(PS: Although the gender of the god of steam and machines is not mentioned in the original book, the squid said in WeChat that the steam is negative, so I will assume that he used to be a woman.) ）

In less than half a cup of tea, the evil spirits fled to death, and the evil spirit rider at the head wore a monocle on his face—attached to his visor in a very unscientific way, and motionless like a wooden stake.

Seeing that there was no danger, Thoth took back the scroll titled "The Story of the Peach Blossom Spring" and rolled it tightly and put it in his sleeve pocket. The inhabitants of Silver City, who were swept into the painting by him, also returned to reality, but there was still a trance on their faces, only the old man who had commanded the battle before looked quite conscious, but before he could organize the language, the voices of discussion rang out one after another, and they became more and more excited, more and more eager.

"Did you just see that?! Those, those ......!"

"Those scented plants? In the ancient books handed down by my father, it is written that the thing is called "flower"!"

"Lord, we're not dreaming......

"Then it wouldn't be so many people having the same dream together! It must be the manifestation of the All-Knowing and Almighty!"

"Then don't we have hope of being out of suffering?!"

"Silence!"

The old man at the head yelled, and when the crowd quieted down, he said respectfully and calmly, "Help our existence, do you keep an eye on us?" Silver City will repay its kindness and will pay the highest respect."

Now it's a big deal. Thoth, who had disappeared from his figure, rubbed his temples in anguish, he only subconsciously used the spell with the best protection, but it was regarded as a manifestation...... Oh no, for this group of people who have been in the sea of suffering for a long time, I am afraid that any hint of hope will be regarded as "manifestation".

I knew that I should have been more low-key when I made a move!

"Poof." Amon, who was also hiding in the darkness, was amused by His tangled expression.

"Don't laugh, think of a way!"

"Standing in the center of your gaze doesn't quite fit your name as a 'Hidden Sage', but we can take advantage of the opportunity to seize the initiative." Amon smiled slightly, "And Silver City seems to be weak, but it responds very quickly, from warning to organization to engagement, in an orderly manner - and you look at where we came out."

Thoth looked over to the fortress where the seal was kept, and saw that the heavy lock had been opened, and a young half-giant with a key around his neck stood still, stunned by what he had just seen, but still holding a gold crown encrusted with rubies in his hand.

Even from a distance, Thoth could feel the warm and sacred aura of the object, which was repelled by the cold, filthy evil spirits.

"We didn't hear the leader's 'go get the seal' or anything like that, and none of these people have a War Bishop who can communicate with each other. What do you think this means?"

Thoth was quick to react, "It means that they have encountered, or at least anticipated, being attacked by evil spirits, so even if the commander doesn't give orders, he knows what to do."

"Not bad." Amon squeezed his eyes, "The experience of the aborigines is also very valuable, what do you think?"

"Okay, I see." Thoth let out a sigh, "If you look into it, this negotiation will take a long time...... I'm afraid I won't be able to attend this year's Winter Festival."

The mood of apprehension and anticipation crept in, and just when people resisted the desire to exchange their heads and ears, and only dared to exchange glances silently, the sound of slow and calm footsteps came from the darkness where torches and lanterns could not shine, some people subconsciously raised their weapons, and some people couldn't help but hold their breath.

A young man came into their view, undoubtedly short compared to the inhabitants of Silver City with giant blood, and curious eyes looked at his slightly long black hair, dark green cloak, belt of bark, and boots of animal skin...... In the end, they had to admit the fact that his appearance, everything on his body, was so unsightly and unusual, not like the kind of existence described in the murals and ancient books that could bring miracles.

This is exactly the image of Thoth walking the world at the beginning of the Third Age, and the rules of his play that he summarized for himself are

"Walking in the world and hiding in the world", of course, the appearance must be ordinary and unwizarded.

Amon turned into a white crow and stood on His shoulder, exclaiming in a voice that only two people could hear, "It's been a long time since I've seen you like this."

———————————————

At the same time, in the province of Intis of the Solomon Empire, a manor located on the outskirts of the city.

It is now the turn of the old and the new, and although it is not necessary to go in and out of all kinds of parties, dinners, salons, and hunting grounds as in the summer social season, the nobles who are close to the old and the old people will move around, and the less pure branches will send representatives to their families, who will usually stay for two days after sending New Year's gifts and expressing their thoughts, and the family will be warmly received to show their generosity, and on the last day of the year they will present the most sumptuous dishes, the most mellow wines, and celebrate all night long—in short, There is a lot less pomp and rules, but it is definitely lively.

But for the deposed Stiano family, the word "lively" is a bit far-fetched to describe the atmosphere these days.

