On the afternoon of the next day, Gawain summoned Hetty, Kamel and other key senior personnel to formally announce the current status of the Magic Goddess in a closed-door meeting, as well as various information obtained from the giant deer Amorn. kind of information.
The double-layer thickened crystal windows cut off the howling cold wind outside the house, leaving only the cold sunlight slanting into the house. In the small conference room with strict protection measures, the atmosphere seemed warmer than ever. Be dignified.
Gawain sat at the top of the long conference table, Hetty sat on his right, amber melted into the air as always, and a Magic Network terminal was set up on the left side of the conference table, with a crystal array emerging in the sky The two Grand Consuls, Victoria Wilder and Baldwin Franklin, appear.
"It seems that the goddess of magic will really not come back... Although Myrmena is still there, from the perspective of the priesthood, the goddess of magic has 'fallen'," Victoria broke the silence, "In White Star After the fall, the world once again experienced the fall of a god. "
"Unlike the time three thousand years ago, the belief in the goddess of magic did not have such a great influence on society, and her 'departure' did not. It will not impact the existing mage system," Pittman said on the side, "I discussed it with His Highness Hetty yesterday, and we should be able to get through this turmoil relatively easily."
" The premise is to take action as soon as possible." Hetty took over the topic and looked up at Gawain who was sitting next to him. "Ancestor, a few hours after the feedback from the goddess of magic disappeared, a mage noticed the abnormality and reported it to the local government affairs department. Reports have been received, and now reports are increasing from all over the country. They are still waiting patiently for the imperial capital to respond, but the news will soon spread among the people."
For a long time, the mage has been They are the upper structure of human society. Their deep-rooted influence in society has not disappeared with the drastic social changes in this country. If this group of people cannot be stabilized, it will become a big trouble.
For them, the effect of relying on saturated entertainment media to occupy the public's attention and relying on partial public opinion control to control the situation is limited, and may even lead to the opposite effect - after all, people believe in Gods are gone. It is obviously not appropriate for you to show movies all over the world at this time to cheer up...
"First of all, announce the news of the fall of the magic goddess according to the original plan. This matter cannot be concealed, and the more it is concealed, the worse it will be. The more it will cause backlash and chaos," Gawain nodded and said unhurriedly, "The reason for the fall of the gods does not need an official explanation, nor should it be explained clearly. After this, we will conduct a nationwide investigation. , a large-scale, extremely solemn public event."
The empire's senior officials in the conference room and on the communication line may not have reacted for a while, but Baldwin Franklin, who was on the line, couldn't help it. Curiously, he asked: "Public event?"
"The whole country deeply mourns the death of the goddess of magic. I will personally write an article to express my condolences as the ruler of the empire. Then Victoria, you will take the lead and lead the most prestigious mage. We summarizeIn memory of the Goddess of Magic who dedicated her life to the people, finally, we have to set up a finishing touch for the ceremony, get some sacred objects, symbolic relics and the like, burn them to ashes and then carry them into the sky by the Imperial Dragoons, scattering them into the rivers and lakes Sea - may he rest in peace. ”
After Gawain’s low and serious words fell, everyone in the conference room looked at each other for a moment. It was obvious that they had not followed Gawain’s thoughts yet, especially Hetty, who showed an expression of disbelief——She Often exposed to disobedient plans, he naturally knows that in the long run, all gods are destined to change from protectors of civilization to enemies of civilization, and what their ancestors have always done is to fight against those gods who are gradually falling into madness, so a powerful one The "mourning" project seemed weird and unreasonable to her.
Duke Baldwin said with a hint of hesitation and thought: "It is to give mages across the country a vent. , to stabilize their emotions..."
"Not only that," Veronica, who was sitting opposite Gawain and holding a platinum scepter, suddenly spoke at this time, with a look of surprise on her face. With an expression on his face, he had obviously vaguely understood Gawain's intention, "I understand what you mean, Your Majesty, you need to bring this matter to a 'conclusion'. "
"This is called 'the coffin conclusion'," Gawain saw that almost everyone at the scene showed thoughtful expressions after Veronica spoke, and he couldn't help but express his emotions. A hint of smile, "The goddess of magic 'died', no matter what the reason is, no matter he is a god or something else, no matter what he has done and what influence he has, in short, he is dead, this god no longer exists, the source of faith has disappeared, and we will mourn Him deeply - mages can grieve and miss her, but no matter what, everyone will know clearly and clearly - there is no more magic goddess in the world.
