The world controlled by dice [Western Fantasy]

Siles looked back at the window sill.

The puppet in the dream said that Sirius could manipulate its actions.But when Siles woke up, he didn't find the doll appearing on the bedside table.An invisible guide made him notice the doll he bought at the underground fair on the windowsill.

One of the dolls suddenly "lived" over.

It was a smiling, child-like doll, the size of a palm.When Siles woke up from the dream, it seemed as if some invisible thread was suddenly connected between him and the puppet.

Siles once thought it was just an ordinary wooden doll, but when he really manipulated the silk thread according to his will, he suddenly realized that the hard wood was just a disguise for this doll.

In fact, this puppet that straddles the boundary between reality and fantasy is very flexible, almost like a human being, and can perform various actions.Only by using the invisible thread can it manipulate its actions, in other words, only Siles can do it.

Moreover, the doll is light, small and unobtrusive, and the material is also very strong.Siles thinks he can do many things with this puppet.

Of course, this also means...

The stall owner who sold this set of dolls to him at the beginning obviously did it on purpose.

This set of dolls in reality is directly related to the dolls in the farm hut in the dream.

Who will that stall owner be?Follower of Akamala?

Just like the six dolls in the farm, since Akamala left his own deployment in the paradise, maybe he will also leave a corresponding plan in reality.

Siles thinks it's quite possible.Of course, after realizing this problem, he also returned to the farm to ask the six dolls, but unfortunately, they knew nothing about the mysterious stall owner.

Siles was extremely perplexed by this matter.Even though those old gods have fallen, they still seem to have left many traces in this world, and these traces are impossible to eliminate.

He sighed slowly.

At the same time, the tiny doll—Siles called it Doll One—suddenly moved.The small body nimbly climbed up the wall, landed lightly on the ground, then took two steps forward silently, then jumped up, and jumped onto the desk.

Afterwards, the No. [-] puppet sat next to Siles' hand and patted the back of his hand, as if to say, "Don't worry."

Siles stared into the round black eyes of puppet number one.

The series of actions just now were all completed under the manipulation of Siles.It took him several days to become familiar with this set of operations.He manipulated the puppet entirely with his mind, and that was troublesome enough.

This made him admire those puppet masters even more.

He even thought that it would not be that difficult to make these dolls speak, all he needed was to learn ventriloquism... Forget it, it's really difficult.

The busy Professor Siles Noel wisely dismissed the proposal.

At present, this silent puppet can already help Sirius do something, especially after he gradually gets used to this dual-purpose operation—for example, he can ask the puppet to pour water while he is reading a book.

...sounds a bit overkill.

Rather, the current doll is like some kind of smart home appliance to him.After the procedure is established, he can ask the puppet to do something with his mind.

Qin Duo was very interested in this puppet, but he couldn't understand the feeling of manipulating the puppet with invisible silk threads, so he just played with it for a while and found it boring.

In any case, Siles believes that the presence of dolls did help.

If he had been able to manipulate the puppet earlier, he would have been able to move more freely.For example, he can directly use the puppet to investigate the underground passage, and at the same time, he doesn't have to worry about arousing the vigilance of the mastermind behind the scenes.

After all, in the eyes of others, it was just an ordinary wooden doll.

However, after the doll left his sight, if he wanted to observe the action of the doll and the surrounding environment, he could only go to the farm hut in his dream.He cannot see directly into the puppet's field of vision.And he can only enter the mysterious farm at night.

On the miniature stage model in the house, he can see the real-time situation of the puppet.

More precisely, on that stage, everything that happens in reality is like a play in progress.The surrounding environment and "group performances" seem real and unreal, but they will really change accordingly.

And the main actors of that play are the puppets manipulated by Cilleus; the script followed by the actors is exactly what Cilleus manipulates the puppet.

In other words, what really happened in reality has become a false script that is being played out in the dream.

Siles was amazed at this.

The power of the gods has always been manifested in some special way.

He thought that this function might come in handy during this trip to Middleton.After all, he was about to go to a strange place, and he might encounter some danger.

He thought so.Then, noticing that it was getting late, he decided to go to bed early.The time has come to the final week, and he and the students will be very busy in the next half month.

