Year 924 in the Invig calendar.

The warm sun falls, the cool wind blows through the shade of the trees, and the sound of the leaves rattling makes everything in front of you appear to be rare and beautiful.

042 put away the swinging blade and saluted to the old man in front of him.

"How does your body feel?042. ”

After a brief greeting, Lorenzo Medici asked about 042's current situation, and the 042 in front of him was already considered an adult, but every time he saw his somewhat innocent face, Lorenzo Medici would always see him as a young child.

In fact, it is almost the same, in the face of his long years, most people are just children in his eyes.

"It's okay......"

042 said and shook hands, he heard those priests say this, after receiving the [Divine Favor] 042 carried out the implantation of the silver bolt and secret blood, although the process was a little painful, but fortunately 042 survived and became the lucky few.

"The Secret Blood and the Silver Bolt are both stable, and the power is under control......," 042 said, a little confused, "but I still can't use the power...... It's not even clear to me which faction I'm a witcher. ”

"This is normal, after all, the alchemy matrix in your body is not perfect, and it cannot stimulate power from secret blood. The old man comforted.

"How long do I need more?"

This was not surprising to reply 042, as he had learned most of what he knew about witchers before that.

That extraordinary authority comes from the secret blood in the body, and under the power of the engraved alchemy matrix, the power will be directed out of the forbidden blood.

This process will have a great corrosive impact on the witcher itself, coupled with the technical limitations of the alchemy matrix, so each witcher can only be guided to obtain one power, and the multiple powers cannot exist in the same witcher at the same time, even if the technology of the alchemy matrix can be solved, the plural erosion will instantly alienate the witcher into a terrible demon.

"Just today...... It's a special day. The old man replied with a smile.

042 was slightly stunned, since he was transferred out of the Demon Hunting Order by the old man in front of him two years ago, everything about him has been taken care of by the old man in front of him, from training to secret blood implantation, 042 has been fiddled with like a doll, until now he himself does not know what faction of demon hunters he will become.

But after hearing the old man's answer, 042 was a little happy. The alchemy matrix in his body is not perfect, and only after completing those flaws will he gain power and become a true demon hunter.

"But we'll need some time, we'll need to wait a while...... Follow me 042, you won't train today. ”

The old man gestured to 042, then turned and walked deeper into the mansion, where 042 followed him, swallowed by the massive structure.

This retirement mansion is not as simple as it seems, after passing through hidden secret passages, you will arrive at a huge underground space, where 042 has spent most of the past two years, battling captured demons, and training.

Today, however, there are many more people in the usually empty and cold underground, wearing religious robes with slender blades around their waists, and 042 remembers that weapon, which they call the nail sword, the weapon of the witchers.

So, are these people witchers?

042 looked at the fellows with some curiosity, their faces hidden in the shadows by their hoods, maintaining an eerie silence that would have thought it was a group of standing dead people if it weren't for the faint breathing 042 could have heard.

"They are ......"

"Leave them alone and follow me. ”

The old man said, under his leadership, 042 was taken to the deepest part of the ground, where 042 remembered that it was there when he implanted the secret blood, but now those complicated instruments have been removed, and there is only a small table, with two chairs, and a pocket watch in the middle of the table, recording the time in the dark.

"Come and take a break, we're going to have to wait a long time. ”

"What are you waiting for?"

"A lot of ......," said the old man mysteriously, "probably a group of unpleasant guests." ”

"Guest?"

042 looked puzzled, although the old man had never revealed anything more to him, but he also vaguely felt the difference in his life in the past few years, there were no guests here, and he felt a little uneasy.

"We've got a lot of time to spare, 042. ”

The old man smiled, and for some reason, this usually very serious old man became extremely happy today, as if something good was about to happen.

The attendant came from the side, pushing a small cart with exquisite desserts and wines, and placed it on the small table, like afternoon tea, but this was a gloomy underground, surrounded by those mysterious witchers, and 042 didn't feel right.

"Try this, you may not believe it, but I'm a person with a sweet tooth. ”

It seemed that it was really just an ordinary afternoon tea, and the old man didn't care about any etiquette, so he reached out and picked up a piece and tasted it.

