"Becoming a mage doesn't always have to be so scary...... But for some, it's more terrifying than that. ”

"There are three main ways to become a mage. Some have already been accepted by the teammates of the "Middle-earth Squad". Most cannot. I hope which is which is obvious to me. ”

"It's good to start with the simplest. ”

"The first is to live with magic. Simple exposure. Those with high potential or those who are already Type Blue. Wear magic jewelry and do something light. Become a member of a magical tendency, or join a cult of an abominable god. ”

"The point is to stay in magically saturated environments for long periods of time, such as the Vault Dweller's library – or the Middle-earth Squad's training facility, with the team's Type Blue members. This is one of the principles of magic, and we have learned from our experience in the past and today: like affects like like, and like begets like like. ”

----- Game of the Seven Gods

Together, they walked into the dim, green-lit elevator and held hands all the way up to the fifteenth floor. McLae Kulemaut asked if he could use the bathroom. "I feel dirty. He explained. Salim nodded in agreement. He sat on the bed, which took up most of the space in the small white room, and listened to the sound of the shower in the bathroom. Salim took off his shoes, socks, and stripped all his clothes.

The taxi driver came out of the bathroom, drenched and soaked, with only a bath towel around his waist. He didn't wear sunglasses, and in the dimly lit room, his eyes burned with scarlet flames.

Salim blinked, holding back tears. "I wish you could see what I saw. He said.

"I'm not going to fulfill someone's wishes. Melais Kulemaut whispered. He dropped the towel and softly, but also irresistibly, pushed Salim down on the bed.

Salim woke up to the cold sunlight shining into the white room. He was the only one in the room.

He found that his sample box was also missing. All the bottles and cans, rings, and decorative brass flashlights are gone. In addition to this, his suit, wallet, passport and plane ticket back to Oman disappeared.

All he found was a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, and a gray sweater that had been thrown on the floor. Beneath his clothes, he found a driver's license with the name Mohammed bin Arim on it, as well as a taxi license of the same name. He also found a bunch of keys with a small note hanging from it with an address written in English. The photos on the driver's license and permit don't look much like Salim, but they don't look like Malekul Maut either.

The phone rang, it was the front desk calling, informing that Salim himself had checked out and left the hotel, asking his guest friend to leave as soon as possible to facilitate the cleaning of the room and leave it for the later guests to check in.

"I'm not going to fulfill someone's wishes. Salim said. The words seemed to take shape on their own, spitting out of his mouth.

When he put on his clothes, he had a strange feeling that his head was fluttering.

The roads in London are simple: all avenues are from north to south, and all avenues are from west to east. What's so difficult?, he asked himself.

He tossed the taxi key and caught it, putting on the plastic sunglasses he found in his pocket. He left the hotel and went out to find his taxi.

——————————————————

The week leading up to Christmas is usually the quietest week in a funeral home. This is what Ashu learned from Mr. Azir while eating. At the moment, they were sitting in a small restaurant, just two blocks from the Azil and Nasus funeral home. Ashu's meal was a breakfast set that was served all day and was served with bread balls.

Mr. Azir pecked at a piece of coffee cake little by little, and explained to him: "Among those who are about to breathe, some of them will keep gritting their teeth and have to survive the last Christmas of their lives."

"Sometimes I even survive the New Year. Others do the opposite. For them, it was too painful to watch others happily prepare for the holidays, so they simply left class early, so that they could not watch the last scene of the Christmas drama and not be crushed by the last straw - yes, not the straw, the last Christmas tree branch that broke the back of the Christmas moose. ”

As he spoke, a series of strange sounds came out of his mouth, mixing smug laughter with the sound of snorting in his nose. Obviously, the remarks he just made were a passage that he particularly liked after reviewing and practicing.

Azir & Nasus Funeral Home is a small, family-run funeral home and one of the last truly independently operated funeral homes in the area. At least that's what Mr. Azir said.

"In the vast majority of areas where human beings engage in business activities, the national unified brand is extremely valued. Mr. Azir explained in an explanatory tone, with a gentle tone and a serious attitude, which reminded Ah Xiu of a university professor who came to the gym to work out. That person never makes small talk to others in an easy-going tone, but only in a speech, explanation, or explanation tone. Just a few minutes after getting to know Mr. Azir, Ashu already felt this. It was clear that his role in all the conversations with the funeral director was to be a good listener and try to talk as little as possible.

