Shadow of great britain

It had been drizzling in London for two consecutive days. Arthur was sitting at the desk in his bedroom. Drops of water hung on the outer window glass of the room, and the inner window was covered with a thin layer of fog.

He stretched out his hand to wipe away the condensation on the window, and then he could barely see through the water droplets the maple leaves blowing in the wind in Hyde Park not far away.

Agares held a crystal clear goblet in his hand. Judging from the bright red wine in the glass, this glass of wine must be worth a lot of money.

Like a sophisticated medieval aristocrat, the Red Devil first put his nose to the edge of the wine glass and gently sniffed the aroma of the wine, then took a sip of the sweet and sweet wine, and finally poured the wine bit by bit. Pour it into his throat, and when he feels the burning heat rising in his belly, he closes his eyes and lets out a sigh of relief.

Agares placed the wine glass next to Arthur and said cheerfully: "Arthur, although I rarely praise others, I have to say that that fat Frenchman's taste in red wine is really to my liking. Since he After living under the same roof with us, our living standards have been greatly improved from heaven to hell!"

Arthur rubbed his face. His hair was messy and he was only wearing pajamas. Since he took a day off from Scotland Yard today, he had not taken care of himself since he got up today.

Arthur put one arm on the back of the chair and looked at the red devil with squinting eyes: "According to you, the living conditions in heaven are not as good as hell? It seems that there is indeed a problem with the promises made by priests to believers. If you do good deeds and accumulate virtues all your life, you will die. I can’t find a good destination in the end. It seems that going to heaven is not a blessing, but a curse.”

"Oh! My dear Arthur."

The red devil covered his mouth. He smiled and put two hands covered with pitch-black nails as sharp as swords on Arthur's shoulders: "You don't understand, for those kind-hearted weaklings, it's too much for those kind-hearted weaklings. Heaven is a good destination. But for a powerful villain like you, there is nothing better than going to hell."

Arthur looked at the mottled leaves stuck to the window, tapped his knuckles on the table and asked, "How do you say this?"

Seeing that Arthur's interest seemed to be aroused, Agares leaned down and said in a low voice: "Because in heaven, the weak can still have a mouthful of food. And in hell, you know, the weak eat the strong, or they eat until they are full of fat. Or you can’t even eat shit.”

When Arthur heard this, he sighed slightly: "So, Barr drove you out of hell just to be able to dominate the shit in hell? Agares, I know you are a strong devil, but you can't Eat everything, right? Besides, if you really want to eat that stuff, there's plenty of it in the Thames. You can't afford to be like this with Barr over such a trivial matter."

When the red devil heard this, his expression that was gentle and pleasant just now suddenly changed.

"Arthur, damn you, you can insult me, but you can't insult my personal taste! Do you think that a gentleman devil like me who is elegant, graceful, knowledgeable, and behaves in line with the values ​​of upper class society would sit like Barr? Are you going to eat shit like the guy among the flies?"

"Yes, yes, I understand."

When Arthur heard this, he didn't say much. He rubbed the messy hair on his forehead and distractedly pushed out the wine glass that was placed on the table and was used by Agares: "You will do it from now on." Use this wine glass exclusively for drinking, be careful not to break it, it’s quite expensive to buy a new glass like this.”

When Agares heard this, a blazing flame burst out of his head. The red devil jumped up and down in anger. He pointed at Arthur's nose and cursed.

"Arthur, what the hell do you mean? You don't believe me?! After betraying the working class, are you planning to betray the devil now?"

When Arthur heard this, his originally casual eyes suddenly became sharp. He turned his neck and his black eyes met the devil's red eyes.

But not long after, his eyes became soft and decadent again.

The secret joy that the Red Devil had gained from irritating him also dissipated in an instant, and Agares seemed a little dissatisfied.

"What's wrong? Aren't you angry?"

Arthur crossed his fingers and leaned on the back of the chair, took a deep breath and spit it out: "Angry, of course I am angry. You may not know that the first English sentence I learned was I am angry."

"Really? Your adults will teach you this?"

"It's not an adult, it's an elder."

"Really? You can be older than me?" Agares frowned, raised his butt and sat on the corner of the desk in dissatisfaction: "Since you are angry, why don't you lose your temper?"

Arthur kept his arms on the table and held his forehead: "Because I have been educated, I know that if you get angry when you hear an opinion that is contrary to yours, it shows that you have subconsciously felt that your own There is no good reason for the opinion. If someone insisted that two plus two equals five, you would feel pity rather than anger.

