Night was falling.
Stars shrouded the night sky of Cecil City. The starlight and the artificial lights on the ground reflected each other. A thin halo spread over the city, giving the starlight a hazy and illusory texture. Sir Golos looked up at the stars in this foreign land and heard faint music coming from the bustling streets in the distance.
The starry sky in Dragon's Arrival Castle was brighter than here, but the night was colder. It was not as bustling as here, but it had a different kind of solemnity.
Putting aside personal feelings, which side was better was a difficult question to answer.
Ashalena's voice came from the side, interrupting Sir Golos's thoughts. "Sir, your daughter has left. If you still want to stay here in the cold for a few hours, then I won't accompany you. A warm room and a little wine before bed are calling me."
Golos was awakened from his thoughts. His eyes looked away from the dark night sky. He glanced in the direction where Maggie had left and shook his head with a complicated smile. "Do you think that Maggie's meeting with me tonight was arranged by Gwen Cecil?"
"As long as we stand here, then everything that happens around us can be seen as the result of Emperor Cecil's arrangement. It's meaningless to dwell on it." Ashalena glanced at Golos. "The key is whether you are willing to accept these 'arrangements' and whether these 'arrangements' will affect your judgment as an ambassador."
The Dragonmark Witch paused for a moment and added, "As for my personal opinion, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. All of Gawain Cecil's actions so far have been within the bounds of propriety. He has carefully taken care of the feelings of the dragonkin and is working hard to push the whole thing forward. You can see tonight's matter as an 'arrangement', but you can also see it as an expression of goodwill and sincerity. "
Golos was silent for a few seconds in deep thought. Then, before Ashalena could urge him, he said, "Lady Ashalena, I'm afraid I have to trouble you again. Please contact Dragon's Arrival Castle again."
Ashalena sighed deliberately. "… Sigh, I knew it would be like this."
…
The night breeze blew into the study.
Gwen looked up from a pile of documents and saw Amber's figure quickly emerging from the air.
"How's the situation?" he asked casually.
"The father and daughter talked for a long time. Other than a small accident at the beginning, the overall atmosphere was quite harmonious," Hu Po reported the results of his stalking. "But according to your instructions, I didn't get too close and didn't eavesdrop on their private matters. I don't know what they talked about in detail."
"Well, it's mainly because of your strength. If you get too close, you'll be easily killed." Gwen nodded. "It doesn't matter. After all, our main purpose is to let Margie and Sir Golos meet. As for the result … it's up to fate. We don't count on it."
Amber did not refute Gwen's comment of "easily killed". Instead, she nodded in agreement. Then, she glanced curiously at the pile of documents in front of Gwen. "… You still have so many things to deal with?"
"The construction projects all over the country have started, and there are also new diplomatic, economic, military, and industrial plans. Although there are people in charge of each department, there are still many things that require my personal attention." Gawain glanced at the mountainous pile of documents in front of him and smiled helplessly. "Actually, it's okay, there aren't many things that are particularly troublesome."
Amber scratched her head and muttered, "My head is going to explode every day when I just have to deal with the intelligence gathered by the MIB …"
Gwen suddenly stopped flipping through the documents in his hand. After a moment, he smiled. "When the computing center is officially opened, the situation will be much better. A lot of work can be done by machines and the network. The clerks and assistant administrative officers will have the energy to deal with more important things. After the efficiency is improved, our work …"
"Our work will increase accordingly. From reviewing ten documents a day to reviewing a hundred documents a day, you'll be able to quickly solve a problem that would have taken you a few days to solve in the past, but you'll find that there's still no end to the problems waiting for you to solve." Amber's eyes rolled up as he mumbled in a sentimental tone, "I've been with you for a few years now. Next time when you're trying to trick me, at least think of something else..."
Gwen looked at Amber, who seemed to be enlightened. He suddenly felt that the half-elf's progress over the years was actually not inferior to the others. This guy was getting harder and harder to fool.
