Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 678: Implicated?
After Lingge said that, the atmosphere in the spacious main hall suddenly fell to freezing point. No one spoke, but some people quietly observed the expression of old man Pancras, perhaps trying to see a trace of sadness or anger from his ugly but peaceful face; others quietly observed Lingge's expression, as if trying to get an answer: what kind of thoughts drove this young man to take the initiative to admit that his hands were stained with blood, and the object was a devout believer in animism.

At this very moment, in the Evangelical Convent, in front of the statue of Saint Toumi, he confessed the incident himself. Was he asking for forgiveness, or was he just stating the facts?
Thousands of cruel grooves were deeply squeezed out on the rough face of old man Pancras, and his lips moved up and down, as if he wanted to say something, but someone muttered before him: "Why are you trying to show off? You didn't do it alone."

This sentence immediately attracted everyone's attention. Facing their gazes, Ellie showed no fear at all. She put her hands on her hips and said confidently, "That's how it is. Killing the Earth Mother Spirit God - Titan is not just the credit of Lingge alone. We also contributed! So Lingge is only concerned about showing off himself and doesn't take us companions seriously at all!"

Acting...cool?

Is this a question of being cool?

“Sister Alice!” Seeing that Beimin, the youngest of the three photon elf sisters, was becoming increasingly unhappy, Metien anxiously tugged at the sleeve of the golden-haired maid, her tone almost crying: “Don’t join in the fun! This, this is not something to be joked about!”

"Are you kidding? I'm not kidding. How can Lingge take all the credit for doing such a good deed?" Alice didn't care about all those things. She maintained her usual carefree personality and said straight to the point: "Rochelle has a grudge against the cult, so he held a ceremony to summon gods in Nimsher City, summoning imaginary gods to harm innocent people, and even prevented us from visiting the World Expo. Isn't it a good thing to eliminate a villain like this?"

"You humans have gone too far!" Beimin finally couldn't help but retort. Her eyes were fixed on Alice. Through her bangs, she could see that her eyes were very unique. They were not the bright golden color like her two sisters, but platinum with a gemstone texture. "When you humans slaughtered aliens, exterminated faith, and persecuted believers, didn't you consider the problem of harming innocent people? Lord Rochelle just repeated those methods to you. What's too much!?"

"Please be careful with your words." Facing her harsh questioning, Alice pointed out with a serious face: "It's not you humans, but the Cult Union. We are also humans, but we all have a grudge against the Cult Union. If Rochelle had killed us at that time, the only people who would be happy would be the Cult Union, right? He can't distinguish between enemies and friends, and can only attack indiscriminately. In my opinion, he is not only bad, but also stupid!"

"You, you, you--" Beimin was so angry that her face turned red. She stretched out her trembling little hand and pointed at Alice. She kept saying "you" for a long time but couldn't utter a complete sentence. She didn't seem as cold and aloof as before, but people were worried that she would suddenly lose control of her emotions and pounce on Alice to bite her.

"It's not the right thing for good children to quarrel in such a sacred place." The proprietress, Shesta, folded her hands on her cheeks, tilted her head slightly, and suggested to Best with a smile: "Why don't both sides take a step back? Beimin has a point, and Alice also has a point. How do you think?"

"That's enough, Beimin."

Two voices echoed simultaneously under the dome of the main hall. Belphie embraced her little sister who had nearly lost her mind, while Saint Shallia pulled back the golden-haired maid who was smug about having won the argument with the child. Then the two looked at each other and said "sorry" at the same time in tacit understanding.

"Stop it, Alice."

How can this be considered as both sides taking a step back? After all this fuss, who is wrong?

The same idea popped up in everyone's mind, but Best thought it was a good idea. She sat cross-legged in the air in a very unladylike manner, crossed her arms, and nodded calmly: "Well, I think it's a good idea. This way everyone will be happy, everyone will be happy!"

The two elder sisters looked at each other and smiled in tacit understanding.

Under their mediation, the tense atmosphere eased a little. At this time, old man Pancras slowly spoke: "Rochelle, that kid, has indeed taken the wrong path. He shouldn't have burned his fire of hatred on innocent people. That is what the evil ghosts and mad dogs of the cult would do, and he has turned himself into the person he hates the most; and he shouldn't have placed his hopes of revenge on the ceremony of summoning gods. The true meaning of animism is to make humans one with all spirits and tap into their own spirituality, rather than using fanatical beliefs and emotions to shape their ideal gods. That form is not worthy of being called a god. The great master who dominates the spiritual world is just an evil beast driven by desire. Unfortunately, those children refused to listen to me. They stubbornly believed that this was the way back to the animism of all things and the highest destination that faith could reach. Therefore, they completely ignored the fact that they had violated the original intention of the saint and were about to step into a river of sin. "The old man shook his head helplessly, his words were full of disappointment and sadness, but Ling noticed that he said "those children" instead of "that child", which means that among the animist believers, Rochelle is probably not the only one who hopes to use the ritual of summoning gods to fight against the alliance of the cult?
The young man asked tentatively, "Lord Pancras, can you tell me the principle of the ritual of summoning gods? What is the nature of the gods summoned by it? And... is it the root cause of the religious groups' joint enforcement of the "Religious Decree"? "

When the pink-haired girl heard the last question, her heart skipped a beat. She raised her head quickly, her expression tense and focused. Old man Pancras did not answer the young man's question immediately, but he did not refuse to answer. He just raised his pale eyes with a dirty look, looked at Linger quietly, and then asked him a question: "Mr. Linger, you said that Rochelle once called you a true believer. This is a very high evaluation, which means that he thinks you are qualified to walk with him. But I can see that you are not a believer in animism, so can you tell me which great and noble god you believe in?"

Lingge was stunned for a moment, and just as he was about to answer, Metien suddenly popped up and answered before his brother: "It's the Holy Goddess Church! Lingge and I both believe in the great goddess who created the world and life. We also have a church called Tianxin Church, which is on Yunjingkong Island. Grandpa Pancras, if you want to visit our church, you are always welcome. Although it is not as big and magnificent as the Gospel Convent, you will definitely not be disappointed!"

"Hehe." Old man Pancras didn't care about Metien's interruption. He smiled gently and stroked his dull red beard. "If I have the chance, I will definitely visit you. I hope I won't cause any trouble to you."

"No, no!" Metien shook his head repeatedly and wanted to say something, but his brother looked at him and he immediately shrank his head back, not daring to say anything more. Lingge explained to the old man in a calm tone: "The church on Yunjingkong Island is just a replica of Tianxin Church. The real Tianxin Church is in Linweier City and has been closed for a long time. In fact, there is no difference. Even when Tianxin Church was not closed, the Holy Goddess Church did not have many believers. At least in the Great Brittany Kingdom, there may only be my deceased adoptive father, me and Metien."

These words were said calmly, just like a daily trivial matter, but the three sisters of the Photon Elf showed surprised expressions. Even Beimin rubbed her red eyes and looked at him for a while. She never thought that the situation of this young man was even worse than that of the Fuling Cult in his hometown. Could this be the reason for his rebellion against the alliance of the cults?

Old man Pancras slowly stopped stroking his beard and asked, "Is it because of the Religious Decree?"

"kindness."

The old man sighed deeply. "So it is the animists who have implicated you, Mr. Ling."

Implicated?

Linger frowned slightly: "I'm sorry, Lord Pancras, I don't understand what you mean by implicate?"

"Do you want to know the truth of the story, young man?"

"Well, please tell me."

"Then sit down and talk first." The old man stretched out his cane and pointed to the bench next to him: "It's not the right way to treat guests to stand and talk."

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)