The world controlled by dice [Western Fantasy]

Siles came back to his senses and looked up at the young student.

The last time he had a one-on-one conversation with Doreen Lucas was nearly a month ago at a novelists' gathering.At that time, Siles accidentally met Doreen Lucas there, and was surprised to learn that Doreen is now a well-known romance novelist in the city.

At the time, Doreen seemed troubled by the relationship between humans and gods.This is not surprising.Many people in Fisherworld were troubled by this question, not to mention that Doreen was a literature student herself, and it was easier to think about such things.

As Sirius left, Doreen followed.They briefly discussed the topic of "killing the old gods".

Siles believes that now that the old gods have fallen, this matter is a foregone conclusion, so for people, the more important issue is to kill the old gods "in their hearts".And Doreen never seemed to have thought about it before.

And now, Doreen seems to have an answer of her own, but is also haunted by something.

Siles said, "Of course, Doreen. What do you want to ask?"

Doreen said: "Just now you said that in this era, even without the god Anti-Nam, it can still function. In other words, Anti-Nam will not interfere too much with the operation of Fisher's world."

Siles nodded, he did think so.

"But..." Doreen hesitated for a moment, "Since Antinam is like this, why... the old gods are not like this? Is there a difference between gods and gods?"

Siles was startled, he was a little surprised that Doreen would ask this question.In a sense, this student may also be influenced by the old gods, so he thought of this question.

For ordinary people, whether it is the old gods or the new gods, they are actually quite far away from them.

Siles thought for a while, and then said: "Of course there are differences between gods and gods. For example, Temiafa and Brancani, these two gods, no one will think that they are the same."

Siles gave this example casually, but after saying it, he suddenly realized that the believers of these two gods...maybe really regarded them as the same.

This made him feel dumbfounded.

Doreen didn't know the inside story, but nodded thoughtfully.

"And this is the difference between the gods." Siles said, "Objectively speaking, the social environment faced by the old gods and today's gods is also completely different."

Doreen heard this statement by accident, but she immediately understood: "You mean, people have accepted the status quo that the old gods have fallen. People realize that gods will fall, and gods are not invulnerable.

"Therefore, it is more difficult to spread the belief of gods in this era."

"That's true, from the point of view of human beings." Siles said, "Besides, human beings have just experienced a disaster, and this disaster is precisely related to the old gods. We haven't completely recovered from the mist until now." Come on, there are many other problems.

"We still need to continue our own lives, bury our heads, and have no time to take care of those old gods; maybe some people will want to seek a kind of spiritual sustenance and believe in God in confusion-but everyone knows, The old gods have fallen.

"As for Antinam, the church did not do very frequent missionary work in the past. It should be said that in this day and age, people don't even know who to believe in. Some people do go astray, but the real life of most people has changed. Cut off from the old gods."

Siles spoke very objectively about the current situation in Fisher's world and why gods are gradually absent in Fisher's world.

Even for himself, on the one hand, he is indeed investigating the truth of this world, but on the other hand, the imprints left by the gods in the past on this world are gradually fading. Therefore, Siles is occasionally confused by this split Case.

Doreen was stunned for a while, and after a while, she breathed a slow sigh of relief."Times have changed," she whispered.

"Yes."

Doreen hesitated for a moment before saying, "Professor, I'm not sure if you know... But, some people think that the old gods never left. Even though people think that the old gods have fallen, but..."

"Anyone think the old gods can be resurrected?" Sirius asked.

Doreen was taken aback by what Sirius said so bluntly.She looked at Celes tentatively, and said, "You mean..."

"Those followers of the old gods." Sirius whispered, "Do you mean them?"

Doreen was almost relieved.She murmured, "Yes... I mean, those people."

Siles stared deeply at the student in front of him.In the classroom of this club activity, the sun shines.Not long ago, they were discussing academic viewpoints in an ordinary way, but now, Doreen's performance caught Cilles off guard and pulled him into that weird and deep world.

"There are people like that, and there are ideas like that," says Siles.

"What do you think?"

"I don't think the dead can be brought back to life." Siles said honestly, "And even if they can really be brought back to life, people who have died once will be different after all."

Doreen listened to this in a daze.