At this moment, a special breath suddenly disturbed Gwen's perception. After a while, he nodded to Amber, who was sitting across the table. "We have a guest."
Amber's first reaction was to pull out her power baton from behind her waist. "Okay, I'll —"
"No, it's really a guest." Gwen realized that his words were ambiguous and quickly waved his hand. "Put that thing away. Maygor, you can show up now."
As his voice trailed off, an invisible wave of magic suddenly appeared out of thin air. All the lights in the study seemed to be disturbed by an invisible force and became slightly dimmer. A mixture of dark purple shadows and fluctuating starlight in the shadows condensed in the middle of the room. These starlight and shadows quickly converged into a cluster of starlight that fluctuated between expansion and contraction, and floated in the air like some kind of ghost.
Amber was startled by this scene. Before she could ask what it was, a low buzzing sound came from the cluster of starlight. "Good evening, Your Majesty, and this … nervous half-elf lady. Forgive me for being blunt, miss, but the weapon in your hand may not work on me. I lost my head many years ago. "
Amber stared blankly at the cluster of starlight that fluctuated between expansion and contraction. Although she was startled, she had already reacted after the other party spoke. She quickly matched the information in her mind and raised her eyebrows. "Meghul III? The Pope of the Eternal Sleep? "
"It's all in the past," the cluster of starlight said flatly. "You can just call me Maygor. Now I'm just an ordinary citizen of Cecil, loyal to His Majesty Gwen Cecil."
Amber twitched the corner of her mouth. She put away her power club and muttered casually, "Well, after issuing IDs to a cluster of arcane light, an iron ball, and a tree, now we have to issue IDs to a cluster of … shining smoke."
She looked at Gwen and asked, "Do I need to leave for a while?"
"No, you can stay here." Gwen nodded to Amber and then looked at Meghul III. "She's Amber, my Minister of Intelligence. What do you want to say to me at this time? "
"Minister of Intelligence … I understand." Maygor's voice trembled slightly. The amorphous cluster of starlight shrank slightly and lowered a little. It stopped in front of Gwen as if they were talking face to face. "Your Majesty, you have accepted the people we transferred to Cecil as you promised. You have also helped us solve the crisis of the higher-ups. So, according to the previous agreement, all the technology and secrets of the Eternal Sleep belong to you.
"Today, I'm here to fulfill the agreement.
"I have some secrets related to the royal family of Typhon. I wonder if you are interested?"
Gwen's eyes changed slightly. He then said in a low voice, "What is it?"
"It's related to the curse of the Augustus family that has lasted for 200 years."
"… I'm very interested," Gwen said. He then looked up and down at the cluster of starlight floating in the air. "Do I need to prepare a chair for you? I feel like you're making a guest stand when you talk to me like this. "
"No, I'm used to this," Meghul III replied. "Of course, if you feel uncomfortable, you can also give me a chair. I can float over and pretend to sit on it."
"… Forget it," Gwen imagined the scene and shook his head. "You can start."
"First of all, starting from the era of the old capital of Typhon, Aurandale," Meghul said. "You should know that the headquarters of the Eternal Sleep Congregation is deep underground in the ruins of Aurandale. The curse of the royal family of Typhon only appeared after the great collapse of Aurandale … In fact, long before the great collapse of Aurandale, the Eternal Sleepers were already active in the underground there."
Part of what Meghul said was information that Gwen had already grasped. He had long had doubts about that area. When he heard Meghul's last sentence, he immediately frowned. "So the key to everything is Aurandale. What's in that place?"
"… It's a fragment of the Dream God, Your Majesty. It's under Aurandale."
Gwen's breath stopped for half a beat. However, after this short and small reaction, his expression was much calmer than what Meghul had imagined.
"You don't seem surprised?"
