Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 914: Was the number of the previous chapter typed wrong?

The atmosphere in the Shadoly Manor was particularly solemn, and even the wind had a chilly feel.

Since Xino specifically asked to see Lingge, the young man followed the knight named Worzel to the cemetery of the Gustaf family, while the others waited in the living room of the mansion. Along the way, Lingge also saw other knights, all of whom were in a hurry, with expressions of grief and sadness between their brows. And without exception, these knights had a black scarf tied on their arms, as if mourning a lost soul.

Were there any casualties in the battle with the beast?
This was Ling's first reaction, but then he remembered that Shino went into battle alone, and the knights of the Gustaf family stayed outside the battlefield due to the orders of their lord. Logically, they should be very safe.

What exactly is going on?

The young knight named Worzel had no intention of explaining. He just followed the young lady's instructions and led Lingge to the cemetery in silence. The footsteps of the two stepped on the stone slabs of the tree-lined avenue one after the other, making an empty echo that spread far away in the bleak wind. This strange silence lasted for several minutes. Lingge couldn't ignore the ominous premonition in his heart after all, so he asked, "What happened, Mr. Worzel?"

The knight's footsteps suddenly stopped. At this moment, a withered yellow leaf slowly fell from the sycamore branch, spinning in the air like a broken butterfly, and landed quietly on his shoulder. With his back to Lingge, Wozel said in a low and slightly trembling voice: "The eldest lady said that there is no need to hide anything from you."

"The master is gone." He then said, "He has returned to the lightless sea in the sky."

Ling Ge was a little confused when he heard the previous sentence, but after hearing the rest, his face changed slightly and he showed an expression of disbelief: "How..."

How can it be?

It was clear that not long ago, Lingge had commissioned Rolanda to make a potion to heal his old injuries. Logically, his life should not be in danger. Why did he die so suddenly?

No, maybe not suddenly.

The young man suddenly remembered what Lorena had said. After she met the old master, Mr. Van Indreu, she told him: "There is nothing wrong with his body, but his mental state is very weak. That is to say, the person is still alive, but his heart is dead."

At that time, Lingge was still very confused as to why the old patriarch wanted to die. Later, he couldn't figure it out anymore and just thought it was a common trait of the elderly. When they get older and see through the world, they often lose interest in life and no longer have the energy they once had. This is a very normal thing.

Who could have thought that he would die so suddenly, and died at the moment when Shino destroyed the synthetic monster Chimera and the long-cherished wish of the Gustaf family was finally fulfilled? This must have been a heavy blow to the triumphant girl, right? However, from another perspective, perhaps it was precisely because of the fulfillment of her long-cherished wish and the absence of obsession that the elderly Vandru Jean Gustaf could die so peacefully?
He has done everything he should do in this world, so he can naturally leave with peace of mind, no longer bound by the complicated world.

It just seems a bit cruel to those who are still alive.

Lingge was silent. He saw the back of the young knight in front of him trembling slightly, as if the dead leaf that fell on his shoulder was extremely heavy, enough to crush a heart that was not afraid of the terrifying monster. He knew very well how important the old patriarch of the Gustaf family was in the hearts of these knights. It was not an exaggeration to call him a spiritual pillar. Therefore, he didn't know what words to use to comfort them. After a long silence, he said, "I guess he left without regrets."

This sentence seemed to have a magical power, which made the young knight's back stop trembling, and his originally drooping back unconsciously straightened. He recalled the scene at that time. When he found that the life of the old master had quietly extinguished like a candle, all the feelings of victory disappeared. Among those mixed emotions of astonishment, confusion, pain and loss of consciousness, only the old man in the wheelchair had a peaceful look, as calm as if he was just sleeping, and he would soon open his eyes and wake up, and look at everyone again with that gentle but stern look, and said: "You are knights of the Godafu family, and glorious followers of the Whitethorn Flower Banner. At this moment of victory, you should hold your heads high. Why are you so sad?"

That’s right, the knights of House Gustave will never be crushed by sadness.