Siles turned and said, "As far as the gods are concerned, my thoughts are..." He hesitated, not sure if he wanted to say that to Doreen.He looked at Cindo, who was sitting there idly, waiting for Sirius to finish speaking with Doreen.

When Sirius looked over, Cindo tilted his head in confusion, as if wondering why Sirius was looking at him.

... This performance made Sirius smile in his heart.

He said, "Whether the gods live or die has nothing to do with me."

Doreen froze.She said in disbelief: "But...but that's...that's the gods." She stammered, and she didn't even know why she behaved like this, "That's the gods, they used to rule this world."

"Yes, I understand this, and I know what you mean, Doreen." Siles said almost gently, "However, my existence will never be changed by the life and death of a god.

"Even if the god is alive, I will still be a professor at La Mifa University, burying myself in the complicated and old files, studying the literature of the Silence Period—maybe it has become the name of another era, or the content of its literature has changed.

"And the god is dead now, but I'm still standing here, sharing some scholarly thoughts with my students, and, as you say, talking about the old gods and those distant pasts.

"Whether the gods live or die, nothing seems to change in my life."

Doreen's expression was terribly hesitant, as if she wanted to say, how could this not change?

Siles looked out of the window and said, "It's a sunny day."

Doreen also looked out the window, then nodded.

"Sometimes I like to bask in the sun on the balcony at home, and then read a book, or look at the scenery of Ramifa City." Siles said, "Perhaps you can understand this feeling of leisure."

Doreen whispered, "Yes, I understand. I like to bask in the sun and think about my novel."

Siles smiled a little, and he shared Doreen's sympathy on this point.

He said, "But, Ruthmi has fallen."

Doreen froze.

"Thousands of years ago, the people of the Empire Period and the Silence Period enjoyed the same sunshine before and after the fall of Ruthmi." Siles said, "The fall of the gods can have a great impact , but maybe, not so much.”

He thought to himself that human beings are both inferior and arrogant creatures.

His inferiority complex lies in the fact that he needs something to store his psychological sustenance. Whether it is a person, a thing or an emotion, it always seems that he cannot live without this thing.

Its arrogance lies in the fact that they clearly believe that the god is so high, but they still feel that their lives have to change because of the change of the god.

...in fact, you are the same.Silas said to himself.Your arrogance is that you think your life is so independent; your inferiority is that you always need something other than life to prove the value of your life.

His thoughts flicked over the matter, then he laughed it off.He is always quite sensible, both externally and internally.

Doreen left with a look of unrecoverable God.

Qin Duo stood up, came to Siles, and said in a joking tone: "You let your students fall into thinking about life again."

"She was confused," said Siles, "that's why I gave some of my thoughts." He thought for a while, "But sometimes my ideas don't fit the world."

Qin Duo looked at him, and after a while, he murmured, "I'm curious what your world looks like."

"I've told you a lot," said Siles.

"Yes." Qin Duo did not deny, "But, I still want to experience it for myself."

Siles laughed: "When we settle the matter here, we can try to find the way to my hometown."

Ginto nodded too, and said, "I'm looking forward to it." Then he said, "I remember, before Doreen came to you, you seemed to be staring at some parts of the speech?"

Siles was taken aback for a moment, and then suddenly remembered his previous thoughts.

"Yes," he said, "I am thinking of Ramifa and the Canla River."

Part of today's club activities is related to the changes of Lamifa City in the past 400 years.Among them is the Kanla River.

In the beginning, the city of Ramifah was built on the west bank of the Kanla River, which is now the city of Ramifah.

With the development of Lamifa City, the West City was gradually unable to accommodate the economic development and population expansion of Lamifa City, so Lamifa City expanded to the east bank of the Kanla River, gradually forming the current East City.

As for why it didn't continue to develop further west of the Kanla River, it seems that it was because the fog in the west had not dissipated at that time, but a large area of ​​open land had been revealed on the east bank.However, Siles did not find any more specific information.

In short, in any case, the Kanla River can be said to be a major pillar of Lamifa City. Having this river also makes the initial development of Lamifa City much easier, at least without worrying about water sources.

