Chapter 2: The Land of Lies
Ian stood on the podium, feeling his brain go blank, and everyone in front of him seemed to have a ghost, their expression was one face, and the hypocrisy behind the expression was another.
He heard everybody talking, squirming, squirming.
But a thousand words converge into one sentence.
"He lost. ”
Everyone is saying this, but they don't know which one is true and which one is false. To be honest, not only does Ian not tell lies, but it also has a hard time telling if someone else is lying.
"Ian IV, the last eldest son of the Ian family, is about to lose his fortune once more. ”
"That's right, he's lying, and as long as we pressure him to lie, the Ian family's lies will be ours. ”
Ian watched as their expressions changed, and then reverted back to their ancient appearance.
It's ridiculous, I've been shocked by a 14-year-old's remarks, but I still have to pretend that nothing happened.
This is the habit of the Mandas.
When everything is quiet, Ian's elf Kars also finalizes the lie value on the panic agreement, and everything is settled. The elf was obviously frightened, and the flight trajectory was crooked, and he didn't dare to say a word in the House of Lords.
The Grant family pushed a man out, and the sturdy Secretary of War Franklin Grant stepped up to the president, whispered for a while, and its knightly elf, sword in hand, stepped forward to pick up the agreement and handed it to the two men.
It was written in black and white
[Ian IV panicked original]: I am an agent of God.
[If it is a lie, the result is]: Ian IV became the agent of the god of Manda, with the divine right of secular understanding, but without any undefined divine power.
[If it is not a lie, the result is]: Inform the whole country of the truth of the panic, do not enforce the realization of the divine right of Ian IV, and all the bets that fail belong to all the winners.
[Condition for the establishment of panic]: Bet on the sum of the two sides of the panic value of more than 1 billion, and the elf will determine the winner and execute the panic result.
[Note]: The elves are aware of the authenticity of the panic.
Bupanic was established.
The protocol is well complemented by the elves, a force that has existed since ancient times for the Mandas, who do not believe that there is a god in this world, or that there is a god with an independent consciousness. Because it means that Manda has always been under the control of an individual, like a pig in a pigsty.
Since ancient times, people who want to break these most basic rules have all died miserably without exception.
But this time, the expressions of the prime minister and the war secretary were cloudy and elusive.
It's just that the jury is not conclusive.
"According to the Panic Law, more than 100 million panic agreements need to be subject to additional constraints to ensure the implementation of the agreement. Franklin turned to Ian: "The result of the discussion by the House of Lords will be based on the current taxation of Manda, and we will add two conditions, first, the agreement will be valid for six months, and second, if the total bet exceeds one billion, it will be over, if it does not reach one billion, the trial will be executed if it does not reach one billion, and if it does not reach two hundred million, the agreement will be null and void." Do you have any objections to that, Ian IV?"
The rules were a bit difficult to understand, and Ian took out his pen and paper and tossed around for a few moments before he understood what they were trying to do.
They used lax laws to frame the agreement in a rigid manner.
Can there be any objections? I haven't even read the laws of this country, so I don't have them, and I probably can't have them.
Ian nodded, and left the House of Lords under the protection of the guards.
This is a tall tower in the center of the city, with the upper floor of the House of Lords and the lower third floor of the House of Commons, and at this moment, the downstairs is crowded with people's deputies and ordinary people who have come to participate in the panic.
In the flickering candlelight, Ian saw the guards escorting him look at him from time to time, with a hint of shock and curiosity hidden in their eyes.
And as they walked downward, Ian heard the noise downstairs cease suddenly, like someone passing through the forest at night, and all the crows stopped to watch.
Downstairs, there are estimated hundreds of people.
"Get out of the way, please get out of the way, the Prime Minister doesn't want Ian IV to be hurt. The escort guards squeezed through the crowd.
"What will happen to the Bu Panic Protocol if I die?" Ian asked his family elf as he looked at the men.
"Will cancel directly. ”
"If it infringes on their interests, is it okay to just kill me?"
"Yes, Master Ian, I thought you had figured it out. Kars wanted to cry without tears, and he didn't know where to start with the grief in his heart, so he could only stay on Ian's shoulder and sigh.
"Ian, Ian IV!" just as Ian was about to leave the House of Commons, a shout suddenly erupted from the crowd.
Everyone fell silent and looked back. Between them, a freckled boy stood on a wooden table, splashing the candle oil everywhere.
"You're lying! No one is going to support you! You're going to lose this panic!"
Before he could finish speaking, the boy was dragged off the table and drowned in the crowd.
An eerie silence permeated the hall, and no one stood up to express their opinions, dressed in overcoats, with their hands lowered and their eyes retracted, completely unconcerned.
Lies are like cream on a cake, delicate, small amounts, but can hide the decoration of the whole cake. This is a proverb in the country of Manda, whether in panic or in life, everyone is cautious in their words and deeds, but they maintain the nature of lying.
Did the young man just say the truth or a lie?
If everyone thinks he's lost, there's no need to stand up and repeat it.
An endless chain of suspicion unfolds in the House of Commons, where the people of each town are represented, and soon, they will walk the panic around the country, and then collect the panic value through some wonderful device, just like the online payment in Ian's memory.
Ian licked his lips and turned and walked out of the House of Commons.
Under the hazy moonlight, a light mist filled the air, and the blinding yellow carriage lights stared at Ian as he walked out of the House like the eyes of a giant beast in the darkness.
