Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 28 What is the intention of the reporter who suddenly came to the door?

A minute later, Alice and Metien were standing in the chapel on the first floor, looking at each other in silence at the woman who called herself Fialli.

She was about 20 years old, blonde, blue-eyed, pretty, and always had a friendly smile on her face, which made people like her. She was dressed in a brown jacket, black trousers, leather boots, and a canvas hat, and was dressed simply and neatly. What was particularly noticeable was that there was a small piece of paper pinned to her chest, which looked like an ID card, and it said:

"I'm Fialy Jane Edward, a full-time reporter for Linville Public Newspaper and a special columnist for Citizen Evening News. It's a pleasure to meet you." She smiled and extended her hand to Metien, her tone as calm as if she was the owner of the place: "I hope we can have a pleasant conversation."

"Uh."

Completely brought into the rhythm by her, Metien hesitantly stretched out his hand and shook her hand: "Hello, I, I'm Metien, nice to meet you..."

Tsk.

Alice, who couldn't bear to watch, stepped forward and calmly separated the two people's clasped hands. Then she raised her eyebrows at the uninvited guest: "Hello, I'm Alice. I don't know if I should be happy to meet you. Anyway, polite words aside, what do you mean by 'pleasant conversation'?"

Miss Fialli, who was interrupted in the conversation, didn't care about this seemingly rude behavior. Her eyes first lingered on the pair of recognizable silver rabbit ears on Alice's head, then naturally moved down to Alice's face, and replied with a smile: "As you can see, I'm a reporter, so naturally I'm here to interview you."

"Interview?"

Is this something a maid should say?
Fiyali almost couldn't keep her smile, but when she saw that Medien beside her didn't mean to correct her, she immediately realized that the maid in front of her might be more than just a maid. She might very well be... the lover of Pastor Ling?

Feiyali's smile was still polite. "The person I want to interview is Mr. Lingge, the pastor of the Holy Goddess Church and the owner of Tianxin Church. As far as I know, he should live here. I hope I am not wrong."

This wasn't an interview with you.

Well, this situation is not uncommon, especially in those sects with strict disciplines. They usually require their clergy to be chaste and not to marry or have children in order to maintain the purity of their faith. But the purer the faith, the purer the desire. Therefore, these strictly restricted clergy are more likely to pursue worldly stimulation than ordinary people, and sometimes even distort their desires and fall into an abyss beyond reason. Pastor Lingge, who still likes lively adolescent girls, is already a normal type, which is simply touching.

Alice frowned when she heard this: "I didn't know I was so famous."

Alice crossed her arms, her wise eyes seeing through everything: "So you're here to take advantage of the popularity and make a big news?"

"That is our Holy Goddess Cult."

Alice didn't know that she had successfully transformed from a "maid" to the secret lover of the three-no priest in just two or three sentences, and was still waiting for the reporter's explanation. In fact, she already had some guesses in her mind. After all, among the recent events, there was only one thing that was worth reporters coming to interview.

"I want to interview Pastor Ling about the Religious Ordinance." Fialy confirmed her guess as soon as she spoke: "You two should know that in recent days, the negotiations between the City Parish Committee and the Linville City Religious Mutual Aid Association on the supplementary regulations of the Religious Ordinance have become a hot topic among citizens. So far, most churches in the city are still on the sidelines, patiently waiting for the results of the negotiations. With the exception of one church, that is..."

"You're not in the wrong place. The only problem is that Lingge isn't here. He's at work." Alice spread her hands, expressing regret and admonition. "Besides, I don't know if he's worth interviewing. With his personality, I guess he'll probably only answer one question out of ten."

Although she didn't know what riding on the popularity meant, Fiyali still understood the words "making a big news". As a conscientious reporter, she would never admit that her intentions were so sinister. She quickly shook her head and said, "No, no, no, it's not what you think, Miss Alice. I'm just curious. The results of the negotiations have not yet come out, and there is still room for improvement. Why has Mr. Ling made such a choice? Is there any unspeakable secret behind this that we don't know? What kind of tangled thinking did he go through when he made this decision? I personally think this is a good news material, and -"

She glanced at Metien quietly, and said carefully: "According to my investigation, Tianxin Church has been committed to charity relief for more than ten years since its establishment, and has been recognized by many citizens in the Holy Cross District and the White Citizen District. I think it is a great pity that a church with a strong sense of social responsibility like this is forced to close just because of the restrictions of the "Religious Ordinance". It is also a great loss to the city of Linville. So, if you don't mind, I, including the public newspaper I represent, are willing to do my best for this matter. Just make an appeal in the newspaper, which will surely attract more citizens' attention and win greater support for the survival of Tianxin Church..."

