The world controlled by dice [Western Fantasy]

It was an ordinary afternoon when Mr. Xia showed up in his office in the salon of the Historical Society.

He is not sure which point in time Qiuqiu brought him, but it is not important, he just needs to look for, or focus on one thing here - the member of the artist department.

This artist department seems to be just a nail set by shadow believers, a venue to attract some artists who are curious about it.The people behind it didn't put too much effort into running the place, and even let the two painters go to La Mifa University to seek their own death.

However, perhaps it is this contemptuous attitude that will cause them to leave some omissions in this place... For example, did they appear in the department too openly?

No one expected Mr. Xia to close the salon in such a short time.

In fact, what puzzled him was whether the actions of the two crazy painters at La Mifa University were part of the shadow believer's plan, or was it just a cover?

Many things happened on that Saturday, August 8th, and not everything necessarily points to the ultimate goal of the Shadow Cultist.

The barter at the Fillmore Family Museum and the auction of the Graves family assets did make sense, but the Ernestine Fair, and the one at Ramifa University The two actions seemed quite meaningless.

Those few malicious people just wandered in the underground passage, but did nothing; and the two crazy painters who appeared in Ramifa University didn't even know anything about the existence of shadow believers, just wanted to Try new ways of painting.

These two actions are more like temptations, and the object of the temptations is very obviously pointing to Siles Noel-a trade fair, a La Mifa University, all related to him.

Although he settled the matter of La Mifa University, when he was going to the trade fair, he suddenly realized that this might be a temptation.After that, he made the whole investigation process more covert and calm.

However, this does not affect him to use the power of time to search for some useful information in the long river of history.

For example, Mr. Xia's office.

Today the salon is indeed closed, but in the "old days" the salon was still open to the Revelation.

As Mr. Xia once said, he can do whatever he wants in the salon.Everything here is under his control, it's just that he rarely really shows it.

It was an ordinary afternoon, sunny and clear.And maybe this is also an unusual afternoon. The unusual thing is that the "artists" of the artist department are gathering in the department at the moment.

...Sometimes, Mr. Xia just didn't know whether to lament that this group of people trusted the department so much, or to thank this group of people for their trust.

He sat in the office, his face was normal, but his eyes were dark.His vision seemed to penetrate the wall and the layers of curtains invisibly, and saw the place where the group of people gathered.

He let the ball take him to the moment when the artist's department was first created.He wanted to see who these people really were.

There were not many people gathered in the academic department. There were five or six people in total. One of them was a woman. She had a calm expression and cold eyes, carrying a kind of rationality and calmness that was rarely seen among followers of the old gods.

Mr. Xia set his eyes on this woman and frowned slightly.He had a subtle premonition, or... an inspiration.

… Then, he heard other people calling this woman, "Josephine".

Josephine Hosier.

Mr. Xia suddenly opened his eyes wide in astonishment. He stared at the woman in disbelief, noticing that she seldom spoke, but she did give some thoughts and opinions of her own.She is like the person in charge here, and everyone else follows her command.

Gradually, Mr. Xia's expression darkened.

Everything around seems to be a book that is flipped through quickly, with pictures changing, time passing by, and years passing by.People move around quickly, the sun rises and sets rapidly, rain and snowflakes and sunshine alternate quickly.

The long time seems to be condensed into this short period of time.

That room has not changed, and Mr. Xia has always looked at the party that took place in that room.Josephine is always there, just getting older.She still seldom speaks, but occasionally gives her own thoughts and makes a final decision.

Until... 14 years ago.

The screen suddenly stopped.A calm smile played on Josephine Hosier's aged face.Her appearance is much older than her real age.

She reached out and stroked her gray hair lightly, then said softly: "Then, it's time for me to leave."

The rest of the people also looked at her with complex and indescribable emotions in their eyes.One of them said something emotionally, but Josephine was unmoved.

She just said softly, "Farewell, everyone. I will meet my death with my head held high."

This sentence made everything around me quiet.Josephine nodded to the others, then walked out of the room and never came back.

"...She died after that." Qiuqiu whispered in Mr. Xia's ear.

Mr. Xia was stunned.

