Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

61
Edward passed the fishing line through a roller, connected one end to the side of the cradle and the other end to the pedal of his piano.

"...What are you doing?" a voice came from the cradle.

"I want to work. This way, I can rock the cradle just by stepping on the pedal. My wife has praised this idea." Edward sat down in front of the piano, holding a pencil behind his ear. His right hand played a few scales on the piano whose pitch had just been adjusted, and his left hand held a dozen pieces of musical notation.

"Have you ever thought that I am actually a mythical creature?" The True Creator felt that he had nothing to say. His left eye showed that you had a problem, and his right eye showed contempt. He held the edge of the cradle with his hands to prop up his upper body, and watched Edward busy on the piano, occasionally writing and drawing on the staves. He couldn't help but say, "You are really leisurely, and you still have time to deal with work."

Edward glanced at Him and said, "You have been here for six days. Have you decided when to reimburse me for my clothes and travel expenses? My clothes are high-end custom-made by a well-established tailor shop in Queens. They cost nearly a hundred pounds."

"..." The True Creator was silent for a moment, "I will definitely do it next time."

"During the hundreds of years since you went mad, your followers have commissioned me to write more than a dozen hymns and masses. If they hadn't been able to gather enough actors, they would have even commissioned me to write operas related to the Bible. They haven't paid me yet. Do you know the price of my works? I'll give you a discount, two thousand five hundred pounds."

The real creator looked through the account book and slowly lay down: "I am a baby, go and tell the person who manages the accounts in the Aurora Society."

The relationship between the two evil gods became closer because of money.

In the quiet study, the Abyss Angel recalled the general content of the script he was going to collaborate with Miss Fors Wall, a comic opera, consisting of a warm and beautiful beginning with a male and female protagonist in love, a tear-jerking death of the male protagonist, and an ending with revenge.

Then the overture that hints at the plot of the whole play should have… a low part played by a wind instrument representing the calm male protagonist, and a high part played by a string instrument representing the lively and playful female protagonist. They are interwoven together to form the whole piece of music following the plot twists. The configuration of the orchestra will be arranged according to the situation, and the details will be deleted at that time. It is expected to be submitted to the theater for performance by the end of this year.

"Now the people in charge of Aurora are all running around because of your previous global broadcast, otherwise you wouldn't be here with me."

Edward quickly wrote an eight-bar draft of the main theme: "The brief cessation of the mumbling and the collective excitement of the Shepherd's Path leaders are already very suspicious. If you stay in the Aurora Club, it will cause an even greater commotion. By then, any one of the Steam Night Storms will be able to kill you."

"The Aurora Society has been in internal turmoil recently," the True Creator replied calmly. "I want to reshape my image, regain my glory, and connect my present self with my past self. Some believers believe in me just to justify and do evil without fear. Other devout believers are delighted by my announcement, and a struggle has broken out between the two factions."

"But that faction is not very strong. The Dark Saint is still watching so that he can catch them all in one fell swoop. They are all my anchors. It would be best if I can persuade and influence them. If they really can't make sense, I will deal with them."

"That sounds like good news."

"When you were in Tingen, you wanted to massacre the city and get promoted, right?"

"Yes, if I succeed, six of the nine massacres will be completed. I am 70% confident that I will be promoted successfully." Edward answered calmly while playing and improvising harmony. "If I succeed, that city will probably become a Jedi of life, a hunting ground for the dead, and a projection of the abyss on the earth for at least the next five hundred years."

"So what are the actual casualties?"

"As of today, all the influence I left behind has been cleared by the church, with a total of 4,351 casualties. This is very small. According to my style, I should at least add a zero at the end."

He stopped playing the piano and suddenly tilted his head: "Wait a moment."

"My unruly student came to see me," Edward said. "He came later than I expected."

62
Today is the sixth day after the tragedy. Admisol sits on the steps outside the workhouse, looking at the sun in the sky with hazy eyes. The children have finished their lunch class and are playing and chattering in the street.

