Chapter 2783 Walking with the Beast <TOC> Chapter 2785 A Little Red Flower
Translator: SumTLMan
Kael stated his own conclusion and, at the same time, raised two questions.
Can Awakened Demons live in harmony with ordinary natives? Is the information about the Panic World a one-sided generalization?
As for the former, the answer is unknown.
As for the latter, Angel instead felt there was a high chance it was correct. Because the vast majority of wizards, when looking at other intelligent races, find it very hard to be objective. Precisely because they cannot be objective, they take what they hear as the whole truth, never seeking to verify across the group, drawing conclusions solely from what is right before their eyes, deliberately magnifying certain prejudices while ignoring the customs and strengths of nonhuman races themselves.
What’s more, this type of wizard is for the most part a frontier-conquering wizard. The 「conquering the frontier」 in frontier-conquering wizards does not simply mean discovering unknown planes, but refers to waging war and opening up territory.
The meaning of 「waging war」 is not that they themselves are threatened, but that they are to threaten the natives of other worlds, to force others to accept the values held by the Wizarding World.
Only by assimilating values and gaining the high ground in the war of ideology can the natives truly bow their heads in submission.
Therefore, it is common for the information sent back by frontier-conquering wizards to be one-sided generalizations.
But there is no helping it; the Frost Moon Alliance has basically monopolized the frontier-expedition enterprise of the Southern Region, so the power to interpret public opinion naturally lies in the hands of the Frost Moon Alliance.
Of course, you can also go alone to another world, but you alone, or in a small team of twos and threes, are basically hard to define as 「frontier-conquering」; at most it can be called…… a journey of sights and experiences.
「What do you think, is this true or false?」 After listening to Kael, Daus turned his head to look at Angel and the Black Count.
Angel shook his head, indicating that he did not know. Analysis is analysis, but as for whether it is specifically true or not, one still has to look at hard evidence. The information he knew he had already laid out before; what Kael spoke of was already beyond the scope of his intelligence.
The Black Count, on the other hand, pondered for a moment and then said softly: 「I also cannot judge true from false. However, I can tell you an anecdote, related to Achillea Comprehensive College.」
When the Black Count mentioned Achillea Comprehensive College, everyone unconsciously snuck a glance in Angel’s direction.
Achillea Comprehensive College is located right in Sky Mechanical City, with the Research Institute standing behind it, and Angel had also once served as a teacher at Achillea College for a period of time. The shadow boxes that are now very popular in the major wizard markets of the Southern Region are precisely based on the theories and crafting methods Angel expounded while teaching at Achillea College.
So whenever Achillea Comprehensive College is mentioned, everyone naturally associates it with Angel.
Angel himself did not feel much about it; he basically had no sense of belonging to Achillea Comprehensive College, and as for the Research Institute, if not for the Potion Master being there, he would not feel much sense of belonging either. Since he had no sense of belonging, he naturally did not care about the hidden stories within.
「You should have heard of the Manlo Plane, right?」 The Black Count phrased it as a question, but in fact he was already certain they knew of the Manlo Plane, so he did not wait for everyone to answer before continuing: 「The Manlo Plane was likewise discovered in the Fallen Gold Era. At the start, it was discovered by an itinerant alchemist. A wizard whose purpose is travel does not have as strong a desire to conquer other worlds as a frontier-conquering wizard. However, this alchemist just so happened to discover special scent spirits in the Manlo Plane.」
「To take fragrance itself as spirit is an extremely special existence. And precisely because the Manlo Plane has scent spirits, its fragrance market can truly be said to be in full bloom.」
「Although that alchemist was not from pharmacology, he understood the fragrance value of the Manlo Plane. He swiftly returned to Sky Mechanical City and, in his capacity as a teacher of Achillea Comprehensive College, met with the then-lord of Sky Mechanical City.」
「After that, Sky Mechanical City began sending a large number of wizards to station themselves in the Manlo Plane, and under the banner of pioneers, they massively developed the Manlo Plane.」
「Nowadays, the largest wizard faction in the Manlo Plane, the Fragrant Moon Alliance, has Sky Mechanical City standing behind it. The fragrance-tasting gatherings held in the Manlo Plane at intervals are organized by Achillea Comprehensive College.」
「Looking at it now, the Manlo Plane seems bright and clear, a 『scenic spot』 that all witches love to visit. But when the Manlo Plane was first being developed, Sky Mechanical City’s methods were quite disgraceful.」
「They outwardly claimed that an alchemist had been killed in the Manlo Plane, and used this as the pretext to march in on a grand scale, then continuously released information to smear the Manlo Plane in all sorts of ways. Innumerable natives were affected by this unwarranted disaster, and the vast majority became prisoners, forced to undergo value-reconstruction. It can be said that, at that time, everything that was transmitted back to the Southern Region about the Manlo Plane was rumor.」
「Later, when Sky Mechanical City saw that development was more or less complete and value-assimilation was also more or less done, only then did they begin to release positive news and hold the first fragrance-tasting gathering, using the witches who attended to carry the true news of the Manlo Plane outward.」
「A witches’ tea party is an excellent way to disseminate public opinion. In the short span of just over ten years, the Manlo Plane transformed from a world shrouded in darkness and violence into a beautiful world of birdsong and fragrant blossoms.」
「Does the story end here? It does not.」
「After so many years, is your present understanding of the Manlo Plane only the Fragrant Moon Alliance and its beautiful side? Those undercurrents, those blood-soaked times brought about by the scent spirits, seem never to have existed.」
「This is the story written by the victors, and what is more, this story will continue to be written for many years, until that dark period disappears completely.」
By the time the Black Count finished speaking, this small story could be considered told.