Ever since he accidentally discovered the existence of Josephine Hosier at the meeting place of the Artists' Department, he has been a little surprised and bewildered until now.Of course, a lot of information has been arranged and combined in his brain, but...

He himself couldn't believe it.

Why is Josephine Hosier in the Artists Division of the Historical Society?

The most important thing is that the Academy of Artists was secretly established by shadow believers, and Josephine... Isn't she going to fight against these people?

Is she also polluted?

... No, from Josephine's performance just now, there is no such sign at all.She was still calm, collected, even so calmly that she met her own death at the end.

Since the establishment of the Department of Artists, this group of "artists" does not seem to have done anything too outrageous.It can even be said that Josephine "constrains" these followers of the old gods to a certain extent.

But... After all, why did Josephine appear here?

...he had considered a possibility, hadn't he?

He had considered that if Josephine Hosier had really given birth to her child at the Lancelot Theater 34 years ago, if Ebenezer Coster knew better than anyone the third Grand Duke's story...

Then, Ebenezer should be able to realize that the reason why the power of the ritual will affect the prop knife and cause the death is because of the birth of this child and because Josephine gave birth to this child.

...So, Ebenezer will discover the existence of Josephine.

Josephine Hosier came alone from Middleton, carrying the suspicious clay bowl.She should have come here to ask for help, or inform the relevant information, and pass on this troublesome existence to the church of the past.

However, for some unknown reason, after she arrived in Lamifa City, she did not contact the bishop of Lamifa City at the time, but was suspected of falling in love with Cogichel Lancelot, And conceive and bear children.

...so she has a weakness.her child.

Her children are innocent, ignorant, irrelevant.But the birth of this child brought many problems.

... As far as Mr. Xia could think of, the only possibility for Josephine to join the camp of shadow believers, as long as she is rational, is - only possible, because of her child.

She hoped that Ebenezer Const would spare her child.

Ebenezer Const may have agreed to this condition.Anyway, that was 34 years ago.At that time, Ebenezer may have been influenced by shadow believers, but he was not so crazy and devout.He may have retained a sliver of sanity.

But, 14 years ago -- 20 years later, things have changed.

Ebenezer Const's faith exposed.

When he leaves Ramifa City, he will most likely need to do some finishing work.For example, the killing of Josephine Hosier, the ever-unbelievable exotic bishop.

The unreliability of Josephine Hosier comes from many places, for example, she was once a member of the Church of the Past, for example, she knew the existence of the clay bowl, for example, she could not follow Ebenezer Const again. Back to Middleton.

She has become old and old, has lost the value of use, and at the same time has the risk of leaking secrets. Therefore, after Ebenezer lost power, the only way to wait for Josephine is death.

It seemed that Josephine herself was well aware of this.She accepted her own death quite calmly and openly.Rather, for her, the past 20 years have been like death.

And at that point, 14 years ago, her child, her dear Chester Fitzroy, was probably going to be a doctor.Her child will save lives, will save many lives.That might be the result countless times better than she imagined.

Therefore, she could die willingly.

... Mr. Xia felt a heavy, sighing emotion, which was stuck in his brain, making it difficult for him to get rid of this invisible trouble.Not just because of such a choice, but because of the consequences of this choice.

At that moment, would Josephine regret giving birth to this child?Do you feel that this child should not have come into this world?And what was Cogichel Lancelot doing at that time?

...he is probably dead.But when did he die?

Did Josephine Hosier really join the camp of shadow believers?

Mr. Xia felt that these questions were like heckles.And he seemed to know too much about it.At the beginning, he just wanted to know the possible secret of the Artist School, but this secret was beyond his imagination.

He once again felt the weight of time and fate.

...he thought almost jokingly that he could sometimes understand the coldness and indifference of the gods.That is fairness in another sense, because it is the cruelty of treating people equally.

And he couldn't actually do that.

He always wanted perfection, always hoped that everything would end well, and he tried to do it.Therefore, when he realized that the past and irreversible things were finalized, he felt subtly embarrassed.

If there is a prophet in this world?

...then the Prophet must have been miserable and happy.That conductor lady from the Shadow Age once said so.

