Embers of Embers

Chapter 412 War and Peace
"So you dug out this information from Irene's mouth? It feels like nothing..."
Hercule looked at the sea under the night with a blank expression. The cool sea breeze blew on his cheeks, making him feel a little cold.
"It feels like a lot, what? Aren't these enough for you?"
Lorenzo glanced at Hercule sitting on the chair, and then his eyes wandered to the room behind him.
There was no extra room for Irene, and in order to keep an eye on her, she was directly placed in the living room. Although she said she was going to Lorenzo to clean up her skin, no one would believe this woman who was talking nonsense.
"I need a lot of intelligence, the more the better. Only with a lot of data can I figure out what they want to do." Hercule said.
"What can you think of based on what you have now? Hercule."
Lorenzo leaned out of the fence and looked at the terrace below. It was already night, and the lights below were still brightly lit. People were drinking and chatting with glasses.
"Just some... purposes, I can probably guess what they want to do."
Hercule closed his eyes and meditated. The bad sea made his thoughts slow down a lot.
"Gaul Nalo has always been controlled by the beliefs of the Evangelical Church, but as the most secretive institution in the entire country, the Iron Law Bureau firmly opposes the existence of beliefs." Hercule narrowed his eyes, "It seems that Orthodoxy is The thing is that they have premeditated it. Gaulonaluo no longer wants to be dominated by the Evangelical Church, so now is the best opportunity to fight back."
"And that Corey Feyre. Although I have been lying dead in the room, I can still hear your conversation to some extent. Judging from Erin's description, that Corey Feyre is an out-and-out A patriot and a staunch atheist who extremely hates the existence of faith."
Hercule said, tapping his fingers lightly on the armrest.
"The enthronement ceremony of the Orthodox Pope, and the sailing ships..."
"Do you have any plans?" Lorenzo asked.
Hercule shook his head and said helplessly.
"No, nothing, Lorenzo."
While he was speaking, his gaze kept on the sea in front of him. Hercule hated the sea.
"I hate the sea, Lorenzo, don't you think when you are on the ocean, it feels like you are in another world?" Hercule said flatly.
"No matter which direction you look, you will see the endless sea. The only thing that can support you is the deck under your feet. You may be able to follow the direction of the stars, but many times you will face endless rainstorms, as if you are In the world after death, no matter how hard you struggle, you cannot find salvation.”
He exhaled deeply and grabbed the big mouse in his arms.
"This is what happened when I was shipwrecked. I felt like I had died and my soul had come to hell. This hell was an endless sea. I would drown in it, come back to life, and repeat this for eternity."
"That's the kind of sea we're in now, Lorenzo."
Hercule suddenly turned his head, as if he had become a different person, with a chill and a little bit of madness in his eyes.
“When the tide rises and forms a high wall, no one can stop it.”
Lorenzo was silent and then asked again.
"You did think of something, didn't you?"
Hercule didn't affirm or veto, but just answered lightly.
"Actually, we don't need any plans at all. We already know the enemy's movements. We just need to confirm the location of the hostages after arriving in Gaulnaluo. With your absolute force, no one can stop you from taking a person away." , not even an army can stop you."
"But there are some things that even monsters can't stop, Lorenzo."
"What is it?" Lorenzo asked.
Hercule thought for a moment, then smiled and said to him.
"As much as you, Mr. Holmes, have superb martial arts and are unparalleled in the world, there are some things that cannot be solved by force, such as love, hatred, and the unpredictability of people's hearts..."
He stood up unsteadily, holding Poirot in one arm and clutching his stomach with the other.
"Perhaps the war is doomed, Lorenzo."
Hercule looked very pessimistic.
"Although the purpose of our trip is to prevent the outbreak of war, is it possible that our actions have accelerated the outbreak of war?"
"The Iron Law Bureau, the Choir, and the establishment of Orthodoxy. Although I don't know about this kind of military matter, but judging from the existing intelligence, our enemies are very anxious. They are frantically creating monsters, as if in war. It will start tomorrow."
"That's why I'm going to deal with this," Lorenzo said.
"But some things cannot be ended by one person." Hercule continued.
"Even if there is no choir, the next choir will come out. As the trigger of the war... you also said that they united into a group called the Rhine League."
