Shepherd Tantra

Chapter 875 Professor Budd's Dream

It has been some time since Professor Bud arrived in the Narcissus Principality.

The Royal Law University starts its holiday in mid-April, and the third semester will be held on May 1st, which will be used for internships, experiments, certifications, and exams.

Now it is the exam season for the second semester and the formal teaching time has ended.

——As for such trivial matters as exams and marking papers, just find an assistant among the students. The school can't control him at all.

Although it was impossible for Aiwass to come back as his assistant teacher... but Aiwass inspired Professor Bud's thinking. When Aiwass went abroad to study in the church country and became an archbishop on the first day, Professor Bud had predicted and found his second assistant teacher in advance.

At that time, Professor Bud had a premonition that Aiwass would most likely not come back to class.

He originally planned to go to Xingti at the end of the second semester, which was mid-April.

Xingti's archaeological model is quite beneficial to foreign archaeologists like him.

It doesn't matter whether it's hiring archaeologists or sponsoring archaeologists - he's not going to resell antiques anyway, he just wants to come back to write a paper. With the official signature of Xingti, no one would worry about his academic fraud. He himself is not a Xingti person, so there is no point in helping him lie. This is called taking what you need.

And the order Queen Isabel gave him was exactly what he wanted.

Originally, he just wanted to conduct an excavation of the ruins from the Hengwo era - that would be at most just digging up some elven ruins, and there was a chance that he would encounter some guardians such as magical beasts and undead.

But when he heard that someone had found a relic that might be from the Amber Age, Professor Bud suddenly became excited.

That is an ancient relic from before the birth of humans...even before the birth of elves!
——This is exactly Professor Bud’s regret!
He knew that the era before the elves was called the Amber Age... That was the era when the Winged Ones and the Scaled Ones were kings, and the "Hundred Sons of the Giant Tree" who were "breasted ones" had just been born and were still in the age of civilization and ignorance. It was not until the death of the second sun that that era gradually came to an end, and the era of elves and monsters gradually arrived.

Different from island nations like Avalon and the Theocracy.

As a continental country on the sea, the Helasar Empire should have traces of ancient civilization. But until now, human historiography has not confirmed any traces of existence before the Hengwo era. The oldest historical fragments that humans can obtain are the "civilization of sacrifice and language" left after the fall of the second sun.

Although they knew from the elves and dragons that there must have been civilization in that era, they knew nothing about it, and the elves were unwilling to share the secret.

As an archaeologist, there is nothing more exciting than discovering this prehistoric civilization!
Professor Bud is very old. Although he looks only in his 50s or 60s, and his hair is not completely white, but he is completely bald. But in fact, Bud is from the same generation as Meg... He is already 90 years old this year.

Minister Droste, who was the same age as him, already needed to rely on magic potions to prolong his life. Under such circumstances, Minister Droste was still infected with the adaptability of the Twilight Path - that is, he began to fear death.

Professor Bud can still travel abroad at this age because he has been blessed by the sand clock with his academic research results. In addition, the official attention of Avalon allows this old man to travel around without any illness or disaster and full of energy every day.

But even so, the old man's energy and condition are obviously declining.

He knew that this might be his last time to personally conduct archaeological excavations. So after obtaining the healer Aiwass, he boldly wanted to open a relic from the Hengwo era - and only the Hengwo era.

Because the elves have strict regulations on archaeology, the "Ancient Monuments Restoration Association" does not allow non-professionals to conduct archaeology in principle. They believe that any form of archaeology may cause damage to the ancient monuments. It is for this reason that the old man can never find a priest teammate. No priest above the bishop dares to come, after all, it may offend the Ancient Monuments Restoration Association.

That is a core force composed of three cardinals.

Professor Bud had asked Aiwas to follow him because Aiwas was still a student, not a regular clergyman with holy orders. The core rule of "children are ignorant" is applicable in various places. This will not bring any bad influence to Aiwas.

The more ancient the ruins are, the greater the danger inside.

But Professor Budd not only wants to become "the most powerful historian since the founding of Avalon", but also wants to go... one step further.

Historical knowledge does not belong to the nine great paths, but the act of excavating and restoring history is in line with the concepts of the Path of Balance, the Path of Twilight, and the Path of Wisdom. If he can gain the favor of the Celestial Master or even the Pillar God, perhaps he will have a chance to become an apostle!
——That is Bud’s ambition!
This was not a fantasy, after all, he had already received a blessing once.

If you go one step further, maybe you can become an apostle!

As long as you can become an apostle, you will never die of old age. And you can keep your consciousness clear and explore the dream world which is more vast, mysterious and ancient than the material world. You can communicate with the dead great figures of the ancient times and get first-hand information directly from them... Nothing is more attractive than this.

Whether he can become an apostle... depends on this last archaeological excavation!
Turned into ashes, or stepped into eternity——

It is for this reason that Professor Bud attaches great importance to this archaeological excavation.

Because his employer, Master Dürer, was planning to hire a top-notch team with a high salary, Professor Budd didn't even bring his own team with him. He traveled overseas alone... Although he was escorted by the Griffin Corps, he had to take care of his daily life by himself.

The quality of this archaeological team also made him quite satisfied.

The six fourth-level protectors are a temple monk, a dream monk, a great wizard, a trap master, a survival expert, and a great wizard. One Devotion Path, two Wisdom Paths, two Adaptation Paths, and one Transcendence Path - plus the employer's own Twilight Path Preservationist profession, the occupational distribution can be said to be extremely reasonable.

