Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1084: Are you not done with me yet?
When Xino walked out of the hotel, the boredom and confusion in her heart had actually dissipated a lot. She looked up into the depths of the night. The night of Yunjingkong Island was not actually dark. The light of the street lamps, the faint light of the luminous plants and fireflies in the forest, and the starlight scattered from the dense branches and leaves together created a dreamy atmosphere. Occasionally, one or two long cries came from the distant forest, like a night owl or a gray crow, which reminded Xino of her childhood and youth spent in the Shaduoli Manor. At that time, every night, the Loser Forest behind the manor would also hear the long howls of wild beasts and the cries of night birds, but they could not wake up a girl's sweet dreams, because she knew that the owners of those voices would not hurt herself. On the contrary, they were the closest and most reliable allies of the Gustaf Family since they stood on this land.

Whitethorn is the barrier of civilization and the guardian of aliens. Xino has been educated in this way since she was a child and believes it firmly. When she said goodbye to her beloved hometown, she felt nostalgic and reluctant, but more of a complacent mentality, because she knew that she was leaving for a great dream, and one day she would return with glorious results, just like the White Knight Hibden in the Republic War; or fall with scars all over her body, just like her paranoid father. No matter what the outcome is, as long as she has a clear conscience, the girl feels that she will accept it calmly. But when she embarked on the journey, she never thought that the blade of the whitethorn would stagnate and be unable to show its edge to its enemy. But it was not the enemy or herself who hindered her from fighting, but her companions.

Is she afraid? Or is she trying to escape? If she always faces reality with a playful attitude, she will not be able to face her true heart, right? In the sober night breeze, the girl no longer blames Alice, nor does she vent her anger on Lingge or others. She just still feels helpless.

Unconsciously, she had walked around to the stable behind the hotel. Perhaps it was her instinct that made her want to find her closest friend to talk about her distress. Brandy was eating grass quietly in the stable. Her dinner was fresh grass that had just been cut in the morning, bean cakes made from soybeans and mung beans, white bread wrapped with fresh fruits and maltose, and even a pot of oatmeal porridge mixed with powdered fish and cow bones. As the divine horse Sun Snow on the snowy mountain, she had to eat at least five times a day to meet the physical consumption of daily activities and maintain a well-proportioned and healthy body.

Hearing the familiar footsteps, her ears moved, then she quickly raised her head and called out to the figure approaching in the night. The joy and happiness in her tone could be heard without the need for telepathy.

When Xinuo walked to the stable, she couldn't wait to stick her head out and rubbed the girl's neck intimately. Her mane was like a lion's mane, thick, soft and slender. When you stroke it with your hand, you can feel a cool feeling like snow and frost. Even if Yang Yangxue left the snow mountain and lived on the ground, he still had that noble and arrogant temperament in his bones, and would only get close to people he recognized.

"Good horse." Xinuo smiled and patted her neck: "You are already several years old, and you still like to act like a spoiled child?"

Brandi snorted when she heard that, saying that being coquettish has nothing to do with age, but everything to do with feelings.

In fact, many things are like this. They have nothing to do with other factors, but only with feelings.

Shino didn't know what she was thinking of, and the smile on her face gradually disappeared. She looked up at the sky, then looked back at Brandi and asked softly, "Do you want to run a lap with me, Brandi?"

"Huh?" Brandi blinked her bright and moist eyes, a little surprised.

She knew that her good friend and master would only change the original itinerary and suddenly want to ride her beloved horse for a run in one case, apart from daily training, and that was when she felt bored and distressed. Since Xinuo was a serious, self-disciplined person who could control his emotions, the number of times this happened could be counted on one's fingers, so that Brandy could still find them from her memory and correspond them one by one: when the couple who had a good relationship died, when the girl named Claire died, when she accepted the reality and dismissed the servants of the manor one by one, and when the old man who was always lying in a wheelchair died. And yesterday, when she returned from the depths of the city, she seemed to be at a loss, so she rode her for a run in the streets, and when the young man came to her, she had figured everything out.

For the introverted girl, this seemed to be the only way she could express her emotions freely. Whenever she galloped in the wind, she always felt that she had left all the troubles behind. She didn't need to consider anything: the honor of the family, the ancient oath, the meaning of victory, the inevitability of sacrifice... These were all temporary and could not restrain a free soul. She only needed to charge forward, just like Joan of Arc and her knights charged at the enemy's army, and she could leave all the sorrow and sadness far behind her.

She could have been the freest knight on Grindelwald Field, but blood and fate bound her too much.

"Huilulu?"

Brandi looked at her friend cautiously and called out tentatively, as if to say: Is there something that makes you unhappy?

"Don't be like this, Brandi." Shino came back to his senses and stroked his horse's neck with a smile, saying softly, "It's just running a lap with me. You are not so exhausted that you can't run anymore, right?"

"Whirl!"

Brandi immediately raised her head and neighed, indicating that Sun Snow was not a mediocre horse that could only do nothing in the stable. Seeing this, Xinuo couldn't help but chuckle, patted her neck, praised her as a good horse, and then opened the door of the stable and led her out. She didn't even need to put on the saddle or riding clothes. She just supported herself on the horse's back with one hand and exerted a little force, and got on the horse's back with a clean and neat movement. She lightly pulled the reins, turned around, and walked out of the stable. At first, she just walked slowly, like strolling leisurely in the courtyard, but after leaving the stable and coming to the street, Brandi's speed gradually increased, carrying her master at a trot.

The cool night wind blew on Xino's face, blowing Brandi's mane up, like a silver snow line gradually extending in the darkness. The sound of horse hooves and the sound of water coming from the forest sounded together. Xino felt a long-lost comfort and freedom. She wanted Brandi to speed up and gallop. However, the only reason told the girl that this was not the endless countryside of Grindelwald, but an island named after a whale. If her free and unrestrained personality was not restrained, she might have nowhere to go.

