Sandora and I stayed at the edge of the galaxy for almost a day, and we also had a delay on the Admiral of the Empire before, so it was basically "missing" for a whole day, but due to a little delay when we set off Celine has been vaccinated, and the latter did not have any doubts about our whereabouts this day. This is rare, and it fully proves the trust of this battle nun in Sandora and me—after all, it is an extraordinary period, and the matter of heretics The trainee priests in the town were panicked, and the whole town was almost banned from entering and leaving.
And after Shandora and I came back, we soon got good news: the Pope's decree from the holy capital of the Holy See had been issued, and Celine had the opportunity to face the Pope, and as she expected, Sandora and I also had to Follow along.
In fact, it doesn't matter whether there is this invitation or not. At worst, Sandora and I will directly parachute to the Holy City to find someone, but that will inevitably be a bit chaotic and troublesome, so the two of us have been waiting until today. And it turns out that this kind of waiting is worthwhile: if we hadn't waited patiently, we would not have learned from the female leader of the technological revivalists that the Pope changes every century and that the real secret may be in the hands of the cardinals. People may have to waste a lot of effort. There is no need to think about anything now, the invitation letter to the holy capital has been delivered, Sandora and I can just wait and set off with peace of mind.
During dinner, Celine announced the news of "The Pope's Summoning". Compared with a few days ago, the biggest change of this single-mother-type combat nun who has entered the working state is that she has a more vigorous and decisive feeling, although that kind of feeling is not always there. The exhausted expression of waking up is lingering, but she speaks and does things with a vigor and vigor. I suspect that she must have been like this when she was an adventurer back then. The lifeless atmosphere when I saw her a few days ago Needless to say, it is only brought about by the hard life of these years.
"I'm leaving the day after tomorrow. I only have one day to prepare tomorrow. The time is relatively tight. But you shouldn't have any problems traveling frequently," Celine nodded to Sandora and me while cutting the bread for the little girl Elle at the dinner table. "Because the Pope personally summoned us, we can ride the church's giant eagle. This saves time. Counting the interim rest and transit, we can reach the holy capital in two days. But you probably haven't ridden that kind of giant beast before? Even if it is an adventure Or, the opportunity to fly in the air is probably not so easy to come by. I will apply for you to prepare a giant eagle with a closed pod. Miss Sandora looks... very light, and the two of you will not be together. I'll be scared."
"It's okay. We are not afraid of 'flying'," I waved my hand, thinking that the giant eagle should be a means of transportation that can only be used by the high-end people in this world. It seems that after losing its superb technology, the church had to find a partial replacement from the beast. Taste. But its popularity must not be very good. At least official priests like Celine can only obtain "flight permission" under special circumstances. "Look at Sandora, she has been flying around, and I am too." Very experienced in flying."
Sandora Ball is lazily soaking in a huge soup basin at the moment. She uses this to satisfy her appetite from the spiritual level, but no matter what, I still feel that she is like a big balloon floating on the vegetable soup—of course, I can’t say this, otherwise she will jump and splash in anger. All the people present were disheveled. Her Majesty groaned and swayed a few times: "Yes, flying is a very common thing. In fact, I am definitely faster than your wind-riding giant eagle."
Celine looked at the Sandora ball with a strange life form. And look at me, the mysterious "adventurer and scholar" who married a ball as his wife. The corner of my mouth twitched and I bowed my head, as if I didn't intend to continue communicating with our abnormal duo.
"Mom, can I follow?" The little girl Ai Lu bowed her head for a long time as a good child, and finally couldn't help making a sound at this time. She looked at Celine with her big eyes full of expectation, "I I want to see the Pope, people say that the Pope is eight feet tall and his waist is also eight feet... "
"Don't talk nonsense, you have to respect the Pope." Celine immediately gave her daughter a stern look, then shook her head, "This is not going out to play, it's still the same as before, you go to Aunt Asaly, I have already arranged Yes, you stayed at Asaly's house for half a month. But I will probably come back before then, just to report some things, and the specific actions of the upper echelons of the church should be nothing to me."
It seems that this is not the first time that Ailu has been left at home. Celine probably has to go to the Archdiocese or the Holy Capital to report every once in a while (she is also the person in charge of a place, she usually has no job, and every New Years and holidays, I always have to punch a card to get a salary or something), but the little girl still tried her best to show that the whole world owed her eight million: "But the dough cakes made by Aunt Asaly can almost knock out teeth .”
Celine's expression froze, and then she turned her face away, and her tone became less confident: "... you can't say that when you go to your aunt's house. You have been taken care of by her since you were a child. But she does have a problem with baking bread... Why don't you change it temporarily and go to your Uncle Ford?"
Ailu's face immediately turned green: "No, Uncle Ford tricked me into eating spicy vegetables, which are very spicy."
What a harmonious and friendly mother and daughter. By the way, Sandora, have you soaked enough? You've soaked enough to let my noodles soak in, okay? The dry chewing noodles are choking to death!