The end of the Kanla River is Lake Dane on the southern outskirts of Lamifa City, and its source is further north, which seems to be a snow mountain.That is a place quite far from the city of Ramifa.In terms of orientation, it might be east of Middleton.

In the history of Ramifa City, the Kanla River has also been on the verge of drying up twice, and some outright tragedies did occur at that time.

But those were all things in the early days of the Mist Period, which also caused a large part of the pessimistic and desperate arguments in Const's literature in the early period of the Mist Period.Nowadays, people rarely worry about this matter.

In any case, the residents of Lamifa City, and even the entire Principality of Const, can recognize that the Kanla River is their "mother river".

Qin Duo looked at the speech thoughtfully, and he said, "Do you doubt the experiment 14 years ago?"

"Yes." Siles sighed, "They just chose Trisley and the Kanla River. It always makes people feel that it was a..."

"Conspiracy." Qin Duo said.

Siles nodded.

He turned to say: "However, this is just my idea, and there is no evidence. Maybe, I still have to try to collect more clues." He sighed softly again, "The most important thing now is to What's coming up in May."

They still have a lot of confusion about this matter.

Thinking about it, Siles shook his head: "Forget it, don't think about it for now. Let's go back."

It was four o'clock when the club ended, and the conversation with Doreen took a little time.So, they simply ate dinner outside.

For ordinary people, Friday night is probably a very pleasant time; but for Siles, when he was sorting out his weekend things in the study at night, he couldn't help but feel a little headache.

The next two mornings and two afternoons are already packed with things.And what is visible to the naked eye is that he will definitely spend a lot of energy on these things.

... Qin Duo knocked on the door. He leaned against the door frame and said in a sly tone: "It's late at night, Professor Noel, don't you plan to do something with your faithful teaching assistant?"

Siles came back to his senses and couldn't help laughing.He closed the notebook, stood up, walked to Qindo, and turned off the light in the study.He said, "Of course. Are you ready?"

"How could I come to you without being ready." Qin Duo took his hand and intertwined his fingers, "I even thought about it."

For a moment, Siles didn't know whether he should be interested in the part that Qin Duo had prepared, or the part that Qin Duo had thought of.

He thought for a moment, then smiled, and said in a low voice, "Then let me experience it?"

In the morning of the next day, Siles went to Dawson Street in Lamifax alone to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Geisha grocery store.

He hadn't been to West City for a long time, and it wasn't until now that he realized that Dawson Street had completely changed its appearance.The originally chaotic streets have been replanned, the road surface has been re-paved, and the passage to the underground has been sealed.

There are not a few shops that choose to open on this morning, and Geisha Grocery Store is one of them.They have an independent small shop; the second floor and above are residential buildings, and the first floor is their shop, which is about thirty or forty square meters, which seems quite spacious.

Alfonso Carlyle and Emmanuel jointly funded and bought the shops in the underground black market.However, on the black market side, the managers of the black market will not clearly register the name of the owner of the shop, but the owner of the key of the shop will judge.

This is the rule of the black market, and it has always been like this.However, after Jonathan Bryant's accident, the rules on the black market could no longer be maintained.

The Duchy of Const officially requires the owners of these shops (referring to the owners of the store properties, not the operators of the business) to register their identity information, so that they can obtain the corresponding shops in the above-ground area of ​​Dawson Street; as for the underground passage, edge, which is now completely abandoned.

Siles registered the names of Alfonso Carlyle and himself.Originally, he only wanted to write Alfonso's name, but the principality required that one of the owners of the property must come forward in person to prevent false identification, so Siles added his own name.

He himself doesn't care about this, but as far as he knows, there are many shop owners who even gave up their ownership directly, because they are doing not very legitimate business, so they are not willing to disclose their identities, so as not to cause trouble to the upper body.

... Judging from the past business conditions of the underground black market, Siles feels that this is not even unfounded worry.

However, the underground black market in West City is probably where many unofficial revelators buy potions and time rails.Siles is quite suspicious. After the black market here is banned, there may still be some secret small-scale transactions.Just don't know where.

After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Siles found a very excited Irene Fein in the lively scene.

"Good morning, Irene," said Sirius. "How's business?"

