Gawain picked up the teacup but didn't put it to his lips for a long time, and in his thoughts, he gradually sorted out the long and unknown history of the Silver Empire after the fall of the god of nature - the life span of the elves was too long, so the secret in their history was far more mysterious and distant than human imagination, and the time span of more than 3,000 years, even in the heyday of the Gondor Empire, exceeded the limit of accurate records in the history books.

And such a long history is enough for some druids to create even a few "gods".

Of course, judging from Belsetia's description, those druid occults are far from being gods, and they are not the same as the "pseudo-god bodies" consciously created by the end of all things and the "upper narrators" accidentally bred in the No. 1 sandbox.

Thinking of this, Gawain suddenly couldn't help but sigh a little - when it comes to death, it is really humans who are superior, and the results of those elven druids for three thousand years are not as big as the two cults......

But this is really not an achievement to boast about.

"You're deep in thought again," the Silver Empress seemed to be watching Gawain's expression change intently, her voice waking Gawain from her thoughts, "but that's normal, what I just said can make anyone ponder deeply." ”

“…… I'm just thinking about how much you've learned from the attempts of those esoteric groups after all these years," Gawain said as he put down his teacup and pondered, "You just mentioned that while you weren't sure what those esoteric organizations 'summoned', you already have some guesses about it...... I guess it's not that simple, is it? ”

The Silver Empress was silent for a few seconds, and then let out a soft sigh: "Frankly, since the fall of the White Star, we have been trying to uncover the truth behind it - it was a big event that changed the pattern of the empire after all, and its influence even affected the entire world, and no one is not curious about the truth behind it.

"As you know, the Silver Empire is a country where imperial and divine power are united, and the Elven royal family is also the religious leader of the Druid Order, so the most prominent scholars of the Druid Order are loyal to the Elven Court. In the aftermath of the fall of the White Star, the Elven Court organized a large-scale, lengthy investigation that lasted until my father, the Emperor, wore the Golden Oak Crown.

"But even with the most brilliant scholars assembled and spent so long, we have not been able to find out the truth about the fall of the star, let alone reconnect with the god of nature, so we can only come to the frustrating conclusion that the god of nature has fallen, and for whatever reason, it has left this world forever.

And it was in this situation that those occult religions appeared, and seemed to have established a connection with some kind of mysterious existence, and those mysterious beings exhibited some characteristics similar to those of the gods in ancient records...... The impact on the royal family, who were still struggling to investigate the truth about the fall of the white star at the time, was extremely huge - we were not a dull race, and we could relate to the possible truth behind it, which almost turned our worldview upside down.

"My grandmother...... She was the first elf to order the destruction of the Cult, and few people know that the night before she died, she changed into a priestess's robes, spent the night praying and repenting, and finally left in fear and pain, but even so, she did not change her original order until her death.

"My father, the Emperor, who carried out the orders left by his grandmother, in his nearly two thousand years of reign, destroyed every secret organization he discovered, and indirectly destroyed every 'god' that they 'summoned', and he carefully read all the materials written by the members of the secret religion on the tablets and leaf-patterned paper, even the most inconspicuous words—in fact he was the real one." Esoteric Expert', if he wanted to, he could reproduce any ritual performed by any occult order, but he never did, he took everything to the grave.

"To my generation...... Most of my courtiers and I have thoroughly adapted to the godless 'Druid Orthodoxy', and even to say something disobedient, we think it would be better. But we still manage the forests and the earth in the name of the Druids, and we use the Elven alphabet, which was simplified from the 'Language of Nature' from 3,000 years ago, as the official language, and many of the special words in our language are related to the religious practices of 3,000 years ago...... God has left us, but the cultural imprint has become inseparable from our traditions.

"So back to the question – what did we 'guess' about? We actually guessed everything, but we never admitted it, we couldn't admit it...... Acknowledging what? The orthodox leader who acknowledges all the druids in the world, the worldly agent of the gods of nature, and the ruler of the Silver Empire, who spent three generations killing seven newborn 'gods of nature'? ”

The Silver Empress's narration came to an end, she picked up the black tea in front of her, took a sip lightly, and then showed a smile to Gawain: "I seem to be a little off-topic? ”

“…… No, no," Gawain said in a low tone, calming his mind quietly, looking up into Bersetia's eyes, trying to see some real emotions in the eyes of the mature ruler of the empire, but failed—those eyes were so deep that all emotions seemed to have been locked in the depths of his mind during his centuries of rule, and he shook his head, "So, you are not ignorant of the gods—on the contrary, you know a lot, far more than humans, It's just that all the secrets are buried deep in the records of the royal family, and all the research stops at the superficial taste. ”

The Silver Empress nodded, "So to speak. ”

"And what do you think of what I told you in my last letter?" Gawain asked, "Regarding the 'countdown' behind the gods discovered by humans in their research, and our plan to try to find a way to save ourselves." ”

"This is a realm we haven't discovered," the blonde lady in front of him looked serious, "we were aware of the creation of the gods, but no one was aware of the existence of that terrible 'countdown', and after receiving your letter, I only felt a great sense of happiness - glad that three generations of elves had always made the right decision and did not let things get out of hand." As for the way to save yourself...... You didn't elaborate in your letter, but if you're serious, then I'm interested. ”

"Of course I'm serious," Gawain said calmly, "If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have been so committed to changing the situation in the entire continent of Loren - the god's crazy 'countdown' is a sword hanging over the heads of all mortals, whether to admit it or not, a sword that no single nation can contend with." Since the operating rules of the gods are based on the 'currents of thought' of sentient beings, the key to breaking the situation is destined to be 'sentient beings'. I'm not sure what the tipping point is for this 'being', but it's certainly more than one nation or race, so I need to include as many nations and races as possible in the plan. ”

