Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 43 Is the negotiation just a joke?

Outside an open-air cafe near the Municipal Square, there were three people waiting.

In front of Lingge was a glass of boiled water, in front of Metien was a cup of Ceylon black tea, and in front of Alice was a piece of buttered toast, a portion of mashed potatoes with bacon, a portion of Metsch country-style grilled sausage, a large glass of milk and a lemon pudding.

The brother and sister spent a total of 4 pence, and Alice spent a total of 1 shilling and 10 pence.

Medien took a sip of black tea and thought silently that if Sister Alice dared to say that Lingge was not good to her in the future, she would definitely stand up and refute her loudly.

She raised her head and glanced in the direction of Saints Street, feeling a little uneasy.

Inside the transparent glass window, the clock hanging on the wall of the cafe pointed to 9:15. The negotiation meeting started at 9 o'clock, and only 15 minutes had passed, but the pink-haired girl was already feeling anxious.

What if the two parties fail to reach an agreement?
What if the united church refuses to give in?
What if... the Religious Mutual Aid Association excludes the Holy Goddess Church?
This is not impossible. After all, Tianxin Church is the only church that obeys the "Religious Decree" so far. To them, it is equivalent to a traitor.

Normal people will naturally not have a good attitude towards traitors, so they can use interviews to create public opinion advantages for themselves with peace of mind.

But here comes the problem. When you first established the Linville City Religious Mutual Aid Association, you didn’t invite the Holy Goddess Church!
Inexplicably forgotten, inexplicably closed, and inexplicably exploited...Metian felt very depressed when he recalled his experiences in the past period of time.

But Lingge looked like he didn't care at all, and Alice, the messenger sent by the goddess, was not very reliable either. So, he could only bear the pressure silently and contribute a tiny bit to the survival of Tianxin Church!
Metien quietly put his hands together, placed them in front of his chest, closed his eyes slightly, and began to pray with the most pious attitude in his life.

That girl needs her help.

Please, goddess.

***
"..."

such as.

The girl with long green hair and emerald eyes gently pulled the gray rope in her hand and said, "Let's go, little lamb."

As the chairman of the Linville City Religious Mutual Aid Association, Mr. Closser, the bishop of the Red Prayer Society, sat in a relatively relaxed posture on the soft leather sofa. Across a rectangular table, he looked at the representative of the church alliance, Mr. Langning, the tribune of the Linville City Diocese, with a casual arc at the corner of his mouth, as if he did not take the negotiation seriously.

"destiny".

You are my last hope.

"Help me find that person."

The roads in the city are like the blood vessels of a giant. She wanted to find the singularity that made it concave in this intricate web of fate, but she accidentally got lost in it and couldn't find the direction.

I couldn't hear what she said because we were too far away, but her sincerity and anxiety were evident in her words.

What she needs may be help from something else, and I can give it to her.

She thought that this search was in vain again, but she just heard a voice.

The girl leading the sheep suddenly stopped. Her smooth feet without shoes or socks were like the most exquisite works of art. Even though they were stepping on mud and dust, they were still not stained with the slightest bit of filth.

Please, please, please bless your believers in the world.

A very clear girl's voice that easily reminds people of the sky, lake, crystal or something else pure.

***
At the same time, in a spacious conference room on the fourth floor of the Maintis Conference Building, the atmosphere was freezing.

She looked up silently and saw that the shadows of the tall buildings had cut the sky into pieces, with the connecting lines tangled.

because.

Of course, this doesn't seem quite accurate.

Mr. Clement, the general head of the city diocese, and Mr. Longdenel, the representative of the city diocese believers, who were supposed to attend the negotiations, were not at the negotiating table at this time. Only Mr. Longning represented the church union and was fully responsible for the negotiations.

In comparison, the number of representatives sent by the Linville City Religious Mutual Aid Association was quite large. In addition to Bishop Closher, there were about a dozen people from smaller churches such as the Order of Divine Providence, the New Cross, and the Lion Order. They were not very powerful themselves, so Langning did not take them seriously.

Some insignificant little characters could hardly affect the overall situation. Not to mention them, even the original vampire in front of him, Closel, who was equivalent to Sequence 5, was not worth his attention.

In the entire plan, the only person who needs to be paid attention to is the mastermind behind the cult's Blood Red Banquet, the pseudo-demigod "Heavenly Feaster" of Sequence 3.

Facing these guys who repeatedly obstructed the great cause of the association, Mr. Langning's tone was somewhat cold. "We cannot accept your request." He put the documents in his hand aside and said to Bishop Closser, "Your request to completely stop the implementation of Article 124 of the Supplementary Decree of the Religious Decree; to lift the restrictions on the religious community in Articles 21, 78 and 104; and even to allow non-orthodox churches to have certain private armed forces... These requests are extremely unreasonable and unrealistic in our view."