With a breathless look on her face, Irene said incredulously, "Oh, you can't even imagine, Professor. How come so many people come to buy our toys and other handicrafts!"

Hearing this, Siles couldn't help looking at the situation in the shop.It should be said that it is not so crowded with guests, but it is indeed crowded.

"Maybe the poker tournament publicity did play a role," Siles said.

"You mean the very popular card game in the city right now?" Irene asked, "Anthony is obsessed with that game, and we asked us to take him to watch the game not long ago, saying that there are a lot of great games coming out of it, He wants to see it for himself. There are many adults who like to play cards."

Siles nodded.He did feel that the popularity of Noel's cards was gradually rising in Lamifa City, at a devastating speed.Firstly, the prize money of this competition is very attractive, and everyone wants to try it; secondly, people really need some entertainment.

Irene didn't have time to gossip with Celes, and she needed to be busy with many things.But that busyness also made her happy.Siles didn't bother her work too much.

He walked around Dawson Street and realized that Dawson Street might become a commercial street in the West Side in the future.There are many items here that may not necessarily be necessities of life, but can indeed improve life.

He looked around in various stores, but he didn't find any toy store similar to Geisha General Store.He thought that Geisha's toys might be loved by children all over the city in the future.

He returned to Geisha and noticed that many young children, led by their parents, were excitedly trying out the toys in the store, and the Rubik's Cube was even loved by some adults.

After thinking about it for a while, Siles found another woman in charge of the store, Louisa Lampson.She's in charge of the cashier at the counter, and she's not particularly busy right now.

He said: "Louisa, I have an idea, I wonder if it can be realized?"

Luisa asked a little curiously: "What is it, Professor Noel?"

"I noticed that many young children would come to the store. I would like to put some popular science books on the counter. If those children or even adults like it, they can borrow it or give it to them." Xilie "It might get them to enjoy reading," says Si.

The idea came to him because he did notice that there were a lot of kids coming and going in the store.

In addition, he also thought that when the bibliophile Professor Calverley donated some books to Siles, he had an idea that maybe he could do something in the future to repay Professor Calverley.

It may also be a way to place some books in the store to cultivate children's interest in reading.Siles doesn't insist on this, even if it's just to make a child think that reading is an interesting thing, it's quite worth it.

Siles added: "Maybe it's not just for popular science readers. Children may find those books too boring. You can find books that children like in bookstores, or books for all ages.

"This part of the budget can be deducted from my dividend, as long as you tell me what books you bought every once in a while."

Luisa froze for a moment, then said in amazement: "You are such a kind person, I have never seen a shop do such a thing, but... indeed, it is a good thing. I see, I will go to made.

"Sometimes I can't help thinking that it would be great if my child would be interested in reading because of your arrangement. But she has a bad temper."

As she spoke, Louisa showed a helpless expression.

Siles looked at Louisa in some confusion, and said, "Sorry...she?"

Louisa had a child before, Mike Lampson, who had previously passed away due to the Underground Arch incident.Siles didn't know when Louisa had another daughter.

"Oh, I haven't told you yet," said Louisa, a little nervously, but also a little joyfully, "I adopted a daughter from the church of yesteryear. I hit her off right away when I first met her.

"She seemed to be a survivor of that... anyway, I met her in the church, and that was what made it happen between us - the same chapel where Mike was buried.

"The priest over there said that I can adopt her, and she can also go to the Church of the Past to learn some knowledge and get paid for doing things there. Both she and I think this is a good arrangement.

"Her name is Mami, and she is nine years old. To tell you the truth, after my husband and Mike left, I felt terrified. Mami's appearance made me feel that at least I live in this world, and there is a little The girl is with me."

Luisa sighed softly, obviously the original trauma could not be healed in just a few months.But she quickly showed a calm smile.

"Hopefully everything goes well after that," she said.

Siles listened in silence.He was a little surprised.

At the beginning, he heard from Dominic that some of the children who were rescued from the underground arch incident were adopted.He very much hopes that those children can have a good future.

But he never expected that one of the adopters was the Louisa Lampson he knew.This can be said to be surprising and comforting.

He said sincerely: "You are a very kind person, and life will reward you accordingly."

