"The era of the gods, mortals have no way of understanding it."
Celine's words were tantamount to expressing the attitude of more than half of the people in this world towards the "ancient civilization." Although they did not understand it, they felt that it was terrible, and no one dared to study it. Even a clergyman like her did not dare to mess around.
Now, I can roughly guess what happened on this planet. The historical truth should basically be like this:
A long, long time ago, there was a highly developed civilization on this planet. They at least had the ability to travel in deep space, and they must have developed war technology that matched their level of civilization (based on the particle rifle I saw last night). This civilization had the ability to develop, was proficient in war technology, and liked to study all kinds of death-seeking secrets in the universe. Moreover, there were several races crammed on a planet. They all had one thing in common: it was extremely easy for them to kill themselves, because it was too easy for them to kill their entire race.
So, just a few years ago, they finally lived up to the law of civilization development and Murphy's Law. Maybe an internal war broke out, or maybe they accidentally went overboard while researching extreme technology. In short, they killed themselves.
However, this collective incident did not lead to the complete extinction of the civilization. Some people stubbornly survived, and a very small number of people were lucky enough to preserve a little bit of technology (of course, there was also magic. In fact, I even suspected that the ancient civilization self-destructed because of the War of Sci-Fi and Magic). It is impossible to know what these people thought back then, but they obviously believed that the reason for the end of the world was that they came into contact with technology that should not have come into contact with their level of civilization too early. So, they did not immediately use the technology at hand to revive the civilization. Instead, they first studied how to revive the population, and at the same time, sealed the technology. These cautious and conservative survivors should be the predecessors of the Lost Gods.
The original Lost Gods should not have been extreme. Their motive and behavior of sealing the relics of the war were actually reasonable: the end of the world, the race was in danger, and there must be a lot of people among the survivors who were full of tyrannical ideas. In this case, the relics of the war were extremely dangerous. Once they continued to spread to the hands of the fearless survivors who had nothing left, it was hard to say whether the entire planet would be blown up by those lunatics. So, the act of sealing the relics of the war should have also saved this civilization. But as we all know, in the process of the passage of time and the succession of generations, it was the easiest for things to go wrong. After so many years, the original Lost Gods had changed generations of generations, and it was even more difficult to ensure the integrity of the inheritance in that extremely harsh environment. Besides, people always had different ideas. In order to ensure that the dangerous relics of the war would not be activated, the Lost Gods would inevitably choose the most conservative person to be the pope in every generation. So, after generations, the original doctrine had changed beyond recognition. The clergy simply listed all knowledge related to the ancient civilization as taboo, including the printing technology and the advanced papermaking technology, which were things that only the clergy could come into contact with. It could be said that the entire Lost Gods had gone to extremes.
Moreover, they also created the "God of Science and Technology" and "God of Magic", which sounded like fictional gods. In their doctrine, they stated that only when these two gods bestowed their blessings could they continue to study ancient knowledge. Before that, even civilian research was forbidden. I have to say that this planet had taken the worst path due to various reasons. The guardians of the civilization had forgotten their original mission. The lies that they had originally made up to appease the people had now deceived themselves. Just look at Celine's expression, she firmly believed that the God of Science and Technology existed … I reckon that this planet would never be able to wait for the day when technology could be reactivated.
"Mr. Scholar? Mr. Scholar? " Celine's voice woke me up from my thoughts. She looked at me curiously and suddenly fell silent. "Do you have any questions? If it is about the ancient civilization, I am willing to do my best to answer you. This is the responsibility of the clergy. "
"Ancient knowledge must be kept by the church, right?" I looked into her eyes. "Then, how did the church treat this knowledge? And the relics that were unearthed, will anyone use them? Or will they completely seal them up? "
This question was a bit out of bounds. The answer to this question was probably common sense on this planet, or it might be a "taboo for civilians". If I asked it rashly, it might arouse suspicion. However, I felt that after spending one or two days together, Celine and I were already familiar with each other. She shouldn't think too much about this topic that came out during a casual conversation at the dinner table.
"Of course, the church has to be more cautious when dealing with those things that have brought disaster." Celine looked at me doubtfully, but she didn't pay much attention to it. "As the scripture says, the high-ranking clergy with a firm mind will study the ancient knowledge, but not to reproduce it. Instead, they will understand its function and determine its degree of harm. In this way, they will classify and preserve the ancient knowledge, or they will make the parts that can be made public available to the public. As for the ancient devices that were unearthed, they will be personally inspected by the two popes and forty-six cardinals. Most of them will be sealed up, and a small number of less harmful devices will be distributed to the clergy. We will use these ancient devices carefully to ensure that the source of disaster will not be awakened. These devices are the reason why the clergy are more powerful than ordinary people. However, we all have a firm mind and won't be confused by this special power. This is also why the number of members of the Lost Church has always been limited, to the point that the important mission of excavating relics has to be assigned to a relatively free group like the adventurers. It's because there are too few people with a firm mind. Not everyone can control the power that surpasses ordinary people while suppressing their own selfishness. "
I recalled the scene of Celine inspecting her gun last night. Alright, it seemed that I had thought too much. That was indeed the standard equipment of the clergy. Fortunately, I didn't rashly ask about this, otherwise, I would have looked like a country bumpkin.
