Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 873: Already Lost?
Although we need to confirm the situation, except for Rorona, the curses of the other young royal powers are not that obvious, so it is difficult to tell with the naked eye whether there are signs of improvement. We can only ask them about their own feelings.

Among them, Leticia was the most unquestionable, because it had only been less than a week since her last reincarnation, so they could just ask her how much memory she had retained. However, when Lingge and Saint Xia Liya finally found the little bat playing in the woods and asked her this question, she tilted her head, thought for a while, and replied, "I forgot."

Forgot what does... mean?
After the two looked at each other for a while, Linger asked her, "Do you mean that you didn't retain any memories after reincarnation, or that you retained them but forgot them?"

"You're just a stupid Lingge, why are you asking so many questions?"

Originally, she didn't have to go to class today and was happily playing with her friends. Suddenly, she was pulled over and asked questions as if she were in class. Leticia was already unhappy and replied angrily, "If you forgot, you forgot. You don't understand such a simple thing? You are really an idiot!"

The attitude is not very friendly.

Ling Ge raised his eyebrows, knowing that she was venting her emotions, but it didn't matter, he would soon let this little bat understand what it meant to be polite.

"She doesn't seem to be willing to communicate normally." The young man stood up and turned around and said, "But you should be able to make her talk to us properly, Miss Nevill."

“Ah!?” When Leticia heard the last name, her face turned pale with fright: “Grandma! Why is there a grandma here?”

"I've been here since the beginning, Leticia." The countess held her forehead helplessly, not knowing whether to lament that she had failed to teach her granddaughter aristocratic etiquette or to lament that she had become visually impaired at such a young age. Anyway, she put aside these topics for the time being and said in a serious manner, "This question is very important. Don't be petty, Leticia. Answer our questions obediently, and then we'll let you go back to play."

The little bat's eyes flickered, and she looked back, seeing that her friends were still waiting for her in the woods. Metien was holding a small bamboo basket with herbs she had picked in it. That's right, the pink-haired girl was not here to play, but to complete a practical assignment in herbology, but the two friends unilaterally defined this as playing; Shemi was lying on top of Metien's head, whispering something to her, and when she noticed Leticia's gaze, she raised her head and waved triumphantly towards them, as if showing off something.

Leticia always felt that her next words would be "Otherwise I will come here to die tomorrow", so she didn't dare to say a word more. While the three adults in front of her were lost in thought, she tiptoed away.

"Dream? It seems to be true?" Leticia pondered, "There are many strange people in the dream. They all call me by strange names. It seems to be... Remlia?"

"Go ahead." Nevile waved her hand and said, "Although there are no classes today, don't play too much."

"Pfft!" Nevile couldn't help laughing. She knew the young man was referring to the previous incident. She curved her eyebrows and said, "I didn't expect that you seem to have more humor than your appearance. This is an indispensable quality in interpersonal communication. I'm beginning to admire you, Mr. Lingge - or rather, I admire you more than before."

"Yes, I will always keep an eye on her condition." Nevile nodded slightly and glanced at the young man again: "Next time I reincarnate, I will trouble you to take care of her."

When she mentioned Lingge, she paused slightly, seeming a little unhappy.

After saying that, the little bat looked at Lingge with suspicion.

"Oh." The little bat covered his forehead and nodded a little aggrievedly: "I understand, grandma, can I go back to play now?"

"Then why didn't you tell me earlier?" It was the first time that Nevile knew about this.

After all, the first sign of the curse easing wasn’t some strange dream, but began when Lingge prayed for Leticia to rest in peace.

The little bat's answer was very matter of course: "Because feelings are not an important thing."

Nevile was speechless. She could only reach out her hand and tap her head gently: "When it comes to your curse, nothing is unimportant. If you have any dreams next time, remember to tell me."

Upon hearing this, Saint Xia Liya immediately glanced at the Countess with a vigilant look. She didn't expect that there was an opponent hiding here who needed attention. The Yunjing Sky Island was indeed full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers, and there was no room for negligence.