Power also became a curse to him at this moment.

He sat there dryly, meditating quietly for a long time, and finally got rid of this emotional trouble slowly.

But, he thought again—he finally, finally had to make a choice.

Maybe not that urgent, but...

... To put it simply, he, a human being, was plagued by the power of a god.he said to himself.

So, he had to think of a solution.It won't be easy, but it won't be difficult either, because... After all, it's just a force.

The power of humans or the power of gods, in the final analysis, is just "power".

He looked out the window.The familiar Lamifa city.He is already very familiar with this office of Mr. Xia, and he is also very familiar with the city scenery from this window.

He will realize that the landscape is closely related to him, but in a way, it has nothing to do with him.

He is just a passerby at this point in time, a wandering ghost.

……past.

He seemed to think of something suddenly, and said, "Qiaoqiu, we should go somewhere else."

"Okay." Qiuqiu said briskly. Since it knew that he was willing to help publish Jan Calder's works, Qiuqiu's mood has been very positive. "Where do you want to go?"

"Shadow Period." Mr. Xia said, "You can just pick any time."

"No problem!" Ball said.

"Qiaoqiu, let's go!" Dice cheered from the sidelines, as if heading towards a tourist destination it likes very much.

Mr. Xia smiled.

The picture in front of him jumped and flickered again. He was used to this scene, so he just waited quietly.After a moment of confusion, the scene in front of him finally froze.

This is a small village in the wilderness.He could see from a distance that there seemed to be a magnificent and huge city on the other side of the hill not far away.However, in comparison, the village in front of him looked barren and dilapidated.

After thinking for a while, he walked towards the village.

The closer he got, the more he found the village to be deserted and deserted. It was evening now, but there was very little smoke in the village.The gazes of some people sitting blankly at the door were quite dull and indifferent.

Some people noticed Mr. Xia's arrival, some people were indifferent, but gradually some people stood up and gathered around the entrance of the village, looking at Mr. Xia indifferently.

"Who are you? What are you here for?" One of the relatively young men asked loudly.

Mr. Xia keenly discovered that the language used by this man was very similar to the "common language" he heard from the conductor lady when he came to the Shadow Period last time, but it was more uncommon and complicated, with a hint of A strange accent.

...So this is probably an earlier era than that time?

When he thought about it, he said in this language: "I'm going to Tao Hetia, and I want to ask the way. Is it far away?"

Mentioning the definite location of Tao Hetia, the expressions of the man and others in the village relaxed a little.

They seemed less nervous, and the man even became a little more enthusiastic. He pointed to the miniature city in the distance and said, "That's Tao Hetia."

"It doesn't look far away."

"It's just a look." The man said disapprovingly, "If you really want to go there, it will take at least a month."

Mr. Xia was slightly taken aback.

The man laughed loudly and said, "Otherwise, what do you think? If we were really so close to Taohetia, then this place wouldn't be so desolate." He probably thought that Mr. Xia was a noble young master who didn't go out very much, so he said, "Would you like to come over for a cup of tea?"

Mr. Xia pondered for a moment, then followed the man into the village.The rest scattered away bored.

While walking, the man introduced to Mr. Xia: "Our village has no name, it used to be a fiefdom of a nobleman, but that guy went bankrupt, so we had to fend for ourselves.

"We planted some things, but we couldn't sell any money, and we were deceived by businessmen—the followers of Menawaka are really not good people; we also raised some livestock, such as sheep, but when the plague came, those animals They all died, even many young people in the village died.

"They all said that Thaddeus secretly took care of our small village... This is really... We can't bear such care.

"Slowly, people felt that this place was cursed. At that time, a lot of people died. Fortunately, life has been a little better in the past few years... We also plan to believe in a god, maybe he can protect us.

"However, in this wild place, the gods probably don't care about our beliefs. Who knows. In this world, we have to find a way to find a way out."

Mr. Xia listened quietly, occasionally having a chat.Until now, he has not left any deep impression on this village, as if this place is an ordinary small village struggling to survive in the Shadow Age.

Such villages and villagers are not uncommon in the Shadow Era, even the Silent Era, and the Mist Era.They live in an almost isolated place and have their own set of life philosophy.They rarely deal with outsiders, and they don't bother to do so.