“…… I think it's because people like to know in advance what they can buy and what kind of services they can enjoy. McDonald's, Walmart, SEVEn-Eleven chain stores...... These brand chains are just that. They can be found all over the country and everywhere. No matter where you go, you always get almost exactly the same thing, except for a little bit of the region. ”

However, the situation in the funeral industry may be different. You have a need to feel like you're getting the kind of personalized service that you only have in a small town, someone who knows and loves what it does. After suffering such a great loss, you need this person to take care of you and your loved ones. You want to confine your grief to the local area, and you don't want to turn this private grief into a big national bustle. However, all large enterprises make a profit by relying on preferential wholesale prices, buying in bulk, centralized management, and then selling products to buyers. Death is big business, my young friend, don't forget that. The truth is uncomfortable, but the truth is the truth after all. The problem is, no one wants to know that their dearest person has been transported by refrigerated truck to some huge converted warehouse, where there are twenty, fifty, or even a hundred corpses waiting to be processed in batches when a certain number have been accumulated. No, sir, the hope of the relatives of the deceased is that they will be handed over to a small funeral parlor run by an acquaintance, where the people will treat the deceased with respect, and that they will hand the deceased over to a friend who will raise his hat to greet them when they meet him in the street. ”

Mr. Azir himself wore a top hat, a plain brown hat that matched his plain brown shirt and solemn brown face. He also had a pair of small gold-rimmed glasses on his nose. In Asho's mind, Mr. Azir seemed to be a short man, and every time he stood beside him, he realized that Mr. Azir was at least six feet tall, but he always bent over like a crane. Ah Xiu sat across from him at this moment, staring intently at the man's face through the shiny red tabletop.

"So, when a large funeral company enters an area, it buys the name of the local funeral home. They will pay the person in charge of the funeral home, retain them, and create the appearance that the humane, differentiated service still exists. But that's just the top of the tombstone. The fact is that the so-called localization of the big funeral company is completely the same thing as the localization of McDonald's. But we are truly independent funeral homes. We do a full set of corpse embalming treatment by ourselves, and we are the best one in China to embalm corpses. Of course, no one but ourselves knows about this fact. We never take on cremation business. If you have your own crematorium, business will be much better. But we have what we're good at, and cremation doesn't fit in. My business partners always say that the Lord has given you a gift or skill, and you are obligated to use it and use it to the best of your ability. Do you agree with that?"

"I think that's right. Ah Xiu said.

"The Lord has given my business partners the power to rule over the dead, just as He has given me the skill to master words. Words, good stuff. You know? I write my own stories, not literature, just for my own amusement, some record of my life. At this point, he stopped. When he asked if he would be lucky enough to read one of the records, he continued, "Anyway, what we offer to people is continuity: the Azir and Nasus funeral homes have been here for more than two hundred years. Of course, the two of us don't always wear the title of funeral home manager. Earlier, we were called funeral directors, and earlier we were called gravediggers. ”

"Until then?"

"Well," Mr. Azir smiled, with a slight smug in his smile, "the two of us have been working together for a long, long time. However, it wasn't until after the Hundred Years' War that we found our place here. At that time, our funeral home was dedicated to nearby families of color. Until then, no one thought we were people of color, they just thought we were foreigners, a bit exotic, and darker-skinned, but no one thought we were black. But after the war ended, it didn't take long for people to remember a time when we were treated like black. My partner, his skin is darker than mine, but the change in perception is easy. Really, you are who others see you as who you are. Now, they call blacks African-British. It's a strange word to me, it reminds me of people from Namibia, Nubia, etc. In fact, we never feel like Africans – we are Niletes. ”

"So you're Egyptian. Ah Xiu said.

Mr. Azir pursed his lower lip and shook his head back and forth, as if his head was resting on a spring, swinging rhythmically back and forth, swinging to this side, looking at the problem from this angle, and changing the angle when he got there. "Your words are both right and wrong. It seems to me that the term 'Egyptians' refers to the people who now live there, those who built cities on top of our mausoleums and palaces. Do they look like me?"

Ah Xiu shrugged and did not answer. He'd seen black people who looked like Mr. Azir, and white people who had tanned skin and didn't look like Mr. Azil.

"How's the coffee cake taste?" the waitress walked over to fill up their coffee.

"It's the best cake I've ever had. Mr. Azir said politely, "Please say hello to your mother on my behalf." ”

"I will. She said and hurried away.

"If you're a funeral home manager, don't ask anyone about their health. They'll think you might be looking for a business opportunity. Mr. Azir lowered his voice and said, "Alright, let's go see if your room is cleaned up." ”

After the meal, they walked side by side in the night, their breaths condensed into a white mist in the air. In the shop windows passing by, Christmas decorative lights sparkle brightly. "You are so kind to take me in. Ashu said, "Thank you so much. ”

"We owe a little debt to your employer. Besides, Jesus knows that we do have empty rooms. It was a big old house. You know, we used to have a lot of people living here, but now it's just the three of us. There's nothing wrong with you alone. ”

"Do you know how long I'm going to stay with you?"

