Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 862 Best Friend?
At Xino's invitation, everyone decided to visit Xiaduoli Manor.

Although we were prepared when we looked down from the sky, the scale of this ancient manor at the foot of the Losser Mountains still exceeded everyone's expectations. It covers an area of ​​more than 1,000 hectares and is more like a small village than a manor. In fact, it does retain the most traditional rural farmhouse style of the Grangenia era. After entering the manor through the iron gate in the backyard facing the forest, a winding gravel road interspersed among the green meadows leads to deeper areas shaded by branches and leaves. A wooden stake is nailed into the road every ten steps, connected with hemp ropes to form a simple railing. It is said that this was a protective measure taken by the rural people in ancient times to prevent wild animals such as deer and wild boars from destroying the road.

Although it is called the backyard, the only difference between it and the forest outside is a wall. The treetops above block the sunlight, leaving only a few spots of light and dark when it falls on the ground. The lush shrubs on the meadow and the various plants that grow freely without being bound by the flower beds are thriving, giving people the feeling that they are still walking under the shade of the Loser Forest. Moreover, the plants planted here are not very valuable. Most of them are native to the area, such as purple hibiscus, white thorn flower, yellow poplar, Luo's wisteria, etc. Some vines even grow outside the manor, gradually grow stronger and climb the wall into the manor. They are a plant called large-leaf green spring ivy. Their leaves are in the shape of three palms, crowded and pushing, completely covering the slightly mottled wall after years of accumulation. When the wind blows, it sets off green waves, which is spectacular.

In addition to common street trees such as sycamore, sycamore and ginkgo trees, the most common trees in the backyard are fruit trees. In midsummer, some trees have branches full of green fruits, hanging down to the ground, which makes people imagine how fruitful the harvest season will be. Xinuo walked in front to lead the way, and introduced to everyone with a sense of ownership: "This is a white flower fruit tree that is a specialty of the Grindelwald Wilds. Its special feature is that it blooms earlier than it bears fruit, and both the flowers and fruits are edible. The flowers need to be drained and processed, while the fruits are eaten raw. The flesh is juicy and tastes sweet and sour, mainly sour. However, after being cultivated by Uncle Gugner, the taste of the white flower fruit trees in the Chardolly Manor has been improved a lot. Basically, the sweetness can cover the sourness, and the taste is not so sour."

When Alice heard this, she curiously poked her head over and asked, "Who is Uncle Gugner?"

Xinuo smiled and said, "When my father was still alive, there were three groups of gardeners in the manor, responsible for the plants in the courtyard, garden and backyard respectively. Uncle Gugna was the gardening manager of the group of gardeners in the backyard. He was also responsible for the daily care of the orchard. The fruit trees planted here were basically transplanted from the orchard by him."

Alice was shocked when she heard this. As expected of a wealthy family, even the gardeners had to be divided into three groups, each responsible for a different area. But since Xino said it was in the past, then it must not be the case now?
She asked curiously, "Who is in charge now?"

"Me." Xino answered naturally, "I will take three days every week to clean the roads in the Loser Forest. Before that, I will take care of the plants in the backyard by pruning their branches or watering and fertilizing them. However, I am not like Uncle Gugna, who can cultivate and improve new varieties by myself. Although he left me a booklet with many breeding experiences before he left, to be honest, I don't understand it very well."

Xino felt a little embarrassed, perhaps because he felt that he had let down the kind gardener.

But everyone thinks she is amazing enough. The backyard that used to require a group of gardeners to take care of can now be done by her alone, and she only needs three days a week to do it. Isn't this superman?
"Come to think of it," Xino suddenly remembered an interesting incident, pointing at the white fruit trees and said, "When I was a kid, I played very well with the kids in the town, and often brought them to the manor to play. At that time, our favorite game was climbing trees, competing to see who could climb higher and faster, and I always came first. But one time, a new kid came - his father was a lumberjack, and he often took him to the forest to play, so he climbed higher and faster than me. I didn't want to admit defeat, so I climbed up as hard as I could, determined to beat him, but in the end I didn't hold on firmly, and accidentally fell from the tree, probably -"

Everyone saw the height she was gesturing, and estimated that it was more than 20 meters high. Not only did they feel that naughty children were really scary creatures, but they were also moved that Xino could be naughty sometimes. Alice seemed very interested, perhaps she had found a sense of resonance: "And then? You fell and got hurt, and the adults gave you a lesson, and you never dared to climb trees again?"