"That's a good run, Brandi. Actually, you want to go faster, right? But just keep this pace. Let's relax once in a while and run slowly. There's no need to rush."

Shino saw familiar scenes passing by: the sign of the alchemy workshop flashing through the dim woods, the Tianxin Church with its lights on alone on the hill, and the huge windmill sitting in a beautiful primrose field, spinning lonely and long - the latter reminded her of the windmills on Grindelwald's field, and a story about how the last knight of the new era charged at a windmill, died to defend his beliefs, and lived forever in people's memory as a bigot.

She couldn't help laughing, and then she saw those scenes constantly changing in her eyes, forming another appearance: the old manor surrounded by mountains and forests, the peaceful and harmonious town of Regrum at the foot of the mountain, the grape trellises spreading out one by one along the green of the summer harvest, the wind flower balls flying back and forth under the bright sunlight, and people's laughter, sometimes from the elderly, sometimes from children, and sometimes from a girl. She had grown up carefree in the love of people. Xinuo witnessed her childhood with her own eyes, how she competed with her friends in climbing trees, going up the mountains to explore, going down the river to catch fish, riding a pony that was not yet grown up at that time to pretend to be a knight, taking a nap in a small wooden boat, and while she was sleeping, the boat drifted downstream with the river, drifting to a very far away place that she could never reach again. The girl simply loosened the reins and let Brandi do whatever she wanted. She opened her arms, leaned back slightly, closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the wind from her hometown blowing past her. Although this place was not only tens of millions of miles away from the Grindelwald Fields, but almost as far as a universe away, she always felt that the wind from her hometown was always by her side. It did not go far away, and the Knight of the Whitethorn Flower did not go far away either. She was still on the land called Grangenia, guarding her people.

She did not regret accepting Lingge's invitation to come to a place far away from home and fight against some enemies she had never seen before. Because the education she received from childhood taught her that knights are just and must fight for justice in the world. She asked this question to her ancestors, parents, and grandfather's tombstone in turn, and received affirmative answers, so she firmly believed that she had made the right choice.

Now she still believes that it is right to embark on this journey, but she is not as determined as she was at the beginning. Sometimes she worries about the naivety of her companions, but forgets that she was also a cowardly girl who feared death a long time ago; sometimes she feels confused about her strange past life, but the girl with the same face in the picture has been making the same choice as her from beginning to end. But when Alice firmly refuses her to participate in this battle, she begins to realize that some things have been destined since a long time ago...

"Brandi, are you going to blame me?"

It’s my fault that I’m not as confident as before, but have to learn to compromise because I have some unrealistic expectations in my heart.

The barely perceptible sound flashed in the wind. Her beloved horse did not hear the words and continued to run forward. Then the sound of horse hooves gradually slowed down and finally stopped in the shadow of a building. The dim lights shone through the painted glass windows, bringing a ray of precious light to the front of the door. Xino raised her head and found that it was Tianxin Church in front of her.

"Is this your suggestion, Brandi?" Xino got off the horse, patted Brand's neck, and joked, "Let me ask the goddess for help?"

"The goddess may not be able to hear you."

The church door creaked open, and a young man appeared at the door. The dim firelight squeezed out from the crack of the door and shone on his face, flickering from time to time, giving him a mysterious feeling. He quietly looked at the girl leading the horse, and his deep and peaceful eyes seemed to be a silent invitation to her: But I may be able to listen to your voice, if you are willing to confide in me.

Xino was stunned for a moment, and then he suddenly smiled. Although it was only a shallow arc, it seemed that the smile was sincere. "Do you want to confess for me, Mr. Ling? I heard that you are no longer a pastor, and now Tianxin Church is managed by Metien."

"Confession is not a priest's privilege, and I just wanted to have a few words with you."

Xino looked up at the spire of the church and raised his eyebrows slightly: "So you chose this place on purpose?"

"This is Brandi's choice," the young man replied calmly, "not mine."

"Huh?" Brandi didn't expect the topic to be about herself. She blinked her bright eyes and acted innocently. But to be honest, she did have her own little thoughts. She knew that humans needed comfort from their own kind when they were sad, even if her master was very strong. She was not of the same kind as Shino, so she couldn't speak. She happened to smell the scent of the young man from the soil in front of the church, so she stopped unconsciously.

He should be very good at comforting people, Brandi thought at the time. She had long discovered that everyone on Yunjingkong Island trusted this young man. Even her master, didn't he decide to leave his hometown for his promise? In this case, now that this happened, he should be held responsible.

However, it is better to know this kind of thing by yourself, there is no need to let the two people in front of you know. So, Brandi still shook her head there, trying to pretend to be innocent. Maybe it was too deliberate, which made Xino a little funny. She tried to suppress the corners of her mouth, but failed. She could only chuckle and pat Brandi on the back, saying affectionately: "I knew you were full of tricks. Now you even plot against me? I won't bother with you for now, go and have fun by yourself, I need to say a few words to Mr. Lingge - if you are tired, you can go back to the hotel first."

Although she was seen through, her plan was successful. Brandy decided to quit while she was ahead. She neighed at Lingge, turned around and ran away. The iron-wrapped horseshoes stepped on the grass-covered hillock, and it was like stepping on thick pine needles, without making any sound.

"What did she say just now?" Ling Ge looked at Xino and asked.

Xinuo looked like she was trying to hold back her laughter but couldn't: "She said, please take care of me--"

"If you dare to bully me, I will never let you go, okay?
　Give me some meow
　　(End of this chapter)