Siles froze in surprise, then could not help but laugh.
Chendo’s blatant way of asking for a benefit actually struck him as somewhat cute. People in love truly view everything through rose-tinted glasses.
He removed his gloves, scarf, and coat in turn. Chendo stood fixed in place, watching him, patiently awaiting the “benefit” Siles was to bestow.
Siles walked up to him and gave his braid a gentle tug.
“Do you like it?” Chendo tilted his head and asked.
“I just think it’s your trademark,” Siles said. “Besides, only I get to do this.”
Chendo nodded. “Of course, only you.” He leaned in to embrace Siles, carefully nuzzling his chin against Siles’s, before saying, “I am more than willing.”
Siles smiled. He turned his head, first pressing a kiss to Chendo’s cheek, then saying, “Sometimes I feel as though you belong to me.”
“I certainly belong to you,” Chendo said. “And you belong to me as well.”
“Is that love by your definition?”
“No, I just prefer describing it that way,” Chendo replied. “I don’t quite understand love as a concept. But when I’m with you, certain thoughts simply arise naturally.”
Siles could not help but say, “Me too.”
Chendo suddenly let out a sigh and muttered, “Reward, reward… Don’t tease me anymore, hurry and…”
He cut himself off abruptly because Siles kissed him, carrying a playful intent, sealing his lips at that precise moment. Chendo felt Siles’s gentle and crisp scent—that was the very nature of his lover.
Chendo slowly closed his eyes. He felt lightheaded, lost in a sense of wonder. Day after day passed, time trickled away, and outside the window, the world was full of bustling affairs and biting cold winds; inside, they were kissing.
After a moment, Siles released him. Breathing lightly, he asked in a low voice, “Satisfied?”
Chendo’s emerald eyes stared at him up close in a daze before he murmured, “No, no… how could I be? Professor Noel, please satisfy your pitiful lover—he’s going mad for you.”
Last night Siles had dismissed him with just a kiss like this, and today it was the same? His beloved deity was truly a miser.
Siles pressed his forehead against Chendo’s and chuckled softly, saying, “Professor Noel’s lover needs to try a little harder.”
Chendo straightened his face and said solemnly, “He has already tried very hard.”
“Mm… but the choice lies in Professor Noel’s hands.”
“Is this professor taking advantage of the fact that his lover adores him?”
“Indeed,” Siles said. “He said so himself: whatever this professor does, he takes delight in it.”
Chendo said gloomily, “Now he regrets saying that.”
“Do you not like Professor Noel anymore?”
“No,” Chendo said. “I should have tried harder, much earlier.”
Chendo leaned in to kiss Siles. “That way, I could have made your heart flutter for me a bit sooner.”
Siles laughed.
He said softly, “My heart already flutters for you.”
“…Then can’t you satisfy me?” Chendo said in frustration. “Even though I know your reserved and conservative nature, still, we are both men! Men don’t need this kind of restraint.”
Siles: “…”
A lustful fellow.
Professor Noel, who had always advocated for spiritual alignment, was rendered speechless for a moment in his heart by his lover’s words.
And… as an Earthling, Siles thought their progress was already fast enough. He meant, they had only met less than a month ago. Were they really going to jump into a zero-distance relationship now?
Siles felt that this was a bad idea.
He reached out and stroked Chendo’s braid once again. The braid formed from grayish-white hair possessed a slightly disheveled, coarse texture, which always reminded Siles that the true nature of this man remained that powerful, mysterious explorer.
He looked at his lover, gazing into those emerald eyes, hesitated for a moment, and said, “I just need more time to adjust… to such intimacy between us.”
He phrased it as tactfully as possible.
Chendo looked at him, and after a moment, suddenly burst into a playful chuckle. “Very well. Professor, I actually didn’t expect you to yield so quickly anyway. Though, looking at it now, it seems I can expect you to yield quite soon.”
Siles: “…”
Had he just been played by this guy?
He stared at Chendo in silence.
Chendo’s voice gradually lowered as he said, “I understand what you mean. I am really looking forward to… well, deeper contact with you. However, I am not rushing you, nor do I wish to force you to change your mind for me.
“I simply want to express this expectation of mine. Because I love you so much, I feel that if I don’t let you feel this expectation and my love for you, you might feel a bit uneasy, wouldn’t you?”
Siles looked at him in surprise.