Their life day after day, seems to be copied and pasted every day—as if it is really like the computer files of his hometown Earth, secretly controlled by invisible hands outside the computer.

And Mr. Xia is very clear that this is a living human being.

This thought haunted him casually, but disappeared without a trace when he saw something in the middle of the village.

He showed a slightly startled expression.

"...Oh, you are a little surprised by this thing?" The man said, "It's just a guillotine. You should have seen it in the city too? In the past few decades, the world was very chaotic, and it was only recently settle down.

"We also have a guillotine like this here, which is used to judge some people. Some of them have committed crimes, some have gone mad, and some have believed in inexplicable things, and then they have bad intentions for the village... There are always such people.

"We have to judge them and kill them. I don't know where the rumors come from, that the faults of these people are all in their heads, so if you want to get rid of this stuff, you have to behead.

"Honestly, I don't really believe it. But everyone else said it, so I had to follow suit. I even beheaded a murderer myself! It wasn't a good experience.

"... I didn't use any strength at first, but the man's head was broken in half, and he was still alive and yelled at me, saying that he couldn't die well, and that I was a coward, so I was so angry that I chopped him alive It took him about ten blows before he chopped off his head.

"When his head was rumbling away, the eyeballs were still staring at me! I was so angry that I smashed his eyeballs with the handle of the axe. It seemed that this trick worked. I slept well that day. , sleep better than ever.

"I thought it was Akamala who accidentally blessed me, but after that, I never enjoyed a similar good sleep. People said that I should chop off the heads of those criminals again, but I can't If I don't have that strength, if I chop someone up a dozen times, wouldn't that mean I will suffer, and he will suffer too?

"...Anyway, that's how things are. We haven't used this thing in recent years, and I think it can even be sold, but the old people in the village don't want it. They said that this thing might be handed out in the future use.

"Ha, I believe it! Anyway, these days, things won't be so easy to settle down. It's just that the past one or two years have allowed us to live a slightly better life, and those gods will not let us calm down.

"It's just that we were born into this era by accident or by being too lucky. If we were to live 1000 years ago, or 1000 years later, how could we live such a disgusting life?"

The man talked endlessly, as if the guillotine had aroused his words, so that he couldn't stop, he just wanted to tell those things about himself to those who came.

And the quiet listener, too, seemed like a suitable conversation partner.His dark eyes are always very attentive and serious, as if he listens carefully to every word.

So, unknowingly, the man talked a lot.

He sighed in his heart, feeling that there was no need to complain so much with a stranger—whose life can be happy these days? ——But looking at those eyes, he felt that it didn't really matter.

If you speak, you will speak.People always pay attention to their own affairs and are just indifferent to the emotions of others.

So after the man finished speaking these words, he planned to change the subject very naturally.

But at this moment, the man opposite him said, "But, what if the next 1000 years will not be easy?"

The residents of this ancient remote village slowly opened their mouths.

He said, "But...but, how is that possible? How can you be sure?"

The unknown visitor smiled vaguely: "If I'm sure?"

The man swallowed, and an inexplicable tension rose up.For some reason, he didn't dare to doubt the man's statement.He looked around and noticed the quiet, silent surroundings.

It seems that something is listening to their conversation, as if something is watching their conversation, as if... the world is waiting for this conversation.

He suddenly summoned up his courage, and he asked, "What evidence do you have?"

The visitor—the visitor from the distant future, his eyes fixed on the blood-stained guillotine, and looked at everything around him.There was a slight bewilderment and more complicated emotional fluctuations in his eyes.

He murmured something in a low voice, but the other person present did not hear clearly.The latter just stared at him stubbornly, waiting for an answer - what kind of stubbornness made him listen to someone who seemed crazy at this moment?

He didn't know it himself, but he just waited.

After a moment of silence, the visitor suddenly took out a piece from his pocket—a newspaper?

The inhabitants of this remote village certainly knew about newspapers.Taohtia was not so far away from them, and he had read newspapers even in his youth when the village was prosperous.

He took the newspaper in bewilderment, unfolded it, and opened his mouth suddenly.

