Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 33 Was the harm unintentional?

Alice originally thought that this was a technical problem, but unexpectedly it turned out to be a metaphysical problem.

The retarded AI only used a few incomprehensible words to perfunctorily answer her. When she asked about the specific method, it just said "Please explore on your own. We apologize for the inconvenience caused during your play." She almost asked for a good review. Unconvinced Alice tried again and again all night, but still failed to activate the cartridge. She fell asleep in the early morning, and was woken up by Lingge before she had slept for a few hours. She got up and prepared breakfast. Such a hellish schedule naturally turned her into a hellish person.

At least, the resentment overflowing from those eyes made Ling Ge feel creepy.

He calmly took a half step back and commented calmly: "It is not a good idea to exhaust yourself to this extent for the so-called 'game'. I think you should focus more on your job, Miss Alice."

The golden-haired maid narrowed her eyes upon hearing this, and her shell-like teeth clicked up and down, making an unsettling grinding sound: "So-called game? Your idea is too outdated, Mr. Ling."

What’s the difference between this and the old days when parents on Earth regarded games as electronic… cigarettes?
If he was not his employer, he would definitely have a good argument with him.

Pity.

Alice shook her head and decided not to delve into this topic further, so as not to affect the relationship between the master and the servant. Considering that a guy like Lingge who was expressionless was unlikely to have a female partner, she smiled sweetly and offered her concern in a hypocritical manner: "Dear Mr. Lingge, when can we have dinner?"

Wearing cotton gloves, Linger moved the steaming crucible from the stove to the dining table and turned around and said, "Wait for Metien to come back..."

"If you have the ability, would you like to contribute to the survival of Tianxin Church?"

"Look at this!"

He took off his cotton gloves, picked up the newspaper on the dining table, and glanced at the report. He found that his guess was correct. The reporter who wrote this report, Miss Fialli, claimed that she had interviewed a believer of the Holy Goddess Church in the Holy Cross District and wrote the article based on her true account.

"My answer should be yes, young lady. Because it is the right thing to do, and the goddess will have mercy on our intentions."

“What do you think of the Religious Decree?”

"Are you worried about the future of Tianxin Church?"

Before he finished speaking, the voice of a pink-haired little girl was heard outside the kitchen: "Linger! Alice! Something terrible has happened!"

Alice was shocked when she heard this, and then she criticized him harshly: "How shameless! How could she do such a thing? Didn't she agree not to make up stories?"

"Yes, like most people, I became a believer of the goddess when Mr. Yang Ke opened the church. Both Mr. Yang Ke in the past and Pastor Ling Ge now are good people who are willing to care about poor people like us. No matter what, they should not be forgotten by everyone for some reason."

"I don't quite understand - or is this not something people like us should understand?"

The report is mainly composed of dialogues, most of which are ordinary, but there are a few passages that are thought-provoking.

With the sound of footsteps, Metien rushed into the kitchen in a panic, holding a newspaper in her hand. Seeing this, Linger raised his eyebrows slightly and cast his eyes towards Alice, vaguely blaming her for leading her sister astray. The latter pretended not to see it and asked Metien, "What happened?"

"I'm afraid she really didn't make it up, it's just that the person she interviewed was not us." Ling'er's reaction was very calm, as if this matter was not unexpected to him.

Metien slammed the newspaper in his hand onto the dining table, pointed at a report that took up a large portion of the page, and said in an angry tone, "The reporter who came yesterday published the situation of Tianxin Church in the newspaper!"

……

And so on. Finally, the reporter concluded the interview with a paragraph: "This is just an interview with an ordinary citizen in the Holy Cross District, but I believe it can represent the views of most of the Goddess believers. According to the reporter's own visit, Tianxin Church has been built for more than 30 years and has always been committed to relief and charity. It is widely praised by the residents of the Holy Cross District and the White Citizen District and has no bad records. If such a church had been spared from the "Religious Decree", I think it would be understandable, but I don't know why it went in the opposite direction. The reporter tried to interview Mr. Ling, the current resident pastor of Tianxin Church, but was rejected. Whether there is an inside story that we don't know is still worthy of our deep consideration, just like the rationality of implementing the "Religious Decree."