Chendo hesitated for a second, seemingly contemplating how to articulate his thoughts. He said, “Back in the Stardust Vein, you mentioned that you felt uneasy because of my mysterious past. Perhaps it truly is… after all, I am a so-called ‘Old God’s Scion.’
“Even for you, this identity seems excessively strange and rare. I know you won’t distance yourself from me because of it, but it is, after all… an identity that belongs to the time of the Old Gods, completely out of place with this era.”
Siles thought for a moment and finally confessed his honest thoughts: “Yes. Chendo, I don’t want to hide it from you. I truly am very curious about this identity.”
Chendo rubbed his cheek against Siles’s with a bit of frustration—he always favored physical touch to this extent, especially in private, constantly wanting to cling to Siles’s side.
He said, “I knew it, given your curiosity…” He muttered, then finally added, “That’s why I specifically had the people over in Kansas send over the relevant materials.
“Only a portion of them, of course. I had them send the documents with Konst translations first. Other materials are still being prepared and will arrive gradually.”
Siles could not help but freeze in surprise.
“I hope…” Chendo said, “I mean, I don’t really understand what my identity signifies either. I don’t know why the Old Gods left behind scions, nor do I know why I can use the power of an Old God.
“As I was growing up, I merely heard that theory from the man who was likely my father. I accepted that theory back when I was young and ignorant, but in reality, I don’t know the truth—just as I don’t know the truth behind the fall of the Old Gods.
“So, I hope… Siles, I hope we can search for the truth together.”
His emerald eyes gazed attentively and earnestly into Siles’s pitch-black pupils.
He said, “We originally met while embarking on the journey to the Ashless Lands. Now, let us set off together on this journey to find the truth.”
Siles froze for a moment, then said, “Of course we can.” He paused, then added, “This is what you truly wanted to tell me today, isn’t it?”
The so-called “reward” was merely lover’s playfulness; with the documents from Kansas arriving in Konst, what Chendo truly wanted to address was his identity.
He had placed the files regarding the secrets of his identity right before Siles, hoping that this would grant Siles true peace of mind.
While the warmth of passionate love lingered, Chendo wished to eliminate the unstable elements in their relationship. This man from the Duchy of Kansas always possessed an astonishing sharpness and rationality, even when the fires of love had burned straight through his heart.
Chendo nodded, a somewhat sly smile appearing on his face as he said, “I had to make you realize what I was thinking.”
Siles was composed and reserved by nature, but Chendo was different. Chendo was a bit like a blazing fire.
Siles could not help but laugh at this. He said, “Then, let me take a look at these materials.”
“You can look at the ones needed for your paper first,” Chendo said. “You probably have to finish revising your paper this week, right?”
Siles let out a sigh, feeling quite helpless as he said, “Indeed.”
Chendo affectionately kissed his lips, then released him, saying, “Then we can go out to eat first. In the evening, you can slowly organize these materials.”
Chendo placed those documents on Siles’s desk. Siles caught sight of the two stacks, which appeared somewhat messy and chaotic. However, considering the current weather and the ancient nature of these files, Siles could not ask for much more.
He tidied them up briefly and stayed in the room for a short while. After that topic concluded, Siles brought up the matter regarding Mike with Chendo.
“What exactly are the underground gangs planning to do?” Siles could not help but feel puzzled. “They keep collecting Time Traces… but what use are so many Time Traces? Furthermore, they keep using ordinary people to do this.”
Chendo thought for a moment and said, “Recently, I did hear some news.” Changing the subject, he added, “Perhaps we can go out for dinner now, and we can chat about it on the way.”
“Of course,” Siles said.
He put on his clothes, extinguished the stove, opened the window a crack for ventilation, and then left the building with Chendo. On a Sunday evening, there were not many people on the street.
Chendo could not help but mention something: “The weather is getting colder and colder. Perhaps in the future, you could come over to my place to eat.”
Siles froze: “Cooking at home?”
“Yes,” Chendo said in a low voice. “You can taste my cooking, and try some dishes from Kansas.”
“I look forward to it,” Siles said pleasantly. “You know how to cook?”
Siles also knew how to cook a few home-cooked dishes… well, Earth dishes. If Chendo didn’t mind, he could try making scrambled eggs with tomatoes in this world—wait, hadn’t he once thought about selling recipes in the world of Fisher?
The thought flashed through Siles’s mind once more, only to be cast aside again.