We can't delay any longer, otherwise, Metien will be snatched away by the bad guys!
The little bat made up her mind. She looked away and said to Lingge with a stern face, "I did retain some vague memories at the beginning. Apart from grandma, I felt familiar with Metien and... you. But this feeling faded every time I woke up, so I forgot everything after sleeping for a few times."

Oh?
That sounds like a good deal.

"What's wrong with you?" Linger asked in confusion when he saw the shepherdess staring at the countess's back. Saint Xia Liya quickly came to her senses and shook her head to indicate that it was nothing. This made the young man more convinced that something was wrong. However, since Saint Xia Liya didn't want to talk, he naturally wouldn't force her and changed the subject: "Let's go, we still have to ask about Iyeta and the others."

The young man didn't pay attention to such details and continued to ask: "Are there any other places besides this? For example, when you sleep at night recently, do you have some strange dreams?"

Ling Ge said expressionlessly: "All you have to do is go to the Adventurer's Guild and post a quest."

It was not until the figures of the three good friends disappeared into the depths of the woods that Ling Ge came back to his senses from his thoughts and said to Saint Xia Liya and Nevi'er: "It seems that Leticia's curse is also weakening, but the specific degree of weakening will have to wait until her next reincarnation to know."

Remlia... Lingge's mouth twitched. For some reason, he felt that this name had a deeper meaning. If Alice were here, she would definitely complain about it, right?
Leticia went on to say, “Every time I finish a dream, the voices I keep hearing in my ears become clearer. They sound a bit like Ling’s voice, praying.”

"kindness."

Business was important, so Saint Shallia could only suppress those irrelevant thoughts for the time being and think about them carefully later.

……

When he came to a fork in the road, Lingge suddenly stopped.

To the left leads to the forest, where the Fairy Inn is located; to the right leads to the primrose field, where a white windmill stands.

"It's not efficient to search one by one like this." He said to Saint Xia Liya who looked confused, "It's just a few simple questions. We don't need too many people to go, so let's split up here. You go find Yieta, and I'll find Olvera."

What he said seemed to make sense, but...

After staring at the young man for a long time, Saint Xia Liya suddenly asked, "Even if we look for them one by one, it won't waste too much time. Are you anxious, Lingge?"

The young man remained calm: "I just think it's more efficient to do this." Saint Shallia said softly: "I don't care about efficiency that much."

Lingge was speechless for a moment, but the girl did not let him remain silent for too long. After a pause, she quickly spoke again: "I understand. Then I will go find Yieta now."

Although she didn't look very happy, she finally chose to respect Ling's idea. Maybe this is the gentleness of the shepherdess.

So, the two of them parted at this intersection, and Saint Xia Liya left in the direction of the primrose field. After she left, Ling Ge remained where he was, watching her back go away until she disappeared at the end of the road. Only then did he retract his gaze and sigh silently.

Just as Saint Chariah said, there was really no need to rush. No matter how efficient we were, we only had to ask two people, and it would only take an hour. So why did he insist on proposing to act separately? We had to ask a certain Princess Belman.

Olvera's problem was the most complicated. Because of the curse, she couldn't sleep, and naturally couldn't dream. However, Bai Ye's ability needed to be activated in the dreams of others, which meant that Olvera's curse was probably not weakened. If she went to see her with Saint Xia Liya, and the latter asked if she had any strange dreams recently, how would Olvera answer?
Previously, Ovella's contradictory behavior of staying up late at night and feeling sleepy during the day had already aroused Saint Xia Liya's suspicion, but she always used the same excuse to cover it up. If she revealed any flaws this time, I'm afraid she would be unable to hide it completely.

Lingge was the only one who knew this secret, and he had promised to keep it a secret for her, so he found an excuse and deliberately sent Saint Xia Liya away. But the shepherdess was not stupid, she probably had noticed something, but she didn't ask for the truth because of Lingge's face. Later, he had to remind Olvera that if she still wanted to keep this secret, she had better be careful when she came into contact with Saint Xia Liya in the future.

but--

Lingge suddenly realized that something was wrong. He recalled the secret conversation he had with Princess Beman on the rainy night in the Sosen Mountains. He suddenly realized that he seemed to have only promised not to tell the secret to anyone else, but never said that he would help Ovella keep the secret, right?
So, since when did she and I become accomplices?