The pink-haired girl's eyes lit up and she seemed to be interested, but Alice stood in front of her, not giving her a chance to speak. She said to the reporter, "It sounds good, but the same question remains. Lingge is not here. Come back another day." "It doesn't matter." Fiyali refused to give up: "Although Mr. Lingge is not here, if the two of you are willing to accept my interview, it can have the same effect..."

"Really? I don't believe it."

Alice killed the reporter's idea of ​​continuing to fight with a famous quote.

Fei Yali's expression froze for a moment, and her smile was not as calm as before: "I see, I am a little abrupt, I am very sorry. However, I still want to try and ask Mr. Ling's opinion in person. So, can you allow me to stay here for a while and wait until Mr. Ling comes back?"

Wow, this reporter is really difficult to deal with, worthy of being a reporter from the West... bah, Western Continent.

Alice was amazed and puzzled, and asked in confusion: "You are free?"

angry!
The reporter, who had been verbally abused since she entered the room, twitched her eyebrows, and veins seemed to pop out on her forehead. In a place where Alice and Metien didn't notice, a cruel blood light flashed in the depths of her eyes, and the blood in her body was ready to move... The "vampire" who had just been promoted could not control her emotions well, and at this moment she wanted to tear the disgusting face in front of her into pieces.

But suddenly, she recalled the adult's instructions and his cold warning in her mind, and the burning anger was extinguished in an instant like a cold wind.

Those black Grim Reapers, the running dogs of the cult, were most likely hiding in the dark, watching his every move.

If I were caught by the Night Watch while transforming into a vampire, my life as a reporter would probably be over, right?

So, although Alice's verbal violence was chilling, she still tried to squeeze out a stiff smile to warm the cold moon in Linville City: "Thank you for your concern, but I don't have any other work for the time being."

The last sentence was almost squeezed out from between teeth, which made Alice feel a little terrified. She couldn't help shuddering and pulled Metien back. "Then do as you please, but I warn you not to have any bad ideas. This church is protected by someone. I'm familiar with the police officer who patrols the streets. I'll ask him to check your press card later..."

She kept on chattering, which made Fialli annoyed and irritated. Finally, Medien, who couldn't stand it anymore, came out to enforce justice and pulled her aside, giving the reporter some peace and quiet.

This guy is quite handsome, but he has some problems with his brain.

Finally breathing a sigh of relief, Fiali randomly chose an oak bench to sit down, raised her head, and looked at the statue of the goddess standing in the middle of the chapel. She seemed to be in a trance, but she was thinking secretly in her heart: No matter how to say it, I didn't detect any aura of magic from these two people, and the statue in front of me didn't gather any power of faith. Among the many churches I have seen in my life, this one is really shabby.

In order to fight against the alliance of religious groups, the Spiritual Prayer Society chose to spread the secrets of refined magic throughout the world. The churches in the Western Continent benefited from it, but they were also accomplices. But among them, there were innocent people who were completely ignorant. Isn't this a very strange thing? How did a church like this, which has no extraordinary heritage and no power of faith, continue to exist until now? Could it be that some factions of certain political parties in the parliament have fallen into such a state of desolation?
The more Fiali thought about it, the weirder it seemed to her, but she knew she couldn't get any useful information from the two girls in front of her. She would probably have to wait for Pastor Ling to come back before she could get a glimpse of the clues.

So she waited patiently, and during the process tried to keep her sitting posture upright and her expression serious, so as to avoid giving that annoying golden-haired maid an excuse to make trouble.

Meanwhile, Alice and Metien were huddled in a corner of the chapel, communicating furtively.

"I don't like that guy."

The golden-haired maid, who was already hated by the reporter, said straight to the point: "I always feel that she is not a good person."

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)