Just as he saw in the river of fate, Tingen was drowned in a sea of ​​blood, but there was also red moonlight shining down. Except for a few people who were swept away by the sea of ​​blood, Tingen was miraculously preserved. Only a few people in the poorhouse who had been weak and sick for many years died in this disaster. They seemed to be asleep, with peaceful expressions. The director, who was over 70 years old, held a simple funeral for them, notified their relatives, and sent the bodies to various churches according to their beliefs. The pastors held a collective memorial service and then buried them.

In a trance, he heard hurried footsteps behind him.

Flat shoes, these are the steps of the director. He looked back and saw the director hurried out and met a young man with dark gray hair who had just arrived at the door of the poorhouse. The young man was wearing an old and outdated coat, covered in dust, and had a slight smell of engine oil from a steam train. The director walked to the young man and said something anxiously, while the latter listened with a serious expression, and the two walked into the poorhouse.

"Chief, you are finally here." The old woman closed the door of the director's office of the poorhouse. She looked sad, holding a green handkerchief in her hand. "Last week, Tingen encountered a crisis. The half-monster Admisor was the first to see the signs of the disaster, but we tried our best and couldn't find a way to avoid the crisis. The church counted more than 3,000 deaths, but there is no way to calculate how many people died in the disaster."

Richard nodded: "What are the results of the church's investigation?"

The dean replied, "It was the panic caused by the accidental discharge of the robbers' guns, coupled with the accidental fire in the lower street. The chaos made some pessimistic people lose the will to live, which led to their death in their sleep after taking drugs."

"Died in his sleep..." Richard repeated softly, as if thinking about something. "So what is the news we heard?"

"Previously, a lady who was suspected to be a "witch" died unexpectedly in a tragic way. In connection with this incident, the Beyonders of the Church concluded that she was a "devil." The Dean thought of something and immediately added, "The Church believes that the witch's death was a ritual to please the devil. As for how the subsequent investigation results were obtained, the Church has not announced them, and we have no idea."

Richard's eyebrows knitted up, then relaxed, revealing a thoughtful expression. He then asked for details: "Does the workhouse have enough funds this month? I looked at the account book and found that it only lost fifty pounds in August, which is a big improvement compared to July. How are the children doing in their studies recently?"

"The children are all fine. No one was injured or killed in this disaster. Little Alia, who has been admitted to the University of Grammar, is also safe. She works very hard..." The dean was stunned, and the sadness on his face was finally diluted by joy. "We have received an order from the church welfare home and asked the children to help process some simple semi-finished clothing to earn some money to subsidize expenses. Chief, this year is already... September, winter..." "I just came back from Feynaporte. Thanks to the merciful Mother Earth, I have raised enough funds for the winter and the New Year. At that time, I will order direct-sale cotton in bulk from Intis's partners. This year, we can almost renovate all the beds, and there is still money left to make some cotton clothes, so that everyone can have a warm New Year."

The angel of temperance was well prepared. He took out a small notebook from his pocket, wrote and scribbled, and then counted out fifty pounds from his suitcase and put it on the dean's desk. The dean was shocked and quickly stuffed the banknotes back into Richard's hands: "What are you doing? We are still well off this month. The children can afford vegetable soup with meat and bran bread. We don't need your subsidy!"

"This is a subsidy for the emergency in Tingen. The relatives of the deceased in the poorhouse need some money to comfort their wounded hearts."

Hearing this, the old woman's smile suddenly became a little sad.

"Chief, among the six unfortunate people who died, five were people who had lived in the poorhouse for many years and helped us despite their illness."

The dean's wife answered gently, "There is only one little girl whose parents are still alive. She came here last month. She was weak and sickly since birth, and later contracted a terminal illness. Her parents' devout prayers could not get the gods to bless the child. Her business parents spent almost all their savings on her medical treatment, and finally had no choice but to send her to us. On that day, she died. She died with a smile on her face, but her face was full of tears."