Since she invited these strangers to visit her, Xino probably felt that the relationship between the two sides had become closer, so she stopped using honorifics when addressing them. In fact, with her friendly and easy-going personality, she could have done so a long time ago, and no one would have objected, but she may have been reserved because of her noble upbringing and etiquette.

"No." Shino shook his head gently: "Brandi is, um, my good friend, but a good friend who is a little special."

After listening to the story of the naughty child Xinuo, Alice sighed softly, turned her head and looked at the tallest fruit tree in the backyard, eager to try: "You are still too lame, if it were me, I would never fall down, if you don't believe me, I will climb up and show you!"

He fell over 20 meters high and was only injured? Is this a naughty child or a bear cub?
Lingge complained in his heart, while Xino smiled and shook his head: "No, it was Brandi who showed up in time to save me, and then I agreed with those kids to keep this secret together, but in the end, Alice, you were right - someone didn't keep it secret and let the cat out of the bag, and then every kid present that day was beaten up, and I was no exception."

After Alice was subdued, the right to ask questions fell into Metien's hands. As a good girl, she was not interested in climbing fruit trees. Instead, she was very curious about the strange name that Xino had just mentioned: "Who is Brandi? Is she also the gardener of the manor?"

Xino looked at her confused expression and thought it was cute, so he gave her a warm smile: "Yes, just like your relationship with Shemi and Leticia. Metien, do you want to meet Brandi?"

She gestured, then nodded with assurance: "This high."

"Special?" The pink-haired girl seemed to understand.

She was just looking for an excuse to climb the tree. Saint Xia Liya would naturally not allow this guy to act recklessly in someone else's home. She naturally reached out her hand, grabbed her collar, and gently but firmly pulled her back.

"Me and Shemi and Leticia?"

A certain fairy and a certain little bat were forcibly suppressed by their guardians and left on Sky Island to make up for their lessons because they were plotting to skip classes. It was a pity that they were unable to travel together. If it were them, they would definitely start arguing about who is Metien's best friend, but the pink-haired girl herself didn't care about such philosophical questions as whether friendship can be divided equally. She blinked her eyes and said, "Can I?"

"Of course." Xino smiled, looked up at the archway with vines and flower stands at the end of the gravel road, and said, "You can see Brandy when you leave the backyard. I think it should still be in the stable." Horse ranch?

Everyone suddenly realized that Brandi was a horse. No wonder Xino said that... That doesn't make sense. Could it be that the relationship between me, Shemi, and Leticia is the same as the relationship between an owner and a horse?

The pink-haired girl fell into deep thought.

……

The horse ranch of the manor was an open space, slightly rectangular, with fences and other obstacles in the middle for horse training, and a straight runway leading to the direction of Loser Forest. The stables were outside the stables, covering an area of ​​about 20 hectares in total, but at this time the huge stables were empty, with only a tall and strong horse with snow-white fur standing behind the fence, staring blankly in the direction of the stables. It should be the good friend Brandy that Xino mentioned.

"Hey, Brandi! I'm here to see you!" Heno called out her beloved horse's name from a distance. When Brandi heard her voice, her beautiful pointed ears stood up. She turned her head and barked at the direction where Heno was coming from, with obvious excitement in her voice. Seeing how impatient she was, it wouldn't be a surprise if she broke through the fence and ran over the next moment.

The door of the stable was open, and Brandy was not tied with a bridle. If he really wanted to do this, the short fence could not stop an excited horse. But he did not lose his mind. Even though he was anxiously turning around in the stable, and the iron-wrapped horseshoes hit the ground and made a thumping sound, he still kept this fragile boundary and did not cross it. This kind of restrained quality is precious enough for a person, let alone a horse. Lingge felt that some people should learn from it and not be so impatient all day long. They are not even as good as a horse.

