1RomanceEB Chapter 67 The Chief has been appointed; you will manage the Living Eclipse.
Chapter 67 The Chief has been appointed; you will manage the Living Eclipse.
Chapter 67 The Chief has been appointed; you will manage the Living Eclipse.
"Fareto"
In the language of the continent of Ring-Lyseres, it means rainy and is also a common name for the southeastern region of the continent, which is mostly inhabited by elves, hybrids, and humans.
This passage, located at the end of the scroll without starting on a separate line, is considered by scholars at the Museum of Literature and History to be inconsistent with the usual writing habits of Risseres, and therefore cannot be confirmed as a signature.
Ivira studied the text carefully, then said in silence, "So, rain is the more reasonable inference?"
"My lord," the administrator said cautiously, "the precise interpretation of a word's meaning requires consideration of the context. Even in our Nora language, there are many examples where the meaning of a word subtly changes depending on its combination or the context in which it is used."
"In the absence of context and with a limited understanding of the rules of the original language, any literal translation of a single word may be inaccurate."
The meticulous, even conservative, reply made Ivira turn her gaze back to Nan'an, but the words that were on the tip of her tongue changed to—
"It's alright, the progress has far exceeded our expectations." She instructed, "Have the academy keep an eye out for students with exceptional language talent; we might need them in the next few years."
The buzzing in Nan'an's mind gradually subsided, the giant Rubik's Cube returned to calm, and the startled flies were able to cautiously hover outside the cabin.
Ivira thoughtfully cast a healing spell, which immediately relaxed his mind.
"Everyone else is very satisfied with their senior."
Even the most cautious among the chiefs, after experiencing the echo sandbag and the "letter," no longer questioned Nan'an's power to suppress gods and demons.
A miracle never before seen in the Black Mist Era is now within reach.
Ivila led Nanan into an empty rest area, triggering a communication array located in an open space.
Standing there, Nan'an looked around and saw 13 figures that were only outlines.
They are not real images, but rather highly condensed, well-defined clouds of fog.
The figure is roughly outlined, but there are no specific details about the appearance or clothing. The race can only be distinguished from the height, weight and vague posture of the outline.
The advanced communication arrays of the Gray Star era could transmit images and sounds simultaneously, but the chiefs are now using a low-end version that was considered to save magic power and array production costs back then.
However, considering the limited number of people who can use high-level magic, Nan An couldn't help but feel relieved.
Under this bizarre restriction, Nora's magicians are all dancing in shackles.
A clear male voice spoke as the representative of the absent chief.
"Your Excellency Nan'an of the Gray Star Era, I'm sorry, but most of us can only contact you in this way."
"Frankly, your performance shocked us, so it is necessary for us to carefully analyze and reflect on what we have seen today."
"Before we proceed, we have a few questions that we would like to have answered personally."
"First—can you recall the decisive event that qualified you to become a Heroic Spirit?"
Nan'an shook his head: "I know nothing about that."
"Alright, then let's move on to the next question—now that you understand Nora's current situation after the Black Mist descended, is there still any lingering affection for Nora at this moment?" He smiled wryly. "I mean, assuming Suiyue were to release the summons and never summon again, would she feel a sense of relief, or some other emotion?"
Nan'an understood the purpose of the question and answered directly without beating around the bush.
"I'm a very curious person, so I want to know more about the Black Mist than you do."
Sensing this candor, the chief speaker stopped beating around the bush.
"Are you willing to do more?"
"If it were just about slaughtering live worms, as long as no one accuses me of using violent and evil methods, I could do it better."
Next, Nan'an emphasized.
"I know some people are discussing the method. As a Heroic Spirit, I feel that it's like an instinct, and it's difficult to correct in the short term. So I probably won't change it. You'll need to get used to it."
A series of soft laughs rang out from the surroundings.
"On this point, some people have already defended you and proven that at the time, many cult hunters continuously tried to execute cult members in a tit-for-tat, blood-for-blood manner."
"He also told us that your actions were restrained enough; at least you didn't wear a human head on your waist, make a wine vessel from a skull, or erect a forest of a thousand needles to pierce the condemned as a warning."
Nan'an couldn't help but exclaim in his heart: Wow, where did this expert come from?
The description is quite detailed; it seems they know all about the mess from the Gray Star era.
Due to the large number of cult members, in order to deter potential madmen, some adventurers with a simple sense of justice were forced to become bloodthirsty war maniacs, and various bloody execution methods emerged one after another.
To outsiders, both groups are crazy, and the cult hunters are even more insane in disguise.
This assessment is unfair.
Many cult hunters have witnessed firsthand the horrific sight of their wives and daughters rotting in a pot, bubbling and simmering.
There are quite a few people who suffer from mental breakdowns.
Those who recovered mostly took up arms and transformed into "monsters".
The Red Rat Adventurers taught many people who had lost their families combat skills, and later, during a hunt, they encountered a ruthless person who took a cultist with him and died together, biting through the cultist's throat with his teeth before dying.
They were indeed insane, but before they degenerated into bloodthirsty beasts, they were just ordinary people who wanted to live normal lives.
If they weren't bloodthirsty, Nan'an believed that these people would immediately be consumed by fear and live in constant anxiety.
Many tragedies, even if he dared to describe them, would probably make scholars in the museum of literature and history tremble with fear and beg him to stop talking about them.
"So, the last question, which Ivira just submitted and briefly discussed—"
The sounds within the communication array simultaneously ceased.
What are your thoughts on the phenomenon of erosion?
Nan'an and Suiyue both shuddered.
