Nia closed the metal nameplate and dragged it back into the luggage with difficulty again.
In the brief silence, Thales thought about the story on Ansett's nameplate - or rather, the story told by Megan through the nameplate.
The old priest turned his eyes away from the sunset outside the window and waited for him quietly, as if he expected this silence.
"Faith and magic come from the same source. The battle to chase the saints, the rise of mankind?"
As Thales recited this story, what flashed through his mind was his first meeting with Asheida.
[The Master explores the truth of the world, uses various ingenious methods and wisdom, and uses the resources and energy of the world to serve a better world.]
Megan glanced at him and then spoke slowly:
"But this is just the beginning."
There was a touch of regret hidden in the old priest's tone:
"When the foreign enemies are gone, differences arise."
"The attitude towards gods and beliefs eventually caused the elder and younger sons to part ways and drift apart."
There are two sons, the eldest and the youngest, so this is their explanation.
It is really difficult for them to come up with a similar statement for Abel and Cain.
Thales sighed secretly.
"The eldest son of God versus the youngest son of God, loyalty and rebellion..."
If you don't know...
"I thought it was Artanis fighting the insect swarm." The prince complained silently.
Megan, who has very good ears, frowned:
"Artanis? Who?"
Thales raised his head and smiled innocently and sincerely:
"It's okay, it's just a Northland joke..."
Megan pursed her lips, the corners of her lips sharp.
The old priest quickly returned to lecturing:
"So, for thousands of years, under the attention of gods and the practice of people, the eldest son and the youngest son, faith and magic, the church and the mages, they fought endlessly, and saw each other back and forth on different paths and beliefs."
"Wait a moment?"
Thales narrowed his eyes at the right moment and interrupted:
"So according to you, the difference between faith and magic is because believers believe in God, while mages do not believe in God?"
"Can I understand that believers believe in gods on unknowable things, while mages only believe in themselves?"
Megan did not answer immediately. She looked at Thales quietly, with a slight wave in her eyes.
She remembered two days ago, when she came to the house of grace and visited Si, who was full of expectations and trying hard to find books to prepare lessons (Megan accidentally glanced at it, it was the church's classic hymn "Illumination for Ten Thousand Miles" with 1,024 lines).
Archdeacon Tilianides, and brought greetings from Archbishop Lysia, by the way...
Inform him that the responsibility of teaching Prince Thales and Duke of Star Lake will be taken over by himself.
She still remembered the archdeacon's incredible shock and perfectly suppressed anger.
It is true that as one of the fifteen auxiliary bishops in the territory of the stars, Stylianides is young and promising, with a bright future. He has preached for countless nobles and ministers and educated their children. He does not want to let go of being the future king of the stars.
An opportunity to recite the Sunset Sermon, spread divine grace, and glorify holy works.
Just like Archbishop Rondon to Thomund II, just like Archbishop Clement to Mindis III.
But, the lucky ones who are blessed by the setting sun and bask in the grace of God.
They will always become accustomed to the light in front of them.
So much so that we have forgotten where the gift came from.
What’s more, we have forgotten that for believers in God, trials and obstacles are everywhere.
The stars are shining brightly.
Only after sunset.
"This is the most common and dangerous misunderstanding in history."
Meghan smiled slightly, nodded slightly to the prince, and was gentle and polite:
"Especially for those who have not yet had a chance to understand it, but who, through hearsay, are resolute and disgusted with the faith."
Thales frowned.
He put on a helpless expression and wanted to make a tacit understanding look with Gilbert.
But Earl Casso fell silent and just looked at Meghan quietly.
"Mage doesn't believe in God?"
"No."
Megan's expression turned cold.
Her next words made Thales puzzled:
"Of course they believe it."
"Believe in God, believe in faith."
Meghan's tone is still steady, but the content is sonorous and powerful:
"No matter how many times they deny it."
What?
Thales blinked: "I don't..."