"The master died with a smile on his face."

Worzel suddenly said, reaching out and gently brushing off the dead leaves on his shoulders. The late summer wind swept across the long and empty boulevard, creating a soft rustling sound under the trees. This sudden wind swept up all the fallen leaves on the road, including the dead leaves that the knight had dropped. They fluttered in the air in disorder, and then fell down one after another, making a rustling sound like a bleak autumn rain.

Late summer and early autumn are indeed a sad season, Lingge thought as he looked at the rain in the sky. Strangely, none of these falling raindrops fell on the two of them, as if they had passed through the darkness between the branches and leaves and returned to the dust.

"time to go."

When the rain stopped, Worzel said, "The young lady has been waiting for us for a long time."

Lingge nodded slightly, and then the two of them walked one after the other across the carpet of fallen leaves on the street. The sound of footsteps gradually faded away, accompanied by the sound of sycamore leaves being trampled. They remained silent all the way, as if the conversation just now had never happened.

……

If it weren't for what happened today, Linger would never have known that there was a small cemetery hidden deep in the Chardouri Manor. It was hidden in a dense cypress forest and could only be reached by going through the manor courtyard, bypassing the garden, corridors and side buildings, and then passing through a quiet forest path. The remote location and the long period of no one visiting made this place have an atmosphere far away from the dust and smoke. The environment was quiet and peaceful, and even the slightest movement of leaves falling to the ground would form an empty echo, not to mention the birds singing in unison on the branches.

Gray-tailed sparrows, great storks, Webster's owls, little nightingales, cuckoos... Here Lingge can hear the chirping of almost all the birds in the Grindelwald wilderness. He has never stopped singing since he stepped into the woods, but surprisingly, it does not seem noisy. On the contrary, it is like an elf poem echoing in the wilderness mountains, suddenly arousing a more lonely tranquility deep in his heart.

"The last time I came here," Worzel, who was walking in front, suddenly spoke up, "was at Lord Reynard's funeral. The birds were singing like they are now. I know that in the Grindelwald area, many people think Lord Reynard is a lunatic and call him a bigot, but anyone from the town of Ragram would never say that. It was because of his encouragement that I decided to become a knight."

After saying that, he stopped and in front of him was a half-open iron door with a key still inserted in the rusted lock. It seemed that the visitor was too anxious and forgot to remove the key after opening the door.

"We're here." Worzel took two steps back and made way: "The young lady is inside, please go in, Mr. Ling. By the way -" He seemed to have remembered something important, and said word by word: "Although it may be impolite to say this, I still want to remind you: the young lady does not need any comfort."

Be it the old housekeeper who watched her grow up and treated her like a family member, or these loyal knights, after the incident, they always just stayed by the eldest lady's side silently and did things for her within their ability. No one ever tried to comfort her because they all knew how strong the eldest lady of the Gustaf family was.

Linger glanced at the young knight and did not answer directly, but said, "That's good."

"I'm not good at comforting others either."

After saying that, he pushed open the half-open iron gate and walked into the cemetery. Worzel watched from outside as his back gradually disappeared into the depths of the woods. He turned around and left only when even the sound of his footsteps could no longer be heard.

……

The cemetery of the Gustaf family is not very big. Although it is an aristocratic cemetery, it is far from being a noble cemetery in scale. If the tombstones along the way were not engraved with famous names, the young man would have thought that he had mistakenly entered a public cemetery in the city of Sumya.

Deep in the cemetery, Linger saw the figure of the old butler Weber. He looked extremely solemn in a black tuxedo, holding a bouquet of pure white whitethorn flowers in his arms. Unlike the tulips or white lilies at ordinary funeral ceremonies, people with Godaph's blood would only use this kind of flowers as a memorial after their death, as if foreshadowing that their lives were just like the beautiful whitethorn flowers, blooming in midsummer and withering in late summer.