"I hope so." Luisa smiled softly.

Siles stayed in the Geisha grocery store for a while.He noticed that in addition to these customers who came to the store in person, there were also many delivery orders from outside.

The new batch of toys on the shelves has obviously received a good market response.Because of the surge in the number of orders, Irene has hired another group of people to carry out the delivery work, and the vagrants are responsible for the tally work.

He confirmed that the store's business was booming and there was nothing to worry about, so he planned to leave.It was already ten o'clock, and he had to go to Dongcheng.In fact, he was also looking forward to the progress of the news from No. 18 Houseville Street.

But when he was about to leave, he happened to run into Jimmy who came to the store to restock with a cardboard box.

He helped put the cardboard box on the ground.

Jimmy said: "Mr. Noel! I was wondering if you had left." He lowered his voice slightly, "If you are okay, then I can tell you about what I have investigated. "

Siles was a little surprised to hear this statement.Not long ago, when he went to Fein's house for dinner, he heard Anthony say that Jimmy was still investigating the past of those homeless people, and there were already some clues, but further investigation was still needed.

Now it seems that they have found useful information?

So, after sorting out the goods in the carton, they found a secluded corner and talked in a low voice.

Jimmy said: "I followed your idea and asked about the past of those homeless people." He added cautiously, "We first discussed it internally, among us homeless children.

"We made a distinction between dubious bums and reliable ones. I figured you'd like to use it for fiction, too, so we looked into both. We did find some interesting past stories from the bums, though. "

Siles asked with interest: "What kind of story?"

"These homeless people, they seem to like to talk about their past, most of them do," Jimmy said, "so, we all hear a lot of stories.

"There are probably hundreds or thousands of homeless people in the West City...We can't fully understand it, so I have to tell you first. Some of them used to be noble young masters in the West City, but their families went bankrupt, and his family either committed suicide or went crazy. He just wandered in the west city by himself.

"Some are servants of some nobles in the northern suburbs, because they did something with the noble lady... well, I don't know exactly what they did, anyway, he was kicked out.

"...These two are the stories I heard. The homeless people in the West City are basically men. They are all lazy and lazy. They are not as good as us children. At least we can make some money everywhere, but they only want to live for a day. is a day.

"My companions, they have also heard stories. Some said that they were water ghosts who crawled out of the Canla River; , As a result, both people and money were lost.

"Some people said that they wanted to do business, but they were cheated of money and kicked out of their homes by their families; Dare to go home."

Jimmy told several stories in one breath, and it could be seen that he himself was a little curious about the past of these homeless people.It's just that he didn't care about it before, but when Siles mentioned it, he paid special attention to it.

Siles listened thoughtfully, he was not surprised by the various remarks, he was just looking for the information he wanted.

He was a little puzzled and said: "The water ghost that crawled out of the Kanla River... what does this mean?"

Jimmy scratched his cheek: "You also think this statement is inexplicable, don't you? So we paid special attention to this homeless man... As a result, we found that he seemed to be a boatman many years ago, a boatman, it should be said .

"I don't know exactly what business it was, and then something happened to him. I don't know if it was an accident or something, he fell into the Canla River. You know, this kind of boatman must be a very good swimmer, but he Struggling in the water for a while before swimming up.

"It seemed to scare him stupidly. After that, he went crazy. Everyone said he was a water ghost who crawled out of the Kanla River. Maybe he was frightened by death."

Siles narrowed his eyes and couldn't help asking, "How long ago did that happen?"

"Maybe..." Jimmy thought for a while, "About ten years ago. At least, as long as I can remember, that man has been wandering in the West City. There are many such crazy homeless people in the West City. They are despised by everyone. .”

Siles nodded.

He thought that what happened to this man might not necessarily mean that he was involved in any mysterious incident, or even related to the experiment that happened near the Kanla River 14 years ago, at least Siles couldn't be so sure.

However, there must be many people in this world whose families have been ruined because of that strange power.And even if the power of the old gods is not involved, humans themselves can mess up the world.

He sighed inwardly.

Jimmy couldn't help asking: "Are you interested in that man? However, he seems to have disappeared. At least I haven't seen him much during this time."