Hercule recalled the international situation. He didn't care much about these things. After all, before being dragged aboard by Lorenzo, he could live well as long as he cared about his own little land.
"Inerweg represents the pinnacle of existing industrial technology, and do you know who is second? It is Leiber. There is a Gaulnaro between Inerweger and Leiber, although there are railways and ships. , but exchanges have gradually become more frequent in recent years.
There is also a special ore in that country, called cypress, which was used on a small scale centuries ago. At that time, people called Leiber's sword the sharpest weapon, and in industrial technology After the blessing, it is currently the easiest high-strength metal to be mass-produced. "
Lorenzo paused and nodded. He did not expect that Bai Tie's origin was like this.
"Relying on the advantages of minerals, not having experienced large-scale wars, and the accumulation of technology, it can be said that in the Western world, Leiber is the country most likely to surpass Inlvig. In these years, because of these industrial developments and some messy reasons , the development of these countries, whether it is Gaulnaro, Leiber, or the Viking countries, has reached a peak.
Like a monster in a cage, industry and steel are its food. It eats more and more, growing bigger and bigger, until one day the cage can no longer contain it, until the monster escapes from its restraints. "
Hercule continued.
"Sometimes war is doomed. We all need a war to fulfill each other's hatred and interests... Maybe Yin Erweg is also looking forward to this."
"Is it really as serious as you said?" Lorenzo couldn't believe what Hercule said. In his opinion, it was a bit... too scary.
Lorenzo didn’t understand, wouldn’t it be better to have a harmonious world?Why must we fight and kill?Lorenzo knew that it was ridiculous to say such words from the mouth of a murderer like him, just like a madman saying that he loved life.
"That's the difference, Lorenzo, you may be a powerful warrior, but you are not a greedy politician. You know how scary monsters are, but sometimes, you also need to know that sometimes people are scarier than monsters...I I’ve always felt that you know this better than me.”
Hercule patted Lorenzo on the shoulder.
"In any case, be careful. I always feel that this operation is not as simple as it seems. And you are right. Heibald must be hiding something. He and Irene are both like this."
His stomach rolled again, and his serious expression was broken. Hercule looked extremely embarrassed. He walked towards his room, but when he got halfway, he turned back, looked at Lorenzo and asked.
"Do you think Yin Erweg really doesn't want war?"
Lorenzo was startled, but Hercule did not wait for his answer and asked himself.
"To be precise, what Ying Erweg desires is a victorious war."
……
After saying this, Hercule left, fell on the bed, and groaned again.
Lorenzo stood blankly by the balcony, lost in thought.
He suddenly remembered the topic he had chatted with Hercule before. Hercule said that he had saved a lot of money, bought a private ship, and parked it in the port of Rendona.
Hercule made a big deal about the ship. According to his description, it was simply a royal palace on the sea. It was fully equipped with food, drink and entertainment, and the cabin was full of food and gold.
He called the ship a refuge. If war broke out one day, he would sail the ship to uninhabited waters and stay there for a few years before coming out.
Lorenzo thought he was joking, but it seemed that Hercule was serious. Unlike Lorenzo, who was trying to stop everything, he felt that these things were destined, just like life and death, which cannot be changed by manpower. of.
Walking into the living room, there was still dim light in Haybold's room, and he was probably still reading that strange novel. Eve and Kestrel's room was dark, and the two guys had fallen asleep.
Tonight it was Lorenzo who was keeping watch, and since the attack on the Kestrel, someone had been needed to keep him awake every night.
But even though it was a vigil, most people still couldn't sleep.
"Aren't you asleep yet?"
When Lorenzo passed by the sofa, he noticed something and said to the sleeping woman.
After a while, Erin slowly got up.
"How do you know I'm not sleeping?"
"The sound of breathing was not right. It was obviously faster when I passed by." Lorenzo said.
Erin looked surprised and then asked.
"Are you so keen? Or do people like you have such abilities?"
Lorenzo didn't explain the witcher thing to Irene. He didn't think it was necessary. But even if Lorenzo didn't say anything, with this woman's intelligence, she would have more or less connected Lorenzo with the mysterious patriarch. got up.
"How much do you know about this thing?"
Lorenzo took out the secret blood. The living room was dark, but the faint light still illuminated the blood in it, and the light was dim.
"not much."