"After her death, her parents accepted the bad news calmly and took the body and all the belongings to bury in the cemetery."

"...Life is a pilgrimage of accumulated pain and happiness. We cannot fight against death, but at least we should let people have good memories." Richard lowered his eyes and prayed slowly, "Now she has completed her journey and found peace. There is no more sadness and coldness. Bless her and praise the Lord."

"Praise the Lord." The old woman also closed her eyes and prayed quietly.

After a moment's silence, Richard said goodbye to the dean and left the dean's office.

He went to the secluded little prayer room in the corner of the floor, closed the door, knelt on one knee, and quietly chanted the Holy Name.

"You are the essence of withering, the monarch from the deep dark land."

"…Merciful His Royal Highness Edward Vaughan - Lord, your devout believers pray for your gaze and pray for your response."

After reciting it three times in a row and waiting for several minutes, a strange gaze finally descended. The small prayer room dimmed for a moment, and the sunlight coming in from the window became pale and cold.

"Richard Ernst."

A corresponding hallucination appeared before the Angel of Temperance's eyes: flowing black mist, and a vague figure behind the black mist.

His teacher asked, "What do you want?"

63
"What's your business?"

I asked Him this, but I could have guessed it even without asking. When He took the initiative to pray to me, He either offered up account books, or asked for some financial assistance, or some news about the indulgence faction. Since He became an angel, what He conveyed was basically nonsense. But this time, I could imagine His question should be: Why did you kill innocent people?
"Lord, why did you come to Tingen and take away people's souls?" Richard half-knelt on the ground and bowed his head deeply. "Thank you for your response."

"This is a ceremony for my ally, the True Creator, to descend upon the earth." I answered Him, "Enough deaths and souls are needed for a true God to descend. This is already the smallest price."

"…You have fulfilled your promise, giving peace to those in despair and leaving those who love life unharmed. Thank you for your mercy."

The tone of the Temperance Angel was full of special emotions, sadness and helplessness. I understand His feelings very well. He has been following me for two hundred years and still hasn't gotten used to the fact that I am a demon. He still thinks that I am different from other crazy demons. He still stubbornly believes that he can use "humanity" to make me regain mercy and kindness. I am also very sad and helpless. But if most people in the world are "hypocritical", then Richard Ernst is indeed one of the few "good people" who are qualified to condemn me. But this kind of order and goodness is educated by "demons". This matter must not be known by the Seven Gods and the people outside, otherwise I may be ridiculed by them to the end of the world.

The conversation after that was very simple. He continued to admonish me and condemn me, but I did not play devil's tricks with Him. I frankly admitted that these 4,351 lives were all new blood debts on my body.

He is excellent, annoying but still useful, so I will not recycle him for the time being. After a conversation without any value, he asked to leave, and I also said goodbye and cut off contact. The whole conversation lasted no more than five minutes. This is the normal state of communication between me and him for a hundred years.

Work still needs to continue, and the music for an opera has not even been completed yet. I looked at the manuscript in my hand and remembered that I went home yesterday. I should write a letter to Miss Fors Wall to ask about her recent situation and make an appointment to check the progress of the script.

TBC
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A transitional chapter that takes place during the day when Klein wakes up.

*Strictly speaking, the Decayed King actually has no gender. He never had one, and he has been a mythical creature for tens of thousands of years. He is "Him" and his gender can be defined by himself.

* In the subsequent plot, someone else will condemn Edward's killing of innocent people in Tingen (you can guess who it is), but Edward did not admit it frankly at that time, but used devil's sophistry to trick the other party into falling into his own logic, hoping that the other party would lose control due to the collapse of faith. Although it did not succeed completely, it also planted the seeds of doubt and hesitation, which would sooner or later detonate his thoughts.

But Edward would not do this in front of Richard, because it was meaningless. Richard was indeed the one who had the right to condemn him, so he was too lazy to defend himself.

(End of this chapter)