Chendo said, “Of course. Did you think I was like those good-for-nothing nobles? Even though the Praia family owns quite a few industries, I rarely enjoyed the pleasures brought by wealth. As you know, I used to live alone in a secluded mansion, so naturally I learned to cook for myself.”
Siles thought of a young, lonely, cold-natured green-eyed boy. He said, “Now is not like before.”
Chendo looked at him in surprise, then said warmly, “Yes. Now I have you.”
Siles felt a slight sense of discomfort. Perhaps it was simply because he wasn’t accustomed to such straightforward and candid professions of love, or perhaps he just found it hard to naturally accept the changes brought by time.
He turned the conversation around, saying, “So, what was the news you wanted to mention?”
“News—ah, yes, the news,” Chendo said. “Lately, the Dexter Railway Joint Company seems interested in getting involved in the internal railway network of the Duchy of Konst—such as the one in Lamifa City… or as they call it, an underground railway.”
They arrived at the restaurant they had frequented that week. The waiter already recognized them, naturally guiding them to a window seat before serving their food according to their usual order.
Siles said thoughtfully, “An actual underground railway?”
“Most likely,” Chendo said. “After all, there’s hardly any space left above ground for them to mess around with; even carriages get stuck in traffic. Do they really expect to run trains on those streets?”
Siles could not help but smile softly.
Chendo added, “Therefore, they seem to be researching the underground passages in the West District… since those are already built. But you mentioned to me before that those underground passages are occupied by the underground gangs of the West District?”
“Yes.” Siles nodded, slipping into thought. “The underground gangs likely wouldn’t be willing to hand those passages over. If they caught wind of the subway construction in advance…”
“Subway.” Chendo picked up on the word instead, reflecting on it. “Your choice of words is quite novel and interesting. A railway running through underground passages, with roaring trains speeding past…”
Siles froze slightly.
Subway… subway, he thought. That seemed like something extremely distant now. Yet when he habitually spoke of such things, his instinct was still to use the terms from Earth.
After a moment, Siles smiled softly and said, “Perhaps that is just a novelist’s knack for phrasing.”
Chendo looked at him in some surprise, then burst into laughter. “I was actually planning to read your novel over the next couple of days—Professor Noel, would you be pleased to let your lover read your masterpiece?”
“It hardly qualifies as a masterpiece,” Siles corrected first, then added, “Of course. The honor is mine.”
A rich warmth flooded Chendo’s eyes. He stared at Siles in a daze, then let out a low sigh: “Being able to meet you before this winter set in is truly the greatest stroke of luck in my life.”
“Mine as well,” Siles said gently.
Chendo suddenly said, “You always say that.”
Siles looked at him, slightly bewildered.
“‘Mine as well,'” Chendo repeated. “It’s as if you’re deliberately repeating the sweet talk I came up with. You really are a miserly person.”
Siles: “…”
Was he supposed to say “Same here”?
The Earthling looked at his lover from another world, falling into deep thought for a moment.
After a pause, he said, “You can consider it a form of ritual.”
Chendo was startled, looking at him in utter confusion.
“You say you love me, and I repeat those words,” Siles said. “Replicating the past… this is a power belonging to a Revelator. I am replicating this love.”
Chendo stared at him in astonishment, then said, “This… this is far too enchanting.” He murmured in a low voice, “I never thought there could be such an interpretation… Is this the novelist’s knack for phrasing?”
Siles smiled. “Yes.”
After finishing dinner, on their way back, a question suddenly occurred to Siles: “How did you find out about Dexter’s future investment plans?”
“Oh, I thought you had already guessed,” Chendo said casually. “As you know, my family inherited the bloodline of Ligadia, so the Praia family’s industries are also related to long journeys and travel.”
Siles froze, then realized a possibility: “So, the Dexter Railway Joint Company is an industry belonging to the Praia family?”
“I wouldn’t put it entirely that way,” Chendo pondered. “The core industries of the Praia family consist of carriage lines, freight, passenger transport, and the like. The family did invest in Dexter, but you can’t say we own it—we merely hold a portion of the shares.”
Only then did Siles understand. He genuinely marvelled, “That is still an immensely vast enterprise.”
Chendo glanced at him and said in a gentle tone, “As long as you like it. I never bother managing those things anyway.”
Realizing what Chendo meant, Siles looked at him and said, “I like you for who you are, not for those material possessions.”
“Of course, of course. I understand,” Chendo said. “I just thought it might make things easier for you, so you wouldn’t think I can’t afford to buy, or even rent, a residence in Lamifa City.”
