It took about ten minutes for the group to sort out the information abandoned in the shrine.
The scatteredness of the text further proves how busy the people in the shrine were when they evacuated - the papers dropped on the ground can be roughly divided into two types: letters and notes, but no matter which type they are, they feel incomplete and lost, resulting in Obtaining information was not as smooth as expected.
The difference can be seen by visual inspection of the materials roughly divided into two piles: the paper used for letters is smaller, while the paper used for notes is a full circle larger. The group started with the letters. Because the paper was smaller, the words had to be more concise when conveying information, so they thought it would be more efficient to start with letters.
But as soon as they started to review, the group noticed that all the letters did not have dates, times or even addresses. Obviously this was to avoid leaving behind traces of gossip. Those important letters that actually contained names or seals should have is saved elsewhere.
Then, coupled with the obscure wording that seemed to be a code, even if there were three people, including the wise man, a well-informed man, and the missionary who had received cultural training from the Moon Country, they still could not get much useful information from it. .
The incomprehensible letter that made their eyes hurt for a long time caused them to shift their attention. Except for Aggie, everyone else turned their attention to the more understandable notes.
This time they were not disappointed. The records include major events such as population relocation and civil construction in nearby villages, as well as changes in the personnel responsible for the shrine and the flow of funds and materials, which is enough for outsiders like them to quickly understand the situation.
However, compared to others who only paid attention to the content itself, the sage also noticed that there were neat holes on the left side of the paper used for these notes. Combined with the straw rope that was abandoned on the ground near the low table, it seemed that this should once have been a notepad bound with rice rope. Then the person cut the rope with a knife and took away a part of it - and a quite large part at that. Because the number of pages left here does not match the rough visual comparison with the length of the rice rope. The rice rope used to bind the books has been in a tight state for a long time and has left its mark. If you rely on that alone to speculate, the complete notebook should be It's at least as thick as a thumb, but only about 60% of it is left here.
In contrast, since the letter does not have a number and date, it is impossible to determine whether it has been taken away. However, from a logical perspective, it is still more appropriate to conclude that it has also been lost.
Which of these missing parts are specific can be judged by a cursory inspection to determine the commonalities.
"No, no, not here either." After Aggie browsed for a while, he sat down on the straw mat and sighed.
The information left behind is mixed, ranging from the purchase of food and seeds to the maintenance of farm equipment and fishing equipment, and even records of who was sick in the village.
But there is no information about parasites.
"Did anyone take away the evidence and destroy it? Damn it." Aiji scratched his head and looked very irritated. His idea seemed to be correct. Galeva next to him also nodded in agreement. The two equally irritable young people seemed to have similar opinions, but others present did not entirely agree with their views.
The fire was extinguished in the corner, rather than being brought to a specific place to extinguish it. In other words, the people who evacuated the shrine should not have known about it. This was an accident.
Based on this consideration, if you change your thinking and pick out the part of the data that should have been buried in the fire, it is obviously not for destruction, because this seems very unnecessary.
It is suspected that the information about parasites was taken away because they still have value. The remaining ones are of no value, or the threat is greater than the value, so in order to avoid leaving a trail of words, I plan to burn them, but they are kept here until the fire burns out.
The basis for this theory is that among the remaining notes and letters, the amount of information is so large that it is difficult to digest it for a while.
The complexity of the situation was somewhat hinted at by the letter Henry read at the beginning. And as they read these text records in depth, more inside information was revealed, and everyone's brows became more and more tense.
Words like "disqualified person, false god." appear repeatedly in the text, and as Aiji picks up another letter, "the false god sits high on the top of Xinjing, and does not care about the world and considers himself incompetent." "Shaken" was already a stingingly explicit example, and they finally had some guesses as to who the title referred to.
"The belief in gods in the Kingdom of the Moon is very different from that in Rigal. To explain it in the most intuitive way, their gods are more approachable and more widespread." Aiji said somewhat showboating for Mira, who was not clear about the situation. Galeva explained: “Within the church’s beliefs, if someone claims to be a descendant of a prophet or is related to God, then his or her fate will definitely be to be burned as a heretic, because this is outright Sacrilege.”
“Our only God should be the only, all-powerful and all-knowing God, an independent existence that is higher than human beings, higher than everything else, outside human beings, and beyond us.”