Group assignments for elective courses, papers for elective courses, papers for two apprentices, final exams, class schedule and lesson plan preparation for the next semester, packing up and planning to leave for Middleton... Not to mention, there is also the paper at 99 Kelly Street Renovation.

Even with Gyndo's help, it still sounds like a big project.

Besides, there was another thing added to Siles' schedule.

Materials from the Church of yesteryear.

On New Year's Eve, Siles asked Grosvenor to help him find information about the "blood of the old god" and the time and place where the old god fell.More than a month has passed, and the Past Church finally sent over the relevant materials.

Tuesday, February 2.After listening to the group report of the morning elective class, Siles returned to No. 18 Hayward Street alone, and then found the package from the church of the past.

That's a bit huge, definitely not just a transcript of a document.Siles took the package up to the third floor, opened it, and took out the letter from Grosvenor.

"Zhan Xinjia, Professor Noel.

"The package contains the information you need about the descendants of the old gods and the fall of the old gods. In addition, there are also related rewards for the soul stabilization ceremony and the previous underground arch incident. I have prepared a time track for you, and A sealed item. I hope it can help you.

"Another thing I need to let you know is that the children involved in the Underground Arch incident have been discharged from the hospital and have been picked up by different churches in the city to train them, and they should become members of the church in the past.

"Of course, we will not force them to believe in My God, just as staff. You can rest assured about this.

"There were a few children who were not orphans. We also found their parents and reunited their families. We arranged for the two children, Nanisar and Garland, in the Central Cathedral alone. They both have the aptitude of apocalypse , will temporarily learn from the investigators.

"As for the special mental state they once showed, we haven't been able to find a reasonable explanation for the time being. However, I think that letting them gradually master power is also a feasible method, at least it can make them strengthen themselves .

"Besides, I have to tell you something else. I have heard about your upcoming trip to Middleton. The reason I know this is because Lamifah University has invited knights and investigators from the Church of the Past to accompany you.

"On the one hand, this journey will pass through other strange countries and the land of no embers, so the church of the past can protect the participants of Ramifa University; on the other hand, the church of the past also intends to go to Middleton.

"You may not know that in Middleton, although the vast majority of people believe in Amois, there are still a few believers who are believers in my god, so we also have a parish there.

"It's just that, because of the long distance and poor traffic, it is difficult for us to maintain stable contact with the priests there. Just this time, Ramifa University invited us to go with us, so we decided to go to Middleton to learn about the latest situation .

"The current list of personnel is roughly the Knights led by Knight Commander Bunyan, and a group of Revelators led by investigator Catherine Kinsey. They will set off with you.

"Hope you had a nice trip.

"Grosvenor."

Siles read the letter with a little surprise.The handling of the underground arch incident was within his expectations, but he did not expect that Grosvenor would send a special reward for it, and also mentioned other colleagues during this trip to Middleton.

Bunyan and Catherine Kinsey will also be involved in this trip?

At this moment, Siles realized that this action had already involved two characters from the original script: Chester Fitzroy and Bunyan.

In addition, Siles still remembered that he had learned from Bunyan that Doctor Chester's life experience was related to Middleton.However, Chester himself didn't seem to be very aware of this matter.

He couldn't help squinting his eyes, thinking to what extent the church in the past joined this trip to Middleton to investigate the secret behind the doctor's life experience?

That doesn't seem impossible either.This, after all, serves multiple purposes.

Grosvenor also mentioned in the letter that Middleton also has the followers of Antinam and the church of the Church of the Past.This made Siles suddenly think that one of the running team characters that has not been seen so far, the foreign female bishop, could be a resident of Middleton?

The possibility of such a thing happening is indeed quite high, especially after Siles gradually realizes the coincidence of his own fate.

He couldn't help thinking that this trip to Middleton seemed quite important.

On the one hand, it seems that some long-standing mysteries can be explained in this trip; on the other hand, he will go to a strange land and have fresh knowledge.

Unfortunately, Cendo was unable to travel to Middleton with him.

Siles' trip this time is more due to work needs, and it is not easy for him to act with Qindo.In addition, Qin Duo also needs to take advantage of this spring break to return to Kansas to fulfill some of his obligations as a blood descendant of the old god.