Angel and Daus both wore thoughtful expressions, while only Vai had a face full of indignation: 「I had always thought Sky Mechanical City was a sacred hall of knowledge; I never expected it to have such a dark history!」
Vai continued to curse under his breath, and after he finished, he seemed to think of something and turned his head to Angel: 「I didn’t mean you, my lord…… I was talking about Sky Mechanical City of that time.」
Angel smiled: 「Even if you say the Sky Mechanical City of today, I also don’t mind. I don’t know where you saw Sky Mechanical City as a sacred hall of knowledge. Just think of the Purification Garden incident from a few years ago, and you’ll understand that Sky Mechanical City has never changed.」
「The Purification Garden incident?」 Vai’s expression was puzzled: 「Did something happen in the Purification Garden? I only heard that the Purification Garden seemed to have advanced in rank?」
「You don’t know?」 Angel froze for a moment. It had only been how long since the Purification Garden, and Vai already had no impression?
Vai shook his head.
Angel then looked at the others; Kael also showed a doubtful look, while Daus instead looked completely clear about it.
It seemed that only the apprentices didn’t know? What was going on? The time gap was clearly so small, and countless apprentices had died, and back then the magazines of Sky Mechanical City had nearly exploded over it.
At the time, Angel had even thought the whole world was condemning Sky Mechanical City’s actions, but now it seemed that hardly anyone actually knew?
Perhaps seeing Angel’s confusion, the Black Count said: 「Aside from alchemy, the most developed industry in Sky Mechanical City is communications and media; you can think of it as the magazine business.」
「There is no small number of magazines with an official background behind them. They publish so many magazines outward, turning black into white, isn’t that perfectly normal?」
「Why do you think Frost Moon bothers with such a thankless task as running 《Planes Conquest Record》? Besides for the frontier-pioneering wizards, isn’t it still for the sake of grasping the power of discourse.」
Only when the power of discourse is in your own hands does it become up to you whether it is spring or autumn, black or white.
「Don’t you also have an official magazine? I recall Rhine once showed it to me; it’s called 《Mirror》.」 When the Black Count said this, he lightly shook his head: 「After I finished reading it, I had only one thought.」
Angel: 「Ah?」
The Black Count: 「It has not a shred of combat power.」
Angel: 「……《Mirror》 is mainly aimed at our own people, and inside are all some research-oriented viewpoints.」
The Black Count: 「So what? There are no few magazines that, while exporting knowledge, secretly sneak in a bit of smuggled-in value-judgment. Your 《Mirror》 really is purely research viewpoints…… and most importantly, there are not many viewpoints in it that are even worth a look.」
On this point, Angel had no way to refute him.
Angel had seen for himself how meager the content of 《Mirror》 was. When he went to serve as a judge at the Novastar Competition, 《Mirror》 made a huge fuss reporting on it, occupying more than half its pages, to the point that watching it made Angel’s own secondhand embarrassment flare up.
And in order to increase the influence of 《Mirror》, Rhine also put in a great deal of effort. As for the work Angel planned to compile, 『On Ghosts and Soul Transformation』, Rhine strongly suggested that he publish it in 《Mirror》.
At that time, Angel, who understood nothing at all about the politics of magazines, naturally agreed without any objection……
However, even if it were now, Angel would still agree.
Authoritative magazines do exist in the Southern Region, but Angel did not feel he could appear in such authoritative journals. Rather than adding flowers to the brocade for other magazines, it would be better to deliver charcoal in the snow for 《Mirror》.