"This is an undoubted fact recorded in the church's holy scriptures." Aggie said proudly, Galeva nodded, Henry shrugged, and Mira rolled her eyes. Lulu tugged at the corner of her clothes and asked her to translate, but Mira felt a little short of words so she looked at the sage for help.
While Henry used a simple and clear way to make the aboriginal girl understand the situation, Aggie continued: "Compared to our church, the people of the Moon Country believe that gods walk among the people. Like many other backward primitive polytheistic religions The beliefs are the same, they believe that people can have the blood of gods."
"Here, many noble families can be traced back to the mythical era, which is a generally accepted common sense. And the aloof royal family is respected by the whole country." Aggie paused.
"The direct descendant of the Great Moon God who created the Crescent Continent."
"Is this what the Glory of the Full Moon refers to?" Mira nodded: "Then the false god is implying that the one currently on the throne is not a qualified emperor?"
"The current emperor." Priest Alfonso said after pondering for a while: "He is the former third prince."
"The succession rights of the Moon Kingdom are similar to those of the Empire, but the strange thing is that after the death of the first emperor, the successor jumped two people and landed directly on the third prince." He said, and Aiji nodded beside him. , and added expressively: "This is one of the reasons why we are in a difficult situation! Not to mention the eldest prince, twenty years ago, the second prince, who had a cheerful personality and was able to accept new things, was very close to our church. . Even if he fails to ascend the throne later, having a prince who has an extraordinary relationship with the church can make all our actions go much smoother. But we didn’t expect that he would suddenly die of illness.”
"..." Priest Alfonso glanced at Aiji with slight dissatisfaction, who couldn't stop talking. Although they were more neutral than the scholars, they still had the mission of the empire after all. That's where the scholar's position lies. Revealing too much information to Henry, Mira, Galeva, and Lulu, who are obviously outsiders, is obviously not a wise move from the missionary's point of view.
But what was said was irreversible, and Priest Alfonso, who had witnessed the split between Henry and the scholars, also understood deeply: This man, who was obviously of Suomir origin, tall and not very talkative, was obviously not just a mercenary.
Although the name is not so famous now, as far as Alfonso knows, none of Suomir's great swordsmen are soft persimmons.
He couldn't figure out this person. Although he was over fifty and had seen a lot of intrigues in the church and imperial society, but because of this, he was very cautious about using power to take advantage of this person.
The reason why Priest Alfonso, who was born as an orphan, is still only a mid-level priest after so many years is not only because he is not a noble and does not have a network of mutual promotions, but also has to do with his more calm personality.
People with noble backgrounds rarely have this kind of character, because their family's great business involves a complicated network of relationships. Even if they make impulsive mistakes, there is always someone who can help clean up the matter. Therefore, aristocrats, especially middle-class aristocrats, often have young masters in their thirties who don't know the world but still act like a frizzy young man.
But he can't. The price of making mistakes is too high for people who are helpless from a low-level background, so they are often very good at observation and forbearance.
Alfonso and the left-behind scholar mentor Loren are similar in status, but because of their origins, they are both in the leadership class, but their ways of thinking are completely opposite.
Priest Alfonso saw clearly what happened when the confident Tutor Lorraine was defeated by Henry's trick. Therefore, his policy for getting along with the sage is to try to remain neutral as much as possible. After all, the missionary's own survivability is very worrying. If he does something again and is left behind, he cannot bear the risk.
Try your best to cooperate and avoid conflicts, and don't make small calculations, because they will be seen through. This was his decision, and because of this, when Aggie Big Mouth revealed some information that only church insiders were allowed to know in order to show that he knew a lot, the priest did not stop him despite his dissatisfaction.
But this conservative and tolerant stance is about to face a test now.
Although there was nothing related to the parasites they wanted most in the information they had read and compiled, the words sworn, the hoarding of supplies, and the dissatisfaction with those currently in power vaguely outlined a general situation.
The reason why the villagers can refrain from using the gold to satisfy their own lives is because of their loyalty. Whether those golden parasites are used by them as a weapon to control others and increase friendly forces, or whether they are also infected by parasites and are so loyal, these places can only remain in the vague speculation stage due to insufficient information.
However, it has begun to appear that the royal family rule of the Moon Kingdom, which is known as the eternal lineage, is not as stable as it seems on the surface.
Considering the time point, this should have a lot to do with the contact between the Lamanites and the Kingdom of the Moon - this is a common thing. Countries that are stable and peaceful and maintain internal self-consistency tend to respond slowly when facing new things. , although the range of activities of the Lamanites was strictly restricted, their ideas spread like germs along with many items throughout the territory.