They will probably part when the train passes through Kansas.However, Siles had decided that when he returned to Conster from Middleton, he would get off at the Kansas side and spend some time in Cendor's hometown.

At that time, Middleton's academic visit had ended, and that was his private time, and he would have no problem staying in Kansas for a while.I'm afraid other people will also want to travel around for a while before returning to Ramifa City.

In addition, since Siles is now free from the farm's 21-day interval limit, he can also meet Qindo in his dream at intervals.At least that's a possibility.

The itinerary is roughly like this.Siles hoped that by then things would actually work out the way he wanted.

He thought about it for a while, and then sorted out the contents of the package.He put the stack of documents aside, and picked up the two boxes.Grosvenor said it was a time track and a sealed item, which made Siles involuntarily interested in the contents of the box.

He opened the two boxes, and then, unexpected emotions appeared in his eyes.

On the packaging of the box, Grosvenor thoughtfully wrote the words "time track" and "sealed item" to help Siles distinguish between these two things.

The time track is a coin. According to the description on the paper, this is one of the first batch of duke coins produced by the Duchy of Const. The later duke coins are all made on the basis of this batch of duke coins.

In other words, this ancient coin can be used to make money, and the name of the ceremony is "money begets money".

Of course, this "born" money is not real money, but a false, short-lived appearance of coins.Siles didn't think about what the coin could be used for for a while, so he temporarily put it aside.

As for the sealed item, this was what really surprised Sirius.

It was a piccolo.According to the instructions on the paper, this flute can remember what a person says and then repeat it, somewhat similar to a recording horn.

What surprised Siles the most was that it was a light enough instrument, and it was also a sealed item.

...This can be regarded as the body of the dice!

Why did the church send this thing over in the past?Coincidence, or, on purpose?

Siles narrowed his eyes slightly.

Grosvenor has repeatedly emphasized that they will not pry into Siles' life and thoughts, and judging from their actual performance, Grosvenor's words may be correct.

For example, they didn't know anything about what Siles was investigating in Lamifa City.If the Church of the Past was really spying on Sirius' life, would they really be so indifferent?

However, they fit Siles' ideas invisibly on two things.

The first is [Akamala's Spectacle Frame] and [Nature's Boots], which are very in line with Sirius' idea of ​​going to the Land of Eternity, especially the former.

【Akamala's spectacle frame】provided a lot of convenience for Sirius at the time, and that happened to be obtained from the Church of the Past some time before he set off for the Land of Embers.

Of course, Grosvenor's previous explanation for this was that he only thought that these two time frames could help Siles, so he chose these two things.

In fact, when Siles said that he learned the truth about Stardust through [Akamala's Spectacle Frame], Grosvenor also acted very surprised, as if he had no idea that this time track would be so powerful effect.

Siles thought the matter was plausible for the time being.

However, the second thing, namely the piccolo in front of him at this moment, made him doubtful.

Is there really such a coincidence?

When Dice said it wanted a stronger Sealed Artifact, did the Church of the Past send it at the right time?

In the past period of time, Siles didn't have the time to find feasible items, but fate seemed to have sent suitable items to his door without him needing to find them himself.

……dice?

Siles considered for a moment, and finally realized a possibility.

This possibility is based on the fact that the church did not spy on his life in the past, nor did it spy on his thoughts in some way.Judging from the consistent performance of the church in the past, Siles is willing to trust their character.

Therefore, his needs are likely to be leaked invisibly.

This invisibility may come from Antinam's attention; it may come from the manipulation of the dice behind the scenes-that is the fate dice, according to the dice's self-proclaimed name.

Since it said so, maybe it could play with fate and make what it wanted "coincidentally" appear by Sirius' side.

In addition, Siles also thought of a possibility, that is, there might be some kind of strange connection between the dice and Antinam.

For one thing, his travel to Fisher's world seemed to be related to Antinam and Dice at the same time.Dice directly admitted this, and Antinam seemed to always acquiesce to this, and even asked the Church of the Past to take care of Siles secretly.

Second, the dice themselves seem to have no way to directly "use" the power of fate.It is just power itself, which is very passive.All along, it was Siles who made the judgment, or when fate turned a certain corner, the dice would suddenly appear.

Before Siles tried to judge the sealed item, Dice couldn't even actively communicate with Siles in the usual sense.