Shadow Age, 788, August 8th.Evening paper.

He stared at the time.The cool evening wind made him shiver violently.He glanced at the contents of the newspaper in disbelief, swallowing, and then broke out in a cold sweat.

He thrust the newspaper into the visitor's hand with a jerk.He was trembling, his face was pale, and he looked like he was arguing with himself.

He may not have understood what was said in the newspaper, but his brain seemed to be threatening himself——Look, look!Look at what kind of visitor you have welcomed today!

The unnamed visitor folded the newspaper again and looked around silently.

"...I don't, I don't believe it." The man heard his dry voice, "You just, just... are, deceiving me... Yes, just like those businessmen, you are deceiving me. You are deceiving me! "

His voice suddenly became higher and even smoother.Of course he wouldn't believe that it was a newspaper from the future.Of course he couldn't believe it.He found this incredible.

"What evidence do you have?" The man didn't dare to say what the evidence was used to prove, he just kept repeating - evidence, evidence, evidence!Bring out the evidence!

His eyes were filled with bloodshot eyes, looking so hideous.But everyone knew that in this empty central square of the village in the evening, beside the guillotine, it was the soul of this man who was crumbling at this very moment.

So the visitor thought about it.He suddenly revealed a smile that seemed to have suddenly realized, but also seemed to be ridiculed.

He took one out of his pocket—a pen?

He handed the pen to the inhabitants of this remote village.The latter was at a loss, so the visitor took out the newspaper again, and taught the man how to write and the principle of this pen.

This man had dealt with businessmen, killed people, planted fields, herded cattle, and knew how to read.He knew a lot of things, but he was helpless with a small pen.

He had never seen such a thing.It's not a product of this age.He played with the pen curiously, and was a little ashamed because of the dirt under his nails.

He wrote a few words, played with the converter in the barrel of the fountain pen, and carefully wiped the pen with the hem of his clothes before handing it back to the visitor.

Afterwards, the resident of the village showed a bewildered expression belatedly.

The sun went down little by little, and in silence, night fell.

Finally, the man said, "This is... the future?"

"I can't say if this is the future, or if this is your future." The unnamed visitor still said in that—damn—calm tone, "Maybe I, too, just glimpsed some of these things... Some details were known in advance."

"Prophet." The residents of this village murmured in a low voice.

The visitor was stunned for a moment—from the Common Language of the Shadow Age, to the Sardinian Empire language of the Silence Age, to the Const language of the Mist Age, the pronunciation of the word "prophet" has never changed.

He felt a little stunned, perhaps, it can also be said to be a kind of belated melancholy.

When he heard the word "prophet" for the first time, and now when he heard the word "prophet" from the mouth of this shadow age man, the feeling was completely different.

That is... that is, he felt indescribable, complex and heavy feelings.

"...are you a prophet?" the resident of this distant village suddenly asked.

The visitor hesitated, then said, "No, not quite. But in the future—in the far, far future, perhaps, there will be a prophet. He will save the world."

"save?"

"save."

The residents of that village fell silent again.He seemed half-understood, seemingly ignorant.He said, "But what about God?"

He seems to be saying that if there is a God, then why is there a need for a prophet to save the world?He also seemed to have a vague idea of ​​the answer to this question.

However, when he uttered this question, he suddenly realized that this seemed to be antagonizing God and the prophet—it seemed that when the prophet saved the world, the resistance he had to face was also the same. including God.

"I can't tell you too much." The visitor said almost gently, "The thing is... yes, I may need to let the 'prophet' play at this time... a person who has been in the world for a long time, a long time ago. , a role that has already appeared."

The inhabitants of the village looked at him blankly.

And the visitor murmured, "But after this first appearance, it will be a long, long time before the second appearance of 'The Prophet'. He will be..."

The man who turned the tide.

He Will……

"...save the world." The visitor showed a slight smile, "He will be the one to save the world."

The residents of the village did not understand this sentence.But he still watched the visitor seriously, as if he wanted to take everything he said into his heart.

After a while, the visitor said, "It's getting dark."

The residents of the village nodded.