Siles was rendered temporarily speechless.
A moment later, he shook his head helplessly and changed the subject: “So, the Praia family should still preserve world maps of the world of Fisher, right?”
Chendo was visibly taken aback, then said, “There should… be some? In the library vault.”
Siles nodded, then asked, “Are there maps from every era, from the Age of Divine Birth to the Age of Fog?”
Chendo answered with uncertainty, “There ought to be. Regardless, the believers of Ligadia once followed in the footsteps of this Old God, attempting to travel across the entire world. The family collected quite a few travelogues and manuscripts left behind by these believers.”
Siles let out a sigh: “I find myself wanting to visit your family’s library vault more and more.”
Chendo smiled with a hint of self-satisfaction. “I would be more than happy to welcome your visit.”
Siles glanced at him and smiled as well.
He stopped in his tracks and said, “Lowell Street is here. See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow,” Chendo said. “Remember to light the stove when you get back, and remember to put it out before going to sleep.”
“I’m hardly a child who can’t take care of himself.”
“But I’d rather stay by your side to take care of you,” Chendo said in a low voice. “I’m constantly terrified that some accident might happen to you where I can’t see.”
Siles said, “The blessing of Ligadia remains with me.”
Chendo’s gaze brushed past Siles’s collar, and he said softly, “I ought to thank the power of this ancestor.”
Siles smiled, pulled Chendo over, and kissed him in a corner unlit by the streetlamps. Snow had fallen on the roadside bushes; Siles casually gathered a handful and placed it in Chendo’s palm, then said, “Reach home before the snow melts, Chendo.”
Chendo looked at the clump of pure white snow in surprise. Wearing gloves, he couldn’t feel the cold, yet it felt as though something had scorched his heart. He couldn’t help but say, “You are truly harsh.”
“Achieve the condition, gain a point.”
“…I’ll head back right now!” Chendo said, adding, “When I tell you about it tomorrow, you’d better believe me!”
Siles watched his departing back, a soft curve gradually lifting the corners of his lips. He thought, of course he would believe him. Even if the snow actually melted, he would pretend he didn’t notice. He would secretly cheat for Chendo—only fate would witness his choice.
After standing in place for a short moment, Siles turned and walked back.
Lowell Street was not far from Hayward Street. Ten minutes later, Siles was back in his room. He lit the stove, washed up, tidied his things, and then, amidst the cold and hazy night, sat down behind his desk to begin reading the materials sent over from Kansas.
He finally came to understand the past of those wandering poets from the Sardin Empire.
Ligadia had once protected a tribe. This tribe was composed of homeless wanderers, self-isolated recluses, globe-trotting travelers, and displaced people who had suffered disasters.
The tribe had not established any nation; instead, it existed in a state near nomadic wandering, migrating to different regions from time to time.
The foot traffic in the tribe was massive; a group of people permanently remained there—they were the most devout among the believers, staying behind to receive guests who had traveled from afar.
Another group of people, equally devout believers of Ligadia, chose a different path: to follow in Ligadia’s footsteps and tread across the entire world.
These two groups would rotate periodically; those who finished traveling the world would return to become keepers, and after a period of time, the keepers would embark on a journey once more.
Siles had once read a travelogue titled On the Journey; the author of that travelogue was a devout believer of Ligadia and had clearly served as a keeper in that tribe at one point.
During the Age of Divine Birth, the scale of this tribe was still relatively small; during the Age of Faith, it gradually became a gathering place for many, as well as a sanctuary in the hearts of travelers.
During the Age of Empire, due to the prosperity of human empire and the development of human civilization, exchanges between nations became frequent. Consequently, this tribe and the believers of Ligadia gradually began to manage traffic arteries, post stations, and similar locations.
Of course, this management carried no sense of coercion or ownership. It was more akin to a volunteer effort; the believers of Ligadia would spontaneously assist people in difficulty along their journeys, bringing them carriages, hot water, food, and any other possible help.
Setting aside this assistance provided on journeys, throughout the history of the world of Fisher, the presence of Ligadia and His believers was never particularly prominent.
When human civilization was still young, people living in clustered villages treated outsiders with great coldness. People of that era were perpetually xenophobic and instinctively feared newcomers.
Even though conditions improved somewhat later on, people often still regarded the believers of Ligadia as vagrants who wandered aimlessly, lived dissolute lives, and frequently engaged in petty theft.