It seemed that I had asked all the questions that I could. Celine, a low-ranking clergy who had been away from the core of the religion for a long time, wouldn't know much. Perhaps Sandora and I should go look for the rulers of this planet, the two popes. No matter what, it would be a pity to see a civilization lock itself in such a way. Speaking of Sandora … why don't I hear her rolling on the table?
Just as I realized this, I saw Ball Sandora lying in front of Aylu, who was holding a scone and handing it to her. "Sister Egg, do you want to eat a scone?"
Then, her sister Egg rolled to the side.
"Ah Jun, I'm not happy." Ball Sandora stopped in front of me, her resentment almost tangible. "The speed of my body's regeneration is so slow. Even if I create a mass projection now, I won't be able to enjoy eating. Life is so boring … Let's go and destroy the world, okay?"
I stared at the golden Queen in shock. "Are you serious?"
"… Alright, I'm joking." Ball Sandora said as she jumped into my bowl of soup, but miraculously, not a single drop of soup spilled out. She seemed to be trying her best to absorb the vegetable soup in the bowl, but the food was released after circulating in a ball of light.
I poked the ball of light with a spoon awkwardly. "That … I'm eating."
Ball Sandora said confidently, "Don't make a fuss, I'm pretending to eat."
Celine and Aylu could only stare at the magical scene in front of them, dumbfounded. I bet they had never seen such a thing in their lives … Come to think of it, I've never seen it either! Sandora usually spent 99% of her time looking like a queen. If it wasn't for the slight change in her appearance, who would have seen her in such a natural and cute moment? Although it felt good — at least it was good before Her Majesty the Queen completely went berserk from hunger.
"Ugh, it seems that the curse of the ancient ruins has brought a lot of trouble to this lady …" Celine said carefully, afraid to provoke the ball of light full of resentment again. "How did she survive all these years?"
"Days pass like years," Sandora replied subtly. "It's been two years."
It's only been two days, don't accumulate so much resentment! Aylu has already hidden behind the chair!
But Celine obviously misunderstood. She looked at Sandora sympathetically and said, "She's been like this for two years? You've completely lost the chance to enjoy life as a human … Logically speaking, the situation of you suffering from such a serious curse of the ancient ruins should be very famous, even alarming Cardinals and Archpriests. But I've never heard of it. I've really been isolated for too long. "
Just when I was about to say something, an unusual noise suddenly came from the street outside.
It sounded like a large group of people were rushing back from outside the town (Aylu's house was directly opposite the main road leading out of the town), and the rough laughter of the men and the neighing of the camel could be heard. Aylu immediately jumped out of her chair when she heard the noise. "Aha, the first group of adventurers who set off in the early hours of the morning are back! I want to go out and have a look! "
"Hey, finish eating first …" Celine immediately wanted to stop her daughter, but the little girl's speed was very fast. At this time, she had almost reached the gate. As Aylu pushed the door open, the noise on the street suddenly became even more lively. I looked out of the door and saw a dozen fully armed people walking towards us from the street corner about a hundred meters away. There were men and women, but there were only three or four female adventurers. These first group of adventurers carried weapons on their backs, swords, spears, halberds, and almost everything. It was clear that the profession of adventurers had at least one thing in common in every world: freedom to develop, a high degree of DIY, and a variety of fighting styles and equipment.
These dozens of adventurers were surrounded by a considerable number of onlookers. The townspeople looked at these "heroes" who represented power and knowledge (and also the treatment of high-ranking civil servants) with curiosity and awe. Occasionally, an adventurer would take out a gadget from his bag and shake it in front of the townspeople. No matter what it was, it would cause a small gasp of surprise. Ordinary people didn't understand ancient equipment, but they just thought it was amazing. Rusty iron rods dug out from the ruins were probably colorful in their eyes.
"The first group of adventurers who set off are more experienced veterans. They are responsible for ensuring that the path to the ruins is correct and safe. At the same time, they also confirm the degree of danger and completeness of the periphery of the ruins in preparation for the second group." Celine knew that I was interested in adventurers, so she took the initiative to introduce them to me. "Ordinary people can only watch the excitement, and scholars like you probably won't really study how to fight in a team. However, there are a lot of rules among adventurers. They seem to be working alone, but in fact, there is a whole group of rules. Under the on-site instructions of the church personnel, adventurers in unfamiliar groups can also quickly achieve basic basic cooperation. This must be done, most of the ancient ruins are not very safe. "
In the end, Celine couldn't help but mutter, "Speaking of which, many adventurers don't follow the rules. They can't show the things they brought out from the ruins to the civilians. Lev would never make such a frivolous mistake."
