Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 902: Do you want to protect everyone?
On the afternoon of September 30th, Gloria, who had no idea what happened the night before, changed her clothes, took her racket, and confidently boarded a carriage to Sumya City, ready for her fateful battle with Miss Leila. This battle was related to whether she could come out on top in the competition for the group qualifying spot, so it was crucial and could not be lost!
Alice thought so too, so she generously donated her own fan club, renamed it "Gloria Fan Club", and strictly ordered everyone on Yunjingkong Island, whether they were busy or not, to be present to cheer for Gloria (although her order was of no use).

In addition, she also encouraged Gloria, praising her strength as unparalleled in the world, saying that she was the top player in the world of flower ball. What was there to fear, not to mention the fledgling Leila, even if the famous Caesar or Moon Goddess came? Gloria was deeply moved by what she said, and thought that she might have misunderstood Alice. Although she was sometimes unreasonable and crazy, she was still very reliable in most cases!

"Alice!" The athletic girl who seemed a little off the mark grabbed the genius player's hand with a moved look on her face, almost bursting into tears: "Don't worry! I will definitely win this game and not let anyone down!"

“Gloria!” Alice was also moved and grabbed her hand, tears welling up in her eyes: “Don’t worry! No matter how far we can go in the end, you will always be the pride of our Yunjingkong Island!”

"Alice!!!"

"Gloria!!!"

The two of them put on a very touching youth drama, but unfortunately everyone in the carriage only felt it was noisy.

If he hadn't seen them chasing and fleeing on the sky island a few days ago, Ling Ge would have almost believed these nonsense.

But speaking of it, isn't Alice's attitude towards Gloria a little too enthusiastic? It always makes people suspect that she has other purposes.

The young man thought about it and glanced at Alice secretly. Unfortunately, at this moment, the beast intuition of the genius player came into play, making her keenly aware of the peeping from behind. She turned around, raised her eyebrows, and was about to accuse Ling'er of peeping behavior, but suddenly she seemed to remember something, her expression froze, and she swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue. She withdrew her gaze angrily, thinking that now was the critical moment of the plan, and it was best not to cause trouble. After Gloria inherited the title of the god in the gaming field, I will come to settle the score with you.

Because he is a rigid and stubborn old man.

"Yes, ma'am."

Later, not only the girl's mother passed away, but also her father left quietly on a starless and moonless night without leaving a word of farewell. Brandy thought that this incident would make the girl's heart more closed, but after that day, she saw a long-lost smile on the girl's face. It seemed that she had returned to her past optimistic and cheerful appearance, gentle and polite to everyone, and never felt lonely or indifferent.

The old butler bowed slightly, agreed, and turned to leave, but was stopped by Xino. The girl asked hesitantly, "By the way, Weber, what about Grandfather..."

The clouds pressed lower, driven down by the wind. The sky was gray and empty. The mountains, grass, and the earth were shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere. It was only three o'clock in the afternoon, but the entire Grindelwald Field seemed to have entered the night early, and visibility was very limited. Brandy stayed alone in the stable, looking at the manor that was dark because no one lit the lights, and a humanized memory gradually emerged in her beautiful ice-blue eyes.

In other words, people with Godaph's blood flowing in their bodies basically look like this.

Such bad weather was rare in Grindelwald, especially in the golden September at the end of summer. In its not-so-long memory, perhaps it only happened when the woman with a gentle smile passed away. Brandy had a deep impression of her, not only because the woman often taught young girls to play in the nearby courts, but also because after her death, Brandy had not seen a smile on her beloved partner for a long time. If calculated using the human time that it could understand, it was probably... three years.

"Really?" Hearing this, Xinuo was somewhat touched, but sighed helplessly: "In fact, I would rather he stay in the Xiaduoli Manor... But maybe he won't listen even if I tell him."

She paused here before she finished speaking, but the old butler knew what she wanted to ask and replied, "A few days ago, the master left for the Bolian Manor and stayed there. He said he wanted to witness your battle with his own eyes, young lady."

Brandi didn't understand why the departure of a loved one brought two completely opposite results. It seemed that human emotions were too complicated for a horse to understand.