Returning to the main topic, after pondering for a moment Daus said: 「My lord, you don’t mean to condemn Sky Mechanical City, but rather to say that once public opinion is controlled, what we know and obtain is not necessarily the truth?」
「Including the things Angel just said about the Panic World, which are not necessarily true either. It’s possible they are merely compiled by the Frost Moon Alliance?」
The Black Count: 「Not entirely so. Most of it should be true, and a small part false. But which part that small part is, that we do not know.」
Daus hesitated for a moment, then nodded and asked no more. For he also understood that if the Black Count truly knew which parts were false, he would surely have spoken plainly. Since he had said nothing, it showed that the Black Count also knew nothing about this.
Daus’ gaze returned once more to the mural Kael had displayed.
Looking at the harmonious scene in the mural, Daus turned his head to glance at Angel: 「You and Eremy seem to be just like in the mural, also quite harmonious.」
Angel: 「It’s different.」
Eremy only obeyed him because it was affected by the Seed of Distortion.
As Angel thought of this, a flash of inspiration suddenly crossed his mind. Previously, Laplace had said that only within chaotic cinder-flames might Eremy see a faint opportunity for rebirth.
The phrase 「chaotic cinder-flames」 made him think of……the Source of Chaos and the power furnace.
Could it be that these were related? Did that mean he would only be able to obtain the answer by going once more to Mr. Boil Gentleman’s place?
While Angel was thinking, Daus continued: 「How about letting Eremy come out and take a look; maybe it recognizes this lion with ears of wheat growing on its head.」
Upon hearing Daus’ words, even Vai could not help rolling his eyes.
What Daus said was like this: you have a foreign friend, and while you are in your own country you happen to see a foreigner from that same country, and you immediately go up and ask whether the other party knows your foreign friend.
The odds are about the same as fishing a needle out of the sea.
So not to mention Vai rolling his eyes, Angel was also somewhat speechless. He did not think Eremy would know the Awakened Demon in the mural.
However, seeing Daus’ eagerness, Angel thought of his inspiration.
If this was inspiration at work, it was actually not entirely impossible……even if the probability was as small as .001%, it was still a probability, after all.
Thinking this, Angel still called Eremy out from the shadow.
Then he pointed at the painting within the frame, letting Eremy take a look and see if it recognized it.
After a long moment, as expected, Eremy’s face was filled with confusion; it clearly did not recognize the Awakened Demon in the painting.
Angel signaled for Eremy to return to the shadow, and only then said to Daus: 「See, there was no way it would know them.」
Daus let out a dispirited sigh and muttered: 「I had thought there should be some kind of resonance between Awakened Demons……」
「Everything is ‘you thought’ with you. Who do you think you are, with all your ‘you thought’.」 Vai retorted unceremoniously.
Setting aside for the moment the quarrel between Vai and Daus, Angel outwardly appeared casual as if unconcerned, but inside a trace of puzzlement arose.
It was certain that Eremy did not know the Awakened Demon in the mural.
However, Eremy had actually shown a 「look of confusion」.
How could Eremy feel confusion?
Confusion is a particular manifestation of expression.
Eremy was merely something like a controlled 「puppet」; how could such an emotional color, impossible for a puppet, appear upon it？
Nor was this the first time.
Angel remembered that after coming out of the Tidal Realm, Eremy seemed to have started to undergo some changes. It just had not been so obvious at the time; later, in Princess Town and then in the current underground waterways, Eremy began to display the characteristics of 「emotion」.
This was absolutely abnormal！
Could this be what was spoken of in Laplace’s Gift-Words: a demon who seeks to awaken once more？
This question, most likely only Laplace could answer.
Angel suppressed the doubts sprouting one after another in his heart and, on the surface calm as if nothing had happened, turned toward Vai: 「And you? What information do you have about the Panic World?」
Angel had originally not planned to ask Vai, but since Kael had brought such a strongly impactful piece of information, perhaps Vai also had his own information channels？
However, Angel was overthinking it.
Kael’s information was painstakingly decoded over years of visiting ruins. Vai, this perpetual shut-in who never leaves his house, only knew what the magazines said.
And not long ago the Black Count had just warned them that magazines might manipulate public opinion and that they should not trust them lightly.
So Vai was directly eliminated as a source.
Now, after synthesizing the information from Kael, Daus, and the Black Count, Angel once again turned his gaze toward Laplace behind the prism.
「You must also have heard our conversation. I wonder, what are your thoughts on this?」
Angel’s words made everyone stop talking; they all quietly watched Laplace, waiting for what she would say.
She had specifically had Angel ask everyone for information about the Panic World, what was her intention? Now, shouldn’t she explain a little？
Laplace said lightly: 「You humans do understand your own shortcomings quite thoroughly.」
「In the Sea of Void Mirrors, I have seen many memories of living beings from the Panic World. Since you want to understand the Awakened Demon in your shadow, I can share some of these memories with you.」
Chapter 2783 Walking with the Beast <TOC> Chapter 2785 A Little Red Flower