"What!?"

As soon as these words came out, before Bishop Closher could answer, the church representatives around him showed astonishment. One of them even stood up and asked, "Closher, what's going on? Is the agreement you submitted different from what we discussed in advance? "

Because he was so shocked, he even forgot to use honorifics, because in the eyes of Bishop Clothel, he was just a small character of Sequence 7.

Fortunately, Closel didn't seem to mind his offense, but chuckled: "Because I think the original agreement is not comprehensive enough, so I improvised and added some extra content to it. How about it, are you surprised? Humans always need some humor cells, don't they?"

It was more of a shock than a surprise.

The original agreement never considered abolishing any of the supplementary provisions of the Religious Decree through negotiations, because they all knew that this was impossible. The united religious orders were too powerful, and fighting against such a behemoth would be enough to make anyone despair.

So after repeated discussions, they decided to pick on the wording. The Religious Decree forced non-orthodox churches to close their churches and not to preach publicly, but there were no restrictions on private or small-scale preaching. So, how privately "privately" was and how small "small-scale" was, there were many things worth bargaining about.

They felt that the church union could more or less accept this level of concession. They wouldn't fall out with all the churches in Linville City just for a piece of refined magic that was sold everywhere, right?

but.

"What a stupid idea." Clother shook his head slightly, feeling sorry for the IQ of these people.

He stretched out a pale finger, shook it gently, and told them: "Let alone a little concession, even a punctuation mark in the Religious Decree cannot be amended by the United Church. The only thing they will do is to eliminate the threat. The ridiculous thing is that you think you can escape it? Maybe those mad dogs of the Balance of Order have already erected cannons against your gods?"

The church representatives changed color when they heard the words, and looked at Lang Ning who was sitting opposite them.

Mr. Tribune had a blank expression on his face, as if he agreed.

The Balance of Order, a subordinate organization of the Inquisition, is similar to the Night Watcher of the Night's Roost. The difference is that the latter guards the human city, while the former conducts ruthless cleansing in the areas outside the city.

In addition to aliens, monsters and unregulated magicians, uncontrollable gods are naturally also on this purge list.

In the past, cults were more harmful than false religions, so religious groups were more relaxed about controlling the latter, even allowing them to build churches in cities for easier surveillance.

However, the situation changed after the spread of refined magic. The terrifying magic that could create gods and refine people's hearts made it impossible to distinguish between evil cults and false cults, evil gods and false gods. They were all enemies to be eliminated.

The latest supplementary regulations of the "Religious Decree" are just a strategy of boiling a frog in warm water, and more powerful offensives are yet to come.

It's ridiculous that some people have lived in comfort for too long and can't even see the simplest situation clearly, and still expect to solve the problem through negotiation. If they can recall their poor knowledge of occult history, they should know that the Order Union has never reached any form of reconciliation with its enemies since its establishment.

"In other words, the negotiation was a joke from the beginning, but I made it funnier. Before, it could only please ordinary people, but now it is enough to please saints." Closel raised his hand slightly, as if he was going to serve himself a glass of scarlet wine and smell its fragrance. The corners of his mouth were slightly raised, looking noble and elegant: "This is the elegant taste praised by the upper class."

The church representatives looked unhappy, and no one responded. Only Lang Ning was silent for a while, and suddenly said, "You are the only smart person among them. This is not surprising to me, because people's positions often determine their vision."

This indirectly acknowledged what he said.

"Thanks for the compliment."

Closel nodded slightly, then sat up straight, his temperament suddenly changed, from relaxed and casual to serious and solemn. He carefully adjusted his appearance: lightly loosened his collar, pressed his tie, smoothed the wrinkles on his shirt and cuffs... His movements were meticulous, just like a classical aristocrat making the final preparations before the dinner.

Lang Ning watched this scene silently, and behind Closel, the church representatives had sensed something and retreated quietly, secretly observing the movements around them, ready to escape at any time.

After all, he is a magician with an average strength of around Sequence 7, so it is impossible for him to surrender.

At this time, Bishop Closser, who had finished tidying up his appearance and looked elegant, slowly stood up from the sofa, and his fangs were faintly revealed under his lips when he smiled: "Thank you all for bringing me such a pleasant entertainment. Unfortunately, today's entertainment program has come to an end."

"It's almost time."

"Let's put an end to this boring charade!"

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a commotion coming from the street outside.

The sky turned completely dark.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)