This perception often led people in cities to reject Ligadia’s believers, leaving them completely ignorant of who they were; even if people received help on a journey, that remained an extremely rare occurrence.
Thus, during the Age of Shadows, when Ligadia suddenly vanished, people failed to develop a clear realization that this deity and His believers had seemingly vanished from their side overnight.
However, the disappearance of Ligadia was an event like a bolt from the blue for this tribe and its believers.
Countless people fell into despair because of it, embarking on hopeless journeys in a desperate attempt to find the deity they believed in. Innumerable believers vanished during this period, and in the end, the bustling atmosphere that once defined the tribe dissolved like smoke into thin air.
The materials Chendo brought over consisted of texts recorded in the form of manuscripts, diaries, transcribed conversations, and biographies. These records had most likely been preserved within the Praia family all along, unknown to the world and never seeing the light of day.
Now, however, the dust had been wiped away from these words. Reorganized and turned over once more, they lay displayed before Siles peacefully, as if emerging straight from bygone times.
He caught sight of numerous individuals from the distant past—believers, poets, travelers, ordinary people—and their emotions and discussions regarding an Old God. Those feelings emerged so vividly between the lines, as though the cities had never aged and time had never slipped away. Everything was just as it used to be.
…After Ligadia vanished, His believers fell apart as well.
One faction set off on the road to search for Ligadia; one faction drowned their sorrows in wine and pleasure, sinking into a deep abyss of near-despair; another faction maintained a dazed, self-consoling attitude, continuing their usual lives while hoping that one day Ligadia would return.
Yet another faction also embarked on the journey to search for Ligadia, but their objective differed from the first group mentioned. Their goal was to find the Tau Graveyard.
…The Tau Graveyard. That was Ligadia’s “paradise.”
Judging from the text in these memoirs, back in the Age of Empire and the Age of Shadows, the concept of a “god’s paradise” was not at all unfamiliar to believers. In fact, many believers themselves might have visited or were planning to go to such a place.
And the Tau Graveyard was precisely where the believers of Ligadia “were going to” go.
Because that place harbored the souls of those who died in foreign lands.
Reading up to this point, Siles finally realized with a start why, in the book The Fate of the Poet, the conversation between Aldous Gershwin and that noble mentioned that “the god’s paradise only accepts souls that die in foreign lands.”
He also understood why, in the poems written by Aldous, the grave was an imagery inextricably linked to foreign lands and lovers.
Because Ligadia’s paradise demanded it so. Because Ligadia’s paradise was the Tau Graveyard.
Thinking of this, Siles could not help but feel a doubt arise in his mind.
The Tau Graveyard harbored the souls of those who died in foreign lands. But at its core, wasn’t that still a matter related to death? The souls of the deceased… wasn’t that the domain of Thaddeus, the God of Death and Calamity?
Foreign lands, death. Was there really a matter of priority between the two?
To Siles, regardless of whether a soul died in a foreign land or not, they were still a deceased person. In other words, that was where Thaddeus’s divine authority lay. Under such circumstances, wasn’t Ligadia essentially snatching away what belonged to Thaddeus?
Over so many years, would Thaddeus really not care about these souls slipping away from His hands?
…Perhaps it was similar to the relationship between Timiafa and Elco? Perhaps the powers of these two deities simply possessed similarities?
After pondering for a moment, Siles shook his head, feeling unable to arrive at a reasonable conclusion. If he had to say, the powers of Timiafa and Elco were overly similar, like a pair of synonyms.
Who knew how the powers of the gods were differentiated?
Furthermore, there was another point that puzzled Siles.
He now knew of several “gods’ paradises,” including Hoodoka’s Temple of Belan and Ligadia’s Tau Graveyard. Compared to these two places, the “Deep Sea Dreamscape” he had visited himself felt overly…
Empty?
A temple, a graveyard. These both seemed to be specific scenes with defined boundaries; yet the Deep Sea Dreamscape was vast beyond measure, which felt somewhat unbelievable.
Regardless, discovering the existence of the Tau Graveyard brought a wave of relief to Siles. He had indeed found the most direct piece of evidence proving that “wandering poets were believers of Ligadia.”
Naturally, the materials provided by Chendo explicitly mentioned that this group of devout believers who set off to find the Tau Graveyard were the predecessors of the wandering poets.
