Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 78: Finally found the hotel?

When I opened my eyes, the world had changed dramatically.

Under your feet are fallen leaves as big as humans, the yellowed earth seems to be burning, and every dry texture on it is clearly visible; huge angiosperms and ferns are everywhere in your vision, and patches of luminous moss are spreading across the valley like a tide, leading to the depths of the primitive and mysterious forest; monster-like hideous flying insects and black reptiles flit through the darkness, preying on swarms of young lice; the Iron Legion marches in an orderly manner, and an ant that has lost contact with the main force climbs on the edge of an ancient leaf, staring at the traveler who has strayed here with its emotionless dark red eyes... The vast vitality that comes to your face makes you almost think that you have returned to the primitive era tens of thousands of years ago, facing the most vigorous and vigorous vitality since the birth of the world.

Looking upward, across the dark forest, a towering sacred tree that reaches the sky and seems to break through the barriers of the world comes into view. Every wrinkle on its trunk is as insurmountable as a mountain range, every branch is like the arms of a giant, and every hanging leaf is as unreachable as a star... When the wind blows, the huge stars rub against each other, and the sound of the waves surging past is like the roaring of an ancient ocean, giving birth to the wildest sound.

Under the raised tree canopy and in the umbrella-shaped shadow, life looks as spectacular and shocking as if it were just born.

Metien and Alice looked at the giant tree that supported the world, opened their mouths at the same time, and made meaningless exclamations. Only Lingge recognized that the tree was the sycamore tree he had seen before.

Therefore, it is not that it suddenly possesses some great power that is enough to shock people, but that they have become required to look at this strange world again with a humble perspective.

"Dear guests, how are you feeling? Are you feeling uncomfortable?" Xie Mi's concerned voice came from the side, with a bit of insecurity: "Well, because I just learned this magic not long ago, so there may be some places that I am not perfect. If you really feel uncomfortable, please tell me in time."

The three looked in the direction of the voice, and then saw Xie Mi, who was the size of a normal person—at least from their current perspective, she was the size of a normal person. The translucent butterfly wings on the girl's back had returned to normal. She clenched the skirt of her maid outfit with both hands, and looked at them with nervous and expectant eyes, waiting for the guest's evaluation.

Ling Ge moved his body a little, and after finding nothing unusual, he nodded gently: "I'm fine."

Metien withdrew his curious gaze and replied happily, "Me too."

"..."

The scene fell into silence.

She hurriedly explained: "That's not the case, sir. The effect of this magic is to make people smaller, so it's not an accident..."

"Pity."

"Oh?" Alice's eyebrows relaxed immediately, as if she accepted this explanation: "Is there such a magical magic? Can it make people bigger?"

Alice asked again, "Then, can I only enlarge certain parts?"

Alice looked serious.

"Gu!" Although he had prepared himself mentally, he still didn't expect an accident to happen. Moreover, Alice's expression was so serious... The "Warning Cases of Failed Magic Use" that his elder sister had told him appeared in his mind. Shaymi swallowed hard and felt his lips a little dry: "Wha, what's the problem?"

"I seem to have become smaller." Alice said seriously, word by word, "You were obviously not that big before."

Alice's intelligence level has always been erratic, more unpredictable than a sunny day in Linville City. Therefore, even Lingge, as her employer, could not tell whether she really did not understand the situation or was deliberately pretending to be stupid and teasing others, let alone Miss Shemi, whom she met for the first time.

“Eh! Eh? This, this… no matter how skilled you are, you can’t do this, right!?”

"I have a question."

"Why should I feel sorry? If I only enlarge certain parts, it seems like there's no point, right?"

"This should be possible if you are skilled enough?" Miss Xie Mi's tone was not so confident. After all, she had just learned this magic not long ago.

"So you don't understand humans at all."

“Ugh!?”

On this day, Miss Shemi, who had just reached adulthood, understood a little more about humans. Of course, it is also possible that she understood even less.

……

Walking among the bushes with a shrunken body was a very novel feeling. The weeds, wild flowers and shrubs that I had stepped on before without paying any attention to were now towering and lush primitive jungles, full of vigorous vitality; the ants, grasshoppers and dragonflies that could be driven away with a wave of the hand were like prehistoric beasts, bringing a great sense of oppression, making people slow down their pace and lower their voices for fear of attracting their attention.

Only by letting go of your high-handed attitude and lowering your sight to the same height as the plants and insects, can you discover an unexpected surprise: a hidden and deep path, winding and leading to the depths of the dark forest. It seems that there has been no human presence for a long time, only the decayed matter of fallen leaves, which has accumulated into dark soil, covered with moss, forest roots and small mushrooms. When you step on it, it feels as soft as a blanket.

Miss Shemi, the maid sent by the hotel, walked in front and led the way. She pushed aside the huge drooping grass leaves and black branches along the way, scaring away many grasshoppers and dragonflies. At the same time, she explained to the three guests the magic she had just performed.

"That is the innate magic of our traveler fairy clan: it can change strangely at will, and can make things affected by magic undergo various changes. There are many situations, depending on the time, weather, scene, input magic power and even the user's mood, different effects will be produced. Until now, we have not been able to count all the situations!"

"Making us smaller is one of the possibilities?" Alice asked, tossing a small stone she had picked up from the ground. "But how can you be sure that this will happen? What if we get bigger by accident?"

"Because among so many situations, there are also some that are relatively stable."

As Xie Mi walked, he replied, "If you use this magic on intelligent creatures during the day when you can see the sun and you are not feeling sad, it will shrink their size and even their belongings. If you use it on small wild animals at night, it will temporarily give them the ability to fly. If you use it on birds when you are not seeing the sun and you are feeling depressed, it will make them speak... This is the rule that our traveler elves have summed up over generations. Generally speaking, when members of the tribe become adults and start practicing this magic, they will start with these situations and try more variations after they become proficient."

"If that's the case, there must be a way to magnify a specific part, right?" The golden-haired maid was still thinking about it.

Ms. Shemi still insisted on her original answer: "This, this is not possible, Ms. Alice! Because magic targets the whole body, it cannot act on a single part!"

"Pity."

Alice sighed sadly, "If only my stomach could be enlarged, I could eat more snacks. What a shame."

It turns out it was for this.

It's very Alice-like indeed.

Lingge nodded implicitly: He originally thought that Alice wanted to enlarge her brain. After all, the golden-haired maid's IQ was not enough in many cases. Unexpectedly, she still exceeded his expectations.

All I can say is that at any time, you should not use human common sense to speculate about this maid - of course, the common sense of traveling fairies does not apply either, and poor Miss Shemi is enough to prove this point.

"what."

Xie Mi, who was walking in the front, suddenly said happily: "We are here!"

Lingge stopped and found that the dark path had come to an end. The road ahead was blocked by a series of raised dark brown walls. Although in fact they were not walls, but the roots of trees. In other words, they should be in the root area of ​​​​the sycamore tree.

Xie Mi led them to the end of one of the tree roots, where there was a neatly shaped hole about two people high, sealed by a retro double row of wooden doors. A diamond-shaped sign was hung on the door, with green vines and leaves entwined around the edge, giving it a vibrant look.

There were two lines of beautiful and gorgeous words engraved on the sign. The font was complex, detailed and elegant, full of the charm of ancient times. Metien and Alice couldn't understand it, only Lingge, a university student in the history department, recognized it. It was the Yildes language from the Genesis, and it meant -

13 Scherer Street.

The Fairy Sleep Inn.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)