The goddess of magic will probably never come back.
Victor woke up from his deep meditation and saw the familiar magic laboratory in front of him. There were open books and arranged rune stones neatly placed on the table not far away. A faint lavender smoke is floating out of the copper cauldron, and the smell of incense is constantly escaping from it.
There are still some faint and chaotic impressions left in his mind, which are the "revelation" brought by deep meditation, and may be mixed with a little bit of "shadow" similar to a mixture of dreams and illusions. ". He shook his head, getting rid of those meaningless impressions from his mind: in those impressions, there was no feedback from the goddess of magic.
Victor breathed out softly, feeling that his spirit had completely recovered - as an old mage who was no longer young, his energy was not as good as before, and he continued to do several magic experiments or After several hours of high-intensity calculations, he had to use deep meditation to recover, but he felt that he was still far away from "retirement". In terms of the lifespan of a high-level transcendent, he might still be loyal to the Wilder family. Half a century, and the wisdom and experience he has accumulated for most of his life, as well as his accurate judgment on changes in things and current situations, are the keys to ensuring that he has the opportunity to continue to be loyal.
The old mage who served as a senior advisor in Winter Castle left his laboratory. He came to the corridor outside and saw the attendants polishing the beautiful crystal windows. The snow-capped mountains became clearer and sharper under the clear sky, and there were soldiers and battle mages standing guard meticulously at the corner of the corridor, looking energetic and majestic.
The hostess is not in the castle. She took a passenger aircraft (modified based on dragoon technology) to the imperial capital a few days ago. As a member of the "investigation team", she participated in the mysterious disappearance of the goddess of magic. During the days when the mistress left, Winterfort still had to maintain orderly operations. This was the main job of Victor and several other advisors and butlers.
But in fact, this kind of work was not originally theirs. When Ms. Maggie was still in the castle, if the mistress occasionally went out without her, then the head maid would be responsible for it. Manage everything in the castle. This may sound strange to outsiders, but it would be difficult for them to imagine how a "maid" - even a head maid - has the qualifications and ability to manage such a castle and command a large number of mages and noble knights in the castle. And only those who truly live in this castle will understand the head maid's ability and...combat power.
But Lady Maggie has not returned to the North for a long time. She seems to be working directly for the royal family because she is busy completing another task assigned by her mistress.
A high-level attendant wearing a blue and white smock hurriedly walked through the corridor. When he passed in front of Victor, the old mage stopped him: "The castle is preparing for the ceremony." What's going on?"
"Master Victor," the attendant stopped.He stepped forward and saluted the great magician, "The castle is ready - the horns have been polished, the guards have changed into ceremonial uniforms, and everyone, including the painters and kitchen maids, have been notified to be in place. We Just waiting for the bell to ring."
Victor nodded: "Very good, good job - keep busy."
The senior attendant left, and the old mage was thinking about it. After a moment, he sensed the location of the others, then stood up and flew through the corridor, arriving directly at a terrace at the end of the corridor on the second floor of the castle.
A few people have gathered here, seemingly discussing and waiting for something. A translucent breeze shield envelopes this open semicircular terrace, blocking the northern group. The cold mountain wind makes this terrace as comfortable and pleasant as an indoor space.
The old mage controlled the flying technique and landed smoothly on the terrace. A middle-aged mage wearing a light blue robe immediately came up to him: "Master Victor, have you finished your meditation?"
p>"The meditation is over," Victor nodded and asked casually, "Is there any new news from the hostess?"
"There was a communication about half an hour ago," The middle-aged mage nodded and replied, "Let us just follow the procedures issued by the 'Transnational Funeral Committee' and pay attention to order and personnel safety. Other than that, there are no other instructions."
The order of the hostess Still continuing the previous content, it seems that this matter will not change anything today - the goddess of magic will probably never come back.
"Is Sheriff Buddy Moore responsible for order in the city?" Victor looked at the other person on the terrace and asked casually.