"You will have a long night," continued the visitor, "long enough to wonder if the world will never see the dawn, but will only be trapped in this terrible dark night, shrouded in eternal shadows."

"Is the sun dead?" the village resident couldn't help asking.

The visitor seemed to smile. The analogy is indeed very interesting, but—but, Ruthmi.At this moment in the Shadow Era, has Luthmi fallen?

So he stared at the drowsy scene in the distance and said, "The sun is just coming late."

Residents of the village scratched their hair in confusion.

"...but the world, and the people of this world, can't just wait for the sun to rise—blame the sun for being late," said the visitor, who seemed to come from a faraway land. "No one can sit back and enjoy it."

The village resident seemed tired of playing charades like this, he couldn't help asking: "But, why do you say that? What do you need me for?"

"No, nothing," said the visitor. "I'm just telling you about it. I need—the world waits for that."

"What time?"

"The point in time when the 'Prophet' needs help." The visitor smiled slightly, "In some distant future. But, please believe me, this world and the humans in this world will arrive at that point in time.

"The 'Prophet' needed help at that time... the long, long years, the time, to be the foundation for such help. The 'Prophet' wants me to tell you this right now - just, 'tell' this thing itself.

"And after that point, the dawn will come."

As he spoke, he looked towards the distant horizon.The setting sun disappeared completely, and the last rays of the setting sun were also stingily taken back by the sun.The night completely rules the world.

He said, "Keep this a secret. Goodbye."

The residents of this remote, ancient and remote village subconsciously looked over, and he said, "But..."

His voice stopped abruptly, because when he looked away, the strange visitor just disappeared out of thin air, with his pen, his newspaper, and his mysterious prophecy.

The man's eyes widened because of this, and after a while, he shouted tremblingly, "God...God!"

This loud, hoarse, almost frantic shout finally attracted the attention of others."What happened?" asked one.

"Go get a piece of paper! Go!" said the man, his eyes frantic and obsessed, but an almost terrifying calm also controlled his brain, "I need... I need to write this thing down .that's what the... 'prophet' asked...

"We...we! We have received a revelation from God! He came from the sky, and now he has returned to the sky! He is the sun! He is the future! He is the God who protects this world!

"The gods tell us that the world has sunk into darkness and the sun is long overdue. We can only wait, but we cannot sit still. We have to wait for a prophet to save and change the world... We have to live in Help at that time...

"...We, want to help...It is to save this world, to save that prophet...It is to save ourselves...It is our ambition...After so many years of waiting, it will help in the end...We want to Keep this secret! Remember this secret!"

He chattered endlessly, his expression contorted and his eyes ferocious, almost fanatical.

And there was a person holding parchment—that was the flock of sheep that this village had raised, and the livestock had all died of the disease, so they used the waste from the sheep's corpses, and some of them were made into parchment like this.

He quickly recorded it on the parchment, but the man's speech was too fast and his words were messy, so he could hardly record anything.He scratched his hair in distress, and looked at the words on the parchment - the gods said that there would be a prophet to save the world.

After thinking about it, he breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the meaning was not wrong.

And the man who claimed to be inspired snatched the parchment and added a few lines of text.He didn't know how to describe what was involved—the visitor had asked him to keep it a secret, hadn't he?

In the end, he just struggled to write down the words, "a fountain pen beyond this era".

He stared at the parchment for a moment, then whispered, "There is no God."

"What?" Someone asked impatiently.They probably thought the man's brain was crazy too.Some people even glanced at the guillotine, probably thinking that this man should also walk on the guillotine.

The man was silent for a moment, and then he suddenly cheered up. His eyes were serious, but it could also be said that he was in high spirits.He said with certainty: "In the future, there is no God!"

The whole village seemed terrified by his motto.Time seemed to stand still at this moment, and in the next second, someone finally couldn't bear it and said, "What are you talking about!"

The parchment was casually discarded, the man was beaten roughly—not too hard, but people hoped he would wake up—and soon the village was quiet again.

The man lay on the ground, quietly looking at the starry sky.The stars are indeed beautiful, he thought casually.

But, but—but, what they were waiting for was the sun.

He closed his eyes slowly, that's all