There is no need to go into details about the travel preparations for the next day. Anyway, Sandora and I have nothing to prepare, so we just hold a travel bag and pretend that we have luggage. Anyway, I can take out anything I need on the road from this travel bag. No problem from wild survival knife to wild survival island. Early in the morning of the third day, Celine sent Elle to a friend's house, and then locked the door of the hotel and led us to the square in front of the church. Some huge "eagles" and several monks in black clothes had already Wait here.
The giant eagle of Yufeng... is actually not as powerful as I imagined. Although it has a name of "Eagle", it actually looks more like a strange-looking vulture. I don't know what kind of giant bird it is several meters long. They are not the original creatures on this planet, or the products transformed by the ancient civilizations (after all, their shapes are not the result of natural evolution). In short, they are the alternative means of transportation after the world loses its aircraft and airships. , and seems to be the fastest one. Each Eagle has a seat attached to its back, with its own reliable straps and a primitive parachute backpack (who knows how well). This group of giant eagles were transferred from the neighboring archdiocese, and the men in black robes who came here together were the church's "air knights", and they served as guards and guides along the way. As expected, these sky knights are equipped with advanced weapons, and people in this world call them holy clothes. It's actually a particle rifle or something.
I imagined a group of medieval-style monks in divine robes riding on giant eagles full of fantasy, shouting slogans from the gods while fighting with particle rifles and small rockets. This scene is really touching!
Obviously, such cool things rarely appear in this small town. A few giant eagles of Yufeng attracted a lot of civilians and children to watch, and the little girl Ai Lu was kicked out by her mother in advance. Otherwise, they must be making trouble at the scene at this time. However, all the civilians were standing far away from the Yufeng Giant Eagle, and even the bear children consciously did not come up to them casually. It seemed that people were quite afraid of these fierce-looking creatures.
"It's been a long time since I've ridden this thing." Celine looked at the huge raptor in front of her, and couldn't help showing nostalgia. "Ordinary adventurers don't have the opportunity to fly casually. When I was in the church, I rode a giant eagle for a while because every clergyman had to learn to fly. But what I learned back then was only used in battle. If ordinary people just want to ride on the road... there is no difficulty , Overcome your fear, keep warm, and make sure to tie the rope. Just close your eyes and wait for the destination. By the way, your giant eagle is the one next to it. Although Mr. Scholar, you said that you have flying experience, it was domesticated by the church. The giant eagle is much faster than the rental giant eagle that adventurers can get in touch with, remember to check the binding rope carefully."
"Oh. No problem," I came to my giant eagle, and I couldn't help pointing to a small round basket with a lid next to the seat and asked, "What is this for? Why is there no such thing on other giant eagles? ?”
"Uh..." Celine's face was slightly embarrassed, "This is the 'seat' for Miss Sandora. The church colleagues discussed all night and couldn't figure out how to prepare a seat for a ball. It's not very safe, let you fly all the way and we worry about accidents or make you too tired, and then... not good?"
I thought about it, and didn't dare to let go of Sandora (for fear that Her Majesty the Queen's majesty would rush out and hit people's heads): "Hehe, thank you for your kindness—but I think it's enough to hold her by myself, and Sandora can fly by herself. Please believe that her flying skills are no worse than these birds."
Although I feel that there are too many slots, after all, these church personnel are also good intentions. It is difficult for them to study and prepare a seat for a ball. Maybe how many sky knights faced this incredible request last night and almost scratched their heads. , so it's better to just laugh away the grudges, I believe that the Queen of Sandora will not care about such small problems.
Celine nodded with a strange expression (in fact, she often has a strange expression when she sees the strange duo of me and Sandora) nodded, then turned on the bird very chicly, and waved her hand imposingly: "Let's go!" !"
So we embarked on a journey to the legendary holy capital of the lost god religion. Time flies like an arrow, and the sun and the moon fly by.
I can't believe it's going so smoothly! As an epic-level hard worker who had to encounter something every time he was on the road for several years, he did not encounter natural disasters or man-made disasters, nor hijacked planes by heretics, except for the Sandora ball falling from the sky a few times. (By the way, Sandora also proved that she really flies very fast with practical actions), dare you believe it
Believe it or not, we have arrived anyway: a great mountain city, the holy capital of religion.
The city lies in a cold place near the mountains of the north, separated from the sea by a half-circle of mountains. Across the mountains is the ocean, and on the other side of the ocean is an island chain known as a magical pearl and a mysterious heritage. It is said that there are many magical products from the ancient times on the large and small islands, and the base of the Lost God is located on the other side of the mountain. land, surrounded by mountains. The warm monsoon from the ocean is blocked by the mountains, and the holy capital is located in the middle of the mountains with a lower temperature. Half of the year here is winter, but the time we came is not bad, it is the summer of the whole continent, holy Here is also the appearance of ice and snow melting, vegetation and spring.