There was very little fog in the capital of Manda before, I don't know who spread a panic in a continuous fog day, saying that Manda Country will be troubled by fog for a long time in the future, and even he took out photos to prove it, so many people believe it.
Ian felt the taste of eighteenth-century England in this fog.
Retro Roman architecture, the fog of European industrialization, advanced voting instruments, and the elves who draw up agreements all make this world feel a sense of disobedience.
Countless people have found loopholes in people's imagination through lies, but what is the source of those wonderful panics?
No, they have a hard time convincing others if they don't have relevant memories.
If there are people who have crossed over from the earth, it makes sense.
"Ian, where are you going?" was thinking about it, when a woman in the carriage stepped forward, and someone next to her held an umbrella for her, probably not to hide from the rain, but to shield the eyes from behind.
"Are you ......" Ian searched through the memories in his mind, remembering that this woman had been a side branch of Ian's family, "Aunt Linda?"
Linda Ian, who is in charge of Manda's theater industry, although it is not very noble to hold plays for the upper class nobles, but everyone gives generous money, even if the Ian family gradually declines for some reason, Linda and her children still have a place in Manda.
After all, drama still has to be watched.
But Linda stepped forward this time, and it is estimated that other nobles will be in a much less mood to watch dramas in the future.
"I went back to my home and Kars said I had a home. ”
"Ian ......" Linda's delicate face was full of haggardness: "You can come to me to rest for a few days first, and I'll take you back later." ”
"Aunt Linda, you've probably seen my booze. ”
"Yes...... So I think you should be more ......."
"No, I should have stayed by myself. Ian looked at Linda's face, "How do I know you're not lying?"
Linda Daigo came to her senses, her expression slowly solidified, the umbrella behind her covered her cold eyes, and there was a subtle silence between the two.
But before Linda could speak again, suddenly, the umbrella above Linda's head shook down, covering Ian's left side. Before everyone could react, a bang exploded in the field, and the huge impact pushed Ian to the ground, deafening.
Jingling.
The sound of bullets falling to the ground is like coming from the distant sky, and it is not really heard. Half-deaf, Ian struggled to get up from the ground, but another man held him up.
Linda's butler, a young man with eerie purple pupils.
"In the past, when it was my turn to panic, I said that I didn't have a powerful demon guardian by my side, because the guardian spirit of the Ian family was Kars, so they didn't believe it...... This is probably the best lie I've ever told. Linda was also helped up from the ground by the housekeeper, one hand pressed the chest of the fierce bully, and her speech was intermittent.
Ian looked down, the bullets on the ground the length of an index finger, delicate brass, accompanied by the aftertaste of gunpowder.
This is not a backward bullet from the Middle Ages, and even Ian, who had little knowledge in the original world, could recognize it as a modern weapon.
The sound came after being hit, exceeding the speed of sound and at a great distance from them.
Sniper rifles!
Ian didn't expect the revenge to come so quickly, he didn't have any hole cards, and if Linda didn't stand in front of him just now, he might have to leave this world again.
And, again, because of a true saying.
How can he be as difficult as ninety-nine-eighty-one?
But unexpectedly, a brief smile appeared on Linda's face, and Ian was under the umbrella with her, and he could see it clearly.
"I give Nemesis to you, Master Ian, and Linda will always support you. The smile was fleeting, and she whispered to Ian as the chaos around her silenced all sounds.
The sound of the carriage finally faded away, the House began to arrest the murderer, and the people hurried away, and Ian was surrounded by indignant guards and Linda's butler.
A powerful demon holding a flower umbrella. The bullet was blocked by an umbrella, and Ian found that there was not even a trace left.
"Young master, it's time to go back. Kars flapped his wings and landed on the last wagon, and the worn-out wagon lights could be blown out by the wind before they burned out.
After taking a few deep breaths, Ian left the chamber and stepped into the carriage, where he sat across from Nemesis.
"Nemesis?"
"Hello, Master Ian. There was no expression on the butler's face, not at all human.
"I want to know first...... Belch...... Is that really, demons? That is...... You're not human, so where are you from?"
"That's it, I was born here, all the memories are here, even if everyone attributes me to their different species, but I only have the memories of this world, and all the power is innate. Nemesis sat upright.
"The attack ...... just now"
"Judging by the size of the bullets, it is indeed a sniper rifle, and the rate of fire is about twice the speed of sound, and the distance is about three kilometers from us. ”
Hearing this modern word from the mouth of this butler in the dress of a medieval aristocracy short-circuited Ian's brain.
The people of Manda have told countless lies, in fact, just by relying on the benefits brought by the panic, this society can progress to a civilized society, as long as the whole country is unanimous in covering up this lie, the power of this world will help them achieve everything.
Because of this, they are not interested in such a society. The most perfect and extreme lies of the Manda Kingdom are those that can change cause and effect, change time.
It can be said that this country hides the characters and technologies of all eras in Ian's memory. Ancient philosophers, medieval alchemists, and, of course, mercenaries armed with sniper rifles.
As for the omnipotent demons, of course, it is not unusual. Ian even suspects that Linda read a certain comic book and got the inspiration, but of course, it's another world.
"Young Master, we've arrived. The carriage slowly stopped, and Ian lifted the curtains, and the first thing he saw was the devastated courtyard and the gloomy aristocratic mansion in the distance.