Seeing the secret blood, Irene's smiling expression froze, but she disguised herself again and showed her charming smile again.
If Kestrel was here, he might actually be able to be tricked by Irene, but Lorenzo knew exactly what kind of person the woman in front of him was.
"Then change the subject."
"Does Mr. Holmes like to chat with people so much?" Irene asked again.
"I just feel that the vigil is boring, and it is also related to... work."
Lorenzo lowered his head and looked at the blood in his hands.
Temple of Stasis...
Based on the current intelligence, Lorenzo guessed that the existence called the Stasis Temple that the demon hunter had been communicating with should actually be a [gap].
A [gap] that can only communicate in one direction.
As for why every demon hunter can connect to it, the question is even simpler. Lorenzo suspects that all demon hunters have their secret blood derived from a demon.
A monster that is still alive today.
There are some things that Lorenzo is destined to do, such as returning to the Cathedral of San Naro again. There are still too many mysteries waiting for Lorenzo at the place where this story begins.
As for the secret blood in his hands.
Lawrence's remnants definitely don't have the foundation of the Evangelical Church. Lorenzo doesn't know exactly how their secret blood is extracted from the bodies of those demons, but... maybe, maybe Lorenzo can use this secret blood as a medium, yes Trace it back to its source and find the [gap] of that demon.
"Mr. Holmes?"
Irene's voice suddenly interrupted Lorenzo's thinking. He slowly raised his head and collected the secret blood.
"what are you doing?"
Irene was seen holding her face with her hands, looking at Lorenzo intently.
"Looking at you, even now I dare not imagine that you are so powerful, that you could kill the choir soldiers so easily, and that it was still a one-sided massacre."
"I'm starting to take an interest in you, Mr. Holmes."
Irene let go of her hand. She didn't have the self-awareness of a prisoner at all, and she looked like she regarded this place as her home.
"I have met many men, and I can see through them at the first glance. Their hobbies and experiences are displayed in front of me so calmly."
"Then you played with Kestrel like this?" Lorenzo asked.
"Kestrel? You mean Mr. Moon?"
Erin couldn't help but smile every time she mentioned "the moon".
"No, no, he is not worthy of my efforts. He is easier to deceive than ordinary men. The things in his heart are almost written directly on his face, just like an innocent little boy..."
At this point, Erin finally laughed and gestured with her hands.
"But such a big 'boy' feels like he is teasing a child. If I stretch out my hand, he will stagger over."
Lorenzo kept a straight face and said nothing.
"What? I thought you would be angry that I said that to your friend."
Erin's smile did not last long, and she also restrained herself.
"Nothing, that's just the way he is, and you're right," Lorenzo said.
"To a certain extent, Kestrel's life is quite twisted. From struggling in the lower city to joining the purge agency, if you think about it carefully, he has lived in a twisted world from the beginning. At least I have experienced A barely wonderful childhood.”
Lorenzo recalls his experience with the Kestrel.
"But there's no need to talk about him now. I want to ask you something else."
"what's up."
"About Ivar."
As Lorenzo spoke, he carefully observed Irene's expression. As expected, Irene disguised herself very well, but when it came to Ivar, her expression still changed slightly.
Erin Adler.
Lorenzo still remembered Haybold's description of him, like a snake or a scorpion.
Under the beautiful skin is a dark and turbid core. This woman is like wearing a mask that cannot be taken off, and no one can see her true face clearly.
Haybold also said that maybe the name Irene Adler was also fake, and that this woman was completely made up of lies and fraud.
When talking to her, he would always make her fool around. Although the contact time was not long, Lorenzo sometimes felt that he had to invade the [gap] to figure out what this woman was thinking.
But he didn't want to do this. Whether it was to become more like a monster or for some other reason, Lorenzo just felt that if he solved it so crudely, it would be like cheating, and winning would be very meaningless.
Just as he was perfectly capable of killing Moriarty at that point, he didn't want to do that and just kill an enemy instead of defeating him outright.
"Talk to me about Ivar Lodbrok."
Lorenzo observed Irene carefully, eager to see clearly what Irene was hiding from the fragmented clues.
　I recommend a book called "Fantasy Countercurrent". The author's book should be regarded as the script of his game. I won't sign a contract. Watch it for free.
(End of this chapter)