"It's just the gods they believe in," Megan didn't let him ask. The voice of the female priest at this moment was gloomy and solemn:
"It is an existence that has no form, no name, no form, no quality, no substance, but its power and status are superior to all others in their eyes."
She whispered:
"They call it - magic."
Thales' eyebrows jumped.
Meghan put her hands together, her posture was upright, but her momentum was overwhelming:
"But occasionally they will use the excuse of seeking knowledge, the good name of rationality, pretense as truth, pretense as pursuit of progress, sophistry as self-sublimation, and worship as the supreme one."
After uttering a series of words that made Thales thoughtful, she remained expressionless:
"Does it sound familiar?"
Before Thales had time to think deeply about these words, Meghan Priest's eyes lit up:
"But no matter how eloquent they are, they can't hide the indisputable fact."
The next second, her words were extremely certain:
"Because magic itself is their god, their belief, their supreme principle, and it is also what their 'church' teaches and where their 'teaching' lies."
Thales could feel the power in the other person's words:
"In a way, it is in their hearts as much as our God is in ours, or even more so."
"The tyranny, cruelty, indifference and ruthlessness that this strange 'god' holds in its hands far exceeds that of any existence that has been worshiped and respected throughout the ages."
Megan's tone gradually became cold:
"The prohibitions are extremely strict, the hegemony is supreme, those who have doubts have a hard time asking, and those who disobey will not be tolerated."
Thales said doubtfully:
"You mean that they worship the very ideas and principles of magic as if they were gods?"
Meghan just hummed and did not answer directly:
"As for those millions of believers who have been infected and brainwashed by it - whether they are mages or not, whether they are qualified to control magic or not - it is even worse."
"They regard themselves as orthodox and denounce dissidents as hypocrites. They are more fanatical than believers of all gods and demons, and they are twice as hypocritical. They don't even know it."
Extremely fanatical, twice as hypocritical, without knowing it...
Thales was stunned silently.
But at this moment, he suddenly remembered that a long time ago, when he was still on the way from Heisha District to Longxiao City, his future was uncertain and he was worried.
At that time, Ramon, the strange doctor who was very interested in magic, explained to him this way:
[Magic is a meaning, an attitude, a belief, and a principle of life!]
Thales still remembered Ramon's expression at that moment and his almost crazy tone.
[This is the mage! This is magic! In the history of the rise of mankind, the most important, most gorgeous and precious chapter that has been forgotten by everyone!]
The words of the sacrifice gradually took on a connotation of praise and blame:
"They are obviously heretics, but they claim to be unbelievers. They obviously have a position, but they pretend to be neutral. They obviously have countless prejudices, but they pretend to be objective."
"They are obviously incompetent and powerless, but they still insist on thinking that they are transcendent human-shaped false gods. While playing with the world and enjoying the admiration of everyone, they also say smugly: This is the noble, truth-seeking, and magical research attitude.
.”
Megan's face tightened, and she was obviously uncomfortable, but she still insisted on finishing the sentence:
"So yes, mages, not only do they believe in their gods, but they are the worst and most fanatical superstitions, and they can get from their gods without praying and confessing, without hearing baptisms, without performing the sacraments.
God’s servants and God slaves who gain motivation and are full of energy to the point of self-orgasm.”
The old priest coughed lightly, and Nia quickly handed her the teacup, and then gently patted her back.
God's servant and God's slave are so full of energy that they reach self-orgasm...
After listening to a long list, Thales took a deep breath and tried to get rid of the man in blue who had automatically picked up on his words and had a cold face in his mind:
"Whoa-whoa."
Asheida.
It seems...
While being slightly surprised, Thales couldn't help but gloating and thought:
You have met your match.
"So, you want to tell me that magic as a belief is wrong, and mages as believers are bad, with countless consequences?"
After Megan finished taking a rest, Thales collected his thoughts and tried to steer the topic towards a curious place:
"And this is why we have to boycott and ban magic?"