“This memorial must be as solemn as possible. It must have wide enough influence and large enough scale to form a global consensus and public opinion, so that people who don’t want to accept it must also accept it, and people who want to question it must not be found. The object and reason for questioning.
“Of course, Duke Baldwin is right. This is also an ‘explanation’ for mages across the country, giving them a chance to vent their emotions. We need to direct all their emotions towards mourning so that they have no time to think about other things. ”
After Gawain’s words fell, everyone felt a sudden realization after being shocked. After all, the idea itself was not too unimaginable. Using activities such as funerals to attract attention and define the event was considered This is a relatively routine operation. The key is that "holding a funeral for God" is so unbelievable that no one has even considered it in this direction.
Hetty couldn't bear it after thinking about it for a while. He raised his head again and looked at Gawain with a strange expression: "Is it really okay to do this...? "
"Believe me, there is no more effective way than this," Gawain smiled and nodded to the always worried "Cecil Butler", "This will be what we do for you. held by the godsA funeral, if it successfully plays the guiding, transitional and solidifying role I expected, then this funeral will become a reference in the future. ”
For future reference... As soon as these words came out, the expressions of Hetty and others in the conference room suddenly became weirder than before. However, as someone who had followed Gawain and witnessed two divine disasters, even A group of people who have seen the "skeletons of false gods" with their own eyes know that behind these words is probably an inevitable situation in the future.
As long as civilization continues to advance, as long as the cruel rules of this world remain. If they are running, other gods will surely fall, and after each god falls... Emperor Gawain Cecil will bury them in great glory
Even invisibly watching. Amber, who was in the meeting, couldn't help but show up, looked at Gawain twice, and sighed slightly in her heart - the final word... This is really an appropriate phrase for someone who has once opened the coffin. The person who got up.
Gawain waited for the people in the conference room to finish digesting the previous topic. Hetty on the side also finished recording the meeting process, and then cleared his throat and spoke: " Next, it's time for us to discuss Typhon's side. "
"There is a God of War over there who may have gone crazy," Veronica said with an indifferent expression. "If it is purely from an academic sense, this is a valuable observation sample. We can intuitively Understand the characteristics gradually revealed after the gods fall into madness and the subsequent series of impacts on the world. "
"But this is not just an academic question," Gawain said. "It's time for us to write a letter to Rosetta Augustus - the 'abnormal changes of the magic goddess Myrmena' 'Maybe it's a good starting topic..."
...
Mist enveloped Typhon's imperial capital, and the faint sunshine penetrated the clouds and fog, and the city below It creates an artistic conception of dusk in the fog. In this autumn season, the increasingly cold wind begins to blow in the courtyard and open-air corridor of the Obsidian Palace. Only in the royal garden protected by the greenhouse barrier, the green Full of joy and warmth.
When Matilda Augustus stepped into the royal garden in the atrium of the Obsidian Palace, the warm breath rushed towards her face, quickly dispelling the cold air brought back from the outside. She walked along the cobblestone path to the depths of the garden. In the dim light of dusk, she saw her talented father standing under an orchid-leaf pine, seeming to be gazing at the flowerbed beneath his feet. .
It was a poorly growing flowerbed.
"Father," Matilda stood a few meters behind Rosetta and lowered her head. Returned from the Great Cathedral. "
Rosetta didn't look back, just hummed lightly, and asked casually: "Did Malm Dunit receive you in the inner sanctuary? "
"Yes," Matilda nodded, "and still in accordance with etiquette specifications and procedures. "
"At least everything looks normal on the surface, right? "Rosetta nodded,Still looking away from the nursery, "Tell me what you have seen. We urgently need to know the situation in the cathedral now."
"I directly asked the Pope about recent rumors about churches in various places. ——Because these rumors have been spread, it would be abnormal not to ask," Matilda nodded and replied, "Her Majesty Malm did not give a direct answer or explanation. She only said that someone was maliciously attacking the Church of the God of War, and the Great Sage The church has launched an investigation into the diocese where the rumors have appeared... This is a reply that is consistent with his identity and the situation at the time.
