Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 852 Has it been rejected?

Sitting in the lobby of the Fairy Sleep Inn, the two sides looked at each other in silence.

Although they were called two parties, the difference in number of people was huge. Linger and his companions sat on one side, while Shino sat alone on the other side, looking a little lonely. However, she herself did not feel nervous at all. She looked at the decoration and furnishings in the inn with great interest, and gave a friendly smile to the rabbit gentlemen who curiously poked their heads out of the rabbit hole in the corner to observe the guests. Then she retracted her gaze and said to the people sitting opposite: "This is my first time to visit the inn of the traveler goblin. It is indeed a beautiful and peaceful place as the folk rumors or rural anecdotes say."

"It's like, in the tipsy summer season, the grape branches are shining with golden light, and the afternoon sun makes people drowsy. At this time, you lie under the grape shed, thinking about nothing in your mind, and take a carefree sleep. The wind blows from the fields, gently brushing the leaves on the branches and your cheeks, cool and comfortable, making people want to sleep a little longer -"

She added with a smile: "That's how it feels."

"That's an interesting analogy." Linger nodded slightly: "It sounds like your personal experience, Miss Xinuo."

"You guessed right, Mr. Ling." Xino's ponytail moved slightly. "When I was a child, about eight or nine years old, I was playful and insisted on going to the vineyard with my father to help. In fact, I just wanted to play. My father couldn't persuade me, so he had to agree. As a result, I only made things worse after I went there. I either picked the unripe grapes, or played hide-and-seek under the grape trellis. I almost knocked over a bottle of wine that had been stored in the underground wine cellar for thirty years. My father got angry and drove me out and let me play by myself, but I was a little tired at that time, so I fell asleep directly in the vineyard. The feeling I felt at that time was very similar to the feeling now. If you hadn't brought me to such a good place, I'm afraid I would have forgotten about it long ago."

She smiled brightly.

So everyone stared at her with surprised eyes. They probably didn't expect that Miss Xino, who was calm and good at taking care of others, would have such a naughty period.

"The vineyard." Linger asked, "Is it the property of the Gustaf family?"

"No, nothing." An embarrassed look flashed across Xinuo's face: "It's just that I don't like drinking very much, so..."

Being interrupted by her, the original topic could not be continued. Ling Ge, who was a little thirsty because of talking too much, picked up the wine glass on the table and sipped the colorless and transparent liquid in the glass. In a place he didn't notice, Xino looked at this scene with a surprised look.

Even though the estate was lost, the Gustave family still owns many vineyards and wineries, but the most famous one is the ancestral estate at the foot of the Loser Mountains, where Shino now lives. It does not grow grapes and has no history of storing wine. It is famous only because of its name.

Strictly speaking, this is the first wine with a unique name. Before that, people only used the place of origin as a synonym. Therefore, all the wine produced in Grindelwald was collectively called Grindelwald wine. In the 11th century, the winemaking workshops and craftsmen at that time worked together and used a special fermentation method to ferment the grapes in oak barrels for two years and three months to develop this sweet and fragrant wine. In gratitude for the strong support and promotion of the Gostave family to this industry, it was named after the Chardouri Manor. Later, Chardouri wine became popular internationally, and people began to imitate it, giving birth to many brands of wine.

"Chardolly." Linger glanced at Xino and said, "I remember that Chardolly is a very famous wine."

Saint Xia Liya noticed it, perhaps because she had been paying attention to Ling Ge and Xinuo, so she asked very considerately: "What's wrong, Miss Xinuo?"

Xino smiled and seemed to want to say something, but at this moment, a sound of footsteps interrupted their conversation. Miss Shelia came over in a black and white bartender uniform, placed the wine glasses on the tray in front of everyone one by one, and then said coolly: "Grindelwald's wine is indeed good, but my work is also comparable to it. Why not try my masterpiece that I just developed recently-"

This is a great honor, both for the Gostave family and for this wine. It also proves how famous and appealing the pure and righteous whitethorn flower is in this land. Even though it has become a little lonely in modern times, it is still mentioned from time to time. It is a well-known truth that those popular words that are always on people's lips will soon die out. Only things that always flash in people's memory after a long period of silence are truly eternal.