But to his surprise, after being asked this question, Meghan Priest, who looked very pious and hated magic, paused for a moment, seemed to be thinking, slightly confused and hesitant.
She took a deep look at the sunset outside the window:
"I have no idea."
Thales was a little confused:
"What's the meaning?"
Meghan looked away and shook her head.
"As believers in our God, tolerance and rigor are our commandments."
"So we can't be so arbitrary and judge that magic itself is wrong just because we see the consequences are discordant."
Hearing the other party's answer, Thales was slightly surprised.
I saw the old priest rubbing his arm, thinking, and said cautiously:
"The most we can say is that countless mages in history, countless people who use magic and admire magic, have done many wrong things."
Megan's thoughts seemed to be clearer, and she nodded immediately:
"But if so many people who believe in magic have done something wrong..."
The elder priest sighed slowly:
"Who can say that the supreme magic itself must be pure and innocent, and stay away from it?"
"So, I don't know the answer."
"I can't mislead you in my answer."
Thales was a little confused by this series of judgments that first pursued him fiercely and then let him go gently:
"You confused me."
Megan turned around and smiled apologetically at Thales.
"But I can find another angle."
The priest resumed his gentle words:
"As I said at the beginning, this is a science about people."
"When I believe in God, what matters is not how great and omnipotent I believe God is - although she is indeed - but whether I can become a better person after believing in God, in terms of myself, others, and things.
, more beneficial?"
Megan looked at him with a smile:
"Tiles, I think God doesn't want us to look at them with admiration and be blindly superstitious."
"But we need to look at each other with tolerance and compassion, and reflect on ourselves."
Don't be blindly superstitious...
Thales had a strange expression: These words actually came from the mouth of a believer?
Meghan thought for a moment and sighed:
"I think we believe in gods to make ourselves better."
"Instead of making the gods higher - that is not, and should not be, our job."
"As long as we don't misunderstand God, He won't mislead us."
Megan took a deep breath:
"So back to the question we just asked, is magic good or bad..."
"Two sons of Shenqi, believe in magic, come from the same source, the elder and the younger are different."
Megan raised her head, but the meaning in her eyes was much firmer:
"As the firstborn son of God, when we believe in God, what we should believe in is the humility, introspection, sincerity and purity we can get when we are in front of God - this is the key to faith."
"As for the young sons of God, historically, what they are most easily deceived by is precisely the greed and desire, dissatisfaction and self-pity that were born after they abandoned God and became independent - this is the tragedy of magic."
Humility and self-examination before God.
Greed and desire to abandon God and become self-reliant.
Thales sat upright without realizing it.
strangeness.
These words sound... so familiar.
He realized again that it would be wrong for him to regard this old woman who was thinking and answering, sometimes pausing and sometimes hesitating, as a fanatical believer who only had "God is great" in her mind.
And Gilbert didn't interrupt her for a long time.
"And whenever the youngest son takes power, instigating people to question gods and beliefs, and exaggerating his own power and status, what ultimately emerges is the arrogance and ignorance of mortals themselves."
Thales raised his eyebrows: Is this still...a humanistic religion?
"So, what you want to say is," the prince tried to keep up with the other person's words that had been immersed in religious language for a long time, "there is nothing wrong with magic, but people who believe in magic may lead to the 'sorrow of magic'? To fall?
Sowing evil consequences?”
Megan smiled.
"More than magic, my child, more than magic."
The expression on her face became much kinder.
"Every era and everyone has their own beliefs and gods: kings believe in power, businessmen believe in wealth, artists believe in love, nobles believe in status, scholars believe in knowledge... there are too many, not just magic.
item."
The king believes in power.
Thales' nerves became tense.
"But no matter what you believe, the original flawless faith in your heart may be tarnished and replaced unconsciously."
"It may have transformed from the awe of the great achievements of gods, from the understanding of one's own insignificance, from the need to remain humble, from the countless beauties that original faith can bring, and transformed into something else."