"This woman is so bold." Alice, who had come to read the report, frowned. "She posted these, isn't she afraid that the people from the church alliance will come to check the gas meter?" "She won't be afraid." Ling Ge said, "The major shareholder of the Citizen Evening News is the Linwell Steam Pipeline Maintenance Company, and it is said that the Red Prayer Society has invested in this company."

The Red Prayer Society is the initiator and leader of the Linville City Religious Mutual Aid Association.

Alice understood at once.

"Turns out they are the same ones!"

She spoke some slang that Lingge didn't understand, but he could guess its meaning. He folded the newspaper gently and gave it back to Metien, saying, "This matter has nothing to do with us."

"Ah? How can it be unrelated?" The maid was surprised: "What if the people of the cult mistakenly think that you are treacherous and secretly doing something bad? How are you going to explain it?"

Ling said, "No explanation is needed, because the United Cults will not fall for such an obvious plot. The purpose of this report is not to sow discord between us and the United Cults, but to arouse the sympathy and sense of justice of ordinary citizens and create a public opinion advantage for their negotiations. In other words, this is the United Cults' business, and they will handle it well."

"Oh! So that's how it is!"

Alice, whose cerebellum was not fully developed, originally thought this was a big deal, but now after listening to Ling'er's analysis, she felt that it was no big deal. She curled her lips and said, "Then let the people of the united cult worry about it. However, that unscrupulous reporter named Fiyali is really not a good thing. If she dares to come next time, she will have to be taught a lesson!"

She was rubbing her hands together and looked very aggressive. Lingge thought she was probably just bluffing, so he ignored her and turned his gaze to Medien, wanting to tell her not to care about such trivial matters and to eat breakfast first, but he found that there was something wrong with her expression, as if she was hesitant and a little uneasy.

Just now, when I was talking to Alice, she didn't say a word. It seemed that she was worried about something?
Lingge was not a person who liked to beat around the bush, so he asked directly: "Metien, what are you thinking about?"

The pink-haired girl was startled: "Eh, eh?"

"If you have any troubles, you can tell me." Ling Ge was obviously much better to his sister than to the maid: "I will help you solve it."

Alice followed up with a rant: "That's right, I'll help you too!"

You're lucky enough not to make things worse? Linger glanced at the maid with distrust in his eyes, but she still pretended not to see it.

"Actually, that is, that..." Metien hesitated for a long time before he whispered what he was worried about: "When I went to borrow a newspaper from Uncle Joseph in the watch shop, I heard him say that yesterday evening, he saw Mrs. Maggie talking to a woman who looked like a reporter..."

Linger and Alice reacted instantly, and the latter quickly asked, "So you think that the goddess believer who was interviewed in the newspaper is Mrs. Maggie?"

"Yeah." Metien lowered her head, her pink braids drooping listlessly, faithfully reflecting her master's mood. She asked with a bit of sadness and expectation, "But I think Mrs. Maggie didn't mean it, did she? She really only accepted Miss Fialli's interview for the sake of Tianxin Church, right?"

Yesterday, Alice's words had made her realize that accepting an interview with a newspaper at such a sensitive time would not only fail to save Tianxin Church, but would also bring great trouble. Therefore, she was unwilling to believe that the kind and gentle Mrs. Maggie would do such a thing to hurt the church. After all, the church had helped her so many times and had paid money to save her little son Tom's life from the threat of fever. How could she do such a thing?
The angry tone of the man who just rushed into the kitchen with the newspaper was probably not directed at the report in the newspaper, but at Mrs. Maggie's "betrayal".

However, the little girl's heart was still innocent and kind after all, so after being angry and dissatisfied, she began to find reasons for Mrs. Maggie - or for herself, a reason to continue to believe in her.

Regarding this difficult problem involving complex interpersonal relationships and social etiquette, Alice, who is called a genius player but is actually a socially anxious otaku, decisively chose to shut up and handed the right to speak to Ling Ge. And the former resident pastor of Tianxin Church, facing his sister's expectations and luck, was silent for a long time and nodded gently.

He reached out and gently stroked Metine’s hair, then told her, “You’re right.”

"Mrs. Maggie didn't mean to do this."

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)