Lev? Is that the name of Ailu's father?
Whenever she mentioned her husband who had been missing for many years and probably died in a foreign land, Celine's face would always be filled with deep melancholy. However, she still tried to cheer up and shouted to Ailu who was at the door, "Ailu, come and help me clean the table. Mommy is going to the church later. Today, look after the house and don't run around, okay?"
"Oh, I know!" The little girl immediately ran back to help with the housework, but soon she looked at Celine with anticipation. "Mommy … I want to go to the church too! To see the adventurers! "
"No, absolutely not," Celine showed a rarely seen serious expression. "Today, we're not going to the church to play, we're going to listen to the adventurers' report about the ruins. Ordinary people can't be too exposed to that taboo knowledge, it will corrupt their souls — especially you, a child."
Ailu immediately pouted and walked away while muttering. At this time, I was already interested: It seems that Celine is going to fulfill her duty as a clergyman and contact those adventurers? Isn't she no longer in charge of the church?
I asked curiously, and Celine immediately smiled and explained, "I just left the Archdiocese, and this place is usually very quiet and there aren't too many important religious activities, so it's a bit leisurely. But as a clergyman, the responsibility comes with a lifetime. Around every ancient ruin, there must be a clergyman who acts as a 'regional guardian'. Their usual task is to watch over the ruins and prevent people from exploring it privately. After the ruins are opened, we will act as the representatives of the divine right to control the entire exploration operation. From the time the first group of adventurers completes the initial exploration to the time the last group of adventurers leaves, it's all my time to work. This is actually a very leisurely job, because many ruins may not be opened for hundreds of years, and the priests stationed nearby are basically unemployed. Many clergymen who have families and left the core of the religion will accept this task and settle down near a certain ruin. At first, Lev and I settled here for Ailu, and the other reason was because the church needed to set up a guardian here. " Celine roughly explained another job of the church, and then extended an invitation to me, "Mr. Scholar, you should also be preparing to go to the ruins, right? Would you like to follow me to the church first, and listen to the experiences of the first group of adventurers? "
I had been waiting for her to say this for a long time, so of course, I immediately nodded.
At this time, the dozen or so adventurers had already arrived at the front door of Celine's house under the lead of a few locals. As soon as these burly and noisy 'freelancers' entered within ten meters of the door, they all quieted down in unison, and even vaguely arranged themselves into some sort of orderly line. This scene was very noteworthy. Previously, I only saw Celine as an ordinary single mother and housewife, and felt that she was just a woman who lived a hard life. Later, after talking to her, I slowly understood her side as a clergyman, but that didn't give me much of a feeling. Only now, looking at the respectful adventurers at the door, did I have a sense of Celine's identity.
She was a member of the Divine Church, a member of the Divine Church who had authority and special status, and enjoyed "knowledge" to herself. Yet, she usually lived like a normal person. Only when it came to ancient knowledge would her status and authority be revealed. I didn't know what the other Divine Church priests on this planet were like, but if they were all like this, then this Divine Church would be quite interesting.
It seemed that the value of their existence was really just to look after the knowledge, and they cared about nothing else.
The few locals who led the adventurers here should be the town officials, and one of them, an old man with gray hair, was probably the mayor. However, right now, he was respectfully explaining the situation to a 'hotel owner' and waiting for her instructions. This wonderful scene made Sandora couldn't help but mutter, "What a strange social structure. Clergymen only have absolute authority when certain things happen, and they usually live like ordinary people. Celine's identity in the town is obviously just a civilian … But once she starts to deal with ancient knowledge, her position and responsibilities instantly change? How on earth did this planet develop such a strange social structure? "
Celine said something to the adventurers that didn't seem to understand, but actually sounded awesome. Basically, she thanked the Gods for their grace, thanked the Pope for his wise guidance, thanked the adventurers for their hard work, and thanked the old mayor for actively responding to the call of the higher-ups in the parish. Then, she asked the adventurers to wait at the church first, and according to the rules, they should first sort out the information and items they collected, and use the facilities in the church to do the preliminary processing. As for Celine, as the representative of the church here, she first had to wash the dishes in the kitchen before she could go to work …
This didn't seem very reliable, but no one expressed any objections. The large group of adventurers suddenly dispersed, taking the "treasures" they obtained in the morning, and set off for the church under the leadership of the mayor.
Although the religious rules seemed sacred and great, the actual process of dealing with ancient relics was just like a recycling station: you guys carry your things over to be weighed first, and I'll pay you after I'm done with my work!
That was basically what it meant.
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