Megan said solemnly:
"So, no, it wasn't magic that brought about the Way of the Young Son, it was the Way of the Young Son that corrupted the magical person."
Thales pondered:
"for example?"
Megan was silent for a while and began to think. Her expression gradually changed, sometimes with emotion and sometimes with sadness:
"For example, every time, when people's greed for external demands has become boundless, far exceeding their share in this world, when this greed is enough to make them ignore pain and cost, ignore life and happiness, and use the sword to fall.
, tearing one’s soul inwards, fanatically pursuing the ultimate and perfect self…”
The ultimate and perfect self...
Thales' nerves seemed to be touched by something.
In reality, Meghan’s words continued:
"Every time, when the world no longer has awe, no longer honors faith, no longer recognizes limits, no longer believes that there are inaccessible things, unknowable things, and laws that cannot be violated in this world..."
Thales suddenly remembered the night when his fate changed, the first time Asheida met him in the chess and card room:
【...Standing on the sky, surpassing the gods, looking down at all living beings!】
The words of the female priest began to mix with the voice in his head, but they were extremely clear:
"Every time, when people in the world no longer humbly face their own weakness and ignorance, but use it as an excuse to justify their insatiable greed..."
The Bone Prison flashed before Thales's eyes, and the entrance to the deep dark prison flashed past, the strange emblem that looked like a deep eye, and the line of words underneath it:
【Towards...omniscience.】
Megan’s sigh came slowly:
"Every time, when people in the world pursue power and omnipotence by any means, they think this is the only good and correct choice."
Thales lowered his head and frowned, and the strange doctor Ramon's passionate words appeared in his memory:
[Magic is the sum of all pursuits of knowledge, discovery and truth, the progress of magic...human beings can become more perfect, greater, more progressive, and closer...to the truth!]
Megan's lament brought Thales back to reality:
"Every time, when the world believes in something, no matter the cost, it goes to the extreme..."
"Then we know that the way of a young son should be followed, and that the world is not far away from falling and reaping the consequences."
Megan was silent for a while, then picked up the tea cup that was refilled by Nia.
Thales quietly rubbed the scar on his left hand without saying a word.
After a while, Megan, after drinking the water, said slowly:
"Two thousand years ago, the unified belief in the Supreme God created the boundless glory of the ancient empire."
"A thousand years ago, the strong rise of the Holy Day Faith witnessed the eventual revival of the empire."
Having said this, yearning and awe inevitably flashed through the priest's eyes.
But then she dimmed:
"However, when the utilitarian creed of magic overshadowed the noble persistence of faith, the Myojin Catholic Church collapsed itself, which foreshadowed the decline and division of the ancient empire."
"The mages' crazy and bottomless pursuit of demands has brought about the greatest crisis in history. Until the end of the war, they reaped the consequences and brought about their own destruction, which sounded the last note of the final empire."
Having said this, Meghan raised her head and looked directly at Thales with stern eyes:
"And you, child, you have already seen the power, terror, cruelty, and madness of those monsters."
Gilbert on the far side hesitated to speak.
Thales took a deep breath and felt that his thoughts were complicated:
"Disaster?"
Megan observed him and nodded slowly:
"Disaster."
"And that's just one of their consequences - albeit the worst."
Although he had gotten the answer countless times through hints from Ramon, Asheida and classic books, when the authoritative church in this world told him so openly, Thales found that he still couldn't get used to it.
The young Duke thought of the night of dragon blood, and the once faded smell of blood seemed to return to his nose.
It made him feel nauseous.
"Remember, this is the 'Way of the Young Son'. It starts from arrogance, goes through countless experiences, and finally regrets. It is the favorite of the devil, the darling of evil, the cradle of disaster, and the starting point of misfortune."
Megan suddenly tightened her tone:
"And Thales, you have to be even more vigilant."
The prince was slightly startled.
I?