After being given an emergency explanation by the Raven Gunn, they all understood just how complicated the debate about the Living Eclipse was.
"Where Solitz's future leads is not for me to ask," Nan An said calmly. "You are the chiefs, while I am just an old thing who has only recently been resurrected."
“You’ve misunderstood us,” Ivila explained from the side. “We wanted to ask you, Nanan, whether you would be willing to cooperate with the Living Eclipse, or—manage the Living Eclipse.”
After a moment's hesitation, Nan'an gestured for Ivila to continue.
"As the chief elders of Solitz, we are the helmsmen. It seems that we decide where the ship goes. Of course, we can use our abilities in an emergency to forcefully suppress all dissent and make the course follow our plan, but the cost is that the Senate and even the title of chief elder may be overdrawn."
"We need to be very careful about whether to overdraw this credit card with its limited number of uses," Ivila said with a smile. "Therefore, we need some reference data."
Nan An asked astutely, "You want me to manage a portion of the active erosion area to assess the feasibility of the route?"
"Trial operation can temporarily set aside the criticisms to the greatest extent possible."
"Why me?"
Ivila said, "You and Suiyue have no roots, you don't belong to any faction in Solitz, and so far, your only connection with the Living Eclipse is killing," making your stance quite ambiguous. Yet, you already possess a certain degree of fame, and most of those who support the extermination of the Living Eclipse hold you in high esteem."
Nan An laughed, crossing his arms: "Does it mean I have followers?"
"Why don't you go to the Twin Crowns' tavern? After the debate on the Living Eclipse arose, your deeds were sung as a wish-fulfillment story. They couldn't tear the Living Eclipse apart, but you did it for them. Therefore—you do have a group of very strange followers."
"Huh?" Suiyue was dumbfounded. "Those old man's methods, they'd have to spit them out if they saw them!"
"It's a matter of stance, not the method, since they're not the ones on the front lines anyway."
Nan An remembered Corella's warning not to go to the tavern.
Could it be that someone knew the backstory, prevented him from appearing at the event beforehand, made some strange remarks, was recognized as the real person, was then pulled onto the stage, and finally, under pressure, made some extreme statements, essentially becoming a mouthpiece for public opinion?
They've been underestimated by the younger generation!
After thinking for a long time, Nan'an looked up and asked, "Where would you like to conduct the pilot program?"
"Kren".
Nan'an almost burst out laughing out loud, completely lacking in decency.
If Pirion knew that a living erosion zone had suddenly appeared near the city-state he had painstakingly reclaimed and built over the past 10 years, he would probably slam his fist on the table and yell at the chief elder in front of him, given his ambition.
Glancing at the map that Ivila had already prepared, the area circled by the chief elder was located exactly between Kren and Rostarek.
There are no cities or villages nearby; it is an uncultivated plain adjacent to forests, with a river flowing through it.
Judging from the address alone, the location of the new town is quite excellent.
But it's too dangerous.
Pirion had revealed to him that, under his efforts, the villages and towns outside the core jurisdiction of the Karen city-state had been largely relocated and had become the surrounding settlements of the Karen city-state.
Only by doing so can the administrative power be maximized, and it will also make it easier for sheriffs and knights to maintain order.
The farther away from densely populated areas, the more dangerous it is.
Near the border of the Black Mist, aside from wild beasts and monsters, there are also instances of neurotic Living Eclipses wanting to enter the Black Mist to search for treasure, sometimes engaging in massacres on a whim.
At least Kren had the foundation of a city-state, which allowed Pirion to gradually develop it into its current population of one million.
The chiefs could easily set up camp on the plains with a mere gesture, a task no less difficult than forcing them into the black mist to join forces with the Evil Deer to achieve their goal.
Nan'an asked, "May I offer some suggestions?"
"You think the location of the new city is too remote, right?" Ivila had already guessed. "The chief elders are indeed debating this. The current view is that it is too far from Kren, making it impossible for the Living Erosion to have basic contact with the Kren people. Instead, it may lead to the Living Erosion banding together, which is definitely not what we want to see."
It's clear that the chief who proposed the previous location had a huge prejudice against living erosion. He chose a seemingly reasonable but actually arduous location based on the attitude that one should contribute while alive and let others die as they wish.
With Ivila's finger repositioned, this time the location was slightly more reasonable.
It is located on the edge of a woodland in the southeast of the Sickle Water Canyon, not too far from the city of Keren, and blocked by the entrance to the Sickle Water Black Mist.
In the future, Solitz and Onze will both conduct research on the two entrances to the black fog, and a large number of Eurasian deer and owls will inevitably be active in the area, which will have an obvious deterrent effect on the erosion.
Nan'an has accepted the fact that he was handpicked.
He wasn't particularly opposed to managing the operations; he simply treated those who obeyed as human beings and sold the disobedient ones to Coralina.
"So close to the Kamami River—you actually want them to taste the bitterness of loss, don't you?"
A round of applause rang out within the communication array.
"What the senior said is right. Only when the Living Eclipse also realizes that everything it has built is as fragile as mud and sand, and can be destroyed at any time by the unexpected events brought by gods, demons and black mist, and feels the fear of gain and loss, will it be able to empathize with the Nora people."
"For hundreds of years, the black fog has been closing in, and one home after another has been abandoned. The Nora people understand the taste of loss, and they also hate their own incompetence in not being able to cleanse the black fog for the next generation and restore the old days."
"Since the Living Eclipse still considers itself a Nora, then let's face the Black Mist together."
"Nora's ancestors paid a blood tax so that she could have this place to breathe today."
"Now, they too must offer up their blood to prove that humanity still exists."
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