Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 17: Could the neighbor who gave me a kind reminder be a bad person?

Metien waved goodbye to Mrs. Maggie, and after watching her disappear around the corner, he turned back to look at his brother, his eyes sparkling with excitement: "Lingge, do you know what Mrs. Maggie said to me just now?"

Linger shook his head, so Metien said cheerfully, "She said that other churches in Linville City, unwilling to obey the control of the Religious Ordinance, have united to form the Linville City Religious Mutual Aid Association. They called on believers to launch several marches, which attracted a lot of attention. It is said that even the city government was alarmed. In order to calm the situation as soon as possible, the city government decided to coordinate them to negotiate with the city parish committee to strive for a proper solution. Linger, should we join?"

"No."

Ling refused without a second thought, but he hesitated for a moment, and considering his sister's mood, he finally decided to refuse with another reason: "I have promised Mr. Langning that the church will be closed after the seven-day ceremony. People cannot break their promises, Metien, and this is what the goddess taught us."

Why does your goddess sound like a wholesaler of chicken soup for the soul?

Alice, whose hands were so sore, complained silently.

Metien had expected his brother's answer, so he was not too disappointed. Instead, he adopted a roundabout strategy: "It's okay not to join, but if their negotiations really work and the City Parish Council decides to relax the restrictions of the Religious Decree, then we don't have to close the church, right?"

She is also quite realistic and has not considered the possibility of repealing the Religious Decree. She would consider it good news if the restrictions were relaxed.

Ling Ge was silent for a while, then nodded and said, "If that's the case, we have to continue the business. After all..."

Lingge shook his head, turned back to the kitchen to get a mop, and began to clean the dirty floor. Alice muttered, "It would have been better not to mop the floor before. It's a waste of effort now."

The Linville City Religious Mutual Aid Association is a union, and the union of religious groups is also a union, but is the union of ants the same as the union of giants? Even the strongest ants in the ant colony were forced to abandon their nests and wander around the continent, living a life of fear. What kind of waves can other weaker ants stir up?
"Tsk." Alice curled her lips: "Is the combined cult really that strong?"

Linger's answer was very simple and direct: "Because even if they unite, they are not as strong as the combined forces of the cult."

After saying that, she ran out of the chapel impatiently. Linger knew that she knew what was going on and would not go too far, so he did not stop her, but just watched her run away silently. There were naturally no newspapers at home, and Linger had no habit of reading newspapers. Therefore, when the supplementary regulations of the "Religious Decree" came out, Metien just hid a notice and kept it from him for several months.

Linger frowned slightly: "Didn't Metien tell you?"

"Mrs. Maggie also said that the negotiation progress and related information of both parties can be found in the latest newspaper. Lingge, I'm going to find someone to borrow a newspaper first!"

"Don't we need to chase him?" Alice asked, lying on the altar.

Being able to overthrow a country's regime sounds terrifying, but there are no concrete examples. Alice, a genius and beautiful girl player from the 28th century Earth, has seen a lot and will not easily believe these unfounded rumors.

"After all, this is the church our father left us!"

“I did, but it’s not intuitive enough.”

Ling Ge thought for a moment and said, "The Crimson Church in the Church Alliance has armed a Crusader Army of more than 300,000 people and has launched three colonial wars against the East Continent, which are still ongoing. Saint Favrona, who is in charge of leading this Crusader Army, is also the Minister of the Kingdom's War Affairs Department. She is the commander-in-chief of the East Continent Colonial War Alliance Army and has full authority to mobilize the navy, army, and air force."

Although he didn't know what "clinging to someone's thigh" and "winning by lying down" meant, he knew from the literal meaning that they were not good words. While changing the water on the mop, Linger glanced at Alice and uttered two words in a very cold tone: "No."

Of course, in Alice's opinion, the situation had clearly developed to the stage of negotiation, but it was the first time that the brothers and sisters from Tianxin Church heard the name of the so-called mutual aid association, and they heard it from their neighbors on the same street. This was a bit...

"Why?" Alice asked without hesitation... I mean, she was asking for advice with an open mind.

Lingge was too lazy to pay attention to her and was mopping the floor by himself, but Alice was able to find a topic to discuss with great interest: "Do you think the negotiation between the Mutual Aid Association and the City Parish Committee will be successful? If they succeed, wouldn't you be a clinger? You didn't do anything, but you just won by clinging to others' thighs?"

