Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 239: First contact with human city?

Two days later, the travelers in Mount Sosen finally ended this long and difficult journey and returned to the "prosperous city" Rostin along the sightseeing train route of the Rothwild district.

Compared with half a month ago, the city seems to have not changed at all, and is still immersed in a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere. The trees standing in the middle of the street shed colorful leaves; the gray wild pigeons jumping in the square tilt their heads to ask passers-by for food; the small parks hidden in the corners of the streets exude a harmonious atmosphere in silence; and the wandering poets, violinists, organists, painters and acrobats who occupy a place in every place where they can give play to their inspiration, with the square street as the center, are still pursuing their dreams of art and are eager to move themselves.

In terms of the city image, this city has remained surprisingly consistent for hundreds of years, unchanged by any external force. The heavy rain that lasted for half a month only washed away the overly heavy and gloomy cold air, allowing the images of imprisonment and pain that were once buried deep under the mudstone and soil to sprout and grow into a new atmosphere of prosperity.

After a rain, the old and decayed dead trees, the mosses trapped underground, the tangled withered grass, and the half-blind gray birds that seemed to be imprisoned in the cages of wood and branches... these numb and tiny creatures also disappeared. Where did they go? The people of Rostin were not interested in this, but just breathed in the fresh and cold air after the rain, like moistening their dry lungs, and offering blessings to the winter that had already arrived.

It seemed as if it had never changed, yet it seemed to be full of life. This was what the princess of Beman saw when she first stood on the streets of humans.

She stood there blankly, caught in the torrent, feeling that a world as huge as the one in the past, but more novel and bizarre, was pressing down on her. It might have some similarities with the dreams and fantasies she had seen in books, as if when humans portrayed aliens as fantasies, they themselves were also regarded by aliens as another fantasy and written into a book that already existed.

She was so absorbed in watching that she didn't notice that the gray cloth that bound her hair was sliding down, gradually revealing her long white-gold hair that gradually turned into transparent sunlight at the end to the passers-by. Fortunately, Lingge discovered it in time and reached out to help her hold it up, so that the princess of Bemang was not exposed on the first day she entered the human city.

As aliens, whether it is Saint Shallia's silver elves or Olvera's light elves, their appearance and physique are not much different from humans. However, the non-human characteristics still exist, but they are relatively not obvious. For example, Saint Shallia's pointed ears with fine silver hairs are like this. As long as they are covered, the shepherdess looks like a human girl dressed in a strange and alternative way at most. She may be considered a minority like the Moryas, but she will never be associated with a race other than humans.

Of course, Saint Shallia is covered by the thread of destiny, and ordinary people cannot see her figure, so this kind of concealment is usually unnecessary; and Olvera, who is also an alien, has to spend some effort to conceal her most obvious feature as a light elf, that is, her long platinum hair that is different from that of ordinary people.

The simplest and most effective way is to put your long hair up and wrap it with an inconspicuous dark cloth. Although there are always people who don't understand romance, such as Alice, who call it a "country girl hairstyle", Metien quickly countered it with a sentence: "Sister Olvera looks better than you in any hairstyle."

"Thank you, thank you."

Olvera blushed, pressed down the gray cloth that bound her hair, tied it tightly, and shook her head. After making sure it would not fall off, she quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Lingge did not blame her for her carelessness and said to them, "Let's go."

The Rothwild district was not far from Sherrill Street where the Fairy Inn was located, so the group did not take a carriage but chose to walk there. This happened to be exactly what Olvera wanted, because in this way, she could observe the human city they were in more carefully.

For the princess, everything she saw was unknown and wonderful, and she was full of desire to explore. The city was really big, maybe even bigger than the capital of Belman, with scattered streets and canals flowing along the roads, surrounding the square and then merging into the central fountain, a magnificent sight. Every house had white walls and red brick roofs, with a neat and consistent style, giving people a feeling that it was even more classical and elegant than the palace in memory.

