Uriel sat on the stone steps and waited.
The flames had dissipated and the sky was clear. After letting go of his vision, he could feel hundreds of breaths coming from the wind. Some were real feelings, and some were information particles collected by the fire. The latter was particularly strong: hatred and nostalgia, fear and sorrow, pain and mourning, they It suddenly appeared in his mind, like an uninvited guest breaking into his home.
Maybe it wasn't a sudden appearance, Uriel thought. Associations have always existed, and the nameless people exist in Black City. They grew up here and are old friends of Black City. He came here to search for the past. He thought he was alone, but countless people risked their lives to return home. He once thought he didn't know they existed...
But he just turned a blind eye.
The "elder" has picked up his stick. The old man made no attempt to escape, for the words had made it clear that he had no need to conceal the means by which the association had driven the dead. People thought that Garvash was invading Croita's vassal kingdom, and the undead wanted to gain an advantage on the frontal battlefield, but the undead lord and his men knew that the real threat lay with the Saint. Stopping the Oath Keepers' ritual can temporarily prevent the return of the "Queen of Light" Evangelion, which is the only way to delay destruction.
He is the leader of "Steel and Fire", comes from the starless night, and is a subordinate of the undead lord. At the same time, they also come from Brestatik and are the people of Talannitas, the lord of the Black City of the Empire. Did he live a mortal life, plowing and harvesting like a farmer, doing business like a merchant? Did he pay taxes for the empire, plant for the nobility, clean for his family and neighbors? When he has to leave his hometown, his hatred will make him return to the land where he was born and raised one day to take revenge on the villagers who live here...
The Nameless One and the Order have destined all this. Uriel thought to himself, I can't interfere, because I don't agree with anyone, and I don't favor anyone. The hatred between the Nameless One and the Order will end by themselves, and the apprentice is just a traveler who accidentally broke into the other world. He was favored by the order and was not persecuted because of his identity as an unknown person. It would be unfair to rashly intervene in the grievances between the two parties.
Yet this thought made him feel guilty. He turned a blind eye to the tragedy for the sake of fairness, and tried to help one party to make up for the other. He helped the unknown but did not help to the end. He stopped the massacre of the Seven Pivot Points but allowed the association to take revenge. He has never tried to reason with both parties, knowing that it is meaningless, but does he have to stand by and watch for "meaning"? Escape from the Black City like you escaped from Brumnot?
Uriel could not answer himself. By the gods, while I'm here looking for the past, reality is marching on to the destined future. He could have done something, but now he could only sit here and think about some ridiculous right and wrong.
"You're confused," Ferriani said.
Anyone can see that, right? "What kind of place is Byrne?"
"You know Byrne?"
"I probably learned it from the demon hunter."
The apprentice was perfunctory, but Ferriani didn't care. They knew that they were not enemies. "Bain is the holy city of the unknown. There, we don't have to hide."
"Meaning, you can live like ordinary mortals?" Uriel thought of the Ringot sisters.
"More than that. We will help our compatriots as much as possible. We don't need to support the king and the mysterious fulcrum, and we don't need to kneel to the noble lord. We all perform our duties and are loyal to our lords."
"According to the logic of the mysterious realm, the level of mystery represents status."
"That's it. But compatriots have no status distinction within the association, and they don't need to obey anyone."
“Then who will run the city?”
"The king." Ferriani replied slowly, "or the lords and their men. Bain is the main city and is usually directly managed by the king. The lords have their own territory. When the king is away, the lords will take turns managing the city. .”
It would be better to say he is the city lord, Uriel thought to himself. Byrne seems to be a small city rather than a kingdom. "The King of Byrne is the most powerful Unknown One?"
"Obviously." Ferriani perked up at the mention of the king. "His Majesty the King won the allegiance of the lords only after he created Byrne. Before the establishment of the Starless Night, the lords belonged to different associations in various places and even had enemies with each other. His Majesty reconciled the grudges, gave people fair judgments, and provided services to the young and old. The compatriots provided protection, which made the unknown people who lived in different places voluntarily abandon the place where they were born and build a common home... It is from this that we determined that Byrne entrusted the soul of the starless night."
It seemed that the king's status was beyond doubt. "So, the nameless man's magic is all given by the gods, and he can't choose?" Uriel asked. Ferriani didn't answer, but his look undoubtedly meant yes. "You have created a society that relies on individual strength, where people are born into a predestined position."
"Isn't this the same in the mysterious realm?" the old man retorted, "The seven pivots rule Knox."
"Indeed. Maybe all the kingdoms in the world are the same." The apprentice couldn't help but think of Parsur, the blue saint who once governed a country with a democratic conference system, but was betrayed by her supporters in the end. She is not so much a king as the flag of the corresponding faction, which will be lowered from the flagpole when the wind blows or rains.
