Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 403 Is Lingge really a tsundere?

Lingge and others searched the valley where the cloud whale landed, but as expected, they found nothing. Not only did they not find the vampire, they didn't even see any other alien creatures. They returned home disappointed.

The young man decided to look for it again tomorrow. If he still couldn't find it, he would have to enter the Void Root Swamp. However, he didn't know the situation inside the swamp, nor did he know to what extent the power of Silver Moon had penetrated. Therefore, even if he entered the swamp to search, he would probably only search the periphery and would not enter the area where alien activities were more frequent.

It was late at night when they returned to the Sky Island. As the temperature began to drop, a hazy mist gradually rose around the valley. The shadows of the tree branches and leaves in the mist were like deformed monsters, baring their fangs and claws. Moving their sight upwards, through the mist, they could see a silver waning moon hanging in the dark night sky. When the moonlight penetrated the forest mist, it felt like a huge industrial searchlight suddenly cast a beam of light in the depths of a dead and deserted mine, illuminating all the reddish-brown rocks and dark soil, making people feel both dazzling and unusually bright.

It is said that on this peninsula, which is always shrouded in mist and raindrops, the moonlight has a unique meaning. Passionate poets and novelists compare it to "the comfort of a mother to her child." Scientists believe that the special astronomical environment causes the moonlight projected on the peninsula to never appear dim. Mystics claim that this "gentle and rational" moonlight can neutralize the violence and anger flowing in the bodies of the Metosh people, making them gentle and peaceful in a short period of time. In addition, a long-standing rumor is that under the illumination of the moonlight, people will awaken their memories of ancient times and then transform into the postures when they were born from the placenta of the gods.

For example, the True people will let out long wolf howls under the pale moonlight, gain wolf claws and teeth, and cover their bodies with black and gray hair, transforming into wild, bloodthirsty and passionate werewolves; in contrast, the Eleu people will lose the strange color in their eyes in the blood-red moonlight, gain enchanting poppy-like pupils, grow bat fangs and wings, and from then on become a noble, arrogant and ruthless vampire, soaring in the night among the mountains.

When a werewolf encounters a vampire, they will begin to fight for the favor of the moonlight. The two sides will fight to the death, and only one side will survive, while the other will melt in the dreary moonlight and become its nourishment. A farmer once saw with his own eyes a lone wolf in the wild and a bat in the sky confronting each other, waiting for the opportunity to kill each other.

So, the feud between werewolves and vampires existed a long time ago and has continued to this day. In comparison, the other three alien races in Metosh: Golden Mane Lions, Harpies, and Capells, do not have much conflict. Is this because the Sikilia Peninsula, where the influence of the Valenhild family is radiating, and the capital Elfaran, where the influence of the Neoersu family is radiating, are too close, and the hatred between the two sides has arisen from the struggle for territory?
If so, why did humans replace the aliens to rule Metosh, and why did they continue to fight when both sides had lost their territory? For this reason, they even ignored the survival of their families and races, which is really puzzling.

Lingge looked at the densely written words on the notebook and fell silent.

These were records he had copied down based on the proprietress's stories or what he had read in books. They involved the legend of the founding of Motosh, the historical evolution of the five major families, and even some rural anecdotes about alien species. He tried to find clues to explain the current mystery, but unfortunately to no avail.

"Who?" Ling asked.

The young man was a little surprised, because wasn't that voice from Metien? He walked over and opened the door, and sure enough, he saw a pink-haired girl standing in the corridor. She seemed to have just left the laboratory, and there was a faint scent of herbs on her body.

"What's the problem?" Ling Ge was not surprised. He thought it was a grammar problem. After all, there were many obscure parts in the medical books that the little girl read every day, which were difficult to understand at her age.

His intuition told him that the ongoing struggle between werewolves and vampires was the key to solving the mystery. However, it was neither a struggle for power nor a struggle for territory. The hatred between the two families seemed to come out of nowhere and without any signs. Could it be that someone had set it up from the beginning that werewolves and vampires must be mortal enemies, just like Alice did when she made the game? This was too absurd.

