On the 15th of the cold month, the city of Cecil was brimming with a victorious atmosphere.
For ordinary citizens, the complicated conflict of interests between countries was too profound, and the knowledge of the gods was too distant. Many people could not understand the truth behind the war, but a victory was always worth celebrating. Although the official announcement of the armistice had not been made, and the negotiations between Typhon and Cecil had not even begun, many good news had begun to spread in the big cities, where communication was convenient. In the last month of winter, these good news were like the coming Month of Recovery, lifting the spirits of the people.
Near the Imperial College, a tall young man with short silver hair was walking briskly across the street.
The snow on the road had been cleared, and the dirty snowdrifts clustered under the trees on both sides of the road, ready to be turned into fresh supplies for the trees when the weather warmed up. A few children in thick winter clothes were running around the snowdrifts, not caring if they would dirty their clothes as they had snowball fights with the dirty snow. Some citizens who were on vacation walked lazily by. Some stood at the door, discussing with their neighbors the various news that had been circulating in the city. Most of them were about the war at the border.
Ordinary people's understanding of the war was always one-sided. Even if they had experienced a wandering life, they could not accurately describe the great war between Typhon and Cecil. They used their own understanding to discuss the victory of the empire, the defeat of the enemy, and the rumors of the gods losing control and the corruption of the church. These voices reached the ears of the silver-haired young man, who smiled helplessly. He then quickened his pace and quickly crossed the short street.
He came to a clean and tidy house facing the street. He glanced at the house number in front of him, walked up a few steps, took out his key, and opened the door. A warm breeze immediately hit him in the face.
The young man stepped into the house, and the warmth from the central heating quickly dispelled the chill that had accumulated along the way. He poked his head into the living room, took off his coat, and hung it on a hook near the wall. Footsteps quickly came from the stairs, and a moment later, a familiar voice rang out. "Hey! Fendil! I heard the door open, and I guessed that you're back! "
The silver-haired heir of the Northern Region, Fendil Werder, looked in the direction of the voice and saw Eliven Franklin with a tired face and messy hair walking towards him. Fendil smiled and said, "Why do you look like you haven't slept for a year?"
"I'm completing the homework assigned by my mentor — some calculation and deduction of the magic power loss in the crystal … Sigh, it's nothing to brag about. It's incomparable to what a 'great hero' who has just retreated from the battlefield has experienced." Elawen, who had short brown hair and a slightly short stature, came in front of Fendill and glanced at the sergeant's coat that was just hung on the wall. There was a hint of admiration in his eyes. "You're now a person who has experienced the battlefield."
"Don't say that." Fendil immediately waved his hand. "I'm just a non-commissioned officer student who hasn't graduated yet. His Majesty has assigned us to the second line of battle. I, the other non-commissioned officers, and the new recruits have been busy on the supply line between the Contract Castle and Winterwolf Fort most of the time. Except for the last time when I was a little nervous when I was transporting supplies to the front line, I've never really come into contact with the battlefield, let alone have any military exploits to speak of."
Eliven could not help but look at Fendil from head to toe. "I didn't expect you to be such a humble person."
Fendil laughed. As he walked towards the living room, he said casually, "If you had a strict aunt, you would be as humble as me. When she knew that I was going to the front line as a non-commissioned officer trainee, she sent me a magic net message. In summary, she only told me one thing: if I dared to boast about my military exploits, she would freeze me and hang me on the highest tower of Winterwolf Fort …"
Eliven immediately shrunk his neck. "I think Miss Victoria would really do it …"
"Of course, she can do it. So we'd better not talk about this terrible topic." Fendill sat on the soft sofa in the living room. The feeling of relaxation eased his nerves and muscles, which had been tense since he left the frontline, bit by bit. He glanced at his friend who was walking towards him. His face showed a look that only appeared when he was asking for help. "Erawen, I need your help with something …"
"You want me to help?" Erawin pointed at himself in surprise. "Is it about math and magic again? Do you still have these subjects in the second year of the non-commissioned officer course? "
"Of course not." Fendil immediately waved his hand. "I just need your grammar skills. You know, I'm not good at this."