For more than a century, the Lamanites' tentacles actually extended far further than the people of the Moon Country thought.
One of the evidences was the carrots that the group had eaten in the village before.
The sages who have been to Crescent Continent in the long past know that this crop is not produced here, but is a genuine product of Rigal.
The dominant culture of the Moon Country allows them to still preserve themselves from being eroded by Laman poison, and those in power are also very cautious and conservative about contact with the outside world, so they limit their activities to the southern region. Despite this, the fact that ordinary people in a fishing village so far north can see extra crops like carrots is obviously enough to prove something.
After more than a century of exchanges, although Lamanite culture has not been completely assimilated, many subtle changes have occurred.
In fact, if all the contents and main ideas of those letters were translated into Lamantic language.
You will even find that this fanatical belief in the "only true God" almost coincides with the holy scriptures of the White Church.
Ideology is a virus, and the more outdated, conservative and self-contained a country is, the more likely its people will suffer from it.
Taking the west coast, where kingdoms are numerous and chaotic and where hundreds of schools of thought are contending, as a comparison object, the Kingdom of the Moon is like a ring that has been circulating for 4,000 years - everything in it is so perfect and self-consistent, but it is precisely because of this that there is no Space that can accommodate new things.
The situation on the west coast where Avenella is located is like a Colosseum. The situation may change every day, and the winner of the previous game may lose his life in the next. In this dangerous environment, only constant change can survive.
They are extremely open to new things.
But New Moon Continent is different.
Prohibit, deny, control. The people at the top took many measures to avoid the influence of foreign cultures, and based on their superior and long-lasting civilization, they succeeded in doing this for more than a century.
But the erosion has finally begun.
There is no "perfect circle" that can accommodate new things. When viral monotheistic fanaticism and Lamanian authoritarianism are forcefully inserted, the cycle will begin to be as difficult to turn as the gears of a rusty waterwheel. , gradually heading towards collapse.
This country is heading towards war.
"Huh!" A piece of paper fell out. "Wow!" Aggie yelled again after picking it up and taking a look.
Alfonso came closer, and after taking a look, his whole face turned green.
He had never been so angry, and countless thoughts were running through his mind, but what he wanted to do most right now was to strangle Aggie, a guy who didn't know how to measure his sense of proportion.
Henry, Mira, and Galeva all came closer because of the sound.
"What is it, I can't understand?" Galeva said blankly.
"A bunch of names." Mira frowned.
"It's a certificate of nomination, a seal and signature left by someone who supports what they consider to be an orthodox royal member." The sage glanced at Alfonso, whose face was ashen, with some amusement, and then looked to the side without realizing what he was doing. What happened to Aggie?
This is something that should not be seen by Henry and others. If Aggie has more cities, he will secretly hide this piece of paper so that he can later hand it over to the top officials of the empire or the church.
——Each of these warriors and lords recorded here is a potential ally of the Lamanites in overthrowing the current emperor.
But he subconsciously yelled and froze in place, allowing Henry and others to see it.
So the options become two:
The general atmosphere in the Kingdom of the Moon is hostility to foreigners. Regardless of whether Henry, Mira, and Galeva are Lamanites or not, they are all restricted here.
But what if they made a meritorious deed?
Such as turning over lists of potential rebels. If you do such a thing, you will obviously be granted privileges and the like, which will make your situation much better.
In contrast, hiding the list and then contacting them would benefit the Padrosi Empire and the White Church, which obviously has little to do with the mercenary position of the Sage and others.
One piece of paper, two positions, completely opposite choices.
Should he choose the privileges that he, as a foreigner, can obtain for his meritorious service, or should he choose to preserve them for the Lamanites to launch a larger rebellion?
Before they could take any further action, there was a sudden hurried sound outside.
"Qiang——" Mira took out the one-handed knife from her waist and ran out with Henry on the left and right.
In front of the little unicorn, a short man wearing a very thick robe fell to the ground. It seemed that he was frightened by the little unicorn's movements and stepped on his too-large clothes.
"Ugh——" She quickly got up from the ground, and then she was stunned for a moment after meeting the eyes of the sage and the Luoan girl, and then moving her eyes to the shining sword in Mira's hand.
"Wow!!" Then he yelled and turned around and ran towards the road up the mountain.
"Chase!"
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