It was precisely because of Ligadia’s disappearance that they left the tribe, attempting to die in foreign lands so they could enter the Tau Graveyard and uncover Ligadia’s exact circumstances.
Siles realized he had harbored a misconception.
Previously, he had always assumed that the reason these wandering poets wandered everywhere was simply to die in foreign lands—according to Aldous Gershwin’s account, it was a custom of their tribe to choose their own burial ground.
However, judging from the materials now obtained, particularly the definition of the Tau Graveyard, “dying in a foreign land” was merely the means by which these believers sought their god. Death was not their end, but their beginning.
This suddenly sparked a marvelous stroke of inspiration in Siles—he meant, Thaddeus’s divine position was titled “The Curtain at Death’s End,” was it not?
Yet for these believers of Ligadia, death was merely the “beginning” of a fresh journey, rather than the “end.”
The difference in concepts seemed to lead to the divergence in these two deities’ powers.
…Concepts, concepts. Siles softly murmured the word. He felt a subtle touch of intuition, as if he had received a sudden hint. He froze for a moment, then earnestly wrote the word down in his notebook.
Shortly after, he took a deep breath and set the thought aside for the time being, beginning to organize the contents of his paper.
His paper was titled The Lost Songs of the Sardin Empire: A Brief Analysis and Tracing of the Wandering Poets’ Poetic Tradition. Most of its contents fell within the scope of literary appreciation, including the appreciation, background analysis, and theoretical dissection of these wandering poets’ poetry.
This section had the most reference materials, as he had to attach quite a bit of historical background information regarding the Sardin Empire and Kansas City, alongside contemporary theoretical and literature references concerning poetry and nostalgia literature.
The other section was an investigation into the origin of the wandering poets themselves, their faith, and their ultimate destination. This section was shorter, but clearly far more eye-catching, as it mentioned an Old God.
Even if this Old God had never been prominent, He was still a deity after all.
For the reference materials of this part, Siles simply attached a list that included The Fate of the Poet, The Diary of Kalakak, and the documents provided by Chendo.
In this section, Siles did not explicitly write out concepts like “Tau Graveyard” or “god’s paradise,” as those were inappropriate to mention. Nevertheless, setting those aside, the purely textual records were sufficient to prove the faith of these wandering poets.
Siles solemnly wrote down the names of Chendo, Kellogg, Knight Commander Banyan, Grosvenor, Professor Calverley, Alfonso, and others in the acknowledgments section. They had all provided considerable help for this paper.
Regrettably, Professor Calverley would never be able to witness this scene.
When Siles put down his pen after writing the final word, he could not help but breathe a long sigh of relief, staring blankly at the paper that spanned roughly twenty pages.
…Truly unbelievable, the Earth novelist thought to himself.
Although this word count was a mere drop in the bucket for a novelist, it was an academic paper in an otherworldly setting after all—he meant, he had never even written an academic paper like this back on Earth! Yet he had actually written one in another world!
Siles realized with mixed amusement and irony that, setting the contents aside, this paper itself might hold even greater significance and commemorative value for him. It could be drawn as a parallel to his novel, The Revenge of the Rose.
Still, writing this paper had cost him far more effort than that novel. A novel allowed for free expression within a world of one’s own creation, whereas a paper demanded painstaking verification across multiple sources within an established reality.
…Truly agonizing.
Siles shook his head, driving away his rambling thoughts. He gathered the draft of his paper. Later, he would need to find a copyist to help transcribe a clean version before submitting it to the journal.
It was the night of November 15th. He could be considered rushing to finish before the end of the year.
Having completed all this, he checked the time and found it was nearly ten o’clock.
Tomorrow was Monday, and he had agreed to go out with Chendo.
On one hand, they needed to use the ritual [Trace Tracking] to search for the item that might have caused Mike’s death, and they also had to visit Baker Bank to receive Professor Calverley’s inheritance; on the other hand, it could also be considered a date.
…Although the date and official business were blended together, both Siles and Chendo were long accustomed to it. Back in the Ashless Lands, the two had been far more intertwined; exchanging a few romantic words before switching to talking about Old God followers was practically their routine.
When it came down to it, dating in another world was truly quite dangerous, Siles thought.
He intended to sleep, but before turning in, he picked up another set of files with great interest and browsed through it briefly.
This set of documents was related to Chendo’s identity.
It was a very thin folder. Upon opening it, Siles discovered it contained only five or six sheets of paper in total.