In the Grindelwald Plain, wine has actually become a culture. Whether it is a castle, a manor, a hotel or even a private residence, they are proud to own their own vineyards. It is worth mentioning that the Red Maple Leaf Manor, which was once a grape-growing manor and later became a well-known wine museum and exhibition hall, is said to have been built by a certain generation of ancestors of the Gustave family. After the Republican era, it was donated by the Gustave family to the Soumia City Government and became a public property. The 36th Republican Celebration of the Province of Saint-Denis was held there.

Shino: “What?”

The naming style has changed again, from the holy style at the beginning to the dark style later, and now it is just cool style with unclear meaning.

"I know." Lingge said. He had indeed seen relevant descriptions in books. Because the Losser Mountains blocked most of the invading air currents, the Grindelwald Plain had never suffered any serious meteorological disasters. In addition, the climate and soil conditions here were very suitable for grape cultivation. Therefore, when the pioneer knight carrying the white thorn flower flag brought seeds of various crops, the Granginians at that time began to plant grapes and developed a wine industry in the sixth century AD. It was famous for this until the completion of the United Church of Williard.

Everyone: "..."

At this point, she chuckled and said, "If Mr. Ling knew anything about Grindelwald Plain, he would know that our grape planting industry is quite developed here."

She thought deeply for a while, then slowly uttered four words from her mouth: "It is a sign of bad luck."

Ling Ge: “…”

"Yes." Although he didn't know why he asked this, Xino nodded gently: "In addition to the land of Loser's Forest, our Gostave family also has some other industries distributed on the Grindelwald Plain, including a small amount of arable land, woodland and winemaking workshops, and the rest are all estates for growing grapes. Because there are few people in the family, most of the industries are rented out to others, and only a few industries are managed by themselves. The vineyard that my father took me to is one of them."

It’s so famous that even people like Lingge, who don’t drink, have heard of it.

Xie Liya, who was about to leave with a tray, paused when she heard this, turned around and said to her, "This is not wine."

Then he walked away, leaving Xino sitting in his seat in a daze, wondering, if it's not wine, then what is it?
It can't be water, right?
……

After chatting, it was time to get down to business. But at this point, everyone fell silent. Even Alice, who was very enthusiastic at the beginning, shrank her head and said nothing. Perhaps she didn't know how to start. She looked left and right, and finally set her eyes on Lingge. She poked the young man under the table with her finger, hinting that it was your turn to speak.

Normally, he was so talkative that it made people noisy, but at critical moments, he would just play dead. Linger had seen through this guy's character a long time ago, so he just complained a few words in his heart and put it out of his mind, looking up at the girl sitting opposite. At this time, Xino was also looking at him with curious eyes. The girl sat quite upright, her back was straight even without leaning against the back of the chair, and her eye level on the chair was almost the same as Linger's, enough to overlook the other girls. At this time, Linger realized how long her ponytail was. When she sat down, the ends of her snow-white long hair almost touched the floor, gently sweeping across the old wooden texture.

He was silent for a moment before he spoke: "Ms. Shino, I have just told you the reason why we came to the Grindelwald area. It is to find someone."

"Yeah, I know." Xinuo nodded slightly, then remembered something and couldn't help but smile: "Mr. Ling, you don't want to say that the person you are looking for is me, right?"

"How do you know!?"

Alice jumped up from her chair in shock, not knowing when they were exposed. But when she turned her head hastily, trying to get a sense of security from her companions, she found that everyone was staring at her, and their eyes were calm and deep, which made her feel guilty for some reason.

"How do you think she knew that?" the outspoken little bat complained.

"Ah this!"