Based on these two premises, it is very possible that the dice may have some connection with Antinam.

Perhaps, the dice secretly conveyed a certain message to Anti-Num, or Anti-Num has been paying attention to the dynamics of the dice, so he could invisibly give Grosvenor a "revelation" and make him notice the Piccolo, so that this thing came to Sirius?

Logical, but fantastical.

...but this world is a fantasy.Siles thought.

The appearance of this piccolo means that Sirius can talk to the dice again.He still has to find time to read those materials.Also, he considered having a conversation with Garland in his dream.

... Siles sighed insignificantly.

Cendo wasn't here on Hayward Street this afternoon either.He was driving mad with the students' papers.A Kansas native is now studying Const's language grammar and literary past, which can well reflect the love of Assistant Professor Cindo Playa for Professor Siles Noel.

The Lycardian amulet hung around Sirius' neck bears witness.

This afternoon, Siles originally planned to sort out the lesson plans for the third semester, but since Grosvenor sent these things over, he thought about it, and first made a judgment on the piccolo.

As expected, Piccolo, a sealed item with a will of 0, soon possessed the Dice of Fate as a soul.

"Good afternoon, Dice."

"Good afternoon, Keeper. I like the body, but it's a bit long. Can you understand me? I'm a square thing myself." Piccolo said, and it moved its body.

The timbre of the piccolo has always been relatively high, coupled with the rambling words of the dice, Sirius already felt a slight headache.

But he wisely did not discuss this issue with the dice.

He simply asked, "How long will this piccolo last you?"

"If I use it sparingly, and use it for ten, twenty, ten minutes at a time, then maybe I can use up a lot of time." Piccolo said, "Of course, it's not easy to say, it depends on the actual situation. Different time , Different places, different situations, all will be different.”

Sirius nodded slowly.

Piccolo turned to say: "You want to talk to me this time, you must have something to ask?"

"Yes." Siles hesitated for a moment, and then said frankly, "I want to know, do you have any connection with Antinam?"

"Oh!" Piccolo seemed to be frightened by something, and suddenly let out a very loud whistle, and it coughed twice, "I'm sorry, I'm not used to this body.

"I mean, I'm sorry I just made such a high-pitched noise, I freaked out myself. It's not a good thing. I'm just a rolling dice.

"As for...well, as for your question...I must say...in a way, you're right."

Siles was slightly taken aback, and couldn't help but say, "To some extent?"

"It's hard for me to tell you clearly about my connection with...Him." Piccolo said vaguely, as if on purpose, "This matter is not suitable for you to know now.

"In short, yes, we do have some kind of connection. After all, I am always by your side, and He is not. However, His eyes are always on you, and you should be clear about this."

Siles frowned slightly, and he said, "So, can you peek into my thoughts?"

"No, no! Of course not! Who do you think I am... er, what dice?" said Piccolo angrily. "I'm not going to do that nasty thing."

Siles then told the dice about the two things he discovered - [Akamala's spectacle frame] and the current piccolo.

Piccolo was speechless.It said: "Oh, a charming coincidence of fate."

Siles was deeply skeptical of this claim.

Piccolo turned to say: "I can understand your doubts. However, the two time rails you got earlier are indeed very useful. Even if you don't go to the Land of Ashes, the Church of the Past will give those two things to you. here you are."

Siles nodded, thinking so himself.

"As for my current body," Piccolo said, "Of course he can perceive that I have appeared in reality, and he can also perceive that I will leave soon.

"So, maybe because of this, He realized the needs of you and me, so he asked the Church of the Past to send this flute. This is very common, isn't it?"

Piccolo said these words in a very light tone, and its voice did reflect the beautiful timbre of the piccolo, although it was difficult for Siles to get a glimpse of the truth from its words.

The more logical and karmic it is, the more suspicious and troubled Siles will feel.

After all, it's fate, isn't it?

However, he has no intention of arguing with the dice.Judging from these things, the attitudes of Antinam, Dice, and the Church of the Past are all close to goodwill.Siles didn't want to make a fuss for the time being, and asked them what they wanted to do.

...Hope Sirius saves the world?

That sounded more like nonsense.

Compared to this matter, Siles now paid more attention to a certain word used by the dice.