In comparison, the city layout and house styles of Bemang seem much more casual, because the light elves have different preferences. Some like the first rays of dawn that shine through the treetops in the early morning, while others like the brightest and most brilliant sunlight on the fields at noon... Therefore, the orientation of the houses, the height of the windows and even the angle of the eaves will be very different.

Which one is better? Olvera thought for a long time along the way, and finally felt that each should have its own advantages. The uniform ones are pleasing to the eye, while the unique ones make people feel full of personality. But no matter which type, the streets and houses in the city have an intoxicating atmosphere, like warmth and enthusiasm.

In addition to the overall impression, there are also various details.

When passing the small park square between Grisham Street and Manin Street, she saw a traveling performer wearing a bi-peaked hat and colorful costumes performing magic tricks for the children watching. He took a dove out of his hat, swallowed a blade with his mouth, or spit out orange flames from his mouth. This immediately attracted cheers and applause, which also startled the princess. Could this be a magician? But why didn't she sense the breath of magic from his magic? Moreover, he performed in such a public place, wasn't he afraid of being caught by the so-called night watchman?

Walking up the Bemin Stone Bridge leading to Henry Shule Street, the mottled bricks underfoot were built three hundred years ago. The water in the street canal flowed into the river under the bridge. The river was floating with colorful fallen leaves, which were blown down by the rain in the past, almost covering the river surface. As Olvera walked, she watched the water plants struggling to emerge from the pile of fallen leaves that occupied the water area. She also saw a row of citizens holding a box of cheap fine-mouthed fish for one penny, feeding hundreds of gray wild pigeons that fell from the sky. She was dumbfounded and thought that this might be a city ruled by pigeons. Otherwise, why would the citizens be so crazy about a group of unremarkable wild pigeons?
On Joseph Street, which was only one street away from Scherer Street, she saw many cats sitting on the old walls, overlooking the passers-by, or quietly slipping into the dilapidated and dark alleys, and leaving with silent paws like their ancestors, leaving only a leisurely back to the princess.

In the flower beds, at the corners, under the park benches... When her eyes met those of the cats, a sentence suddenly came to her mind and she said it out loud unconsciously: "Cats are like their masters, with all the typical characteristics of the locals. Some cats helplessly grope and roll in the gutter, while others go to the street corners in a slovenly manner to quarrel, curse, scratch people with their claws, spit at passers-by... like witches. Only a few cats can wander leisurely in the street corners of the city without being harmed by anyone."

"That's a good point." Alice came over at some point and pointed at the cats. "But the cats you see have no owners. They are stray cats in the city. I've seen quite a few in Linville, usually next to garbage dumps or in sewers. They're definitely not as carefree as these cats."

Alice's words gave Olvera two different images of cities. One was cold, damp, dark, dirty and chaotic, while the other was leisurely, peaceful, harmonious, calm and casual. She preferred the latter, and was somewhat glad that the first human city she came to after leaving the castle was Rostin City, not Linville City as Alice mentioned.

In this way, the temperament of animals does indeed profile the image of the city. These stray cats are not without owners, their owner is the city itself, and therefore they have been infected with some of its habits. Perhaps they can be considered as the guardians and propagandists of the city, patrolling the streets and alleys, bringing some unique messages to outsiders who meet them for the first time, just like those gray wild pigeons that land on the bridge and peck at the small fish in the hands of citizens.

In the future, I will definitely visit more different cities and see more colorful images, right?
When the princess thought about this, she seemed to see some scrutiny in the cat's eyes and was stunned. When tourists observed the wild cats, the wild cats seemed to be observing the tourists. This seems to indicate that people are also part of the city's image, and should they be a more prominent part?
After realizing this, Ovilla couldn't help but smile. She waved goodbye to the wild cats at the corner of the wall, then took a step to catch up with her companions in front.

Turn onto Joseph Street and walk about twenty meters to reach Sherer Street.

The Fairy Sleep Hotel is hidden in the small park on this street.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)