Alice wanted to say that it had nothing to do with me, but the words went around in circles and she finally held them back. She suddenly tilted her head, clenched her left hand into a fist and gently hit her forehead, making a cute sound, then obediently sat back in her seat and continued to shrink her head and pretend to be dead.

Lingge wanted to vomit after seeing it.

"It seems that I was right." Xino blinked his wine-red eyes, and his thick black eyelashes brushed slightly, slightly covering up the flash of memories in the depths of his eyes. He asked, "But I'm curious, why are you looking for me? If I remember correctly, at least before today, I didn't know you, right?"

Alice, who had been trying to hold back her anger, finally couldn't hold it back after hearing this, and muttered, "It doesn't matter. We didn't know each other before, but we'll get to know each other slowly after we get to the island."

"Oh?" Hearing this, Xinuo's eyes flickered. She moved her gaze away from Ling Ge and looked at the others one by one, asking, "So, you didn't know each other from the beginning?"

"of course not!"

Alice counted on her fingers, "In the beginning, there were only me, Lingge, Saint Xia Liya and Metien. The lamb didn't count as a human. Later, we met everyone from the Fairy Sleep Inn in Rostin City and rescued Olvera from the castle, so Olvera joined us. Later, we went to Nimsher City to attend the International Exposition, where we met Yieta. Only then did we have the Cloud Whale Sky Island as a means of transportation, and the hotel was moved to the island at that time. But you haven't seen Yieta yet, right? She's over there in the flower field. I'll take you to see her next time. And there's more..."

She talked about a lot of things, from the original four people to Gloria who joined the team last month, from the adventure in Belman Castle to the infiltration of the virtual root swamp... This long journey of searching for people made Xino stunned. After listening to it, the girl couldn't help but sigh: "Your adventures sound really romantic."

The vibrant Cloud Whale Island, the island's residents with different personalities, the Fairy Inn located deep in the sky island, and the travelers who travel around the world on the sky island, a search for people that will never end, interspersed with all kinds of wonderful encounters and thrilling adventures... A story like this, not to mention that Xino is just an eighteen-year-old girl, even the most serious old pastor in the Williard United Church would find it very romantic, right?

In this regard, the genius player also has his opinion: "It's a classic RPG. How can it be called a classic if it's not romantic? And if you envy us, you can also join us! Isn't it more interesting to go on adventures together than to stay in the forest and sweep the floor all day?"

Ling Ge couldn't help but cover his face. This guy was not only too direct, but also completely missed the point. Is the point that Xinuo was sweeping the forest? The point is that she is the oath-bearer and guardian of all the aliens in the Loser Forest! She is the heir of the Whitethorn Flower Godafu family! She is a worshiper of Joan of Arc!
Shino didn't find Alice's words offensive. On the contrary, she found them very interesting. "It sounds like you guys want to invite me to join you on your journey?"

"Of course!" Alice answered without hesitation: "Otherwise why would we come to find you? In fact, we all thought that we would have to go through some twists and turns before we could find you. After all, this was the case several times before. I didn't expect you to appear right in front of us. That's why I say this is a fateful encounter!"

She waved the banner in the name of fate and laughed shamelessly, causing the King of Fate sitting next to her to cover his face. Her expression and mood were perfectly synchronized with that of a certain young man.

"That sounds great."

Xinuo said softly: "But this is a bit too presumptuous. You all have to tell me the reason first: Why are you looking for me? Is there anything special about me? How can you be sure that I am the one you are looking for? And most importantly, after finding me, what do you want me to do for you? If you make all these questions clear -"

She gave Alice a polite smile: "Maybe I will consider your invitation just now, Miss Alice."

"Really!?"

Alice's eyes lit up, and then she became proud, thinking that the last girl's throne was already within her grasp. But in contrast to her, Linger frowned upon hearing this, and for some reason, he had a vague premonition, always feeling that...Xino's words seemed to agree, but in fact, they already had a hint of rejection.

But why did she decide to refuse without even listening to the reasons?

It seems that things are not as simple as others think.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)