He said, "'Perception'?"

Piccolo turned his body, as if he was bored, and at the same time it answered Siles' question: "Yes. I am different from the real world, you should be aware of this.

"Therefore, when I leave the place where I was originally and appear in the real world, there are some...'existence', which can be perceived. This includes Anti-Nam.

"There may be some 'beings' in the real world who can sense my presence, but that's probably very rare. You may be able to, but you also have powerful reason and extremely high spirituality.

"If some human beings with high spirituality and low sense perceive my existence, they might immediately fall into madness."

Piccolo said these words in a subtle, flattering tone.Siles believes that it is likely to be based on the two topics of "reason" and "spirituality".

... Siles suddenly realized that he didn't seem to know how much his spirituality was.

What's more, Fate Dice is also using the term running group, which makes Siles feel a subtle sense of disobedience.He wondered what running a group script meant to the world.

There were so many questions, but he didn't have much time.So finally, Siles asked a more realistic question.

He said: "So, are there other 'beings' like you that appear in reality?"

"Oh, I'm not an 'existence'. Keeper, first correct your thinking on that. 'Existence' refers to the real world, and I, and some other things, do not belong to the real world.

"Of course, you can call us 'things,' but there doesn't seem to be anything more appropriate."

Siles felt that this address seemed like a subtle insult and sarcasm.

Then Piccolo went on: "As for your question itself... yes, there are such 'things'. They, and probably me included, are things that peek at the real world in the dark."

Siles considered his words, and said, "I don't quite understand... what is 'darkness'? Is there a 'light' that is opposed to such darkness?"

Piccolo stopped shaking his body.

It says: "Darkness is mentioned because the place is indeed 'dark'. We don't have much time to dwell on these conceptual issues...I think. I'll try to put it in simpler terms. Anyway...you think the real world itself , can you have those weird and magical powers?"

Siles shook his head.

"Indeed." Piccolo said, "because the real world is sufficiently 'substantial' and sufficiently 'tight', and those forces are like mist penetrating the gaps of these entities. They are invisible but do exist. "

Siles pondered about the dice.

From the perspective of the physics of the earth, he was unexpectedly able to understand this concept.Objects are detachable and have gaps, and even the most subtle particles also have "gaps".

And according to Dice, the things that exist in the "gap" are the source of the power of this world.

"Invisible 'fog' fills the gaps." Piccolo said, "...well, I'm not talking about microscopic concepts. You can think of it as light and shadow. That's a state of superposition... oh my god, It sounds more like a microcosm."

Siles suddenly laughed.Hearing these physical concepts from the earth from Dice's mouth, he felt a long-lost intimacy, and of course, felt a little subtlety.

Dice made no secret of its knowledge of Celes' origin from Earth.

"...cough cough, in short, this world is not just a single-layer world." Piccolo continued, "Different 'things' live on different layers, which are not independent layers that can be simply split, but mixed together. Together, something like batter.

"Ah, I thought of a clever metaphor. Maybe you grind corn, rice, black rice and other whole grains into powder, and then mix them together with water... Maybe it looks like a whole ball, but in fact , but the raw materials are different.”

Siles said, "I see. So, you're from another 'plane.' And there's something like you on that plane, spying on the real world."

"Because real time is the source of everything," Piccolo said. "To use the analogy just now, the real world is like water. Water is also present in this gooey thing, and it is the most important thing. Because there is no water Otherwise, these things cannot be mixed together."

Siles nodded.

Piccolo breathed a sigh of relief: "It would be great if you understood. I knew earlier that you could understand all this. This is also..."

It stopped suddenly.

"That too?" Sirius asked.

Piccolo was silent for a while.

Just when Siles almost thought it had gone, Piccolo made a sudden movement, and said, "I'm sorry, Keeper. You can't know that just yet."

Siles frowned slightly, and then said rationally: "I understand."

Whether the dice meant that he wasn't powerful enough, or that he knew he'd go mad, Sirius realized he'd accidentally touched something taboo.

Afterwards, Piccolo's tone became a lot more serious.

It said: "This is the world, Keeper of Secrets. When you are ignorant, you may feel that the world is very safe and happy, like an innocent, pure white and soft baby living in the cradle.

