Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 259 Is it a city built on water?

The next morning, Alice looked at Ling'er with very strange eyes, so strange that he didn't want to describe it directly in words and tried to avoid it, but she still pestered him and questioned him forcefully.

"Lingge," the golden-haired maid came closer, lowered her voice deliberately, and asked mysteriously, "You and Ovella...didn't sleep last night, did you? What were you doing?"

Upon hearing this, Ling Ge looked sideways: You discovered all this, how did you know?
"Because I didn't sleep either." The maid said the most unreasonable words with a righteous look on her face: "I stayed up late playing games, and I heard the sound of conversation coming from your room in the middle of the night. I wanted to go over and ask, but because I was about to finish the game, I didn't do it. Later, when I went to bed, it was about 3:30 in the morning? You guys are still awake, tell me, what are you doing!?"

In the end, she suddenly raised her voice, trying to intimidate Linger into telling the truth, but the young man was already immune to this trick, and replied expressionlessly: "I didn't do anything."

"Really? I don't believe it." She looked suspicious, her eyes rolling around, and I don't know what she was thinking: "Who would stay up late? You must be doing something frivolous, and I caught you! Tell me quickly, or I'll tell Metien, okay?"

She was very proud of what she said, thinking that she had found Ling's weakness, but the latter didn't buy it at all. He ignored her and walked away. Seeing that she was still trying to pester him, he asked coldly: "So, did you pass the level?"

"Eh!?"

Alice was stunned, and then her eyes tilted unnaturally. She argued cunningly, "It's just that little bit short. I was too sleepy and anxious to go to bed, so I didn't finish it... Yes, that's it, I will be able to complete it sooner or later! I will complete it today and let you see the power of a genius player..."

While she was convincing herself, Lingge slipped away.

Lingge had no interest in listening to the opening speech at first, but seeing that everyone else seemed quite interested, he did not object. He also thought that perhaps he could meet Rochelle, the traveler from the Fertile Soil Sect, at the opening ceremony.

After the opening ceremony, the East District and the North District of the city will become venues for the expo, and the originally closed pavilions of various countries will be opened, displaying thousands of exhibits from more than fifty countries, spanning thousands of years of history, as well as some future creations that only exist in conception. Such a large-scale investment cannot be achieved without the support of the Night's Roost, the wealthiest of the religious alliance.

Knowing that the two of them were alone in a room and had not done anything inappropriate for children, and even having heard them talk about how to copy and organize books, Alice secretly breathed a sigh of relief and quietly told her companions who had been paying attention to the matter that this was indeed a 6+ game and that both adults and children could rest assured.

In the next few days, Olvera slept in Linger's room every night, which caused the young man's sleep quality to fluctuate. Sometimes he could fall asleep, but sometimes he couldn't sleep for no reason, so he had to stay up late with her. In addition to the parties involved, probably only Alice, the maid in the next room, knew about this, because she also liked to stay up late, or in other words, she was a nocturnal animal and was more energetic at night.

The opening ceremony will be held in the Municipal Square in the central area. It will be attended by dignitaries such as the mayor of Nimscher City Government, the chief secretary, the director of the Public Affairs Bureau, the tribune of the Nimscher Diocese, representatives of the parish faithful, and the bishop of St. Michaelis Cathedral. The opening speech will be delivered by Professor David, director of the Luberon Museum.

Saint Xia Liya was very calm. She originally thought that this was no big deal and Ling'er's personality was very reassuring. Shemi was a little disappointed, but no one knew what she was disappointed about. Medien's mood was even more complicated. In addition to being happy and relaxed, she was actually a little entangled, mainly between Saint Xia Liya and Ovira. She felt that although Sister Ovira was a very good sister, Sister Xiaoxia was also very good. How should she choose?
Uh, you ask Alice?
Who is she?

……

On December 12th, the day when Princess Berman presented the first copied and bound book of potions to Metine and received the pink-haired little girl's joyful smile and a sincere "thank you", the city of Nimsher, which had been bustling for several days, finally welcomed the opening ceremony of the 30th World Expo.

However, contact with him is a dangerous thing, which may attract the attention of the Night's Watch and the Scales of Order, so it is best to avoid it - although he was the one who invited himself to this city from the beginning.

On the day of the opening ceremony, everyone got up early. Even Alice, who liked to stay in bed, was pulled out of bed by Metien and Shemi. After washing up, everyone set out for the Municipal Square. The distance was not too far, so they chose to walk.

