Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 915 Is the price of victory sacrifice?
"During my childhood at Chardolly Manor, I was carefree. I had the love of my parents and friends, and I had no material worries. But this did not make me settle down. Instead, I developed a competitive character. I spent the whole day playing with my peers in the countryside. Sometimes I would imagine myself as a wandering knight in the bard's works, or an unknown hero who wandered around doing good deeds. You played the bad guy, I played the good guy, the good guy defeated the bad guy, and protected the innocent people... I was immersed in such clichéd stories and never tired of it."

In front of his grandfather's grave, Xinuo told Lingge about his childhood. A complex smile appeared on his slightly thin face. The meaning of that smile might be nostalgia or helplessness: "But no matter what game I played, whether it was running, climbing trees, or clichéd heroic stories, whether I played a good guy or a bad guy, I was the most serious one, because even if it was just a game, I wanted to win. Sometimes, if I lost once, I would be so angry that I couldn't eat or sleep for several days. Looking back now, that stubborn and competitive character may have paved the way for my future life."

Lingge did not speak, but just listened silently. The girl's clear and peaceful voice echoed in the cemetery, occasionally mixed with the sound of branches and leaves rustling when the wind blew through the cypress forest: "Later, my mother and father died one after another. Grandfather was so sad that he could not recover and lost his past spirit. So my carefree childhood was gone. The mission passed down by the Gustaf family from generation to generation was placed on me, the only descendant. I knew that the responsibility was arduous and I dared not slack off. I worked harder to hone my martial arts, riding and various skills. Even if I slacked off for a moment, I would feel guilty and ashamed of my parents' spirits in heaven and my grandfather's expectations."

"As the years passed, my competitive nature not only did not disappear, but became even more profound. Perhaps my original intentions were different. When I was young, I was just stubborn and unwilling to admit defeat, which made me so eager to win. That was a childish mentality. As I grew up, I did not dare to disappoint my grandfather and ancestors, and wanted to respond to their trust, so I would never allow myself to fail. But their essences are the same. They are all standards set by 'Xino Qin Gustaf' for herself. Only when she reaches this standard will she recognize her own strength and firmly believe that all the efforts she has made in the past are not meaningless - there is no other way to go except victory."

At this point, the girl turned her head and smiled at the young man, her eyes curved like crescent moons. "It sounds heavy, doesn't it? A teenage girl has such strict requirements for herself. But there is no other way. Since I enjoy all the glory brought to me by the surname of Gustaf, I must try my best to repay it."

Although it wasn't her own choice.

Linger nodded slightly and commented: "It's a very mature idea."

They are even more mature than many adults. In the so-called adult world, they have always ridiculed the equal relationship between taking and returning. Instead, they regard getting something for nothing and betrayal as the supreme principles, as if only these ugly ideas constitute the rules of society.

"In fact, I didn't think too much about it at the beginning, but there will always be many major changes in a person's life, which will make him change. I just changed earlier than others."

Xino laughed casually and continued, "Practicing martial arts, training riding skills, acquiring knowledge, and even interpersonal communication... time passed quietly in endless trivial matters. At a certain moment, when I looked back on the road I had walked, I found that I had not experienced the feeling of failure for a long time. At that time, I seemed to have grasped the essence of victory. As long as I tried my best to do something, such as treating it as a battle of honor and life and death, then no matter who the enemy was, no matter how difficult it was, and even no matter whether my own strength was sufficient, the person who won in the end must be me."

She raised her head, her wine-red eyes, as bright as red stars, stared at Lingge without blinking, reflecting the young man's dazed expression. She said word by word: "This is the power of the Seventh Kingship you want, Mr. Lingge - I will bring you victory, and there is no doubt about it."

As long as you fight, you will win. You can even ignore the conditions for victory itself and the gap in strength between the two sides, ignore the failures you may encounter in millions of timelines, and turn them into a destined fate.

Does such a magical power really exist?
Linger let out a breath. If someone had said such a thing before today, Linger would have thought it was the wishful thinking of a madman. However, after witnessing Xino's battle, he couldn't help but believe it, because that kind of power was indeed unreasonable. For Xino, fighting was never a challenge to an unknown chess game, but to complete a script with a predetermined ending. No matter how it started and how it went, as long as the ending was destined to be a victory, then she had only one way to go, which was victory.

No wonder the witch associations were so wary of the "Lord Knight", even more than the other six saints. If used properly, the Lord Knight alone would have the power to fight against seven witches.

however.

"What's the price?" Linger stared deeply into Xino's eyes, as if he wanted to see through everything she was hiding. "As I mentioned to you before, every young queen is under a curse from the witch. Since they value you so much and your power is indeed worthy of their attention, then the curse you bear should be more serious than that of other young queens, right?"

"..."

In the deepening night, the shadows of the cypress forest were like an impenetrable wall, isolating the whistling wind and the mournful cries of birds. The corners of Xinuo's mouth seemed to twitch, but soon returned to calm. She did not directly answer Ling'er's question, but retracted her gaze and returned to the tombstone of her loved one in front of her, saying lightly: "The price? In fact, it is very simple - what is the price of victory, is the price I need to pay for it. Mr. Ling, as smart as you are, you should have guessed it."

Linger also set his eyes on the tombstone. On the pure white tombstone was engraved the epitaph of Vandru Jean Gustaf: "We are born to live in response to the expectations of others."

The young man's pupils suddenly contracted, and he slowly uttered two words: "..."