"I expected it," Gwen shook his head. "The Eternal Sleepers are the priests of the Dream God who fell into darkness. You have been hiding in the depths of Aurandale for hundreds of years to study forbidden knowledge. Apart from being suitable for hiding, there must be something there that attracts you. Furthermore, the curse of the Augustus Family is very special. It obviously has the characteristics of dreams and spiritual realms. I have long suspected that all this points to a certain god. To me, there are only a few 'suspects'. "
Calling a god a 'suspect' was obviously an extraterrestrial wanderer's extravagance.
Meghul's voice had a trace of reverence. "Everything is as you have predicted."
Gwen waved his hand and looked at Meghul with a serious expression. "In other words, the so-called 'curse' of the Augustus Family is essentially a divine corruption caused by the Dream God. Then what was the great collapse of Aurandale 200 years ago? How did the corruption spread to the Augustus Family? Before that, you used Aurandale as a stronghold. All this … is your doing? "
"That's not the case," Metro immediately denied. Then, his tone was a little slow, as if he was sorting out his thoughts as he spoke. "Where should I begin to tell you … In fact, all of this is the result of a combination of coincidences and mistakes. The reason for the great collapse of Aurandale was that the underground ruins went out of control and the fragment of the Dream God suddenly came alive. This was more of an accident. On the other hand, you should know that the Royal Family of Typhon had 'predicted' the disaster before the great collapse and evacuated the city in advance, miraculously avoiding tens of thousands of casualties. The reason why they could 'predict' the great collapse in advance was because they were warned by the Eternal Sleepers … "
"Then let's start from the beginning." Gwen gently knocked on the table. "Let's start from when the Church of Dreams fell into darkness and used Aurandale as a stronghold, and when the Typhon Family built their capital in Aurandale."
"Yes," Meghul replied. "First of all, the Eternal Sleepers took root in Aurandale and the Typhon Family built their capital in Aurandale. These two events happened at about the same time, but there is no connection between the two. It's just a coincidence.
"In the early days of the Typhon Family, the Augustus Family chose to build their capital in Aurandale, which was more fertile and suitable for building a city. After they established themselves, the Church of Dreams, which had barely recovered some of its vitality, arrived at Aurandale which was still a campsite. We lived in seclusion there, hiding in the nearby forests and the chaotic villages and towns. For a long time, we maintained a low profile and lived together with the people of Aurandale.
"After that, Aurandale became a fledgling city. The Church of Dreams also recovered. We reorganized into the Eternal Sleep Congregation in the dark alleys of Aurandale and operated in the form of a secret church. At that time, our main concern was survival and recuperation. But in a very unexpected situation, while we were searching for a new hiding place, we found a cave that led to an underground area outside the city … At first, we thought it was a cave, but soon, we found out that it led to an ancient ruin that was almost as big as Aurandale at that time.
"It completely shocked us at that time."
Gwen interrupted Megor's narration. "Did you find a facility left behind by the Kingdom of Gondor? You are also a Gondor, you should be able to recognize the technology and architectural style of the ancient empire. "
Although he had entered the core of Aurandale many times, he had never seen the headquarters of the Eternal Sleepers in the real world. From the memories of Daniel and the others, he could only see the condition of the underground palace after 700 years of reconstruction. He could not imagine how it looked when it was first discovered by the Eternal Sleepers. At that moment, he could only instinctively associate it with the Kingdom of Gondor's Disobedience Project. He suspected that the Eternal Sleepers had found another 'Disobedience Fortress' used to store the samples of the gods, just like the fortress in the Gloom Mountains.
After all, the combination of an ancient ruin and a sample of the gods was really a strong sense of déjà vu.
However, Megor gave a negative answer. "I'm sure it's not — it's definitely not something built by the Kingdom of Gondor. First of all, it's outside the territory of the ancient empire. It's a newly developed land. Secondly, and more importantly, the facility is full of things that we don't recognize. The architectural style is unprecedented. Some of the walls are still inscribed with words that no one can recognize. Some of the closed rooms have some equipment wreckage, and the technology used is also unheard of … "
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