Warhammer 40: Shattered Steel Soul

Chapter 37 The Third Child

After Perturabo left Lokos, Morse finally decided how to complete the left hand of his statue, the one missing the relic's mark.

He used a zigzag solid wall to form a notched circle similar to a theatre, with gears, hammers and mountains carved in the middle.This was undoubtedly inspired by Perturabo.

As for the face, he just wants to carve a mask and put it on in the future, even if the work is completed.

In this way, he will give it to Perturabo as a gift in the future, so that when the statue that occupies too much indoor space disturbs him further, he also tells the child inscrutablely that the mask symbolizes his image. , so you can take it as anyone.

During this period, he met with Andos and Callifon respectively. During the meeting, while chatting and greetings, he silently searched the souls of the two people with the attitude that politeness is social morality and morality is clay in the hand. situation.

Their minds were as clean as ever, so much so that Morse had to wonder if he himself was being overly paranoid.

The next moment this idea came into being, Morse denied his hesitation.

It is not that he has never seen all kinds of ignorant people who are evil behind the curtain. After witnessing the fire-stealing fanatic stepping into the highest heaven and returning with a full load, he knows that a momentary negligence should not cause a big mistake.

Human civil war is one of the most ridiculous manifestations of human beings choosing their own evolutionary path, even so, it is still an internal matter of the development of human civilization.

However, if it involves malicious manipulation of external creatures or even the will, Morse does not think it would be wise to stay out of it at that time.

"Is there something wrong with what we did?" Andos sat down on the other side of his desk uneasily, watching Morse flip through the paper documents of the entire naming ceremony process.

On the left hand side of the man in black are the documentary summaries and graphic descriptions of the royal family naming ceremonies over the years in the atlas of the Locus Collection. The whole pile of documents several inches high has been memorized in his heart for the process of this ceremony. Detailed comparison.

"In the past, the priestesses of the cult presided over the naming ceremony?" Morse asked.

"Yes, Mr. Morse. But the relationship between Locus and the cult has been at a freezing point since a few years ago. They even threatened us with the selection of the host of the ceremony. Carifeng proposed to directly use our country's local The Maestro takes the place of the Priestess...everyone agrees." Andos replied respectfully.

"The right choice, no one cares who is hosting the ceremony, as long as they are elegant enough."

Morse turned over a page of information, and the thin paper made a clear rustling sound.He accurately found the corresponding description from the pile of ancient parchment next to him.

"In the past, this kind of ceremony was held in the inner hall of the palace. Why should it be open to more people and held in the public theater this time?"

"This item was requested by Perturabo..."

"Okay, next question." Morse said without much expression, "Is there any reference to the old model of the golden mask of the ceremony officer?"

"The materials are all at your fingertips... except for a few documents that are poorly preserved, illegible due to moisture or insect bites, etc., we have brought all relevant materials."

"No one recorded the appearance of the mask?"

"The cult believes that the golden mask of the priestess is equivalent to the face of the goddess Hephoni, so it cannot be desecrated or recorded." Andos sighed.

"The drawings of this batch of masks... were made according to my impression of the golden masks during my brother's naming ceremony. I also referred to the opinions of many courtiers and servants who had experienced the naming ceremony. It should not be too different from before. Make a difference."

Morse raised his eyes and scanned his expression, "The expression and details of the mask have not changed?"

Andos thought carefully about it, which helped the gentle prince regain a little confidence.

"No," he said firmly, "I try to do my best."

After finishing speaking, his momentum became weaker again, and he folded his two broad hands together, and asked suspiciously: "I can know... Is there something wrong with the ceremony we arranged?"

"I'm looking for questions." Morse turned the file to the next page. "I also hope that any problems this time have nothing to do with you. Of course, it is best not to have problems at all."

As emphasized by all members of the Locus royal family, including Harcon, they treated the naming of Perturabo with a very solemn attitude, without any neglect.The record of the ceremony this time is also the most detailed one over the years.

From the overall scene layout, catering, band, sound effects, admission, etc., to the names of all personnel in each position, as well as the corresponding relationship between personnel and venue effects, all are recorded one by one, forming several thick volumes of paper. book.

As for the six female officiants who presided over the ceremony, they wrote down all the records from their ages, life stories, family relationships, and interpersonal interactions, without omitting anything. They even included the following information: Perturabo has started from a port of the industrial chain in recent years, and has grown from scratch. There are morphological photos taken by an artificial camera.

Yes, Perturabo invented the camera again, and emphasized to Morse more than once that his camera had better image reproduction capabilities and was far more efficient in shooting than Morse's daguerreotype.

Morse declined a request to return the original photo of him to the owner of the image rights.

He checked the information of the six female ceremonial officials one by one, but still did not find out the problem, and the whole process of the ceremony, such as bleeding, worshiping the gods, etc., was not different from the process of previous years.

The difference is not without it. In the past, the priestess used a knife to draw blood from the palm of the recipient, but this time it was replaced with a silver blade and let Perturabo do it himself. It is not difficult to guess that this is also Perturabo's own request.

"Then let's move on to the penultimate question, Prince Andos. Why are there six ceremonial officials for this ceremony?" Morse leaned back and pulled the back of the new adjustable wicker chair. A little higher.

"The number of people in previous ceremonies seems to be changing according to the gods' own set of rules... my father was seven priests, my elder brother was five, and I was the same. After discussing, according to the suggestion... decided to take the number in the middle .”

Morse closed the book, and tapped his fingertips on the surface of the book cover printed with the royal coat of arms, making the coat of arms flow out from his fingertips covered with black cloth.

"Then I guess our last two questions are merging into one." Morse found himself neglecting to disguise the long-established icy quality of his speech.

"After Ni, and before Calliphon, a strange naming ceremony is recorded."

"Similarly, there is no error or ambiguity in the records of the entire ceremony, and the identities of the guests invited to the scene are also reasonable. There is only one point that is full of doubts."

He read a kind of tangled escape from Andos' eyes looking down.

"Who is the named one?" Morse asked, "Who is the person named Cruz? His naming ceremony was so pitiful that the only guests were Damex, Harkon, Andos, and the Cult. Branch chief priest, and the five young Callifon?"

"What's interesting is that the number of priestesses assigned to him by the divine religion is actually six."

Andos's face was wrinkled with pain and guilt. The prince grabbed the robe on his knees and took a deep breath of air to ease his hesitation that he could barely speak: "Cruz is the younger brother of me and Halcon, The No.3 elder brother of Kalifeng, the son whose father was removed from the name, is a shame that we cannot speak out."

He turned his face to the side, letting the shadow of the light cover his pain: "He's a madman."

"He is deep in the palace. I will visit him occasionally and talk to him about outside things..."

"Who came up with the suggestion of six female deacons?"

"It's him." After telling the secret of the royal family, Andos' mentality was no longer tense.

The prince disclosed his melancholy: "He said that maybe everyone would remember him. I think... six people won't affect anything."

After saying that, he hesitated again: "Is it really not affected? Have we done something wrong?"

Morse smiled, and easily reached out to pat Andos on the shoulder.

"It's all right, if any good number can elicit a depraved laugh like the first cry, then some guys are going to be too busy all year round."

He immediately stopped smiling. "I need to see Cruz."

(End of this chapter)