"However, when you gradually understand the nature of the world, when you gradually grow, become stronger, and mature, you will find that the world is so dangerous and complicated. The adulthood of the mind has never been related to the adulthood of the body."

Siles was a little surprised to hear Dice say these things.He felt that Dice's earnestness and sincerity seemed to have other intentions, but it was difficult for him to come up with a trick now.

He thought of his "only" 66-point knowledge attribute, and had to admit that he still had a lot of ignorance about this world.

However, Dice's tone soon became lighter.

Piccolo issued a series of light and melodious notes.It said, "Time is running out! Anyway, Keeper, I know what you're asking me about—the two children who were judged earlier, weren't they?"

"Yes," said Siles.

"They are indeed being watched by something. You can think of it as a more 'inferior' god power. If you want to keep them safe, let them improve their soul strength. Prerequisite for protecting yourself It is to strengthen oneself, this is the most reasonable saying."

Sirius breathed a sigh of relief.Getting a clear answer from the dice really made him feel like a big stone in his heart fell.More importantly, he also knew how to make those two children safer.

It is the best way to let these two children become enlighteners and gradually master the power.

But... what is a more "inferior" god power?

Is there a difference in the power of gods?Moreover, does this refer to the contrast between gods and gods, or the contrast within the power of gods?

Just as Siles was about to ask, he heard a slight sound from the piccolo.Afterwards, Piccolo fell into complete silence.

Siles was slightly taken aback, realizing that the dice had left, he couldn't help but let out a sigh.

It may be a long time before the next conversation with the dice.And by that time, he might have a new problem.Siles is somewhat self-aware of how curious and busy he is.

He took off [Akamala's glasses frame], pinched the bridge of his nose, and calmed himself down slowly.

In any case, the dice's explanation of the concept of "world" has already given Siles a lot.That actually demonstrates some of his ideas, such as the external and internal worlds, such as light and shadow.

However, that also created more confusion.

Because, from the attitude of the dice, the concept of the world itself seems to be related to certain things that Celes may encounter in the future.

... what would that be?

Siles couldn't help thinking for a moment, then shook his head.He doesn't have much time to think about these things right now.He was leaving for Middleton in three or four days, and right now, he hadn't even finished his lesson plan for next semester.

He put away these time tracks and materials, and then continued to focus on the business.

From the profound and complicated mysterious power to the mundane daily affairs, this feeling always fascinates Celes for a moment.

Facts have proved that Professor Noel's busyness left him no time to read the materials sent by the church in the past.He could only put some of the selected materials into the suitcase and take them to read on the journey to Middleton.

On February 2, Cilles boarded a train to Middleton.

Of course, not directly.

The group of them will go to Maltz, the border city of the Duchy of Const, to transfer to other trains, and first head to Biddle City in Galsworth, the land of no embers.

Then, they need to take a train turning northeast in Biddle City, pass through Kansas all the way, arrive at a certain port city in Middleton, take a boat at the port and travel by sea, and finally reach Bethune, the capital of Middleton.

Since there is no direct train line from Conster to Middleton, they can only choose such a troublesome transfer line.However, after the date and destination of the scholar's visit were set, the participants were mentally prepared for it.

In fact, the first half of this trip coincides exactly with Sirius' first trip to the Never Embers.And that train line departing from Lamifa City was also the place where he and Qindo officially met.

It cannot be said that it is the first time.After all, the first time he and Qin Duo met should be in the back kitchen of the palace.

"...but I don't think that place is romantic at all." Cindo muttered under his breath. "It's full of lunatics and chunks of meat."

Siles could not help but smile at his words.Qin Duo always cared about this kind of weird little place, but it could make Sirius feel the deep care for Sirius himself hidden behind the childishness.

He said, "It's time to get in the car, Gyndo."

Siles' berth had been assigned to be with Lorenzo Grantham, but he had also bought a ticket for the same car as Cendo.Of course, he didn't intend to stay with Qin Duo all the time, just to be prepared.

There are a total of four professors and three companions (guide, translator, and doctor) at La Mifa University, and two other professors who are responsible for handling administrative affairs, a total of nine people.

There were more people at the church in the past, and Bunyan took eleven knights with him to form a squad of 12; Catherine