Although the New Year pays attention to the word "warmth", if the family itself is not an angel family, but also offends an angel, this "warmth" is very limited - the empty waiting room is the best example, a few meager gifts can be called perfunctory on the coffee table, not even half of the coffee table, the envoys who sent them come and go like the wind, and even the greetings are very brief, quite a bit of "just go through the motions, don't hold on to it, okay".

But it's quiet, and it's good. As if to convince herself, she repeated, and it was good.

As the snow fell, she placed her calloused hands on the cold window and quickly retracted them, the days of sweating by the fires and bellows had made her accustomed to the heat and the cold—even as a Sequence 3 Sage, largely immune to the seasons and temperatures, this deep-seated tendency was hard to change.

How many years is this stuck in Sequence 3? She counted the time, fiftieth year? No, the sixtieth?

Extraordinary strength has delayed aging, but she knows that she is no longer young, "young" is not only a physical state, but also a vigorous and positive state of mind, while her state of mind is hovering between two extremes - at the bottom is depression, despair, a compromise with the status quo, and at the top is resentment, unwillingness, resentment - why do you have to suppress me?! Crush us Stiano?!

Her hands tightened into fists, like a hammer.

If it's a simple suppression, it's okay, this can make the family work together and get through the hardships together, but the bad thing is that the hidden sage is not proud of his elude, nor is he proud of his strength, he is better at persuasion and temptation than coercion, whether it is a descendant of his own family who is not deeply involved in the world, an old fox who sees the wind and rudder, or a mediocre ordinary craftsman - unconsciously, the cohesion of "Stiano" is being eaten away and disintegrated, and her influence in the family is dispersing and draining.

After the enactment of the Land Protection Act, several side branches successively converted to the Hidden Sage. A letter lay on her desk, in which her distant cousin talked about her son who had been promoted to "occultist", and she could imagine the other party's ostentatious face even when they were hundreds of miles away.

There is another layer of meaning in those flowery words: My dear distant cousin, we don't need you anymore, even if we don't rely on the high-level potion recipes of the "craftsman" in the hands of our own family, we can still gain divinity, and if we are more deferential and pious, we may even produce an angel - as we all know, the sage has no children and no family, that is, he has nothing to be biased about, is he?

No, I don't need you anymore.

A fierce look slipped through her eyes, and then turned into respect. "Eternal Sun, Immortal Light, you are the embodiment of order, the god of contracts, you are the guardian of commerce......

————————————————

"I've been waiting."

After instructing the residents to rebuild the fortifications and clean up the spiritual materials left behind by the evil spirits, Hawkes Frye, the current leader of the "Council of Six" in Silver City, walked into the living room, and as a sign of respect, they lit more than a dozen animal oil candles and placed them on the table

heart and corners, and this far brighter than usual light also gave Hawkes Fry a new discovery: it turned out that the strange visitor's eyes were a rare purple.

"What shall we call you?"

"Siddle." The purple-eyed young man only said his name, but not his surname, and Hawkes was not sure if it was a pseudonym.

"Where are you from?" Hawkes pondered and asked the second question.

"Are you interrogating us?"

The white crow, who was combing its feathers on the young man's shoulder, suddenly spoke, startling everyone. There was a hint of banter in its eyes, which made Hawkes feel very uncomfortable, and Thoth, who was alias "Siddle", touched the little crow's feathers and said calmly, "Unilateral giving and taking are not reassuring, I suggest exchanging questions for questions to ensure equality of exchange, I wonder what you think?"

Hawkes exchanged glances with the other Council Elders, and then said, "We agree."

"Then let's make a rule, if you encounter a question you don't want to answer, you can stay silent, but you can't lie." Thoth asked, "Is that okay?"

"Reasonable." Hawkes said tentatively, "In that case, swear in the name of the All-Knowing and Almighty Creator that Silver City is blessed with a token of Him, will you prove it?"

"Gladly."

An elder left his seat and quickly took a copper book entwined with thorns, in order not to be pricked, he deliberately wrapped a layer of animal skin on his hand, but without this layer of protection, Hawkes was directly cut in the palm of his hand when he took it, and large drops of blood smashed to the ground, he calmly opened the book, and solemnly swore to the blank page: "I, Hawkes Folly, swear in the name of the omniscient and all-powerful Creator that I will not lie in the process of 'problem for problem'."

At the same time, his blood was sucked out by the thorns of the copper book, and the blank pages glowed with a burst of divine gold.

Amon whispered, "It is indeed my father's thing, I have seen it in his study."

Thoth did the same and said the same oath, but as soon as he put down the Book of Thorns, the wound on his hand healed, and another elder was still bandaging Hawkes—after seeing this scene, several half-giants couldn't help but feel a little more awe on their faces, only to feel that this seemingly ordinary young man was even more unfathomable.

No, they quickly correct it in their hearts, and this kind of self-healing power is obviously beyond the scope of "people"!