Xinuo stood quietly in front of a tombstone. She had taken off her knight's armor and put on a white dress. She also had a black scarf tied around her arm. From a distance, she looked lonely and thin. The girl seemed to be in a trance, so she didn't hear the footsteps behind her. Lingge didn't care. He walked to the old butler Weber, who handed him the bouquet of white thorns. The young man nodded and took it, then walked past Xinuo, knelt on one knee and presented the bouquet in front of the tombstone. He closed his eyes and mourned for a while, offering a ray of grief for this respectable old man.

When he opened his eyes, he noticed that the gray-white tombstone did not seem to be newly cast. In other words, did the elderly Vandru Jean Gustaf actually start preparing for her own funeral a long time ago?

The young man stood up, and the girl next to him spoke up, confirming his guess: "A long time ago, before I went to college, my grandfather told me that after he passed away, there would be no need for a grand funeral. All he needed was a grave, a tombstone, and three or five relatives and friends presenting him with flowers. Maybe he had already left at that time, but the dead have no concept of time, so he stayed in the human world for a long time."

The young Shino Qin Gustaf did not realize at that time that this was not a casual sigh of an old man after seeing through the complications of the world, but a prophecy that was accurate to the time, place and even scene. Even the most skilled divination wizard among the Moryas could not compare with it. As a result, when she stood here today, she could not help but recall the scene at that time, and she realized in a trance that time had never moved forward, but it had not gone back either.

Ling Ge was reminded of his adoptive father, Mr. Yang Ke. When he said to him, "Don't hurt others, don't hurt yourself," did he foresee that he would die one day in the future due to a trivial malice? It is common for kindness to be returned with malice. His adoptive father, who has traveled the world and has rich experience, must not be unaware of this, but he still chose this path. This means that some people will never be afraid even if they see their own death, right?
Lingge could sometimes understand this feeling, but sometimes he felt confused. Life and death have always been the most complicated propositions in the world, and even the greatest philosophers could not explain them clearly.

The young man could only reply: "Mr. Van Indrew was a respectable elder. I am very sorry about his death."

Xinuo turned his head and looked at him, and said calmly: "You don't need to feel sorry, Mr. Lingge. This is the choice he insisted on, and it is also my responsibility."

What is Shino’s responsibility?
Is this girl going to blame herself for the death of others, just like Claire's death? Linger frowned slightly and was about to say something to comfort her, but suddenly he was stunned and couldn't say it because he remembered the conversation outside the cemetery just now -

"My lady doesn't need any comfort."

"That's good. I'm not good at comforting people either."

All the words spoken will eventually come back in another form, just faster or slower. Ling Ge shook his head slightly, swallowed the words of comfort, and waited quietly for Xinuo's next words.

Xino retracted his gaze and said, "There is a reason why I said this, and it is related to something you have always been interested in. Mr. Ling, when you witnessed my battle with your own eyes through that magical alchemical item, doubts arose. Now is the opportunity, will you ask it out loud?"

Something you’ve always been interested in?

Lingge responded quickly and without hesitation: "About your royal power?"

"Yes."

Not sure if it was an illusion, Lingge seemed to hear Shino chuckle, with a hint of loss and self-mockery in her laughter, but when he looked back, he found that the girl did not show any expression, she just lowered her head silently, staring at her hands folded on her belly. The pair of delicate and slender palms were wrapped in white silk gloves with hollow patterns on them, which looked solemn and elegant. It was hard to imagine that they had once grasped the knight's spear blade and killed a terrible monster.

"In fact, I knew a long time ago that these hands hold some special power."

The girl's voice floated like snowflakes, whispering and dissipating at the touch: "That kind of power is exactly why my grandfather has high hopes for me. It is not powerful magic, nor is it the potential of talent, nor even anything that can be explained from a scientific or mysterious perspective. It is the purest, most direct, and most unquestionable-"

"victory."

So, if you really regard me as a member of the Girls' Kingdom, a great being who has mastered the laws of creation since the beginning of the universe, then perhaps you should call me: The Victory Kingdom, Shino Qin Gustaf.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)