In this way, their team can come up with complete solutions to illusions, mechanisms, poisons, rituals, runes, and magical beasts.

——It’s a pity that we still can’t catch a high-level priest.

Professor Bud touched his chin with some regret.

If there was a priest who could help them counter the undead and curses, and further gain instant healing capabilities...their team could be said to be flawless.

"Mr. Dürer."

Professor Budd asked, "Are you waiting for someone?"

Since this morning, their employer Albrecht Dürer has been sitting at the door of the villa they temporarily rented, motionless.

This manor is their place of residence. After all, it takes some time for people to gradually gather together. In order to prevent these talents from leaving, it is necessary to provide them with a good enough living environment.

Their people were all present, but Mr. Dürer still did not leave. Even when asked, he just said "It's not time yet."

Since they would be paid a large sum of money for each day they stayed, the other members of the team were very patient in touring the Narcissus Principality. They just regarded it as a holiday for themselves... Probably only Professor Budd was a little anxious, but it was actually okay.

The third semester hadn't started yet, so he had at least several months to spend here. And for this archaeological excavation... he could even stop attending classes, and everything could be sacrificed for this supreme cause.

Now, the heavy snow that the winter evoked had just dispersed. In some places, you could still see falling snow on the roofs. The slightly warmer April sun shone on the snow, giving people a warm but cool feeling. Therefore, almost everyone else in the team went out to play.

Apart from Albrecht Dürer and Professor Bard, only the temple guardian monk was meditating here.

The taciturn Mr. Dürer did not respond.

Professor Bud felt a little bored. He just shook his head and asked habitually: "By the way, do you know how the name Protagoras came about?"

This is not to show off knowledge, but just to have some fun when you are bored.

He always liked to tell stories, which was probably why he liked being a teacher. But the stories he told were always boring, and even his students yawned when they heard them.

"——This name comes from Protagoras, the apostle of the Great Master, who was a mage lord during the Herasil Empire."

It was not Mr. Dürer who answered Professor Bud, but a familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar voice outside the door: "The Narcissus Principality has a magic tower called 'Protagora'. Its name comes from Protagoras's magic heritage... According to the 'Mage Tower Attached Land Management Act', magic lords are given powers similar to those of nobles in other countries, including the right to name.

"Generally speaking, the names of the counties of the Narcissus Principality come from the surnames of the local wizard lords. Unless the wizard lord specifically named the land..."

The sound came from far away and approached. Dürer suddenly raised his head and looked outside the door.

After saying that, Aiwass pushed the door open and walked in.

He looked at Professor Budd with a smile on his face: "Tell me, am I right?
"--teacher?"

“Evans! …Evans?!”

Professor Budd was stunned: "You are not——"

Didn't you go to the Church to be the current pope? How come you still have time to come here?!
He was about to say this when he saw the decorations and runes on Aiwass's robe.

He recognized the authenticity at a glance: "Hollowed-out gold ornaments from ancient scriptures, gold buttons with nine sacred patterns, nine-inch deer antler and thorn patterns... these are truly the uniforms of the Eternal Pope."

incredible.

Although he had heard before that his student was now the acting pope... He was shocked once at that time. But because it was too outrageous, he didn't feel it was real at all.

But things are different now.

He saw with his own eyes—

At that moment, the absurdity that had accumulated over the past few months came to the fore.

——Did my student really become a cardinal? Did my student become the eternal pope? Why did the pope come here in person? Are you here to do archaeology too? Is it really okay for the theocracy to leave the pope?

Countless questions crowded into Professor Bud's mind, causing him to widen his eyes involuntarily but unable to utter a word.

At this time, Dürer stood up and bowed deeply to Aiwass: "Your Holiness the Pope."

When he looked at Dürer, the exaggerated smile on Aiwas's face that said "Aha, you didn't expect that" faded a little. He nodded gently: "May the Pillar God protect you, Master Dürer... or Master Chongbo."

"...You really do know my identity."

"I have seen Mr. Grunewald. You also learned of my coming from the letter you received there, right?"

Aiwass smiled and put his finger to his lips: "But remember... don't tell those people my identity. But there's no need to hide it deliberately, just call me Aiwass. Or Moriarty is also fine."

In the past, Aiwass would have used the pseudonym "Aleister".

But now he inexplicably had a weird feeling that he didn't want to use it.

At this moment, Professor Bud's hesitant voice came again: "You are...?"

She was the girl who came with Aiwass, with long pure white hair and a temperament as white as snow.

She looked cold and silent, as quiet as a lifeless sculpture. Her long hair, which looked as if it had been cut off by a knife, gave people a silent, cold and sharp feeling.

Master Chongbo nodded, responding to Aiwas's words, and then looked up at the girl.

He took a look, was stunned for a moment, then opened his eyes wide and tried to look.

"…It's a machine?"

Chongbo was a little confused: "There is also a soul?"

"This is Cardinal Galatea."

Aiwass introduced: "A... Star Crystal Man born in the Amber Age, a helper I found.

"—she might know more about this relic."

At this moment, Master Chongbo suddenly felt something was wrong.

Three at the fifth energy level, six at the fourth energy level...the number of extraordinary people has unknowingly reached nine.

Nine people——

...That is the "ultimate" number, and it is also the number required for the grand ceremony.

(End of this chapter)