Even though it is known as the "International City", such a large-scale event is the first in the history of Nimsher. Therefore, the streets are bustling with pedestrians, carriages, four-wheeled carriages, two-seater open carriages, and even subways and steam trains... all going in the same direction. Not only foreign tourists, but also local citizens actively participate in the event. Walking on the streets and admiring the city scenery everywhere, compared with the dark and heavy Linville City and the lush and vibrant Rustin City, Nimsher has another unique flavor. In history, it was washed by three major rivers. The waters of those medieval rivers have not completely subsided until now, and they are still flowing through the underground of the city, nurturing fertile soil and vast forests, and also winning the reputation of "City of Fountains" for Nimsher, which was earlier than the period when it was called "International City".

Living with water for a long time has made the people of Nimsher understand its temperament. Therefore, the city's street drainage system and underground drainage system are quite developed. Everywhere you look, you can see waterways with floating dark snow, gurgling ditches, fountains filled with snowflakes, and drainage pipes under fences. Even in the cold winter, the water still flows actively.

When they turn into the sewer alleys, they are contaminated by the dampness and dirt there, as gray as gloomy snowdrifts; but when they merge into the tree-lined streets, they become a magnificent and bright atmosphere. This may indicate that water also invisibly reflects the various images of the city's streets and alleys.

In the past, the three great rivers were considered the mothers of the Nimsher people. Although they have disappeared with the change of river courses, the traces left behind are countless, which can also be considered as their gifts to their children. So far, more than a hundred natural fountains and hot springs have been discovered in Nimsher City. The penetration rate of tap water pipes that are completely taken from mountain streams and rivers is among the top ten on the continent. Excluding the capitals and important cities of the three kingdoms, it can basically be considered the first level on the continent.

The river is also complicated and winding. On the way to the Municipal Square, which is less than a mile away, the group passed at least three stone bridges, two of which were left over from the Middle Ages, and only one was renovated in modern times. The river water, which was melted by cold snowflakes, was crystal clear. The low temperature in winter fumigated the half-dead water plants with the waves. The boatmen on the river drove the dragon-shaped gondolas, carrying foreign tourists through the bridge holes. Every few hundred meters, there was a small snow-covered pier for docking.

It can be considered that this is a city built entirely on a river network.

When Olvera saw these rivers, she would think of the citizens of Rostin who stood on the stone bridge and fed the gray wild pigeons. There were no gray wild pigeons in Nimsher, only starlings, crows and a kind of seagull called gull. The locals did not feed them specially. These creatures could fill their stomachs by pecking at the water plants and small fish in the river. Sometimes they would land on the bow of the gondola and stare intently at a fish swimming in the river, ignoring the boatman and passengers behind them.

If the people of Rostin feed gray wild pigeons out of a sense of mission inspired by artistic inspiration and the image of the city, then the people of Nimser are completely familiar with getting along with these creatures, just as they are accustomed to getting along with water, and regard it as a fusion of culture and belief.

The typical feature is that small shrines can be seen at the docks, riverbeds, fountains and ditches of rivers, anywhere water flows and snow accumulates. Although there are no gods worshipped in them, the holy spring monks who once built the Temple of Tiphis and taught the residents here to "pray for water and life" have long been expelled.

The princess was touched by this and murmured in a low voice: "The river is still roaring and is about to swallow more lives... The young Julius roared to it: Come, I am the king of this river and the god of the water! Submit to me, and then I will allow you to continue to flow through this land! So the river calmed down in an instant, and from then on, it gave birth to his country and people."

This was a passage she had read in a book a long time ago, and now she felt it was quite appropriate. The intersection of rivers and civilization was actually as long and harmonious as the intersection of fire and civilization.

Others didn't care, knowing that her artistic spirit had come out again, and occasionally she would burst out with inexplicable words. Saint Xia Liya was also very careful to pull an extra thread of fate for her sister, so that these literary words would not be eavesdropped by passing humans.

Strangely, despite the dense river network and abundant water resources, almost all rivers in Nimsher are small rivers with a width of no more than 20 meters, which are small and exquisite and can only accommodate small boats such as gondolas; water resources are mostly concentrated in underground rivers, fountains and hot springs, and have not formed large-scale inland rivers and lakes. Therefore, Nimsher is not a port city, and its economy is not developed.

"If so," curious students will ask: "Why did it become an 'international city'?"

Then, Linger, who had read a lot of relevant information before leaving and had a certain understanding of the city, would answer her: "Because in international politics, the city of Nimsher does have a very special status."

Not very important.

But it's very special.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)