I saw Meghan saying seriously:
"Because the way of the child has countless incarnations of harm, it will take on many faces, change names, and change forms, appearing in every era, lingering like a shadow: those who seize power praise survival, those who seek profit promote prosperity, and those who seek prosperity, drown
Desires sing about freedom, those seeking status use dignity, and those seeking knowledge resort to curiosity..."
"Those who blind their sight with a leaf will destroy themselves, and this is not just an example of magic."
Megan paused.
Thales took a deep breath, tried to sort out the confusing feelings, and grasped the logic:
"but……"
"So, Madam Sacrifice, won't your faith and your gods become victims of the way of the young son?"
Meghan's expression changed slightly.
Thales observed the other party's reaction:
"For example, when the world believes in the Sunset Goddess to the point of blind belief and fanaticism, suppressing dissidents at all costs, and resorting to extreme either-or?"
"Even your current statement, such a decisive answer, does it fall into the mold of the 'young son's way'?"
The elder priest was silent.
But contrary to his expectation, Thales, who originally thought that the other party was trying to evade the important points and make clever excuses, only saw Megan's expression darken slightly.
"certainly."
Nia, who was beside the priest, listened very carefully, and Thales had no doubt that if he gave her a pen, she would immediately start taking notes, which would be detailed and thorough, perhaps with some thoughts on key points.
Megan sighed softly:
"I don't want to mention it, but yes, you are right."
Thales frowned.
"In the years when our ancestors struggled with magic and mages, and the way of the young..."
"The Ming Shen Catholic Church spread throughout the world, once recruited temple guards and punished heretics;"
"The generous and selfless Church of the Holy Sun has also set up tribunals to correct bad practices."
Megan's face was solemn and her eyes were alert:
"Fanatical beliefs do not distinguish between bottom lines, and rejection only depends on one's position. He suppresses the remaining voices and only respects himself. The methods he resorts to are extremely sinister and he uses all possible means..."
"It is useless to preach, it is wasted in vain, it has made countless enemies, it has gained a bad reputation, it has finally lost itself, and it is a serious sin."
Meghan raised her head solemnly, as if what was pressing on her shoulders was not the sacrificial robe, but the heavy history:
"That was the most ugly and unbearable page in the history of faith and the church."
Thales frowned and looked at her.
"Excessive respect for certain things and ways, infinitely elevating their high status, abandoning awe and bottom line, despising other paths and choices, and ignoring the wishes and meanings of others. This is precisely the disaster of the way of the young son."
“Historically, many of the believers who were supposed to be the eldest son of God, my brothers and sisters, have gradually lost their true intentions, forgotten their vocation, and ultimately tragically embarked on the same path—self-pity, arrogance, and ignorance.
Without knowing it.”
Meghan sighed softly, showing regret and lament:
"They failed the test and went down a path they should have fought hard to reject."
Having said this, Meghan started to pray again, and Nia, who was so frightened that she was listening in rapt attention, also hurriedly prayed:
"The spirit is inherently perfect, so perfect that it can even tolerate imperfections - such as its believers."
"The power of the gods is infinite," the priest continued:
"But it does not mean that those who believe in it also have unlimited power and supreme authority to act on behalf of heaven and speak for God."
Megan's voice echoed in the room, making people think:
"So when we reflect on the disasters caused by magic, we must also be cautious, reflect, introspect, and ask questions - we must not let our most vigilant opponents take advantage of us and fall."
"Only by glorifying self can we glorify God."
"Being too superstitious about gods can easily lead to losing yourself."
Meghan finished her prayers and stopped talking.
As if it had come to an end, there was silence in the room for a long time.
Thales tried hard to get rid of the previous heaviness and think of some relaxing things.
interesting.
He raised the corners of his mouth.
Therefore, according to what Priest Megan has just said, not only can you not not believe in God, but you cannot also believe in God too much.
If you don’t believe in God, your world will “always be missing a part.”
But if you believe too much in God, there is “the way of the young son” waiting for you.