Shepherd Tantra

Chapter 808: The Childhood of Franz Pomponazzi
Aleister was moved when he heard this.

...the "great" Lady Bayard?

What did Vinice do to deserve such respect from Pomponazzi?
No wonder the frivolous Pomponazzi acted so formal when he came to see her.

I'm afraid that when the two met at the Curved Moon Manor, Baroness Bayard's status was far higher than that of Pomponazzi.

Realizing that he did have a chance to trick out some information, Aleister became more focused.

"great……"

"Bayard" took a sip of wine, a mocking smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Are you serious? Or are you laughing at me?"

"—No, of course I am serious."

Pomponazzi placed his right hand on his chest and said seriously, "The 'Light of Herasl' on your chest is proof of this. It is not given to your father or mother, but to you personally, Lady.

"In your hands, the Bayard Foundation has become a behemoth capable of shaking the empire. Even the emperor had to submit to you and show goodwill... Without you, there might not be the Curved Moon Manor. That is the place that changed my life."

Aleister was stunned for a moment.

...So this necklace is the "Light of Herasil"?

This was something Aiwass had learned from his history classes at Avalon.

The downfall of various countries was often due to the weakening of their national strength, but the Hellas Empire was the only one that was destroyed because it was too powerful.

At least in Avalon's textbooks, the main reason for the collapse of the Helasar Empire was that a large number of low-level supernatural beings gradually got out of control - in that era when supernatural knowledge was not yet strictly controlled, one could easily become a supernatural being as long as there was a guide.

There is no comprehensive quality assessment, nor is there any investigation of family and personal morality. An old man you meet on the street may teach you the secret of becoming a mage; the black market is full of true or false supernatural knowledge. And supernatural people are always keen to explore various ancient ruins, from which they can further improve their own strength.

All major colleges are also trying their best to train their own extraordinary people and competing with each other for students. The cost of learning extraordinary knowledge has been reduced to an extreme level... When the cost is the lowest, even the children of grooms can learn mystical skills by prepaying their loans for the next twenty years.

As a result, the number of nobles did not change, but more and more noble descendants went crazy, and social contradictions became increasingly fierce... At the same time, the number of extraordinary people of commoner origin continued to increase.

Everyone wants to go out for a fun and exciting adventure. The ruins around the city are so crowded that they are like tourist attractions, and nothing valuable can be dug out. No one wants to work in low-paying jobs, and would rather go out to sea to explore far away. This is also the reason why Avalon was able to bring so many knights and people from the Empire when it was founded.

In the ten years before the demise, the proportion of extraordinary people who were not hereditary nobles but were above the third level had reached more than 90%. At first, the nobles would recruit these extraordinary people to join the family's periphery... But later, even if they tried their best to recruit them, the wealth they could offer was limited, so more extraordinary people flowed outside.

The gathered civilians formed various chambers of commerce, consortiums, associations, societies and other civilian organizations of extraordinary people, constantly competing for wealth, status and voice. The entire empire was caught in extremely intense internal friction. People were divided into various factions and attacked each other, while different factions were constantly uniting and betraying each other.

The last emperor was determined to change this situation.

He had a gentle personality, so between the prime minister's suggestion of "launching an aggressive war against the ancient Parthia" and "mediating class contradictions", he chose the latter, and between violent suppression and non-violent inducement, he still chose the latter... Therefore, he implemented the "Light of Horasan" plan to commend outstanding civilian extraordinary people and grant them non-hereditary noble titles.

Originally, it was common for the royal family to grant nobility qualifications, and this had happened quite often in the past peaceful times. However, it was just that the royal family commended "individuals" and there were no clear, automatically operating rules and systems.

This is the first automatically operated title system in the Helasar Empire, in addition to the military merit system.

However, the conflict had already accumulated to a very intense level at that time, and the two sides were either this or that, with no middle ground. Therefore, the monarch who advocated mediation was considered by both sides to be biased towards the other side, which further ignited the conflict.

——In Avalon, the "Light of Herasil" is also called the "Light of Destruction".

They are also known as the countdown to the fall of the Herasil Empire.

This was the ornament that Aiwas wore when she first transformed into Bayard through the power of the twin mirror. It didn't have any special power - maybe it had it, but as a mirror image, it was just an ornament.

And Shadow Demon himself had never expressed any wish to treasure it or preserve it carefully.

She didn't seem to like the necklace.

“But I didn’t enjoy it.”

Aleister sighed and imagined himself as Bayard.

She imitated Bayard's tone during the promotion ceremony, and said in a half-calm, half-free manner: "It's all in the past. Be it power, honor... or my childhood self. Nothing in the world is eternal... If you really want to pursue eternity, it's the same as pursuing stagnation."