Lady Alice, who felt she was magnanimous, thought happily, but her abnormal behavior of not attacking her aroused Ling's suspicion even more. Was there really some unknown conspiracy behind this?
The only person who sees through the truth is Bai Ye, the inner personality who looks like a beautiful girl on the outside and is also a beautiful girl on the inside!
She hid in Gloria's consciousness space, and from the girl's perspective, she looked at Alice, who was humming an unknown tune in a very happy mood, and then looked at Lingge, who had a slightly frown on his face as if he had noticed something, and a playful smile slowly appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Even for humans, three years is a very long time. How many three years can a person have in his life? Brandy was deeply panicked, worried that the girl who grew up with him would lose the most important thing in her life forever. In fact, it was not any tangible thing, nor was it family and friendship, but her ability to empathize with the outside world. If a person loses his smile, he will also lose his sadness, right? Such a person is no different from rotten wood or stubborn stone.

……

Lingge, you have saved your life again!

Weber's gray beard moved, and a gentle smile appeared on his face. "You don't have to worry too much, Miss. Since taking the potion given by Mr. Ling, the old wounds on the master's body have healed a lot. I think there should be no problem in the short term."

But she is just a horse, unable to speak, and even unable to express her feelings. In fact, even if she is not a horse, perhaps the situation will not change at all, because the girl's problem cannot be solved by a few words of comfort from others. Except for herself, no one holds the key to the room of her heart, so Brandy can only wait silently, hoping that the situation will get better one day.

Xino seemed to be hesitant to speak, and in the end, he said nothing. He just let Weber leave first, and then he stared at the gloomy sky outside the window for a few minutes, and then he sighed softly. The sigh with some melancholy and confusion echoed in the quiet room, giving people an inexplicable feeling of sadness.

"That's true, but I'm not worried about his injury..."

At the second floor of the Chardouri Manor, Xino stood by the window, watching the carriage driving farther and farther away on the mountain road. He looked away until it disappeared completely. He then said to the old butler standing by his side, "Weber, please go to the Bolian Manor first and inform the people there that they can start preparing. I will rush over later."

I originally had no interest in this so-called Wind Flower Ball Championship, but now I am looking forward to it.

……

All she needed to know was that she would always be with that girl.

Cuddling together intimately like before, running happily on the horse field like before, feeling the breeze blowing against their faces like before... Even if she had to put on heavy armor and fight a terrifying monster that only existed in legends, it didn't matter. Rather, that was exactly what she was looking forward to.

Since the distant past, when the ancestor followed the young knight and left the Loser Mountains, the mission and destiny of the Sun Snow Clan was to live and die gloriously with their knights on the battlefield. No one had ever told Brandi these things, but she had already seen her future from the memories inherited from her past lives.

I'll be with you, Shino.

Always with you.

Because we are best friends...

……

"Brandy? Brandy!" A few calls brought the horse back from her trance. When she came to her senses, she found that the girl she had been thinking about was standing in front of her, looking at her with a smile. She was much taller, and her hair was still as white as her own, but the ponytail had grown long enough to drag on the ground, standing there prettily, as if she had just walked out of a painting.

Time flies so fast, Brandi couldn't help thinking so, and then she leaned her head over and gently rubbed her cheek. The fluffy mane tickled the girl, and she couldn't help laughing: "Okay, okay, Brandi, you obviously didn't notice me coming at first, and now you're acting so spoiled, you're not doing it on purpose, are you?"

"Hey!" Brandi shouted, with a hint of complaint and joy in her voice.

After playing with Brandi for a while, Xino opened the door of the stable and led it out, saying softly: "Remember what I said before, Brandi, we should go and kill it today. It might be a very powerful enemy, are you afraid?"

"Whee!" Brandi responded with a firm neigh.

"Good horse, let us fight side by side."

Xinuo patted her neck, then pressed the saddle on the horse's back with both hands, and gently exerted force. He jumped on the horse's back without the help of a horse stool, and rode Brandi steadily. The horse, who had long been in tune with her, was not frightened by this. After easily bearing her weight, the iron-wrapped horseshoes knocked on the stone ground a few times, making a crisp and pleasant sound, and looked eager to try.

Xino grabbed the reins, squeezed the horse's belly with his legs, and said, "Let's go, Brandi!"

Brandi neighed, rushed out of the stable, and came to the wide tree-lined avenue of the Chardolly Manor. She was already excited by Xino's words, and she wanted to face the powerful enemy with her knight right now, and share the glory of victory after defeating the opponent. At this time, facing this unobstructed straight road, she could not suppress her inner desire to charge forward, and she accelerated without hesitation to prove her fiery heart to her partners...

Then Xino grabbed the reins.