This sparse amount caused Siles to freeze briefly. He suddenly understood why even Chendo himself could not figure out the true significance of his identity as an “Old God’s Scion”—because the Praia family itself had not preserved much relevant archival material.
He began to ponder the intrinsic meaning symbolized by this problem, though many possibilities existed.
For instance, due to the passage of long ages, the original individuals in the know had not recorded the information they possessed, causing the truth to slowly fade away over time; or perhaps this was something that naturally demanded secrecy, where the fewer people who knew, the better—even for the Old God’s Scion himself.
Siles indeed knew that in this world, the more information one knew, the higher the symbolized danger—after all, “knowledge” had the potential to elevate one’s spirituality.
In short, whatever the reason, the reality was that if they wanted to investigate the identity of an “Old God’s Scion,” they had to start with these few thin sheets of paper.
…No, wait, there was another choice, Siles suddenly realized.
The Church of the Past. Antinam.
Back when Chendo had first mentioned his identity to Siles, he said that if a child of the Praia family awakened the bloodline of Ligadia, Antinam would grant a “revelation,” letting the Praia family become aware of it.
In other words, the Praia family itself had no way of knowing who was an Old God’s Scion; it was because of Antinam’s revelation that they confirmed the identity.
…Why Antinam? Why would Antinam be connected to a scion of Ligadia’s bloodline?
Siles felt a subtle sense of strangeness.
This strange sensation had perhaps been lurking in Siles’s heart ever since he realized that the Church of the Past held an overly gentle and benevolent attitude toward him.
Antinam, he thought. Does this deity hide some secret?
Siles had once discussed topics related to this deity with Grenfield. Grenfield mentioned that some people stood on the opposite side of the Church of the Past and Antinam; those people might be Old God followers, or simply held a pure distaste for Antinam.
In short, those people believed that Antinam was merely a more powerful Revelator rather than a true deity; some even believed that Antinam had stolen the power and authority of the Old Gods, glorifying Himself into humanity’s savior.
Even though over the four hundred years of the Age of Fog, the overall relationship between Antinam and humanity had been extremely harmonious, and ordinary people held a very friendly and respectful attitude toward this deity even if they didn’t worship Him… even so, discordant elements still persisted within their relationship.
The only existing deity in the present world. Why did He only appear during the Age of Fog? What did the divine position He held—Past and History—really signify? Was the power of a Revelator truly as simple as replicating the past?
Questions surfaced one after another in Siles’s mind, yet not a single one yielded a clear answer.
After a moment, he could not help but sigh, thinking to himself that it was truly tormenting.
He simply organized all the documents, extinguished the stove, and lay down on the bed to sleep. His chaotic thoughts did not prevent him from falling asleep—at least at this moment, he sincerely felt grateful that the power of the Old Gods existed in this world, specifically the power of Akamara.
Aside from Ligadia, Akamara was probably the Old God he held the greatest favor toward.
The next morning, when Chendo arrived at 6 Hayward Street, Siles had already woken up, washed, and was sitting on the sofa, reading those few pages of documents with a thoughtful expression.
The materials Chendo brought over were all copies in the Konst script rather than originals, and their contents had already been organized and consolidated during transcription.
Even so, Siles expectedly discovered that these records appeared… deeply symbolic, leaving one thoroughly baffled.
Naturally, he indeed saw many things Chendo had previously mentioned, such as the story of the spirit lighthouse and the dark sea.
A lost believer came upon a dark ocean, and subsequently managed to leave under the guidance of the lighthouse’s beam. It sounded like an ordinary danger encountered on a journey.
However, combined with Siles’s own experience in that dark room, he didn’t think the “dark sea” was a dark ocean in the literal sense.
Still, to say that it was the destination of souls after death did not seem entirely accurate either. It was more like a… realm sandwiched between life and death.
When Chendo walked into the room, Siles’s gaze happened to freeze upon a certain sentence. That single line commanded his long, contemplative stare.
“When the shadow struck, He set off on a journey.”
The “He” here clearly referred to Ligadia. However, the real reason Siles paid attention to this sentence was that it brought to mind the book Gods and Believers in the Shadows.
That book similarly mentioned that when Ligadia vanished without a trace during the Age of Shadows, He had set off on a journey.
…What journey? And what did “when the shadow struck” mean?
No, wait—so did that seemingly fabricated gossip booklet actually contain pure facts? Why did Ligadia choose to set off on a journey during the Age of Shadows?