"The Pope himself did not look unusual, and our conversation was consistent with normal circumstances, but I There was clearly a strange... atmosphere in the Great Cathedral.
“There is a tense and depressing atmosphere hanging over the entire Great Cathedral. Although every priest I saw seems to be fine, that atmosphere does exist, and it is empty. The same is true for a place where one is alone. It feels like...the tense and depressing atmosphere is exuded by the great church itself.
"I interacted with some priests without attracting attention. During the conversation, the ordinary priests in the Great Cathedral obviously knew the rumors from various places, and their answers were no different from His Majesty Malm. But there is one thing I find strange... Some priests seemed a little emotional when answering me, as if they were offended in some way - but I can be sure that there is nothing inappropriate in my words and deeds. Regarding the questions raised by those rumors He also used words that were very peaceful and even biased towards the Church of God of War. "
The last anomaly mentioned by Matilda sounded like an unimportant detail, but Rosetta turned back with a serious expression on her face: "What do you think about those priests? There's...other 'things' in 'excitement'? "
"It's just a vague feeling," Matilda said. "Their emotions came very suddenly, and afterwards they all apologized nervously and slightly blankly, while talking to them. I can always feel Ruoyouruowu's eyes moving around, and the priests' voices sometimes suddenly become hoarse... I feel that their emotions seem to be affected by some external factors. That factor makes I'm very uncomfortable. "
"What else did you see? Rosetta frowned, "Have you discovered anything about the Great Cathedral itself?" "
"...Some corridors in the Great Church are a bit dark," Matilda thought carefully and said in an uncertain tone, "I don't know if it's my imagination. There are countless candlelights in the sanctuary, as well as new magic crystal lamps for lighting, but I always feel that it is very dark there - a kind of 'darkness' that does not affect the line of sight and seems to be psychological. I checked with the attendants, and it seemed that I was the only one who felt this way, and no one else noticed anything unusual. "
Rosetta's brows wrinkled a little bit. He stared at his daughter and said nothing for a long time.
Due to the influence of the curse that originated two centuries ago, , a member of the Augustan family... in ""Perception" is somewhat different from ordinary people, especially in some fields involving gods. They can often see and hear things that ordinary people cannot detect. It is for this reason that he asked Matilda to check Matilda herself is obviously aware of the situation in the Great Cathedral.
But this young imperial pearl is not as "experienced" as her father. —She only observed those details, but did not dare to make terrible conclusions like Rosetta Augustus.
"Father," she couldn't help but speak, "do you think... ..."
"The influence of the Church of Mars in Typhon...is deeply rooted," Rosetta suddenly broke the silence, saying something that seemed a little inexplicable to Matilda, "just like a plant taking root. The roots of the thousand-year-old tree have become part of the entire land, and everything that grows on this land is affected to some extent by it. ”
Matilda opened her mouth and wanted to ask something, but suddenly she heard undisguised footsteps coming from the side. The black-haired maid didn’t know when she stepped in. In the garden, when footsteps sounded, she was already ten meters away.
"Diana," Rosetta looked at the other party, "What did the wanderers find?" ”
“The priests who had the accident may have had a very blasphemous and twisted death state, so the bodies were disposed of secretly and quickly. Many witnesses have been controlled by the local church. The wanderers tried to confirm those According to the status of eyewitnesses, it has been confirmed that at least four priests have gone crazy due to mental pollution," Maid Diana reported in a calm and calm tone. "In addition, it has been confirmed that churches in some areas have reduced the size of their weekly prayer meetings. And some facilities of the church were closed in the name of church repairs - the relevant order came from the cathedral, personally instructed by Malm Dunit, and without going through the College of Cardinals. For the Pope to personally authorize such a thing is an anomaly in itself. ”
Matilda listened to Diana’s report and suddenly couldn’t help but open her eyes wide——
The Church of the God of War has always operated independently and in a closed manner, and the imperial power has no way to deal with them. , but when... the wanderer agents affiliated with the royal family were able to investigate the secrets within the church to this extent?