When Xinuo and a large group of people came to it, Brandi, who had been impatient for a long time, ignored the strangers, stretched her head over the fence, rubbed the girl's palm affectionately, and licked her cheek and neck with her tongue, making the girl laugh: "Okay, Brandi, don't be so excited, I came to see you. Be good, calm down, and don't make a fool of yourself for the guests."

The beautiful, noble, white horse, which looked like the snow on the mountaintop, seemed to understand human language. It reluctantly withdrew its head, then called out to the guests who had come from afar in a friendly tone, sounding like it was welcoming them. So Alice reciprocated the greeting and stretched out her hand to say hello: "Hi, hello too."

Lingge ignored the guy's funny behavior and looked up to carefully observe the two-meter-tall white horse. He didn't notice it when he saw it from a distance just now, but only when he looked closely did he realize that the horse's fur was extremely pure white, and even the end was almost transparent, like a combination of snow and ice; its big eyes were moist and bright, although they were a cold ice blue, they naturally revealed a human warmth, and when they fell on Xino, they were full of admiration and attachment; the most eye-catching thing was its mane, which was not only thick and soft, but also as long as a lion's mane, and it extended from the back of the head to the back, and finally connected with the tail, slightly flickering in the sunlight, looking like a shining silver line.

Even Lingge, who didn't know much about horses, had heard of such a distinctive feature, just like he knew the name Chardouri even though he knew nothing about wine: "Is this... Sun Snow?"

Xino, who was combing Brandi's hair, looked up and glanced at the young man in surprise, then smiled slightly: "Well, I didn't expect that you, Lingge, have also heard of it."

"Because it is very famous, comparable to the Sunflare of Lesonwell, the Iron Mountain Ash of Mindeliyas, and the Rain Shadow of Metosh." Linger said, and was also explaining to others that the three horses he mentioned were all well-known in the continent of Sigiriya. The Sunflare was famous for its explosive power and speed, the Iron Mountain Ash was known as the most patient and resilient horse, and the name Rain Shadow vividly described its characteristics: when running on a rainy night, it was like a ghost, appearing and disappearing, erratic.

Sunsnow is less famous than the above three horses, but more legendary because it is the mount of the great pioneer knight, the ancestor of the Whitethorn Flower family.

"It is said that when the sun snow runs at full speed, even the sunlight will be left behind. People can't see its figure. They can only see the silver line on its back flashing by in their sight, but then quickly disappearing, like a trace of melting snow under the sun. Therefore, it is called sun snow." As Ling said, he tentatively reached out his hand and tried to touch Brandi's hair. The latter did not resist. The touch from his palm was light and carried a hint of chill, just like a real snowflake, which seems to exist but is actually out of grasp.

"In fact, long before the ancestors of the Gustaf family came here, the legend of the Sun Snow was circulating in the land of Grangenia. It mentioned a holy white horse that roamed between the snow-capped mountains and ice peaks of the Loser Mountains and no one could approach it. It was said that it was a messenger from heaven and the oldest protector of this land. Countless people wanted to make friends with it, but they couldn't even see its shadow. Later, a pioneer knight entered the Loser Mountains and stayed there for three months. When he appeared again, there was a white horse beside him, exactly the same as the legendary holy horse."

"That's Brandi's ancestor." Xino took over Ling's words. She was also stroking Brandi's hair and accidentally touched Ling's hand on the other side. She smiled slightly, watched the young man take his hand away, and then continued: "The legend of the holy horse and the friendship between the ancestors and it made the humans and aliens on the land of Grangenia willing to place their trust in the unknown Whitethorn Flower Family, which led to the subsequent prosperity and harmony. Since then, the white horse that symbolizes nobility and purity has always been the mount of the patriarchs of the Gustaf family, and without exception, they are all descendants of the original white horse, including Brandi."

The tenacious and kind-hearted pioneer knight once rode a white horse to patrol the countryside and fields of Grangenia, watching a prosperous scene blossoming here; the righteous and brave white knight Hibden also rode the same white horse to gallop on the battlefield of the Republican War, fighting for the right to be born equal for the people behind him; until later, the little girl who was destined to inherit the name of the whitethorn flower received the best birthday gift when she was seven years old.

"Brandy and I grew up together." The girl put her arm around her horse's neck and showed everyone a cheerful smile: "We are best friends!"

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)