"…Your words are still so philosophical."

Peng Bonazi did not respond to this, but pursed his lips, then suddenly smiled and flattered: "After so many years, have you gone to the East to rest?"

He was smiling, but Aleister had clearly sensed that Pomponazzi was a little unhappy. He only suppressed his dissatisfaction because it was rare for him to meet his "fellow countryman".

"I guess so," Aleister uttered fluent Taichu language, "A blessing in disguise."

She spoke the Taichu language so fluently and with such confidence that Pomponazzi, who could barely understand the general idea, had no doubt about what she said.

This also explains why Lady Bayard disappeared in the late stage of the Rift War - she was tired of the disputes in this land, so she fled far away. This is also a very reasonable behavior, which fits her indifferent personality very well. "But," Aleister paused and asked, "You said... Curved Moon Manor changed your life?"

It was obvious that Pomponazzi wanted to talk to Bayard about this topic.

He was suddenly refreshed and became visibly happy.

Seeing this, Aleister also understood - it was obvious that Pomponazzi wanted to talk to her about Valentine I.

Although she and Pomponazzi had never met, she knew that the first generation of black and red ministers all followed Bashir's personal charm.

Black Phase may simply recognize him as a person and think that Bashir is trustworthy. This is why he was willing to let his student marry Bashir, who was already old at the time.

But as extraordinary people on the path of love, their emotions are all disrupted and mixed together. This means that for extraordinary people on the path of love, there is no absolutely pure friendship, family affection or admiration, and any emotion is "love" to them.

——In other words, Tie Nantong.

But then the problem arises...

The status of the Moon Manor is roughly equivalent to that of the White Pigeon Opera House today. It is equivalent to an entertainment club and buffet restaurant with a very high entry threshold, which can only be entered by an introducer.

Aleister still remembered that during the promotion ceremony, Aiwas had seen a girl and a human youth chatting happily at the table. That human youth was Bashir in his youth.

Bayard crossed his fingers and said with a smile: "I really didn't expect that the child you brought to the Huyue Manor would become a monarch... and you turned around and followed a human. You even did that kind of thing for it..."

"That kind of thing...what kind of thing?"

Peng Bonazzi's tone became sharper: "Do you mean that I killed all the Moon Sons of Xingti, or... I killed all my family members?"

——Have you ever done this kind of thing?

Aleister raised his eyebrows, smiled but said nothing.

She just said leisurely: "When I was a child... when my parents were still alive, my father taught me rituals and spells every day. And my mother taught me how to become a charming witch.

"I still remember that I looked very androgynous when I was a child. I thought long hair was troublesome, so I changed it to short hair. When I grew taller, people often mistook me for a 'young master' instead of a 'young lady'... At that time, I even asked my mother for a potion that could make people shorter."

"……hehe."

Peng Bonazi twitched the corner of his mouth and laughed dryly: "That was before you became an adult."

"Of course. That is the past of the real Bayard, but it does not stop me from keeping it in mind."

Bayard asked back, “What about you?”

"'Franz' is different from you. I have four brothers and three sisters. We have the same father and mother... but my blood is different from theirs."

Pomponazzi's fingers twitched slightly, and he clenched the wine glass in his hand to cover it up: "I am the only 'pure blood' in my family."

"When my father gave birth to his third child, he became the Son of the Moon. And when my mother gave birth to her seventh child, she was also killed by my father... and after an eighty-day resurrection ceremony, she also became the Son of the Moon.

"Not long after that, my father was promoted to the fifth level, and my mother was already pregnant before that... That fetus was me. The fertility rate of the fifth level is not zero, but it is very low. Basically, I am the last child in the family."

Peng Bonazi raised his lips slightly and said sarcastically, "Since birth, your blood-related brothers and sisters have regarded you as an enemy and a monster... Have you ever had this experience?"

Unlike Bayard, and unlike most other Moon Children whose eyes only turn red when they are excited...

Pomponazzi's pupils are always blood red.

This is his proof of being a "pure blood".

"The earliest memory Franz has is from when he was a little over a year old."

Peng Bonazi whispered: "My eldest sister wanted to strangle me... Maybe it was because she thought her father and mother were replaced by another person. She was afraid of this.

"But unfortunately... she failed. Because she didn't expect that I was born extraordinary. She also didn't seem to understand what the Moon Child could do.

"When I regained consciousness, I found that my ashes were being reborn from a pool of blood. My mother ordered me to suck her blood... Unlike human babies who drink milk, I have been using a 'blood bottle' since I was a child, so I quickly understood this instruction.

“While my sister was crying, I sucked her till she was a corpse.

"—That was my first kill."

(End of this chapter)