Metien interrupted him, her green eyes sparkling like large pieces of emeralds. It was obvious that she was looking forward to the negotiation, probably because she felt that there was strength in numbers. If all the churches in Linville were to unite, they would become a force that even the city parish committee would not dare to underestimate.

It's not you who dragged it.

“……”Alice opened her eyes as big as light bulbs.

But that's not all. Linger continued, "Night Roost is the richest church in the church alliance. Its assets include a large amount of cash, antiques, land, stocks, securities and houses. No one can tell exactly how rich they are, but they sponsored the first three colonial wars. It is said that the war bonds they hold can buy a country. In addition, the Ouroboros Project, which is expected to connect the entire transportation system of the Western Continent, is also fully invested by Night Roost."

"..." Alice's legs were shaking. Linger felt that it was not enough: "The Inquisition also has its own army, but it basically does not appear in the public eye and is extremely mysterious. They cooperate with governments of various countries and basically have public law enforcement and judicial powers. They can even secretly convict and execute without trial. Although this is just a rumor, it may not be groundless. Those churches that violate the "Religious Decree" are basically arrested by them..."

“Stop, stop, stop talking!” Seeing that he was about to continue, Alice interrupted him quickly, her face looking a little grim: “Now I know how powerful they are.”

Are you sure you know it?

Linger glanced at her, skeptical, but did not continue.

He didn't like to scare people. He said so much just to let Alice know the pros and cons. In the future, when she plays with Medien, she will use her brain more and think about what should and should not be done.

“I understand you now.” The girl sighed, “This is a crappy game with no balance at all. It should have been nerfed a long time ago.”

Lingge ignored her and continued mopping the floor.

Alice didn't say anything, just lying on the altar, quietly watching Linger mop the floor, mopping very seriously, making sure to mop even the most remote and narrow corners. Is this a reflection of his personality? Maybe there is such a factor, but the girl would rather believe that it is his feelings for the church.

He loved the church very much, but this did not contradict his decision to close it.

"Lingge." Alice suddenly asked, "Are you feeling sad?"

The pastor didn't even turn his head: "Why are you sad?"

"Because those people seemed very sad when they heard that Tianxin Church was going to be closed, but you should know that they were not sad about the church, right? In other words, they are not believers of the goddess."

"You seem to have misunderstood something." Lingge replied, "Just because they are not believers of the goddess does not mean that the goddess has no believers. Otherwise, how do you think I support Metien?"

"But if you work harder, they will become believers of the goddess." Alice said confidently, "Because you gave them food, which is what they need, and they must be very grateful to you. At this time, it will be easier for them to accept your teachings. But you didn't do that. You didn't even mention the goddess's name a few times. It felt to me that it didn't seem like you were teaching, but rather like you were completing a task. Who would listen to you if you were so serious?"

She paused and continued, "So, I think you are also somewhat responsible for the fact that they don't care about the survival of Tianxin Church, right? Because you didn't make them feel a sense of belonging in their faith."

It was rare for her to say something insightful, and Ling looked at her in surprise, as if he had seen someone fall from a tree with his own eyes.

However, all his expressions except for his calmness were short-lived, so he quickly retracted his surprised look and said slowly: "Mr. Yang Ke once said that to gain comfort is to gain faith. I have given them comfort, and as for where their faith belongs, that is not something I should care about. If they are unwilling to attribute their faith to this, it can only prove that they have not gained comfort from the goddess's teachings, that's all."

Alice wanted to persuade him: "That being said..."

Linger stared at her and repeated word by word: "That's all."

She wisely shut her mouth.

While the two were chatting, Linger had already mopped the floor and was about to take the mop back to the kitchen. At this moment, Alice suddenly remembered something and shouted at his back: "By the way, I have another question: Aren't you and Metien brother and sister? Why don't you ever call Mr. Yanke your father?"

In the past few days, I haven't heard Lingge mention the word "father". Could it be that... he is not his biological son?

Alice's eyes were burning with the fire of gossip. Linger paused for a moment. After a while, a deliberately low voice came through the dim light: "When you are with Metien, pay attention to Mrs. Maggie. Don't get too close to her, and don't believe everything she says."

As he finished speaking, his figure had disappeared in the corridor leading to the kitchen.

Only Alice was left standing there, blinking blankly: Is this... changing the subject?

But why should we be on guard against Mrs. Maggie?
Could it be that she is a bad person! ?

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)