"Yes," said the middle-aged lady wearing a black conservative coat with a golden sash on her collar. "Security teams have been deployed in all viewing areas, and medical personnel have also been deployed. Everyone in the city is in place. Almost all the citizens participating in the ceremony have gathered in several squares and two open spaces outside the city - places that other patrols cannot see, I will use my mage eyes to keep an eye on them. ”
Victor nodded, feeling slightly reassured.
Today, a special funeral will be held, and mortals will bury a god. However, for most ordinary people in the city, the goddess of magic is a god that has nothing to do with them, except for " In addition to the astonishing gimmick of "The Fall of Gods" which attracted enough attention and shock, most of the people gathered today actually came to watch the fun. However, precisely because they are citizens watching the fun... maintaining order is a special task. Important work.
There were too many people, and "The Fall of the Gods" really attracted too many people, which made Victor, a mage, feel even more uncomfortable.
He looked at the middle-aged mage wearing a light blue robe, as if he wanted to say something. However, before he could speak, a melodious bell sounded suddenly from the direction of the main building of the castle. Breaking his movement.
The sound of the bell is melodious and low, with a slow rhythmSlow and solemn, the heavy dull sound produced by the metal impact penetrated the air with a sound, rippling around with Winter Castle as the center. While the castle bell rang, several bell towers in the city below also They started operating almost at the same time, the mechanical synchronization device drove them accurately, and the solemn bells instantly enveloped the entire city.
Immediately afterwards, the magic network terminals inside and outside the castle were activated at the same time, and a low and solemn voice came from the magic devices located in the winter courtyard, meeting hall, and city square on time: "Attention everyone, the silence begins. "
Everyone on the terrace closed their mouths at the same time and began to observe silence in accordance with the procedures. The whole city became extremely quiet for an instant, and only the sound of the bell seemed to have not dispersed in people's ears. The edge echoed illusively.
Three minutes later, the moment of silence ended. Victor heard a loud horn sound suddenly coming from the direction of the city wall. He subconsciously raised his head. A moment later, he saw a sudden rise in the direction of the southwest city wall. A few small black shadows appeared. Those black shadows took off from the city wall, getting closer and closer, gradually revealing clear, inverted cone-like outlines. They passed over the castle in a low buzzing sound. The main body then flew towards the city, circled over the city and then returned to the castle, and continued to accelerate towards the frozen mountains in the distance.
That is the dragoon team under Winter Castle. They are carrying the "relic holy ash" of the goddess of magic. According to the procedure, they have to spread the ashes to the mountains of the north before the sun sets.
In such a process, Victor finally felt a little sad - although like most mages, he is only a shallow believer of the goddess of magic, but a shallow believer is still a believer after all, and at this moment He finally had a real sense of what happened. Although this feeling was a bit weird, he truly realized that... the goddess of magic really could not come back.
In the funeral, in the hearts of everyone involved, the goddess left like a human being and really could not come back.
......
The Dragoon Squadron passed over the city at low altitude, and a low buzzing sound came from the sky, and among these aircraft carrying the "Relic Holy Ashes" After accelerating towards the direction of the White Water River, a low and solemn voice came from the broadcasting devices installed throughout the city, and a memorial speech to the goddess of magic Myrmina began to be played.
Amber took a step forward and opened the window of the study, allowing the sounds from outside to enter the room more clearly - those sounds echoed among the tall buildings in Cecil City, waiting until they reached here By the time, it has been layered with an unreal texture, like a large-scale chant.
Gawain stood behind the window, looking calmly at the clear and vast blue sky outside.
The three great consuls Hetty, Victoria and Baldwin stood beside Gawain. They listened to the noise coming from outside and looked at each other. Their expressions were a little strange for a moment.