"We are far more compassionate than the mysterious realm." Ferriani said, "We rely on fire to feel the existence of others, and there is natural trust. Even if there is a difference in status, we are still brothers."
"As far as I know, the feeling is not that accurate."
"Fire is the flame of people's souls, young man. You don't know what the soul looks like." The elder told him, "We can feel the position of our fellow citizens, where they are and whether they are safe, and emotions come from close contact. The empathy generated by connection. Mortals will be sad when they see the death of their kind. Our connection is closer than just 'seeing', and therefore we are more emotional."
In other words, the Nameless One cannot actually share emotions directly, Uriel thought, everything comes from his own feelings. Unfortunately, because the unknown people's living environment in the other world is very harsh, people's emotions are also very strong and highly contagious. This is the key to the establishment of the association.
I am not from the Black City, but I know what it feels like to miss my hometown. The apprentice looked at the city wall, and the strong wind howled into the cave, venting its presence. He was not sure whether this ancient tower entrusted someone's memory. If the familiar scenery is no longer there, will I still identify with my homeland? After all, does Yotsuye Castle in the other world count as a hometown? Could it be that he is already a traveler in the world, and Eastman and Croita have nothing to do with him?
In the dream of "Confessions", Hitarian Ringot once told Uriel that her hometown was Bayern City and they would never return to the Four Leaf Territory. Bain is the hometown of all the nameless people. She loves Bain more than Four-leaf City...
She told me this because I was her compatriot. Uriel shuddered. "You destroyed your homeland to protect your new homeland."
"I don't deny it." Ferriani said, "If I were as young as you, I would live well in Bayern, and I wouldn't even have any attachment to the Black City. My parents have long since disappeared, and my My friends went their separate ways, and the only thing that Black City remembers about me is the old wanted notices issued by the previous lord. The reason why I chose this place as my grave is just because Black City is still the land that gave me good memories." He smiled. "Have you ever heard of the local legend? 'Lugg the Locksmith'. The story of a man from the Black City who made his fortune by marrying a wife."
The person who told this story is coming here. The frost giant was so big that it was difficult for Uriel to pretend not to see it. Unexpectedly, they came faster than Tekapo.
"A famous legend." The apprentice replied, "But if you are willing, I would like to know what the locals think of Luger." Perhaps this is the last time in his life that he will talk about the folk customs of his hometown with others, and I should give him a chance.
So Ferriani began to describe Luger's legendary experience of traveling far away from home and finally returning to the starting point.
Different from the narrations of Essie and Della, in his mouth, the locksmith Luger was neither a despicable conspirator nor a libertine obsessed with male and female ambiguity. "He is an ordinary fool." The old man commented, "He doesn't know how to make money or flattery. He has a little luck, but most of the time he is stubborn and has a stubborn temper. Some women will fall in love with such a man, not because of his charm. But they are easy to control and will not change their minds.”
The frost giant looked at the "elder" without saying a word, while Della quietly sat opposite him and pulled his companion over. Uriel was relieved to find that none of them were injured.
"Do you think he's a loyal man?"
Ferriani recalled: "He was indeed loyal. His wife died of illness, not murder, and people will miss their youth in their old age. Luge loved that girl, so he naturally wanted to find traces of her." But let me tell you, this is definitely not the real reason why he returned to the Black City."
"What's the truth?"
"Of course it's revenge. Compared with love, hatred leaves a deeper mark on people. Luger will repay kindness and never forget hatred."
"But he once changed his faith." The psychic Della couldn't help but interrupt, "This is a betrayal of the favor given to him by the three gods."
The "elder" smiled. "What blessing has faith given us, little girl?"
"The gods guide us to the right path." Della said without hesitation, "teach us the laws of the world."
"We can only understand the laws of the world ourselves, the gods have no time to care."
"What do the gods care about?" Miss Psychic asked unconvincedly.
Compared to love, Uriel of course prefers Luger to return to the Black City for revenge. Besides, he was fed up with her deliberate defiance. "Before the time of the ancestors, the gods had already left." He reminded.
"Yes." The old man replied, "Luger returned to his hometown for revenge, for the injustice he suffered, for his hasty youth... But in the end, he can go back."
"But you can't?"
"Perhaps the gods really gave Luger a favor." Ferriani turned his head, "He came back and got justice. This is mercy - Gaia allowed him to avenge his great revenge, and Lucia gave him a fair judgment. , Otto sent a messenger to control his destiny, and Heather saved his life.”
And the nameless will never get justice, Uriel thought bitterly.