"Grammar?" Eliven heard what Fendil said and frowned subconsciously. "Fendil, did you see a girl in the army that moves your heart? But I have to remind you, it's best to kiss a love letter yourself … "
"Stop, stop, stop. That's not it!" Fendil was amused by his friend's overly imaginative imagination. He waved his hand hard. "It's a serious matter. My superior asked me to do it, but I feel that I don't know where to start, so I want to ask for your help. Of course, this matter is not confidential, so you can rest assured. "
Eliven hesitated for a moment, but after seeing the serious look on his friend's face, he nodded. "That depends on the specific details of the help. I reserve the right to refuse."
"It's very simple. His Majesty has instructed some of us who have experienced the war to write something," Fendil said slowly. He thought of the atmosphere in the city that was about to celebrate. He also thought of the citizens who were talking about the news on the streets. "About who we are fighting with, why we are fighting, the aftermath of the war, and how this war relates to people at all levels of society. I know how to say it, but I need you to help me polish up the specific content."
Eliven listened carefully to what his friend said, but he could not help but show a hint of curiosity on his face. "I know what you want me to do, but … why do you want me to do this?"
…
"Let's say it's for further 'awakening', to get people out of the mire of ignorance and blindness." In Cecil Palace, Gwen returned to his familiar study. Amber stood beside him as usual. His words were meant for the curious half-elf. "In fact, we should have done this before the war started. But the changes were beyond our plan, and we didn't have time to catch up."
Speaking of this, he glanced at Amber, who was deep in thought, and explained seriously, "Let the military intellectuals summarize all kinds of common knowledge about the war, sort out the context behind the war, and let the propaganda department conduct a 'war analysis' on the citizens. From the motive, meaning, and long-term impact, tell everyone who we are fighting, why we are fighting, why we are winning, and why we are at peace. In a sense, this is as important as the knowledge we have been working on."
"I seem to understand what you're thinking." Amber thought for a while, and even her ears drooped a little. But she finally understood Gwen's idea. "It's still the concept you mentioned before … Country, nation, society. The people must first understand what kind of collective they are in, then they can establish a sense of identity with this collective, and further build a more long-term cohesion … Is that what you mean?"
"That's a big part of the reason." Gwen was very happy that Amber really remembered what he usually taught her (although she would also remember a lot of things that she did not need to remember at the same time). "We need to build a more progressive and enlightened society. This requires us to have more progressive and enlightened members of our society. In this regard, whether it's Typhon or Cecil, they are far from enough. People need to know more, need to think more, and need to be able to distinguish right from wrong, instead of facing social changes in ignorance and eventually attributing these changes to heroes, emperors, or 'God bless'. If this really happens, then a lot of our efforts will be in vain. "
"I understand what you mean, but it's not easy to do." Amber pursed her lips. She did not seem optimistic. "Those who can think rationally and distinguish right from wrong will always be the minority. Even if tens of thousands of scholars are working day and night to tell everyone how the world works, there will still be millions of people who will continue to blindly follow. What's worse, they will take what you teach them out of context, misunderstand, or even deliberately distort the content. After all, what you are teaching them now is no longer simple spelling, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, but the subtle structure of a country and society."
"Indeed, those who can think rationally and distinguish right from wrong will always be the minority. But even if we can make one percent of people change, this will be a huge push for the whole society." Gwen leaned back in the chair, his fingers crossed in a relaxed posture. "And more importantly, our preaching will give ordinary people some opportunity to think. Whether their thinking is deep or shallow, right or wrong, this kind of thinking itself is the most important.
"We need to let everyone know that everything in this world has rules to follow, from their daily lives to the war between empires. These are all explainable, and further natural phenomena and social changes should also be understandable. As long as this concept gradually takes root in people's minds, we can breathe a sigh of relief."
Amber blinked. "Even if a group of stupid people are debating a bunch of stupid questions after reading the newspaper, it's still better than letting them shout 'God bless' after seeing something they can't understand."
