the battlefield and who can only stand on the shore as a bystander? It's certainly not just age, but what's lacking isn't awareness, belief, courage, or strength... but something far more complex than that.

"Let's wait until she understands before we talk about it."

The countess's smile faded as she gazed silently at the battlefield swallowed by the setting sun. Blood mingled with the sunset, blurring the lines between corpses and shadows. As the twilight traced the curve of her beautiful jawline, her expression hardened. "Trying to define war is an arrogant thing, and no one can do it. But I personally experienced the founding war of the Method Empire, from the Void Root Swamp to the Rainy Harbor, from Golden Hill to Grey Crane Plains. I was a close comrade of Saint Neo, and a mortal enemy of the Five Old Wolves of Silver City; I led the battlefield legion in a charge against the Rhinoceros Warriors of Karasus, and I witnessed countless lives reduced to ashes in a great fire... Perhaps I am qualified to offer some innocuous remarks."

Her words, though seemingly innocuous, were nonetheless startling: "War itself is a meaningless act. Of course, I am not the traditional pacifist in the eyes of the world. They say war is meaningless because they feel everything is too empty; whether you win or lose, you won't gain or lose anything. If wars were to end, then all the wars fought to end them would be meaningful. But the reality is quite the opposite; wars never end. So they think, why should we pay with our lives for a never-ending war? Wouldn't it be better if everyone lived in peace?"

"I wouldn't say such thoughts are too cowardly, but they certainly don't align with my personal preferences. Since I started with nothing, I naturally didn't lose anything from the war; on the contrary, I gained quite a lot. When I led the chariot legion to break through the Karasus's formation, I felt an unprecedented tremor and excitement; when I watched my comrades being consumed one by one by the flames of Golden Hill, the blood in my veins seemed to be mourning for them; when I stood on the altar of the Oath-Takers, swearing an oath with the other four teeth of the Tagu'o Wilderness to establish an unparalleled empire, an indescribable sense of pride and mission welled up in my heart; and when all of this burned away, my heart cooled down, and I kept thinking about the meaning of war, finally concluding that as long as it allowed me to protect my family and occasionally recall something in the long, boring life ahead, it wasn't a wasted time."

“Until I died for the first time, and then struggled to rise again, returning to the world of the living.” The Countess lowered her head, glancing at her palms, smooth and flawless, as if she were still a beautiful, ambitious young woman. “From that moment on, I understood that time had lost its meaning for me, and thus, war naturally lost its meaning as well. So you should understand what I mean, Hino, the meaning of war is not defined by itself, but by the fact that people need it, and that's what gives it meaning.” “Then, do you think this war was meaningful to those people?”

She gazed into the distance at the corpses on the battlefield, the ruins, and the blood flowing everywhere.

Xinuo pondered for a moment: "Liberating our hometown and pursuing freedom and peace, I think that's meaningful."

"That's your definition of them, but in reality, who knows what they're really thinking? Or rather, has anyone ever cared? A soldier's life is the cheapest thing, and their ideals are a hundred times cheaper than life itself. I've seen many generals praised for loving their soldiers like their own children. They never delay their soldiers' pay and compensation, and they treat even the most insignificant soldiers with gentleness and courtesy. After winning a battle, they distribute all their treasures as rewards, taking nothing for themselves. The soldiers love them and are willing to fight for them. But after watching for so long, I've found that not a single general, not even a lowly officer, ever asks his soldiers: Why did you join this war? What are your ideals? What are your beliefs? Because subconsciously, they feel that these are just soldiers who can't answer such complex questions."

"If everyone's beliefs were unified, if everyone's spirit were unified, if high-ranking generals pursued the same things as lowly soldiers, and if even the soldiers struggling in the dust could understand the generals' ideals, then I think that kind of war would be meaningful, right? But at least for me, this war isn't, so—"

Neville turned back and smiled, but her voice sounded particularly cold in the deepening twilight, as if it were soaked in the congealed blood outside Suarez: "There's no need to take it so seriously."

Such joking words would surely have sparked considerable controversy if heard by the Eagle of Grayhill or other rebel fighters, but the Countess only spoke them to those close to her. Similarly, she wasn't trying to show off her maturity or boast about her rich past experiences; for an elderly woman, any exaggerated boasting would be like exposing her shortcomings.

Hino gradually came to her senses: "Are you trying to persuade me, Miss Neville?"

"If that's how you feel, I'll be very happy."

The countess did not give a direct answer, her attitude remaining ambiguous. Perhaps for someone like her, maintaining a mysterious, restrained, and intriguing way of speaking had become an instinct.

Hino chuckled with relief. The countess's attitude didn't offend her; instead, it felt familiar. She was surrounded by people who liked to speak in this way—her grandfather, the countess before her, and even the young man.

"Looks like I've been overthinking it." The young knight gently patted her cheeks, trying to clear her mind. "Maybe it's because I've been helping out at the hospital these past few days and seen so many scenes of life and death that I've become a bit sentimental."

"This isn't like you."

"Are you saying I'm not suited to being sentimental, Miss Neville?"

“No, what I mean is—” Neville raised an eyebrow: “You are, after all, a knight.”

So do what a knight should do.

Hino chuckled silently again, then waved goodbye before turning and walking down the hill. The Countess watched her figure recede into the distance until it disappeared into the sunset. For some reason, the scene suddenly felt strangely familiar. Dusk, sunset, battlefield, corpses, devastation, sorrow, tranquility, and the conversation between two people—she couldn't help but think, "Old people tend to dwell on the past."

Fortunately, for Leticia, that was indeed a thing of the past, and a long time ago, so much so that she could no longer remember it.

……

That evening, the Countess learned from Ring that Hino had made a decision: she would give the rebels another day, and if they still hadn't achieved anything by then, the knights of the Gostaff family would personally intervene.

To avoid further unnecessary sacrifices.

Give me some cats