……

In the living room of the mansion, the fire quietly climbed up a touch of sadness. Saint Xia Liya sat on the soft sofa, and from time to time she looked up at the sky outside the window. The sky, which had been clear, dimmed again, but it was not because of the weather, but because dusk was approaching. The night began to invade this ancient manor, looking for the long memories that had been left here for countless centuries.

The street lamps beside the tree-lined avenue cast a dim light, as if there was fog, blurring the vision. Under the misty cypress trees, the figures of knights could be vaguely seen walking hurriedly, their expressions were all serious, with black scarves tied on their arms, using this deep color representing death and the end to commemorate the deceased old man.

All this happened so suddenly that Saint Xia Liya has not reacted until now. Half an hour ago, she just heard the good news from Lingge that Xino had successfully killed the monster without any danger. However, when they returned to the manor, the knights serving the Gustaf family told these guests from afar that the old head of the family had passed away. After the funeral, Xino Qin Gustaf will become the new head of the family and will still lead the Whitethorn Flower Family to protect the people of Grangenia.

As for the cause of death of the old patriarch, the knights were vague. Saint Shallia could see that they were not hiding it on purpose. They were probably confused themselves and couldn't figure out what was going on.

"Are you worried about Xino, Saint Xia Liya?" A voice suddenly came from the side.

Saint Xia Liya looked back and found that it was Alice who came over at some point. She sat down without waiting for the girl to answer, unceremoniously occupying the remaining space on the sofa, and raised her head to stare at the chandelier on the ceiling, and said carelessly: "I can understand your feelings. After all, this happened too suddenly. The old man looked fine, how could he just leave like this--" She paused, and then sighed very rarely. For the first time, a difficult look appeared on her face, which had always been optimistic and cheerful: "What should we do? Now that Shino has become the head of the Gustaf family, will she be willing to go with us? There are many people here who are counting on her to hold up the overall situation. But if she doesn't go with us, what will happen to the fate of mankind and the world? Are we going to let the Witch Society continue to be rampant?"

She thought about it over and over again, but still couldn't find a way to have the best of both worlds. She sighed and looked worried about the country and the people.

After hearing her words, Saint Xia Liya not only pursed her lips, but also pursed her cherry pink lips tightly, then opened them again and said softly: "That's not what I'm worried about, Alice."

"Oh? What is that?"

"Shino just lost her only relative in the world." Saint Shallia lowered her head slightly, and in a place where Alice couldn't see, her expression was obviously hesitant: "At this time, if we still tell her about the mission of the Girl's Kingdom and force her to give up her family and hometown and go with us, don't you think it's cruel?"

"Well."

Alice had never considered such things. In a sense, she was actually a person who lacked empathy, or rather, she was more accustomed to looking at the world from the perspective of a player. She only valued those characters who were deeply related to the main quest and had a lot of plots, and she didn't care about the passers-by who flashed by in the background story, such as the vampire Fialli who died under her sword, or the swamp alien who died wailing in the fire, and Shino's grandfather.

There is a profound sense of strangeness that separates her from the world. Only a few people are real, and the rest are just background. However, the world is an organically connected whole. The few people she cares about are actually connected to the others she regards as background. If she still treats them differently, how can she experience the feeling of empathy?

Saint Shallia knew Alice's shortcomings in this regard, so she didn't mean to complain, but simply expressed her concerns. But Alice still didn't seem to react, and after hesitating for a while, she said, "That shouldn't be the case, right? Didn't you hear those knights say that Shino never cried once? It shows that he is still very strong."

Saint Xia Liya looked at her deeply and said, "Tears don't mean anything, Alice. Sometimes people who shed tears don't mean they are weak, and people who hold back tears don't mean they are strong."

"I see." Alice scratched her cheek, thinking: "You mean Xinuo is a girl who looks strong but is fragile inside, so she will appear strong in front of us, but secretly shed tears when no one sees?"

Saint Xia Liya shook her head gently: "I believe Xinuo will not cry privately. She is not that kind of person."

"Then I don't understand what you mean."

Alice leaned back, sinking into the soft sofa, muttering to herself, "It's so complicated. I don't want to know at all. I just want to know whether Xino is willing to go with us. Damn it, why did she only see Ling Ge but not me? Ling Ge is expressionless and has a sharp tongue. If he angers Xino, won't my main quest be stuck here?"

When she thought of this possibility, she became a little panicked. She curled up into a ball and tossed and turned on the sofa like a disgruntled caterpillar.

Saint Xia Liya ignored her, looking through the huge French window and back to the sky outside. While the two were chatting, the night came quietly, covering the manor in a layer of quiet black veil. Lights were lit everywhere, and the dim and swaying firelight illuminated the mansion and the garden. Only the direction where Lingge left, the Gustaf family cemetery was still dark, and the night there was even deeper.

Gazing at this scenery, the shepherdess somehow suddenly remembered a sentence that Xino had said -

"I'm afraid of death." At that time, her eyes were clear and calm, but with an indelible regret: "I'm especially afraid of someone dying in front of me and I'm powerless to do anything about it."

“That, to me, was the most painful.”

……

The wall of silence was broken, and a night crow's mournful cry suddenly rang out in the dead of night. It was so shrill and piercing that it drowned out the sound of the wind and the chirping of other birds, giving people a creepy feeling.

The girl turned around and smiled at the young man: "That's right, Mr. Ling."

"The price of victory is sacrifice."

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)