Chapter 119: Star Roamer

Chapter 119: Star Roamer

Mobet glanced at Leonard and said with puzzlement in his tone,

“They weren’t exactly that cold or evil…”

He then lifted his wine glass and gulped down a mouthful.

“Do you still not understand? The higher the Sequence, the colder one becomes, and the stronger the tendency toward madness. Which of the great noble families of the Solomon Empire did not have an angel? They would naturally differ somewhat from ordinary people.

“As for how evil and cold they were, that depended on the anchors they chose and the traits of their own Beyonder pathways. In that regard, I am not clear what my great-grandfather’s situation was. I only know that He was very kindly toward us, and His words and actions were comparatively casual.

“Also, the rules His Majesty the Emperor made all had one important point: discordance. If all the great nobles shared one style, He definitely would not have been satisfied.”

I had thought of the reason in front, but that last one is somewhat unexpected and somehow a little funny… Did that “Black Emperor” of the Solomon Empire turn Himself into someone with obsessive-compulsive tendencies? Everything must be discordant… Klein, not wearing too thick a mask, let the corners of his mouth rise slightly.

At that moment, Justice Audrey turned her head toward him and voiced the question she and Mr. Star both shared:

“Anchors?”

They both knew that Fourth Epoch aesthetics favored asymmetry and discordance, and had silently treated it as common knowledge, so they had never deeply considered why such aesthetics existed.

“For deities, believers and faith are anchors,” Klein explained simply.

So that is how it is… Mr. Fool once mentioned stabilizing one’s state as well… Audrey felt as though her vision had suddenly widened, allowing her to further examine the relationship between deities and believers.

At the same time, she thought with slight doubt:

“When Mr. Fool first began recovering, He should not have had many believers. What was His anchor at that time?”

After seriously listening to Klein’s answer, Leonard’s expression grew a little graver, as though many thoughts had crossed his mind in an instant.

He quickly returned his attention to Mobet. After some consideration, he asked,

“What kind of angel is Pallez Zoroast? What behavioral habits does He have?”

Leonard is still rather cautious. He has not completely believed that the old grandpa inside him is Pallez Zoroast… Mm, it is not impossible that the real Pallez has already perished, and the one alive now is an imposter. For an angel of the Marauder pathway, that belongs to ordinary operations… And from the perspective of a hidden existence, if someone has replaced an identity, then that person possesses that identity. It would not specially expose them…

Heh. On comparatively important matters that interest him and involve his own safety, Leonard is more reliable than I imagined. If not, he would never have discovered that I was still alive back then… As for other things, he is simply too—too undisciplined, too accustomed to following past experience. It is not that he has no brain, only that he is too lazy to use it… Klein could not help sighing inwardly.

Mobet was stunned for two seconds, then took another drink of distilled liquor.

“At home, the Old Man behaved just like an ordinary elder. He was a little nagging, liked to strike down His descendants’ confidence, and loved enjoying life. If you did not know in advance, no one would imagine He was a Sequence 1 angel. His aesthetics differed a little from His Majesty the Emperor’s. He was obsessed with categorization and emphasized cleanliness and tidiness… When facing enemies, He was skilled in deception and liked to resolve targets by making them mentally collapse…”

That is fairly consistent with the traits the Old Man currently displays… Leonard nodded gently, then asked,

“Do you have His portrait?”

“Why would I carry a portrait around? It isn’t as though I’m looking for someone!” Mobet shook his head in amusement.

At that moment, Leonard suddenly pointed to the side.

“Isn’t that one?”

“Ah?” Mobet turned his head, both confused and puzzled, and discovered that an oil painting had appeared on his right at some unknown point.

As he picked up the painting, the image upon it gradually grew clear, presenting an elderly man with dark-brown eyes.

The man’s hair was already entirely white. It was not too sparse and was neatly combed back. His forehead, the corners of his eyes, and the corners of his mouth had almost no wrinkles, making him seem not all that aged.

It could be seen that in his youth he must have looked rather good, bearing quite a resemblance to Mobet, yet his overall bearing was more serious.

You really cannot tell that He is a Sequence 1 angel… Is that also because He has not revealed His mythical creature form? Justice Audrey raised herself very slightly on her toes and glanced at the oil painting from afar.

After Leonard memorized the contents of the portrait, he asked several more questions related to the Zoroast family and received fairly satisfactory answers. The only exception concerned the potion names from Sequence 3 to Sequence 0. Mobet was unaware of them as well. He only vaguely knew that Sequence 1 seemed to be called Worm of Time.

After ending that topic, Leonard shifted to matters concerning the Solomon Empire.

“In the era you came from, which were the great noble families of the empire?”

“There were not many families that held duke titles.” Mobet set down his wine glass and spread out his palm. “Our Zoroast family, the Abraham family, the Zaratul family. In addition, although Lord Medici and Lord Ouroboros did not have noble titles, their status was no lower than that of great nobles.”

With each name he spoke, he bent down one finger, eventually forming a fist.

Then he smiled.

“At that time, although Tudor and Trunsoest were His Majesty the Emperor’s most loyal angels, they still had to rank beneath us and were on the same level as Augustus and Castiya.”

The history of the Augustus family can actually be traced back to the era of the Solomon Empire… While Justice Audrey was somewhat surprised, she also listened with growing focus.