"Is it unexpected?" asked the old man, looking at the stunned 042.

"Some. 042 nodded.

Lorenzo Medici, the leader of the Golden Age, once ruled over the entire Emerald and kept the Evangelical Church and the Demon Hunter Order firmly in his hands.

In the artist's description, he is a benevolent patron, a terrible nightmare to political opponents, and an earthly embodiment of God to ordinary believers and the populace.

But now the guy was munching on dessert and getting the cream all over his hands, and he looked at 042, and it seemed that the old man was getting younger too, and let out a burst of joyful laughter.

"People are like this, they always bring a lot of speculation about what they don't understand, and over time they deify a person...... In fact, I am just an ordinary person, and I have been devastated by the years. The old man said.

"But...... 042 Do you have any preferences?"

"Preferences?"

"Well, like, even I like sweets, what should people like like like you?" asked the old man.

"This ...... Can you say that? I remember the witcher......"

042 was a little hesitant, before being transferred away by the old man, he had also been trained in the Demon Hunter Order for many years, under the teaching of Patriarch Lawrence, the Demon Hunter was to suppress his emotions as much as possible, become indifferent, and turn into a weapon, and the weapon obviously did not have any preferences, the weapon only had to carry out the order.

"It's okay, anyway, your alchemy matrix hasn't been perfected yet, and you're not a witcher yet, let's talk about it. The old man's attitude was so different today, so friendly that 042 almost forgot what kind of person he was.

"Stories, reading books, reading stories? Actually, I don't know exactly how to tell it, but I want to see the bigger world. ”

"A bigger world?"

"That's right, I have a few very good friends in the Order, we ......" 042 said as he suddenly fell silent, realizing that something was wrong, and informing each other about the content of the Baptism of the Divine Dependents, which was expressly forbidden in the Order.

"You know each other's [baptism of divine favors]?" the old man saw at a glance what 042 wanted to hide.

"I'm sorry, sir!"

"It's okay, it's okay. Looking at 042's panicked look, the old man asked kindly.

"So what do you see?"

"Stories, bizarre stories one after another, colorful worlds...... Far more beautiful than Fei Leng Emerald, more grand than we know about the world. 042 said in a distracted voice.

"Since then, I feel like my body and mind have been taken away by those unknown and wonderful worlds, and I want to see those ......"

"But there is no such thing in this world. The old man regretted this.

"No, yes, sir. 042 rejects his words.

"Invig, Old Dunling, 047 often told me this, he said that it was the most advanced city, there was what we wanted, and when he retired, he was like he wanted to go to Old Dunling, and then open some kind of office to be a detective. ”

042 seemed to let down his guard in this small talk, talking about the future outward.

"That sounds good, but I'm not a witcher, and I'll never see what you're seeing. "The old man is a little envious, very rare, he would actually envy this kind of thing.

"I also had a friend when I was younger, he was a witcher, and this kind of thing sounds a little impossible, but it is the truth, for various reasons, we two people who are destined to not cross paths, and this is how they met. The old man suddenly spoke about himself.

"Has he shared his baptism with you?" 042 asked.

"Almost, that's an interesting witcher, to be precise, except for harboring secret blood and having nothing to do with slashing demons, he doesn't look like a witcher, on the surface he is at peace, but behind his back he disdains the teachings, he said that his greatest wish is to become an adventurer, to go to different countries, different continents, to find the things he sees in the [Baptism of God]. ”

The old man remembered decades ago, all too long ago, when he was not a Medici cardinal, but just like 042, a little kid who longed for those strange things.

"This ......" 042's face was a little weird.

"You can feel it, he didn't know who I was at the time, and the fool thought that I was a witch with him, and when he found out that I had the Medici surname, his expression was very funny. ”

The old man said with a fluttering eyebrow, no one would have thought that he still had such a happy side.

"He said to me with a look of misanthropy on his face, 'Ah, I'm sorry for violating the teachings, was it burned at the stake or beheaded?