Speaking of this, he glanced at the blonde woman opposite very seriously: "Actually, what I was most worried about was the attitude of the Silver Empire towards this matter - among the countries of the Loren continent, only the royal family of the Silver Empire is also the leader of the church, although the gods believed in by the druids have been out of this world for many years, this identity still affects your actions, but now it seems that ...... That's not the biggest concern anymore. ”

The Silver Empress's gaze stayed on Gawain for a short time, and she suddenly laughed: "I can see that you are indeed serious, then I am happy to be your supporter." ”

Gawain's expression didn't change much, but he was relieved that he was now completely unable to connect the mature and stressful woman in front of him with the "little princess" in his memory - the other party had changed so much that the memories left by Gawain Cecil were almost useless, and all he could do was improvise.

Then he thought for a moment and was about to ask the next question, but before he could speak, the Silver Empress took the first step and said, "You've asked a lot, isn't it the lady's turn to ask?" ”

Gao Wen was stunned for a moment, and then nodded: "Of course, you ask." ”

The other party smiled, she looked into Gawain's eyes, and said unhurriedly, "You're not actually the real Uncle Gawain, are you?" ”

Gawain: "......"

There was only a moment of silence, and Gawain felt that his heartbeat suddenly increased by half a beat, but the strong mind played a role, his appearance did not show any abnormality, and even the rhythm of his breathing was not disturbed, he just showed some surprised and unexpected expressions, pointed to himself, and looked at the blonde woman in front of him: "Why do you say that?" Can I still be fake? ”

The Silver Empress looked at Gawain calmly, and only after a long time did she whisper, "I didn't lie to you, I know that you are not him, at least not completely...... I can see that. ”

The garden was quiet for a while, the stagnant air seemed to gradually turn into a solid and depressing feeling, Gawain and the Silver Empress confronted each other quietly, he observed each other's eyes, and at the same time there were countless rhetoric and self-proof methods brewing in his heart, but in the end he still smiled and shook his head: "How did one or two finally find out ......?"

"Both?" Hearing this response, which was equivalent to a default response, the Silver Empress's expression did not change much, but she noticed the key words in Gao Wen's words, and there was a hint of curiosity in her tone, "Who else found out?" ”

Gawain shook his head: "Bertilla Augustus, Selena Gerfen - you should remember them, you used to go to their side to make trouble, and you even secretly hid Selena's lantern, but you didn't know that it was a magic lamp, and it completely recorded the process of hiding your lantern. ”

"Bertilla and Selena...... It's been a long time since I've heard these two names," the Silver Empress gave a look of remembrance, "they're still alive?!" ”

“…… In a sense," Gawain said, "there are so many things going on that it would take a whole day to explain." If I have the chance, I can take you to meet them – if they're willing to catch up with you, of course. ”

Speaking of this, he shook his head: "Let's not talk about this for the time being, how do you judge that I am not 'Uncle Gawain'?" It's a bit of a boast to say that – but I don't think there's anything out of the ordinary in my performance, from the way I speak to the habitual little gestures, I'm on par with Gawain Cecil 700 years ago. ”

"yes, it's exactly right...... How can you be exactly the same? The Silver Empress calmly looked into Gawain's eyes, "If you are really Uncle Gawain, how can you still be the same as seven hundred years ago?" ”

Gawain frowned, feeling a little confused: "'Gawain Cecil has been asleep for seven hundred years', since these seven hundred years have been asleep, then in fact, the current 'me' is only a few years away from the time of 'death', just a few years, it should be ......"

"If you're the real Uncle Gawain, you've lived and died, haven't you?" The Silver Empress interrupted Gawain's words and stated word by word, "You have experienced life and death, you have experienced the instantaneous change of times, you have experienced all things and people, you have woken up in a completely strange time, and you have done so many earth-shattering things in this strange time, and most importantly, there is an almost complete stranger me in front of you. It's true that you didn't go through those 700 years, but you went through a bigger change than 700 years of life, so how can you maintain the way I remember it in the slightest? ”

She paused, looked into Gawain's eyes, and whispered, "You're too much like the Uncle Gawain I remember—almost 100 percent, that can't be true." ”

“…… Careless," Gawain was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly patted his forehead and sighed, "But is that all there is to it?" ”

"If that's all there is, I'd probably only be suspicious," said the Silver Empress, "but I know another thing, I know the rumors about the 'Extraterritorial Wanderer'...... Under this premise, I don't just doubt it. ”

Gawain resisted the urge to pull the corners of his mouth: "The footprints of the elves are all over the continent, and the world calls the Silver Empress the most well-informed ruler in this world...... Now I understand it deeply. ”

He sighed, and continued, "But since you found out that I wasn't real, why did you tell me so much?" Or even willing to support my plan? Don't you think I'm a dangerous 'Soul Stealer', or some 'Descender' with an unknown purpose? ”

The blonde woman in front of him laughed, "As you said earlier, the Silver Empress is the most well-informed ruler in this world. ”

"What do you mean......"

"The northern part of the continent and the Silver Empire are not well connected - but that's only relatively, in fact, information about you is piled up on my desk, from your establishment of a frontier in the Dark Mountains, to the revival of the Cecil family, from the establishment of your empire, to that god-killing war...... I know everything you have brought to the world, even the font that is used in the title of the third article of the second issue of Cecil this month," the Silver Queen smiled, "and after all this, what more do I need to know?"

"As for the other reason why I'm telling you so much...... It's actually quite simple.

"You've defeated gods, and more than one."

(End of chapter)