This city is not as a whole as I imagined, but is divided into several areas scattered along the mountains, just like a large mountain is excavated and built into a city. Those magnificent buildings hidden in the mountains are due to Scattered and less prosperous. But because it blends with the mountains, it adds a bit of atmosphere. The Yufeng Giant Eagle we took landed smoothly on a higher rocky platform in the holy capital. Since we changed trains in the middle, the Yufeng Giant Eagle was no longer the group when we set off.
"This is the Stone Terrace of the Windcaller. The church's Windcaller Falcons are managed by the magic faction, so you will see many magical creations on the Stone Terrace of the Windcaller. Miss Sandora's 'Egg Curse' must be It will be resolved by the cardinal of the magic faction." Two days of running around didn't seem to make Celine, a seemingly weak battle nun, any tired. As soon as everyone landed, she began to introduce us enthusiastically. Due to the situation here, both Sandora and I confessed that we had never been to the Holy Capital because we were afraid of mistakes before, so she felt that as a member of the church and an "introducer", she had to act as a half guide, "We rest here for half a day , and then go directly to the cathedral in the city. Oh. You can see the cathedral from here, the biggest black and white building is, amazing isn't it?"
Celine happily pointed to the stone platform and followed the direction of her finger. I saw a large group of magnificent buildings hidden in the mountains, the most conspicuous of which was indeed the highest temple of the religion known as the "Crown of Knowledge". It is a huge building with a circle of pointed towers and guards, and its style is a bit like a Baroque church. The most eye-catching thing is its color scheme—one half is black and the other is white, and it is clearly divided into two halves from the middle, just like two churches Put together in general!
"White represents technology. Black represents mystery. The Pope of Technology and the Pope of Magic jointly exercise the power bestowed by God in the 'Knowledge Crown', supervise the knowledge trend of this world, and guide believers how to approach ancient wisdom carefully," Celine A strange symbol was drawn on the chest. With a happy look on her face, "When Ai Lu grows up, maybe I should bring her here to see the world. That girl spends all day at home thinking about irrelevant things. After all, she can't stay in the country. In fact, I I have a plan—I will bring her to settle in the holy capital when she becomes an adult. Anyway, the ancient tower ruins have been opened, and after a few years of excavation, it will become an abandoned site. My mission will be completed. The town doesn't have much to miss, so it's better to go back to the Holy Capital, where I grew up."
After a few days of contact, I have discovered that Celine is actually a very talkative person, with a gentle personality and not dull, and she can easily open up to people she trusts. This is an ordinary single mother: life is a bit difficult, and there is still some sadness in her heart, but she has a lovely child as support. The burden of life may be heavy, but she can still support it. She lives an ordinary life , working in an ordinary way, and taking care of her children in an ordinary way, she won't know that she has witnessed history unintentionally, and she doesn't even know that she may become a pivotal part of history—that is, the Shadow City has expanded again, Maybe when the time comes, she and Ai Lu can try to settle down in a more prosperous and magical place? At least those weird ideas in Ailu's head will never be regarded as weird in Shadow City.
The Stone Terrace of the Windcaller is called "Shitai". It is actually a very wide and irregular square. On one side of the square is an open space facing the sky. It is the place where giant eagles and other flying camels land. The other side of the square is basically houses and shops. Most of the people living in this city are members of the church. However, due to the peculiar rules of the Lost God religion, even members of the church have to live like ordinary people on weekdays. To make a living, they still have to work and do business in their own cities. The most common conversations heard in the streets and alleys are this: "God of technology, Ankang, Cardinal Joseph, how do you sell your radishes?" "The god of magic is here Up, Archbishop Roland looks pretty good—five copper coins a catty." "Why is it more expensive than yesterday?" "Oh, Cardinal Wilson, who delivered food to the market, was kneeling on the washboard at home. I hired a car to bring this food down the mountain myself. Pull it up, you have to let me earn a copper plate of hard-earned money..." "Tsk, you old stingy, in the name of the god of technology, give me two cilantro and I'll go back and order noodles." "God of magic is on top! Your Is it two?!"
Basically the rhythm of the streets and alleys.
The Pope receives visitors at night, so the church has arranged a place for us to rest. After all, it is quite tiring for ordinary people to blow the natural wind at high altitude in the past two days. Not Superman), we arrived at a hostel in the inner area of the Windcaller Stone Terrace under the leadership of a few monks. It seems that this place is specially prepared for pilgrims who come to the holy capital for sightseeing, but it is not a festival now , there are no tourists here, and the surrounding area of the hostel is naturally very deserted.
But it seems that there are some activities in the holy city
Because the Windcaller Stone Terrace is very high, you can easily see the scene of the city below. I found that there are many black-robed or red-robed monks hurrying along the wide roads dug or piled up along the mountain. The clergy would only dress like this when performing missions or going out as the spokesperson of the gods. On weekdays, they all wore casual clothes (just like Celine when they met for the first time), so these monks who were hurrying on the mountain path Apparently they had been called up for something.
They are all converging in one direction: the cathedral in the middle of the Holy City. RP