Chapter 37 The Third Child
After Perturabo left Lokos, Morse finally decided how to complete the left hand of his statue, the one missing the mark of the relic.
He used zigzag solid walls to form a notched circle similar to a theater, with gears, hammers and mountains carved in the middle. This was undoubtedly inspired by Perturabo.
As for the face, he just wants to carve a mask and put it on in the future, even if he has completed this work.
In this way, he would give it to Perturabo as a gift in the future, so as not to annoy him further with the statue that took up too much space in the room. He could also say to the child inscrutably, "Mask" The image that symbolizes him changes depending on the person observing it, so you can think of it as anyone.
During this period, he met with Andos and Callifon respectively. During the meeting, while chatting and greetings, he silently searched the souls of the two people with the attitude that politeness is social morality and morality is clay in the hand. situation.
Just like years ago, their minds were as clean as ever, so much so that Morse had to wonder if he himself was being overly paranoid.
The next moment this idea occurred, Morse denied his hesitation.
He is not an ignorant person who has not seen all kinds of evil behind the curtain. After witnessing the fire-stealing madman entering the highest sky and returning home with a full load, he knows very well that a big mistake cannot be caused by a moment of negligence.
Human civil war is the most ridiculous manifestation of human beings choosing their own evolutionary path. Even so, it is still an internal matter for the development of human civilization.
However, if it involves malicious manipulation of external creatures or even the will, Morse does not think it would be wise to stay out of it at that time.
"Did we do anything wrong?" Andos sat down at the other end of his desk uneasily, watching Morse flip through the paper documents of the entire naming ceremony process.
On the left hand side of the man in black are documentary summaries and graphic descriptions of royal naming ceremonies in the Lokos collection. The entire stack of documents several inches high has been memorized by him for peace and harmony. The process of this ceremony is compared in detail.
“In the past, the religious priestess presided over the naming ceremony?” Morse asked.
"Yes, Mr. Morse. But Lokos's relationship with the cult has fallen into a freezing point a few years ago. They even threatened us with the selection of the ceremony master. Califon suggested Directly replace the position of the priestess with a local female ceremonial officer from our country... Everyone agreed." Andos replied respectfully.
"The right choice, no one cares who is hosting the ceremony, as long as they are elegant enough."
Morse turned over a page of information, and the thin paper made a clear rustling sound. He accurately found the corresponding description from the pile of ancient parchment next to him.
“In the past, this type of ceremony was held in the inner hall of the palace. Why should it be open to more people and held in the public theater this time?”
“This is Perturabo’s request. "
"Okay, next question." Morse said without much expression, "Is there any reference to the old model of the Yiguan Golden Mask?"
"The information is all at hand...Except for a few documents that are poorly preserved and difficult to read due to moisture or insect bites, we have brought all the relevant information."
"No one recorded the mask. What does it look like?”
“The cult believes that the golden mask of the priestess is equivalent to the face of the goddess Hefengni, so it cannot be desecrated or recorded.” Andos sighed.
“The drawings of this batch of masks...were made according to the golden masks in my impression during my brother’s naming ceremony. I also referred to the opinions of many courtiers and chamberlains who had gone through the naming ceremony. "It shouldn't be much different from before."
Morse raised his eyes and glanced at his expression, "The expression and details of the mask have not changed."
Andos thought carefully about it, which helped the gentle prince regain a little confidence.
"No." He said firmly, "I try my best."
After saying that, his momentum became weaker again, and he folded his two broad hands. , asked in confusion: "May I know...what went wrong with the ceremony we arranged?"
"I'm looking for a problem." Morse turned the document to the next page. "I also hope that any problems this time have nothing to do with you. Of course, it is best to have no problems at all." As all members of the Lokos royal family, including Harkon, have emphasized, they treat this Pettu event with an extremely solemn attitude. Labo’s naming was done without any slightest care. The record of this ceremony is also the most detailed one in history.
From the overall scene layout, catering, band, sound effects, admission, etc., to the names of all personnel in each position, as well as the corresponding relationship between personnel and venue effects, all are recorded one by one, forming several thick volumes of paper. book.
As for the six female officiants who presided over the ceremony, they wrote down records of everything from their age, life story, family relationships, and interpersonal interactions, without omitting anything. They even included a record of Perturabo’s career in the industry chain in recent years. Starting from the port, the morphological photos taken by the camera were built from scratch.
Yes, Perturabo invented the camera again, and emphasized to Morse more than once that his camera had a better ability to reproduce images, and was far better than Morse's daguerreotype camera. More efficient shooting efficiency.
Morse refused a request to return the original photo of him to the owner of the image rights.
He checked the information of the six female ritual officers one by one, but still found no problem, and the entire ritual process, such as bleeding, worshiping gods, etc., was also very different from the process in previous years.
The difference is not that there is no difference. In the past, the priestess used a knife to draw blood from the palm of the named person. This time, she offered a silver blade and asked Perturabo to do it by himself. It is not difficult to guess that this is also Perturabo's own request.
"Then let's move on to the penultimate question, Prince Andos. Why are there six ceremonial officials for this ceremony?" Morse leaned back and moved the new adjustable The back of the wicker chair is slightly raised.
“The number of people in previous ceremonies seems to have changed according to the religion’s own set of rules... My father used to have seven priests, my brother had five, and I was the same. After discussion, we followed the suggestions... ...Decided to take the middle number.”
Morse closed the book and tapped his fingertips on the surface of the book cover with the royal coat of arms printed on it, making the coat of arms appear to have come from his body covered with black cloth. Flow out from your fingertips.
"Then my guess is that our last two questions are merging into one." Morse found himself failing to disguise the long-established icy quality of his words.
"After You and before Callifon, there was a strange naming ceremony recorded."
"Similarly, there are no errors or ambiguities in the record of the entire ceremony, and the identities of the guests invited to the scene are also consistent. It's reasonable, but there's only one thing that makes me suspicious."
He read a tangled escape from Andos's eyes looking down.
"Who was named?" Morse asked, "Who was named Cruz? His naming ceremony was so pitiful that the only guests were Damex, Halcon, Andos, the priest of the branch of the cult, and the young Califon?”
“What’s interesting is that the number of female priests assigned to him by the cult is actually six.”
Andos's face wrinkled with pain and guilt. The prince grabbed the robe on his knees and took a deep breath of air to ease his hesitation that could hardly speak: "Cruz is the youngest brother of me and Harcon. Callifon's third brother, the son whose father was eliminated, is a shame we cannot speak of."
He turned his face to the side, letting the shadow of the light cover his pain: "He is a madman. "
"He is deep in the palace. I will visit him occasionally and talk to him about some outside affairs..."
"Who proposed the six female ritual officers? Suggestion?"
"It's him." After telling the secret of the royal family, Andos's mentality was no longer tense.
The prince disclosed his melancholy: "He said that maybe everyone would remember him. I think... six people won't affect anything."
After speaking, he hesitated again: "Really Doesn’t it matter? Did we do something wrong?”
Morse smiled and reached out to pat Andos on the shoulder.
"It doesn't matter, if any perfect number can induce laughter as depraved as the first cry, then some guys will be too busy all year round."
He then stopped smiling. "I need to see Cruz."
(End of this chapter)