Alice in the Land of Steam

Although it sounds like an impossible task to fight against the army of the Witch Society with such a small force, Saint Shallia thought it through carefully and felt that it might not be impossible.

"We are not trying to defeat the Witch Society's army. We just want to escape from this encirclement."

She said to everyone, "In this case, there are only two things to consider. The first is how to break through the enemy fleet's blockade. In this regard, we may be able to rely on the strength of Ieta and Lorena."

She cast her gaze towards the two girls mentioned. For some reason, the distracted Angel lady was a little slow to react and froze for a moment: "Hey hey hey! Do you want to rely on me?"

"Yes." Saint Shalia nodded firmly, with unreserved trust and encouragement in her bright eyes: "You can definitely do it, Yieta, didn't you do it this way in the past?"

Just like when a group of people broke through the blockade of the Star Cruise Force and broke into the initial star field, Yieta is the owner of the Cloud Whale Sky Island and the best driver on the ship. Only she can communicate with the earth beneath her feet, allowing the clumsy whale to soar freely in the sky, playing with its enemies nimbly and gracefully, and carrying the trust and expectations of her companions, sailing towards the future - there is no doubt that this is something only Yieta can do.

Although, Miss Angel herself did not seem so confident. She hesitated, her thick eyelashes trembling slightly, and she looked pitiful: "But, but, that was all with the help of Alice's cassette, so I..."

The cartridge of "Sky Orbit: Type-0 Behemoth" was used in the battle to break through the initial star field. According to the settings of the game console, each cartridge will enter a cooling period after use, and the cooling period depends on the strength of the enemy and the intensity of the battle. Yieta is not Alice, and she doesn't know when this cartridge will cool down, but at least, in the short term, she will not have the opportunity to sit in the driver's seat of the Arus.

If it wasn't the Arus, but the Cloud Whale Sky Island; if it wasn't in the game, but in reality; if it wasn't through a cold screen, but watching the flames of war burning in the universe with my own eyes... could I still do it?

Yieta pursed her lips and let her wings droop weakly behind her. The excitement and excitement she felt when she first walked out of the windmill tower had long since disappeared with the arrival of one bad news after another.

Ling Ge noticed her reaction and seemed to be thinking about something.

Naturally, no matter how hesitant she is, in order to live up to the trust and expectations of her companions, Miss Angel should still take on this difficult task in the end. But without confidence, how much strength can she exert? I am afraid that a little setback or some accident will be enough to make her regret and fear. The opportunity is fleeting, and if you can't grasp it in time, you will miss the overall situation. Therefore, the best way is undoubtedly to have someone to help you. The feeling of having a companion by your side can give this sensitive Miss Angel a lot of security.

As for the candidates——

"Let me assist you, Yieta."

Ling Ge said: "I will be responsible for observing the situation and making judgments. You just need to concentrate on controlling the Cloud Whale Sky Island. This should be fine, right?"

When Yieta heard his words, she looked up at the young man in surprise, and then the surprise quickly turned into a feeling of warmth and touching. She knew that by doing this, the young man was undoubtedly putting all the pressure on her shoulders. Once his judgment was wrong, the only person who needed to take responsibility would be Lingge himself, and it had nothing to do with Yieta.

Ieta wanted to nod and agree, but she couldn't say it because she suddenly felt that she was too selfish. She pushed the responsibilities that belonged to her to Lingge because she was afraid of taking them. But she should have known that evading responsibilities would not create happiness, but would only make the tragedy that happened in Avignon Village happen again.

After the tragedy unfolded and ended, she is still the same sensitive and fragile self as before. Has she not grown at all?

Miss Angel opened her mouth, but hesitated to speak.

At this time, Ling Ge glanced at her and suddenly said to Saint Xia Liya: "She didn't say anything, so she must have agreed."

Saint Xia Liya also reacted and nodded quickly, with a serious face: "Okay, then it's decided."

The two of them used this almost cheating way to settle the matter, which made Yieta angry and amused, and a little sad after laughing. In the end, she had neither the courage to nod in agreement nor the courage to firmly refuse. Instead, she let others make the decision for her in her hesitation. Isn't this also a kind of escape?
When will Miss Angel, who wants to bring happiness to everyone, grow up?

Or is it just this time...?

She lowered her head, her eyes somewhat sad.

Saint Shallia set her sights on the other person she mentioned earlier. "Although our goal is to break through the blockade, we cannot just take the beating. The enemy will not let us go easily. Therefore, we need to be prepared for defense and counterattack. However, compared to the enemy's army, our own strength is still too weak. Therefore, we need your alchemical tools to help, Lorena."

Princess Umisu thought about it for a moment.

"Well, do you mean to build Cloud Whale Sky Island into a real mobile fortress? Just like Lord Petrod of the Stone Crab Sea? This is not a difficult task, but if you want to include the entire Cloud Whale Sky Island in the defense range, I am afraid you will need a large number of alchemical props to achieve this effect. But mana is also required to operate alchemical props. If you want to resist an army-level attack, the number of props is probably quite large. Of course, I can also simplify these props as much as possible to the extent that they can be activated with a trace amount of mana, but the cost is that the power will be much reduced, so there is no point, right?"

The question she raised made Saint Shallia frown slightly and asked, "Specifically, what level of magic power is required?"

"Well, it's hard to say. It all depends on how long the battle lasts and how intense it is. The only thing I can be sure of is that the more magic power you have, the better. The more magic power you have, the stronger the effects of these alchemical items will be, and the longer they will last."