"What do you want to talk to me about, Metien?" Linger stepped aside to let his sister walk into the room, and asked, "It's late, you should go to bed."

After ruling out all the wrong answers, the young man turned his attention to the most unlikely clue: The proprietress once mentioned that the aliens in Metosh privately rumored that the conflict between the Valenhild family and the Neoersu family originated from the competition for a certain treasure. One of the leaders of Silver Moon, Wolfgang, who was also Gundaruf's brother, even died together with a vampire count because of this.

"That's right, that!" Metien lowered her voice, as if she was afraid of being heard by someone: "Didn't you and Sister Alice have a quarrel just now?"

"quarrel?"

If this is not nonsense, what kind of treasure is it that is worth both sides fighting for it at all costs?
A rare potion formula? But werewolves and vampires are both aliens who use blood magic, so they don't need to take potions and follow the human sequence system; a powerful holy relic? How powerful must it be to make both parties so eager, and how could the united cults allow a dangerous holy relic to fall into the hands of aliens?
In this case, the positioning of this treasure should be very unique. Although it drives both races crazy, it is something that the united cults disdain... It is hard to imagine.

"Well! I'll go back to bed right away! But--" Metien blinked: "Before that, I have a question for you, Lingge."

Lingge thought for a long time but could not come to a conclusion. His fingertips gently stroked the white pages. The rough touch seemed to show the texture of the wood. He was about to pack up and go to bed when there was a knock on the door in the corridor.

"Me." The person outside the door replied.

Lingge was stunned for a moment, then he realized that she was referring to the conversation between him and Alice at the dinner table. In fact, in the eyes of the young man, it was just a small dispute, but in the eyes of Medien, it was equated with a quarrel, and he was very worried about it.

He shook his head. "We didn't have a fight, Metien. We just...had different opinions."

"Difference of opinion?" "That's right." Linger closed his notebook and said, "I wanted Alice to keep the cassette in case of emergency, but Alice wanted to control her creativity with her own will rather than be restricted by rules and regulations, so she rejected my proposal. Such disagreements are common, Metien, you will definitely encounter them in the future. When you do, you must remember that in the face of disagreements, you don't necessarily have to unify your opinions, but in any case, respect each other's ideas. This is the most basic principle in communication between people..."

As he spoke, his voice gradually lowered, and somehow, the expression on Alice's face when she angrily asked "Why?" appeared in front of him again.

"Lingge?" Seeing that he didn't speak, Metien asked in confusion.

"nothing."

The young man shook his head and changed his words, "In fact, I did make some mistakes. After all, the game console and cartridges are Alice's things. I am not their owner, so I have no right to object to their usage. Moreover, although Alice is usually unreliable, the games she made can all be used, proving that her ability is not as bad as I thought. It is better to let her play freely than to be guided by an outsider like me, so..."

He explained to Metien, but somehow it felt more like he was talking to himself, convincing himself, and the pink-haired girl was just a blinking spectator.

At the end, he suddenly lowered his head and looked at his sister: "Are you going to look for Alice later, Metien?"

The pink-haired girl was shocked: "How did you know!?"

Because I am your brother.

Lingge ignored the question and said, "Then, apologize to Alice for me."

"Eh? Ah, well, that's fine, but—" Metien looked at his brother with suspicion: "If you want to apologize, why don't you go yourself, Lingge?"

Ling Ge remained calm: "Because I want to sleep."

"It doesn't take long to apologize."

"You can't just go into a girl's room."

"Is what Sister Alice said okay?"

Seeing that his sister was so difficult to deal with, Ling Ge changed to a more credible excuse: "I don't want her to be too arrogant."

"But if you don't go in person, Sister Alice will say you are a tsundere again, okay?"

"Then let her speak."

Lingge seemed indifferent, having long since learned to filter out certain things the golden-haired maid said. But Metien tried to figure out his expression, and suddenly asked tentatively, "Because you are?"

"..."

A minute later, the door of the room was closed and the pink-haired little girl stood in the corridor sighing.

"I said the wrong thing, oh."

Or, a conversation?
　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)