"Your summary … is really on point." Gwen looked at Amber with some surprise. "I didn't think of such a good summary."
"I've been studying hard all the time, okay?" Amber suddenly put her hands on her waist. "The messy concepts you usually talk about are more complicated than the previous one. I don't want to be laughed at by Heti and Rebecca every time."
Gwen looked at the half-elf with a smile. He had long been familiar with her character, and knew that a little praise would make her forget herself and get cocky. But this time, she really understood his philosophy, so it was not a big deal to let her be proud for a while.
And while Amber was gloating, Gwen gradually fell into deep thought.
He had now returned to Cecil City, but the dust of the "war" between Typhon and Cecil had not really settled. Now that the two empires had ceased fire, the people of Typhon had agreed to the terms of ceasefire negotiations in the Elven neutral zone, and Rosetta Augustus had sent a handwritten letter, personally approving the "Community Union" plan. But whether it was the ceasefire negotiations or the establishment of the "Community Union", these two things needed some time.
Rosetta Augustus had returned to Oldenheim. Typhon had paid a huge price in this disaster that the entire country had fought against. Now, Rosetta had to think of a way to stabilize the shaky situation in the country. Fortunately, he had made preparations in advance, and eliminated almost all the opposition in the country with lightning speed. At the same time, he controlled all the key lifelines in the country with absolute military authority. The military nobles, including Ferdinand Wendell, stood firmly on the side of the royal family. In theory, as long as these military nobles did not waver, the situation in Typhon would not worsen. And with the resumption of trade between the two countries and the economic recovery, everything would be better.
On the other hand, Gwen and Rosetta had sent out "invitation letters" to the countries they had established diplomatic relations with, calling on these countries to send out representatives to face the changes in the world together.
The war that happened at the border between Typhon and Cecil had destroyed the entire plains and shocked the whole world. Even though there were not many countries involved in this disaster, there were still countless pairs of eyes that were watching this war, as well as the shocking "crazy god" in the final battle. Gwen believed that every country that was watching this war had their own methods. Their rulers should have more or less found out the secret behind this divine disaster. Most of them should now be in a state of panic and confusion. And now … Typhon and Cecil would officially announce this divine disaster.
But when it came to the specific content of the announcement … it needed to be seriously considered and handled carefully.
Gwen had to consider the gods and their churches who had not yet lost control and were in a normal state. He had to prevent the announcement from being too exciting and making the gods behind these churches unstable. At the same time, he had to ensure that the announcement had enough information to frighten the world, so that the leaders of the countries would be vigilant and realize that the gods were not perfect protectors. They had to realize that the gods also had hidden dangers of losing control.
While considering these issues, Gwen was also thinking about something else.
In order to eliminate a crazy god of war, Typhon and Cecil had paid a huge price, but there was more than one god in the world.
How many times could all the mortals pay such a price?
Not to mention that there was a huge hidden danger behind this kind of head-on elimination. After the divine position was lost, if the subsequent spiritual construction and ideological guidance for the public did not keep up, if a large number of mortals still habitually feared the corresponding god and were used to attributing things to the gods … then the fallen god would sooner or later return to the divine position, and the huge sacrifice to eliminate the crazy god would become meaningless.
It was because of this concern that Gwen considered further literacy for the people. He put the work of analyzing war and explaining the political and economic principles on the agenda. But he knew that this was still not enough.
In general, he was worried about these two things. First, there were too many gods in the world. With the power of mortals, even if they could kill a god once, they might not be able to wipe out all the gods. Second, he was worried that the subsequent spiritual construction could not keep up. The habitual prayer of mortals and blind reverence for the unknown would make the gods return to the divine position.
While thinking, he subconsciously used the pen in his hand to draw on a blank piece of paper. First, a few messy letters, then a few words were scribbled out.
Amber just recovered from her complacent state and noticed Gwen's movements. She curiously leaned her head over to take a look.
An unfamiliar word came into her eyes:
Theocratic Council.
(The special animation of the Record of Abnormal Creatures needs more support. The number of views is not optimistic. It needs to be turned on for more than ten minutes to count …)
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