Agares, since I want to get angry, it means that I actually agree with your point of view. Since I agree, there is no need for me to get angry. After all, what I want is a truth that can convince me, rather than venting my temper on you, which is what children do. "

"Oh...what expression should I make? Maybe I should be moved to tears? Woohoo...Arthur, does this make you happy?"

The red devil clenched his hands into fists and rolled them at the corners of his eyes. He was pretending to cry, but in an instant he put on a vicious smile: "My dear Arthur, I advise you to save these words for this weekend's banquet. Those ladies and ladies on the bed. Maybe you can use this to trick them into going to bed, but Professor Agares is not going to forgive you just because of your words."

Arthur shrugged his shoulders: "Isn't it God's business to forgive humans? Agares, I didn't know you could also provide this kind of service."

"God? I beg you, please don't mention that elm-headed old thing again."

The red devil sneered: "Do you know what the premise is for him to be responsible for forgiving everyone? Being able to provide forgiveness is not a good thing for the old guy himself."

Arthur thought about the Red Devil's words, glanced at him, and shook his head: "You are telling me riddles again."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly heard the door of his room being pushed open. Elder held the door frame with one hand and grasped the door handle with the other. He said happily: "Arthur, I'm going to listen to science this afternoon." Lecture, or going to the theater?”

Arthur turned sideways, looking at Elder's passionate face and not knowing how to respond.

Seeing his appearance, Elder couldn't help but whistle: "Brother, why do you look so desperate again? You can't be fired by Scotland Yard again, can you?"

Arthur said helplessly: "It's worse than that."

"What's wrong?"

Arthur scratched his head. He felt that this matter was a bit difficult to talk about, but after all, he couldn't get around what needed to be said.

He sighed: "Don't you know that I took the Scotland Yard police to suppress a workers' march yesterday?"

Elder held his chin and pondered for a while: "Is anyone dead?"

Arthur shook his head: "No."

Hearing this, Elder raised his eyebrows and whistled. He gave Arthur a thumbs up: "Awesome!"

Arthur was stunned by him, and then he said at a loss of whether to laugh or cry: "Elder, I don't want you to praise me. I don't think this is a glorious thing."

"Then what should I do? I can't scold you, can I?"

Elder said indifferently: "Besides, isn't that what you Scotland Yard police have to do? Workers march to beg for food, and the police suppress the march to beg for food.

No one was killed on either side, and the workers’ demands were also passed on, and Scotland Yard also highlighted its importance. Isn’t that enough?

So, are you going to go to the theater this afternoon? I'm afraid that after a while the boat is repaired and I have to go out for sea training. I have to spend the money I saved as soon as possible. Arthur, I'm really in a hurry. "

Arthur pursed his lips when he heard this: "I think you should pick out some suitable new clothes in the afternoon. I plan to take you to General Codrington's private banquet this Sunday to be my scientific assistant."

When Elder heard this, his mouth was so long that he could fit a fist into it: "Arthur, my good brother!"

Arthur asked impatiently: "What's wrong?"

Elder was moved and covered his mouth: "Now, even if you kill workers during the crackdown, I have to forgive you!"

When Arthur heard this, he didn't know how to respond. He pursed his lips and waved his hands: "Get out of here, you idiot!"

Elder slammed the door, and silence returned to the room.

Arthur looked at the red devil sitting on the table and said, "He said he forgives me. Does this mean that even a person who graduated from the Department of Classical Literature at the University of London can be God?"

Agares did not respond directly when he heard this. He just smiled and nodded.

Seeing his appearance, Arthur just snorted: "Then God is really a high-level person."

In the past, at times like this, the Red Devil would most likely mock God with Arthur, but this time he rarely agreed and instead spoke instead.

"Arthur, you are too young. You don't understand that those beautiful things must not be beautiful. As for beautiful birds, they are not all made up of beautiful feathers."

Arthur looked at him: "What are you talking about again?"

Agares flipped the parchment and pushed the glasses on his nose: "Just like you said before, be their king, not their god."

Arthur hesitated, and asked, "Why?"

The red devil raised the corners of his mouth. His eye sockets were filled with scarlet eyes, and the unknown rotating gears and the secrets sealed behind them were reflected in the scarlet pupils.

His illusory figure gradually disappeared into the white gauze curtains, and after a long time, only the aftertaste of his voice remained in the room.

"Because even if humans intend to overthrow the most evil king in the world, they will not act as indignant as smashing harmless statues of ancient gods... Arthur, you have to remember, if you can't control others , others will control you, and try to liberate yourself from the control of others. If you can't do that, you will soon find that they are your hell..."