Leonard thought for a moment and continued asking,

“What was the situation on the Northern Continent during that era?”

“All living beings submitted to His Majesty the Emperor. Even deities, in order to oppose enemy forces, acknowledged His rule.” Mobet chuckled. “They each had earthly kingdoms attached to themselves, in comparatively barren places. In short, Evernight, Combat, and Death stood against one another. Storm, Sun, and Wisdom had enormous conflicts among themselves. Earth’s attitude was ambiguous and unclear, but leaned more toward Combat. This made it fundamentally impossible for Them to cooperate steadily, and difficult for Them to contend against the alliance of His Majesty the Emperor and the True Creator.”

At that point, Mobet sighed.

“It was also for the sake of balance that His Majesty the Emperor did not attack the Southern Continent, allowing Death to unify the Harvest Plains and the ancient forests and establish the Balam Kingdom.”

No. In the end, the six gods reached an agreement, and that “Black Emperor” fell. Then the Tudor-Trunsoest United Empire was established… Leonard connected this with certain matters Pallez Zoroast had once mentioned, and inexplicably sensed the vicissitudes of history.

At that moment, Mobet again turned his head and looked at him.

“Do you have a cigarette?

“This little thing that spread out from the believers of the True Creator is really rather good.”

Leonard immediately mobilized the dream and manifested a rolled cigarette, handing it over.

“This is an improved version?” Mobet stretched out his right hand, stole a lump of flame from the tavern kitchen behind him, lit the cigarette, and took a deep drag.

Watching smoke stream from his nostrils, Leonard could not help asking curiously,

“The believers of the True Creator like smoking?”

“Yes. Even Lord Medici occasionally smokes a few. Although for Him, it is merely a habit,” Mobet answered without hiding anything.

Leonard nodded gently, then asked,

“Which deity do you believe in?”

“His Majesty the Emperor, of course. All imperial nobles believe in His Majesty. Uh, except for the two Lords Medici and Ouroboros. They believe in the True Creator. Also, Duke Bethel Abraham may only be a false believer. As far as I know, He only believes in Himself,” Mobet said casually.

Bethel Abraham… Klein’s heart stirred. He was just about to signal Leonard to probe deeper in that direction when he heard his poet classmate ask,

“Is Duke Bethel Abraham very powerful?”

Clearly, that Abraham family ancestor’s behavior, so utterly different from the other imperial nobles, made Him extraordinarily conspicuous.

“Extremely powerful. Even Lord Medici and Lord Ouroboros are very wary of Him.” Mobet blew another smoke ring. “In the Age of Strife, He was publicly recognized as one of the angels most likely to become a god.”

“The Age of Strife?” Leonard asked, slightly puzzled.

Mobet looked at the slowly burning cigarette in his hand.

“This flavor isn’t stimulating enough. Heh-heh. The Age of Strife refers to the period from the end of the Cataclysm to the establishment of the empire. It lasted about 112 years. The first ancestor of our Zoroast family to become an angel fell during the Age of Strife. Fortunately, with the help of His Majesty the Emperor, who had not yet become a god at the time, we did not lose the Beyonder characteristic.”

“Who did it?” Leonard immediately pressed.

Mobet shook his head.

“I had not reached Sequence 4. There were many things I was not qualified to know.

“Let’s continue talking about Duke Bethel Abraham. I actually do not understand Him that deeply, but I am very interested in their family and the Beyonder pathway they control. It is said that ‘Apprentices’ can roam the starry sky once they reach Sequence 2. Uh, there are also rumors that it is Sequence 3.”

The starry sky? Klein’s pupils widened slightly, and his concentration deepened.

At that moment, Mobet continued:

“They left behind many travelogues concerning the starry sky. Many interesting things were recorded in them. Unfortunately, I was never able to borrow any. However, I have heard of the Three Laws of Roaming the Starry Sky they summarized:

“One: do not respond to any call. Two: do not recklessly approach any unfamiliar living being or building. Three: endure loneliness.”

The starry sky sounds both vast and dangerous… I wonder whether the present Abraham family still preserves travelogues related to the starry sky. Later, I should have Miss Magician ask… Klein’s gaze swept past and happened to meet Miss Justice’s gaze. The two immediately understood that the other had also thought of Miss Magician.

Leonard did the same. He nodded slightly and asked about other matters.

During this process, as Mobet recalled, the dream changed, allowing them to see the appearances of high-ranking figures such as Medici and Ouroboros.

Of course, because Mobet had rarely come into contact with the Black Emperor and Bethel Abraham and never dared look straight at Them, Their images were blurred.

Toward the end, Audrey once again grasped Klein’s and Leonard’s arms separately and leaped with them into Shatas’s dream.

The Elven Songstress was standing in a garden, clutching her stomach, frowning at Mobet.

“Can you steal the fetus in my belly and stuff it into your own body?”

“I can, but even if it is stuffed into my body, I still cannot gestate him.” Mobet answered with a face full of terror.

Shatas thought very seriously, then said,

“Then steal the corresponding organs too?”

“…If it is purely stealing, then success is possible. But afterward—afterward, I have no way to handle it. That exceeds the scope of my abilities…” Mobet said, trembling with fear.

The conversation between this human and elf made Klein, Leonard, and Audrey all look somewhat dazed.

“…Shall I handle this one?” After several seconds, Justice Audrey took the initiative to suggest it.