"My brother said that fate never favors anyone." The frost giant said.
"Has your brother been to the Tower?"
"We only operate within the confines of the alliance."
"That's right. No wonder you didn't know."
Nimue frowned, and Uriel could only explain to her: "Astrologers can obtain prophecies. In other words, we can use some advanced information. This is undoubtedly unfair."
"If there is no messenger to bring the prophecy, Eich's husband Cohen will hire a killer to kill Luger. But after the prophecy spread, Cohen not only bankrupted his conspiracy, but also ruined the lives of his family." Ferriani said, "By This shows that fate is also a weapon."
arms. Uriel knows this firsthand. When killing the enemy, he often relies on the sharp edge of the sword. He swings it with his arms and controls the direction with his will. But what really drives the edge into the fatal weakness is the prompt given to him by his "spiritual vision". Isn't this a weapon of fate?
"So, he was intentionally helping Luger?" Miss Psychic pointed out, "Cohen hired a murderer to kill someone, so Luger bribed the courier?"
"She." the old man corrected, "the tower knows all the answers to the mystery, but our locksmith, rather than the messenger, you might as well say that he bribed Otto, the god of fate, and that's why he became the hero of the story."
"Fortunately, this is not a tragic story." Nimue, the frost giant, buzzed, "I hate crying operas the most!"
"No one likes it." Ferriani said lightly, "But as many comedies as there are in the world, there are corresponding tragedies. Stories are just stories, and we have no choice." He suddenly turned to look at the apprentice: "Listen Say you are looking for the history of Black City?"
"That's right." Maybe this is an excuse. Uriel himself didn't know.
"You should have come to me earlier. In this city of merchants, no one knows the true face of my hometown better than an Avenger like me. Where to start... By the way, do you still want to listen?"
"About Luger the locksmith?" Della interjected.
"We can't get around him." The old man paused his wooden stick, "Why don't you tell the story of your senior colleague, young man. The tower messenger."
"My name is Uriel."
"He's also a tower messenger, right?"
Uriel shrugged. "Gaia believer, missionary, adventurer, I usually wear many hats. In the end, people only remember me as the apprentice of the White Envoy. You are a special case, sir."
"These titles are better than messengers." The elder said in a low voice. "The force and reputation of the White Envoy can protect your safety, and Gaia believers and missionaries will be treated with courtesy. But messengers are different. You delivering the message will be a disaster. Symbol... maybe you are also a weapon of fate. Just like Winona."
"Winona is the messenger from the ancestors?"
"Probably the last one." The "Elder" told them, "Counting the time, since her, the tower has become a member organization of the Saint Mirend Alliance, and the title of messenger has been cancelled. I'm afraid your prophet I believe that under the protection of the Knights of Silver Song, astrologers no longer need to fearfully hide in towers and rely on living messenger crows to deliver prophetic messages."
No, Uriel thought. Judging by the time, the last one should be Du Yilin. She was killed by Joy beneath the walls of Alanvor. No. No. Not sure, it was just a dream after all...
"After all, there is only one messenger in the tower. Are you taking over?" Della was curious.
"Why not ask him?" said the frost giant.
Uriel had no choice but to confess: "I don't know, there are no colleagues of mine in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Maybe the messengers don't often appear at the same time."
"This is an ancient position," Ferriani said, "perhaps dating back to the age of the gods."
The apprentice shook his head: "Why do the towers of the gods need messengers? Even astrologers are not necessary... They may just be Otto's messengers."
"No matter what, you will always leave a legend, even if it is a microcosm of the beginning of the disaster."
Uriel felt his skin tighten. "What news does Winona bring?"
"She took away the local lord Malkin Hesser, believing him to be the cause of the disaster."
Cohn, the enemy of Locksmith Luger, his wife Ashe turned into a ghost and stayed in the mansion they took by force. She was summoned by the psychic Della Sinsena to tell future generations about Lord Malkin and immortality. doctrinal information. Uriel felt that this was probably the problem.
"Do you know the doctrine of eternal life?" he asked Ferriani. "This is also one of the ancient events in the Black City."
"Of course. I know the history of this place very well. Immortality is a seductive and corrupting mist created by the Witches of the White Moon. They preached to the local lord and convinced him that eternal life was the domain of the god of death."
Della smiled dryly: "How can eternal life be the realm of death? If people want to live a long time, it's better to find Heather."
"Thousands of years ago, people in the Black City said that the God of Death and Heather had two sides, and even had a higher status than Heather, because even the gods would one day perish."
"It's more exaggerated."
"This is nonsense or a lost secret. We don't know. In short, the Tower Prophet sent a messenger for this purpose."