Siles was taken aback for a moment, and then asked, "Do homeless people in the West City often disappear like this for no reason?"

Jimmy nodded. He said, "That's true, because they were homeless. When the underground gangs were still there, they might have done things for the underground gangs. But now the underground gangs are gone.

"I know that many homeless people have also left West City in the past period of time. They may have gone to the countryside and no longer stay in Ramifa City. Maybe in those small towns, it will be easier for them to survive.

"...We have thought of this method before, but we don't know anything outside of Ramifa City. And we are still too young. Thank you for helping us.

"We will work hard in the future. I have bought second-hand textbooks and am teaching myself. After that, I will also teach my companions and those wandering girls. We... hope that we can live on our own abilities."

He showed a somewhat stubborn expression, but also quite determined.

Siles patted him on the shoulder and said in a low voice, "Work hard. I believe you can do it."

Jimmy nodded vigorously, and then he said: "There is another homeless man I want to tell you alone, he...he is a bit strange. I don't know how to describe it to you, but I think you will be interested.

"It is because of the existence of this person that I have not mentioned our investigation results to you until now. What he said...I am not sure, but it seems to be related to the disappearance of homeless people for no reason."

Siles couldn't help being surprised and curious by what Jimmy said.He asked, "Who is that?"

"He's a middle-aged painter," Jimmy said. "According to him, he wandered in the West Side because he offended some people. He didn't want to tell us who he offended, but he told us other things. something.

"He said...we have to be careful with paintings of unknown origin, especially those depicting cities and skies. Someone will...well, how do you say that word...contaminate! Yes, he said that someone will contaminate hidden inside.

"I asked him how he knew, and he said it was because he had encountered such a thing. He said that he was still a teacher at an art academy two years ago, but he was kicked out because of some things.

"I think maybe it's because of this, although I don't know what it is.

"Anyway, the reason I'm telling you about this man is because... he heard from somewhere that we were asking about the past of homeless people, and then he came to us specifically to let us not pay too much attention to the past of homeless people.

"He said that people in this world have their own past, so we should not be so curious, and said that this kind of curiosity will kill us. We all thought this person was crazy at the time."

Jimmy shrugged, and then said: "But I'm also quite interested in what he said. He seems to know some... past events of the homeless in the West Side, and I don't know how to describe it.

"I don't think he has any ill intentions towards us, so I approached him several times in the past and asked him what he knew. Maybe it was because he was annoyed, or maybe because he was afraid that I would tell him about his existence, so he told me I said one thing.

"He said... there is a legend among the homeless in the West City."

Siles couldn't help but startled.

"I've never heard of it," said Jimmy, "but he said it seemed that every once in a while a man would pick one of the Westside bums to do something.

"Some homeless people think it is a way to get rich. They think that someone is doing charity, and those who are selected will have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of their lives."

Jimmy showed a subtle expression.He was probably thinking that even kids his age wouldn't believe it, but adults would.

Jimmy added: "And some homeless people in the west city will keep this matter under wraps. The painter said that in fact, the reason why many homeless people come to the west city is to try their luck.

"In about a year or two, there will be a homeless man who disappears, and people will suspect that he was chosen. I mentioned to you before that the homeless man named Bourne, some people doubt that he was chosen. So it disappears."

Jimmy struggled for a moment and said, "I don't really believe this kind of statement, after all, I saw him again later. However, it seems that many people believe this statement.

"The painter told me that if we continue to inquire about the past of homeless people, then they will doubt our purpose. They may feel that we are competing with them for this opportunity."

In West City, homeless adults and homeless children sometimes don't help each other, they even hostile to each other.

Sirius nodded thoughtfully.

He thought, heard the name Bourne again here.

Bourne the Tramp.

It occurred to him that the last time Jimmy saw Bourne was near the Canla River.

Regarding the homeless Bourne, he has always been a little bit concerned. After all, Bourne can be said to be the most mysterious among all the running team character cards.

Siles has learned a lot about the vagabond Bourne intermittently.But so far he has never really seen this person.

What's more, the identity of the tramp is just Bourne's disguise. The real name of "Bourne" and his real identity under the mask are still unknown.

He thought for a moment, then put the tramp