Mr. Azir shook his head. He didn't say it. But we're glad you can stay here and help you find some work. As long as you don't have any habits of cleanliness and are willing to respect the deceased, you can help us do something. ”

"So," Ashu asked, "what are your people doing in the city of Cairo, is it because of the name of the city, or is there some other reason?"

"No, not at all. In fact, the name comes from those of us, except that almost none of us know the secret. In the distant past, it was a trading port. ”

"You mean the era of opening up new frontiers?"

You can say the same. Mr. Azir said. "Good evening, Miss Simmons! Merry Christmas to you, too! The man who brought me here sailed to the westernmost part of the Old World a long, long time ago. ”

Ashu stopped abruptly and stared at him in disbelief. "You're trying to tell me that you came here to do business five thousand years ago, when Britain was still connected to the mainland?"

Mr. Azir didn't speak, but he smirked. After a while, Mr. Azir spoke again: "Seven thousand five hundred and thirty years ago, roughly this time. ”

"All right," said Ashu, "I have the right to take your word. What kind of business do they do?"

"It's not big business. "Animal skins, some food, and copper from mines on the South Peninsula that are now in Scotland." This so-called business is so disappointing that it is simply not worth paying such a big price to come here. They stayed here for a while. They believed in us and offered sacrifices to us. On the way here, only a few crew members died of high fever and were buried here. Later, they left us here and left on our own. He suddenly stopped in the middle of the pavement, turned his head slowly, and opened his arms. "This country has been a global crossroads for 10,000 years. Tell me, what is Columbus?"

"yes. Ah Xiu said softly, "What is he according to you?"

"Columbus just did something that people have been doing for thousands of years. There is nothing particularly memorable about coming to the Americas. I've been writing stories about this, on and off. They continued down the street.

"The real story?"

"In a way, it's true. If you like, I can let you read one or two of them. In fact, the facts are all there, as long as you have eyes, anyone can see them. As for me – and I tell you I was one of the contributors to Scientific Briton – I feel sorry for the experts. Every once in a while, they'd find a fossilized skull that puzzled them: the skull was not of the right race, how could it be, or some statue or artwork had been dug up. All they know is to babble about the oddities of the ruins, but the real facts are seen as completely impossible for them to happen. That's where I feel sorry for them. As soon as you dismiss something as completely impossible, it will disappear from your view entirely, even if it is actually true. I mean, let's say there's a skull here, which shows that the Ainu, the indigenous people of Japan, lived in England 9,000 years ago. There is another skull that shows that Polynesians lived in northern Europe 7,000 years ago. But all the scientists will only dwell on the question of who is the descendant of whom, completely missing the real point. If one day they do find the Celtic cave, God knows what will happen. When that day comes, several of the truths they have identified will be full of flaws, so just wait and see.

"Between the impossible and the unwilling, people choose to ignore it?"

Of course, they don't really care about anything, and even if a wizard flies in front of them on a broomstick, they will choose to ignore it. If you ask me, did the Irish come to England back in the Middle Ages? Of course they were! And the Welsh, the Vikings, the Africans who lived on the continent at the time—of course, because of that terrible war, it is now a strait, but it is undeniable that on the other side of the English Channel, they had trade with the inhabitants of Africa. There are also Chinese, who have also reached today's Africa many times, and they call it 'Misier'. As early as 1,200 years ago, the Basques established fish fishing bases off the coast of Newfoundland in Canada. I retort you'll say, "Oh, Mr. Azir, they're primitives, they don't have radios, they don't have vitamin pills, they don't have jets." ”

Ah Xiu didn't say anything, and he didn't plan to say anything, but he felt as if he should say something, so he had to ask, "They really don't have those things." "The last leaves of winter crumbled under their feet, feeling dry and crunchy.

"There is a common misconception that pre-Columbian humans could never have sailed that far by boat. In fact, the indigenous peoples of New Zealand, Tahiti, and other Pacific islands were the first to settle on those islands by boat, and their seafaring skills were completely shameful to Columbus. Africa's wealth has long been used for trade, but it was originally shipped to the East, to China and India. And my people, people from the Nile Valley. We've long discovered that a boat made of reeds can take you all over the world, as long as you have enough patience and enough jars filled with sweet fresh water. You see, in the past, the biggest problem with sailing to England was that there wasn't much cargo here, not much to trade, and it was so deserted. ”