In the eyes of the doctrine, this witcher was a terrible sin, and he had violated almost every ordinance, and he even burned the doctrine in my presence, just because we had no wood when we roasted the hares, and he was a great sinner...... But instead of killing him, I helped him hide it all.

It was a strange friendship, I was the son of the Medici, shrouded in divine faith, and according to the course that the family had laid down for me, I would become a cardinal when I became an adult, and when I died, I would be buried as a saint in the place of the Seven Hills, ending my life of devotion to God.

But I met the fool who had a little wrong with his head, and in his nonsense and fantasies, I suddenly found that the shackles of faith had loosened on me, and in the end I seemed to have become a heretic like him.

And this guy is really interesting, in order to be able to describe the [baptism of the gods] he saw for me more accurately, he also painted me a lot of pictures about the [baptism of the gods]. ”

As he spoke, the old man picked up the dessert and stuffed it into his mouth, his white beard covered with cream and crumbs.

"But his painting skills were so terrible, it was like putting a chicken covered in paint and putting it on a drawing board and letting it run around, and I couldn't see what he was trying to depict, and then he realized it, so he stopped drawing, and just chatted with me about what he saw. ”

The old man's voice slowed down, and 042 looked at the old man, his eyes downcast, and a youthful smile on his dry face.

I almost can't believe that 042 seems to have reacquainted with the old man today, and the old man who makes everyone feel suffocated actually has such an ordinary past.

He said that the world he saw was so beautiful, so beautiful that sometimes he was willing to give his life to find that era, but then he died, like the end of many witchers. ”

The old man leaned back in his chair and looked at the dark rock overhead, as if he wanted to see through the obstacle.

"It was a wonderful time, the sky was dyed brilliant gold by the afterglow of the setting sun, there were no demons, there was no erosion, people played by the sea, there was a cool sea romance over the ankles......

He called it the golden age, and chased it all his life, but until his death he did not get a glimpse of the beauty. ”

"I think he's stupid, and has given everything for that ethereal thing, so why don't he listen to my advice? If he would stay in the Emerald I'd let him live his life unharmed, and I'd find him a good teacher, and save him from his sad painting skills, but he's dead......

At the time, I thought it was nothing, but one day I suddenly felt sad......"

The old man was expressionless, not knowing whether to be happy or sad, as if he was wearing a mask on his face that no one knew.

"It was then that I realized that I, Lorenzo Medici, had lived so long, and that he was the only friend, and that my only friend had died, killed by demons. ”

"Do you want to avenge him, kill all the demons?" 042 asked.

"Who's going to avenge that stupid talent, I'm Lorenzo Medici, maybe I can be a pope if I do a good job, power, wealth, women, which is not more interesting than revenge? And it's ridiculous to avenge a witcher whose name is unknown, only numbered. ”

The old man laughed, as if all the grief he had just called was a lie.

"But one day I saw a painting, the same picture he had painted for me, a picture of the Golden Age...... Alas, but he painted so badly that I stared at it for a long time, and I couldn't understand what he was drawing.

But at that time, I suddenly realized one thing, the so-called golden age does not exist in this world, and no matter how much that stupid person chases, it is just a vain. ”

Lorenzo Medici's cold face melted like a monstrous beast, his dry skin wrinkled together and a terrifying smile appeared.

"But...... Although the Golden Age did not exist, it could have been created. ”

"I have everything that a mortal can get, and no matter how expensive wine seems to me, it is no different from white water, and everything in this world is of little interest to me, except for the golden age that exists only in the mind of that fool, and that fool is dead, and the paintings left behind are ridiculous. ”

Lorenzo Medici looked into 042's eyes, and beneath the cloudy gaze was a bound soul, young and furious, but about to be carried to death by its aging shell.

"042, at that moment I seemed to find the meaning of my life, I wanted to see what the golden age was like, I wanted to know what that idiot wanted to draw for me. ”

The old man's voice was calm, but it hid anger, and the cyan veins bulged under the shriveled skin, and for a moment the old man in front of him seemed to have turned into some kind of evil monster.

"I, Lorenzo Medici, want to create a golden age. ”

Then he said with a wicked laugh.

"But in that good old age, there was no place for demons. ”