Uriel thought of another thing: "After Morkin Hesser was taken away, did the doctrine of eternal life spread in the Black City disappear?"
Ferriani looked beyond the damaged walls and watched the sun sinking into the valley. He stroked the wooden stick as if reminiscing. Finally, he told his apprentice: "I don't think so."
"The tower messenger brought the beginning of disaster, Uriel. I said, you are the weapons of fate, and you will eventually fight in the destined battle."
He changed the subject. "But this is an old story from thousands of years ago, so who can say for sure."
Della sniffed and seemed a little frightened. "Well, you guys are much more professional than me, who is just pretending to be a fool."
"Eternal life is a temptation that no one can resist, and the people of Black City are probably no exception." Uriel asked, "What happened back then? Is it related to the legend of Luger?"
"You shouldn't ask me this. Your senior messenger took away the key person involved in the doctrine of eternal life. She took him back to Croyta and must have left a record."
The apprentice was skeptical: "Maybe it's just a trivial matter that the astrologer won't bother to record."
"It seems you don't understand." Ferriani looked at them with strange eyes, "You don't understand."
"What?"
"The gods once left Knox mysteriously. For the great men among mortals, this was a huge event. They would keep exploring, trying to follow the footsteps of the gods until they glimpsed the secret... These people often gather together Together, they form a group, so people call it the mysterious fulcrum.”
"I think you are actually talking about the School of Silence."
"Only those who have seen the gods will understand the greatness of the gods and are so persistent. Uriel, you still don't understand? Among the seven mysterious fulcrums, who has the longest history? Who cares about the gods the most?"
Uriel's eyes widened: "Tower of the Sky!"
"It's not difficult to explain the reason why Wynonna came to the Black City." Ferriani smiled, "She came to the rumors of eternal life, or, in other words, the rumors of death. Besides, the astrologer's job is to record - to predict. and omens, the turmoil of order, you store history in ancient documents.”
He's right, the apprentice thought. We have information in our database about everything, including how to deal with a divine drop. When the Broken Moon descended on Veniworth, Joey stopped it, receiving all the help from the tower.
An unreasonable chill rose from the bottom of my heart, biting my chest. Uriel had never seen the true face of the gods, and he had never thought about a life where the gods were watching him. If the gods reappeared, he could not predict whether it would be a gift or despair. "If it were Gaia instead of Death, maybe I would consider it."
Nimue thought it was okay: "No matter who the god is, we need him to quell the war. Will it be worse than it is now?"
"The coming of the gods is a big deal." Della was frightened by the imagination. "If the gods return to Knox, everything may return to the way it was before the ancestors. Someone must be unlucky here. It's probably me." .All my previous research was in vain!”
"Why gods?" the old man snorted, "If you ask me, the Queen of Light can achieve the same effect. She is going to return to Knox, and the mysterious realm will be shaken a few times, and the situation will be turned upside down."
Uriel could not deny that this was the case. After all, saints, like gods, are irresistible swords over people's heads, especially for members of associations. If Gaia comes back, everyone in the Silence School will probably be in danger. I don't care...
The frost giant rubbed its toes on the ground and looked around uneasily. "Speaking of which, why haven't Tekapo and the captain come back yet?" She said as she changed her foot.
"Listen to the truth? I suggest they hold the ceremony immediately, the sooner the better."
She was really startled. "But the Black City is still not safe now..."
"You have delayed for too long to prepare the enemy. Now that the matter has come to this, if you don't try, you will have no chance." Uriel pointed out. "I tried my best to push away the problems temporarily and buy them time: now the people of the Silent School are blocked by the Holy Knight Commander, the Society of the Nameless Ones cannot save themselves, and even the high tower is tied up by the war..."
"Who are you from?" Della listened for a long time, but she didn't say anything unhappy at the moment.
It was not a comfortable thing to confess one's little behavior, at least Uriel didn't like it. "Please take your time and guess." He turned to Nimue: "I'm sorry that's all I can do."
"We have no right to ask you, Uriel." Nimue scratched her head, "Even the historical bills you need have to be paid by Della and the devil."
"So did Luger take revenge? What happened to Morkin after he returned to the territory?" Della wanted to know.
They all looked at "Elder" Ferriani.
"No. All his enemies died in accidents. Malkin was murdered by his son, and the Cohen family died in the mansion. The murderer was a supporting character who didn't get much detail."
"The murderer was not hired by Luger?"
"It would be great if that was the case. It's a pity that Luger didn't have the chance to take action. People say that it was fate that Cohen died in retribution."
These words made Uriel frown, but before he could speak, someone's voice suddenly came from above his head: "Then his family has also done many evil things? Including infants and old men?"
Ferriani was speechless.