“The funeral seemed to go smoothly.Li..." Hetty twitched the corners of her lips and said to Gawain, "The news of the dragon cavalry taking off has been heard from various places. "
"'Ashes' are scattered over the mountains and the earth, and the goddess's soul returns to this world..." Baldwin whispered, "This symbolic meaning...is indeed extraordinary. ”
“Professional,” Amber, who returned from the window, commented next to him, “very professional.” ”
Gao Wen actually thought it was quite strange, but he still maintained his dignified ancestral persona. He nodded slightly and said, “We have established a very professional committee just for this moment.” A sense of ritual. "
"A god 'died' like a mortal at a funeral. The more solemn the ceremony was, the more irrefutable his 'death' was," Hetty said, but Then he muttered in a strange tone, "But... in another sense, the goddess of magic is still 'alive' after all... Isn't it a bit inappropriate for us to do this..."
"A bit Not quite suitable? "Gawain glanced at Hetty, smiled and shook his head, "But isn't Lady Myrmina's greatest wish just to destroy her own throne - we are doing her a big favor, believe me, that 'goddess' I definitely have no objection. Maybe she would even like to thank us. "
"...To be honest, I even suspected that she was secretly watching her funeral the whole time," Amber muttered next to her. "After all, she hid it on her own initiative and was not imprisoned. She was in the Shadow Realm, and no one knew about her sneaking out. "
"That's not what we care about. "Gawain said casually.
While they were talking, the memorial broadcast that resounded throughout the city gradually came to an end. In the announcer's emotional narration, the loving, great, and wise goddess of magic Ms. Mirmina's meaningful life has been summarized. The Cecil Royal Family and the Supreme Government Affairs Office have made an attribution for this god, affirming the outstanding contribution he has made in the development of mortal civilization. The basic summary is: ——
After the proposal of the Government Affairs Department, the discussion of the three consuls, and the approval of the emperor himself, the life of the magic goddess Myrmina was a life of selfless devotion, a life of kindness and generosity, and a life of active struggle. , the people of Cecil and all the mortals in this world who have been blessed by the goddess of magic will always remember him and wish him a good journey.
And the dragoon formations in various places soon spread the news. They have successfully completed their mission.
With as many witnesses as possible watching, the pilots of the Empire carried out the largest joint flight mission in history, giving away the "ashes" of the goddess of magic... It was sprinkled evenly on this land that He once protected and loved deeply.
“I really didn’t expect that you could write such a memorial. "Words," Victoria looked at Gawain. There was no expression on her always frozen face, but her tone was obviously a little weird, "I didn't expect you to use so many words of praise to describe a god... To be honest, you can get like thisA ‘funeral’ can be considered full of glory for anyone. ”
“Leaving honor to the deceased is the most unnecessary behavior. I can generously leave all the praise in the world to the goddess of magic, because she is already ‘dead’, not to mention that our memorial ceremony is more and more important.” The sincere love made her die more like a human being," Gawain said with a half-smile, "and the memorial speech is not meant for the dead - it is meant for the living. "
"I don't know what the situation is like in Typhon," Baldwin said suddenly. "I hope those Typhonians won't cause trouble." "
"I trust them at this point," Gawain said. "Maybe they don't have magic network communications and dragoon aircraft, but they have communication towers all over the country and more dragoons than us. There are two or three times the number of griffins and mage troops, and when it comes to 'making a big scene', an old empire will never be worse than the young Cecil. There will also be a grand funeral there,"
As he spoke, he glanced at the mechanical clock hanging on the wall not far away, and then nodded at the three great consuls in front of him. Head: "It's almost time. It seems that this 'funeral' has ended successfully. Let's talk about other topics. ”
He left the window and returned behind the desk. However, when he just sat down and was about to start the topic, his eyes froze for a moment.
The wooden Above the desk, the arcane energy floating in the air focused out of thin air, leaving scorched dents on the table. The dent lines quickly extended and gradually spelled out into eye-catching words——
"Thank you——"
Gawain: "..."
Before he tried to capture the breath, the energy focused out of thin air dissipated, leaving nothing behind Next.
Gawain shook his head, reached out and brushed the handwriting on the table, erasing the writing, and at the same time muttered: "It took a lot of time to hide it, so just hide it well. ”