It's really a big loss.

The young man sighed again, and the sound echoed faintly in the wind and soon disappeared.

……

A few minutes later, in the Fairy Sleep Hotel, in a room on the second floor.

"Eh!?" Avella put her hands on the desk, leaned forward, and looked at the young man sitting opposite her with wide eyes. Her eyes were filled with deep surprise and resentment. "You mean, my secret is likely to be discovered by Sister Xiaoxia? Has she begun to suspect me?"

"I'm not doubting you, I'm doubting us." Ling Ge said expressionlessly, "I've fulfilled my promise and didn't tell anyone your secret. If you reveal it yourself next, it's none of my business."

"Linger, how could you do this?"

Aoweila put down her pen in a hurry, put her hands behind her back, and walked around the room: "Now is not the time to shirk responsibility, don't you understand, the two of us are now in an accomplice relationship... Bah, it seems a bit harsh to say this, let me think, yes, yes... a community of shared destiny! That's right, this is the kind of relationship, do you think you won't be affected if I expose the secret?"

"I don't think so." Ling Ge said, "Because it has nothing to do with me."

"Oh, why are you still saying this?" Ovilla rolled her eyes at him. "You really have no conscience, Lingge. To use the plot in the novel, you are a betrayer! This kind of character will not be popular with readers, right?"

"It doesn't matter."

Linger never wanted to be popular with readers. In comparison, he cared more about another thing: "After all, there is no need to hide your secret anymore. Although it is a curse, it is not that serious in comparison."

Olvera wanted to hide the curse at first because she didn't want others to worry about her. However, the curses borne by the young girls who joined the team later were all much more serious than Princess Berman's insomnia. From Leticia's full moon reincarnation, to Rorona's strange illness, to Gloria's personality switching, if we really have to worry, they have a higher priority. As for Olvera, let's put her at the back and keep company with Ieta.

"The problem is that I have concealed this matter for too long. There is no room for it to be exposed." Influenced by someone, Avella deliberately put on a deep expression, as if she was discussing a major event that concerns the world's crisis and human peace: "If I were honest from the beginning, Sister Xiaoxia would be a little angry, but she would still be more concerned. But I kept it a secret from her for so long, and she doubted me for so long. Her emotions must have accumulated little by little, and in the end, her anger overwhelmed her concern. So if I confess to her now, I will definitely be taught a lesson!"

Maybe it would be worse than when Alice got punished for staying up late playing games, or when Leticia got criticized for not paying attention in class.

So that’s what I was worried about.

Lingge was indifferent: "You deserve it."

"Don't act like it has nothing to do with you." Aoweila said angrily: "You are an accomplice, an accomplice, and the culprit who instigated and instigated me, so you will definitely be taught a lesson by Sister Xiaoxia!"

Aren’t we talking about a community with a shared future now?

Ling Ge thought about it and suddenly said, "If it were me, I might not be taught a lesson."

"Why?"

"Because Saint Shalia won't be angry with me."

When Lingge said this, his tone and expression were very natural, as if this was a matter of course. Not only did it gain everyone's approval, but he himself also felt so subconsciously.

Avella choked. She wanted to refute, but after thinking about it for a while, she couldn't think of a reason to refute, because she couldn't imagine Sister Xiaoxia being angry with Lingge.

Although the girl was gentle and kind, she always strictly fulfilled her duties as an elder sister. She would ruthlessly teach her younger sisters who made mistakes, and would criticize students who were not serious in class. Even Metien could not escape her nagging occasionally. However, there was one person who was definitely not within her "strict" range.

The more Princess Beman thought about it, the angrier she became. In the end, she didn't know who she should be jealous of. She could only snort coldly, turn her head away, and not look at Lingge.

I was gritting my teeth in my heart: How hateful! I always feel like I have already lost.

Whether as a sister or as a girl.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)