A girl's voice came from behind: "Don't rush so fast, Brandi."

"We haven't even left the manor yet!"

……

The residents of the town of Regrum were surprised to see their eldest daughter riding a snow-white horse, walking slowly along the mountain path. This scene reminded them of a long time ago when there was also a little girl who was overjoyed after receiving a gift from her grandfather on her birthday. She rode on the horse every day to play. One day, she rode on the horse like this, sneaked out of the manor, and said proudly to everyone she saw: "I am a knight of the Gustaf family!"

Later, the little girl was caught by her parents and severely punished, but she still did not give up her hobby of playing the role of knight. She performed the same plot every now and then, so that the residents of the town gradually regarded it as a daily routine and got used to her childish words. Later, the girl's parents left one after another, and she matured a lot. She was no longer so naughty and playful, and she never appeared in the town on a horse again. She only rode a horse in the stable of the manor. Occasionally, when the townspeople teased her about the past, she would say with shame that she was too young at that time and didn't understand at all. She was sorry for causing trouble and trouble to everyone.

But she might not know that every resident of this town actually missed the little figure riding on a horse and calling himself a knight. Although the mature and steady eldest lady had always been the object of their respect and love, and was more in line with the identity of the heir of the Gustaf family, in the end, the most profound impression in everyone's mind was her naughty and playful childhood.

Now, the girl riding on the horse has returned to everyone's sight again.

All the memories seem familiar, the only difference is that the little girl and the horse in the picture have grown up. They have indeed become knights of the Gustaf family and are about to inherit the glorious tradition of this noble blood and fight to protect the people of this land.

She rode on her horse, slowly passing through the streets in the center of the town, smiling and greeting every town citizen who called her "Miss", like a confident knight who was still concerned about the daily trivial matters in his territory before going out to war, and regarded the distant and unknown enemies as dust, never considering them as a threat.

Although the residents of the town did not know who she was going to fight, almost everyone firmly believed that their eldest lady would win and there was no second possibility.

"Sister!" Suddenly, a girl on a pony rushed out from the side and looked at the girl on the horse with admiration: "Are you going to the battle?"

“Hey, Chloe?” Shino pulled the reins slightly, and the two knights, one big and one small, looked at each other on horseback. The girl’s slightly surprised eyes froze on the pony under her crotch: “When did your toy horse become real?”

"Hehe, my dad bought this for me a few days ago. How is it? It's great, right?" Kuroai held his head high and chest puffed out, looking as if he wanted to be praised.

Shino was naturally generous: "Amazing! This way, our little Chloe will become a real knight!"

"Hehehe, it's not as great as my sister said..." The girl scratched her hair and smiled shyly. She was obviously very happy, but she still had to be humble in front of her admirers, otherwise she would be too arrogant.

"However, a horse alone does not make you a true knight." Shino suddenly looked serious and said to her in a serious tone: "A true knight should be loyal to his mission and protect the weak. Only those who have both lofty beliefs and integrity are qualified to bear the title of knight. Chloe, do you have this determination?"

“Yes!” Chloe immediately straightened her chest and answered her question without hesitation: “I will definitely become a true knight, just like onee-sama!”

"Okay, then I have a mission for you." Shino said seriously, "I am going to fight a very powerful enemy now, but the noise I make when fighting it may affect everyone in the town, making them feel scared and panic. Now it's your turn to come on stage, Chloe, you have to protect everyone in the town after I leave, okay?"

Shino's expression was more serious than ever, as if to say: I entrust everyone in Regrum Town to you! This made the little knight feel extremely excited, and a sense of mission arose spontaneously, causing her to tense her face involuntarily and nod her head vigorously: "I understand, sister! I will definitely protect everyone in the town and not let anyone get hurt!"

“I trust you, Chloe. I’ll leave the town to you.”

"Yes! Onee-sama, you have to work hard too!"

Xino nodded slightly to her, then rode forward, walking towards the end of the street in the center of the town. The iron-wrapped horseshoes stepped on the stone-paved road, and the unhurried sound was like a firm and steady war song, which gradually drifted away in the wind as her figure went away.

The brave knight rode on his horse, heading towards his own battlefield. The snow-white horse tail was swinging back and forth with the ups and downs of the body, like a shining flag under the gray sky. The girl did not look back, but gently raised her hand and waved behind her.

"it is good--"

Chloe stood there in a daze, staring at her elder sister’s receding figure, her eyes sparkling as she murmured, “So handsome!”

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)