"In that case——"

Saint Xia Liya opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by another voice: "In that case, let me be responsible for providing the magic power, Sister Xiao Xia!"

Everyone looked over and saw that the Princess of Bemang clenched her fists with a determined expression: "Although, although I'm not very good at fighting, I think I can also do something like providing magic power!"

In other words, it must be done.

Olvera pursed her lips tightly, her bright eyes fixed on Saint Xia Liya, conveying a stubborn and earnest emotion to her. The two fists she placed on her chest had turned pale because she was too strong. The thin and bloodless veins made her look even more fragile, but she exuded a strong temperament from the inside out. Saint Xia Liya couldn't open her mouth to persuade her.

Is Olvera's proposal feasible?
Of course it is possible. Each young queen has a considerable amount of magic power in her body, because they are the favorites of the goddess, the symbol of the law, and the source of all mysterious and incredible things. Just think about it and you will know that whether it is the [Destiny Beacon] that guides the correct destiny, or the [Library of Truth] that understands all knowledge, they are all great magic, far beyond the power of mortals, so they naturally have magic power far beyond that of mortals. However, due to the curse, this magic power is not a power for them, but a burden. In addition to being used to release their own royal power, it has no other use. If you try to gather it into a sharp blade, you may end up hurting yourself.

However, if you just provide the magic power without manipulating it, there doesn't seem to be any problem.

As everyone knows, the alchemical tools refined by Lorena all have some magical properties to a greater or lesser extent. Some of them even know how to exert their power without the need for the owner to operate them - such as the two white horses pulling the carriage, or the ancient war tree that stopped the Arbitrator of the Balance of Order for everyone.

but.

"That's too dangerous." Saint Xia Liya opened her mouth and finally expressed her concerns: "You need to stand at the forefront of the entire battlefield. You may become the target of the enemy and be attacked and ambushed by them. Olvera, you..."

"Just let her go."

Gloria, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said, "A young eagle that is always protected by its parents cannot fight against the wind and waves. People who are always protected by others often hate their own weakness and powerlessness. There is no reason for us to stop a young eagle like this who wants to break free from the protection and fly alone, or a person who wants to prove that he can protect everyone."

At this moment, she noticed that everyone was looking at her with some surprise, as if they had heard something that she shouldn't have said, so she raised the corners of her mouth and showed a bright and sincere smile: "Of course, I want to go too. I am more or less a girl king, and I can also provide magic power. Besides, a qualified captain will not watch the crew fighting the waves in front while hiding in the cabin and praying for good luck!"

As she spoke, she gently poked the brim of her black tricorn hat with the musket in her hand, seeming to still be immersed in her identity as a pirate captain.

The crowd stopped doubting anything, and at this moment, another person jumped out and said that he also wanted to fight. Of course, this person did not surprise everyone, after all, she had that kind of personality: "Me, me, me!"

The little bat raised his hands high, afraid that no one could see him, and stood up from his chair anxiously: "I want to fight, I want to fight the army of the Witch Society, I want to kill them all--"

Having said that, she looked at her grandmother reflexively, then shrank her neck, as if she was afraid that she would hit her forehead with her fingers in the next second. At the same time, she gave an earnest advice: Don't always talk about killing. If you kill someone, you will never be able to turn back... and so on.

Of course the Countess would not say that. She just glanced at her good granddaughter and rejected her request without hesitation: "No, you can't go."

“W-Why?!”

The little bat was extremely anxious. Did grandma still believe in the old-fashioned truth that "once you kill someone, you can't turn back"? But the problem is that the one who can't turn back is not him, but the witch society! He killed people to stop the witch society's conspiracy, and he is on the side of justice. In the words of silly Alice, the partners of justice are all good people, and good people can of course point guns at others!

"Because you have other tasks."

The countess held her granddaughter's head and pushed her back to her seat. She sat properly and said, "You will stay in the hotel and be responsible for protecting Metien, Shemi and Miss Livia. I will leave this difficult task to you. Don't let me down, Leticia."

Huh? So that's how it is.

Between protecting his friends and going to the battlefield to kill the enemy, the little bat thought for only 0.1 second and made the choice without hesitation: "Then I will stay! Don't worry, as long as I am here, no one can hurt Miss Metien and Livia!"

"What about me?" A curious voice came from the side.

"Who are you?" the little bat answered immediately.

"!?"

……

Because of this unexpected episode, the originally serious and dull atmosphere was temporarily eased. Saint Xia Liya helplessly looked at Olvera who was staring at her nervously, afraid of hearing a rejection from her sister, and Gloria who was still smiling but for some reason her mouth was slightly stiff. She knew that she could not convince them. Moreover, as Gloria said, in this battle - no, in the war, no one can stay out of it, not to mention that they are the young queens, the center of the vortex.

Maybe she was overprotective, or maybe she underestimated her sisters.

Both Olvera and Gloria had the determination and courage to fight. After all, one of them had escaped from the cage by her own strength despite facing a desperate reality, while the other had sneaked into the Witch Society alone and obtained a lot of valuable information.

The shepherdess sighed softly: "Then I'll leave it to you, Olvera and Gloria."

Aoweila's face suddenly broke into a joyful smile, and she nodded vigorously, indicating that she would never disappoint her sister and everyone's expectations. However, Gloria, after receiving Saint Xia Liya's reply, lowered her head again, and in a place where no one could see, she reached out and rubbed the sore corners of her mouth, with a blank expression.

He keeps that silly smile every day and doesn't even get tired of it.

That guy has worked so hard. (End of this chapter)