Pastor's Tantra

"Do you want to celebrate the New Year together tonight, Aiwass?"

After lunch, Isabel immediately extended an invitation to Aiwass.

Tomorrow is the Candle Festival on January 1st. A few days ago, when Bishop Mathers came to the Palace of Silver and Tin to carry Queen Sophia's coffin, Aiwass returned the key to St. Guinevere's Chapel to him.

Otherwise, Bishop Mathers would not be able to open the door of the chapel, let alone let Queen Sofia stop there first.

And wait until tomorrow, Bishop Mathers will call the apostles of the Crown Lord and the deceased members of the Du Lac family to bless Avalon. That is the most important ceremony in Avalon, so it must be presided over by the bishop with the highest rank, status and holy order in Avalon.

After the candle ceremony is over, it will be the funeral of Queen Sofia.

According to the rules of Avalon, people are actually buried seven days after death. However, because the State Funeral coincided with the Candle Festival, the Queen's funeral could only be postponed one day.

In most countries in the world, the Candle Festival is the most grand day of the year. It is also the beginning of a new year.

Although Sizhu has been a pillar god dedicated to the road since before the dragon era. But in fact, most people don't know what kind of dedication Si Zhu made to firmly occupy the position of Pillar God from ancient times.

In the version circulated in Avalon, it is said that Si Zhu is the original god who created the world and illuminated the world in a world without sun and moon; while in the legends of the Star Antimony People and the Iris People, Si Zhu is everything. The origin of intelligent life; and the mages and monks on the path of wisdom believe that Si Zhu's greatest achievement is to find the source of the Dream River and distribute the other eight to other gods.

In short, everyone has his own opinion.

But this is also normal.

After all, all real knowledge directly related to the Nine Pillars God is the highest level of mysterious knowledge. Whether it is the Beast Master falling in love with Eternal Self, or the Crowned Master defeating the Supreme Heaven, these are secrets that cannot be written down on paper and are only passed down by word of mouth among a very few people.

But even so, people still respect Si Zhu. And Aiwass even knew that even other Tiansi who dedicated themselves to the road respected Sizhu very much. Neither Zhu Tiansi nor Xi Tiansi is interested in the position of Pillar God at all. Even Yan Tiansi, who has the power of transcendence and ranks second on the path of devotion, has no hostility towards Si Zhu.

Because of this, Aiwass believed that the church's version was the closest to reality.

The Church of Nine Pillars believes that Si Zhu lit a fire in the cold and dry dream world full of sin thorns, illuminated the eternally dark dream world, and allowed the nine rivers of dream world that were sucked dry by sin thorns to flow again. . From then on, this world began to give birth to life in the material world with "souls".

Because among all the pillar gods that Aiwass knows, they must have become pillar gods later than Sizhu. Only the hourglass and the twin mirrors are not sure... Assuming that Si Zhu is the original Pillar God, then all this will make sense.

Because the customs of each country are different, the content of the candle ceremony is also different. Anyway, Sizhu doesn't care about these things, and he won't even blame him if he doesn't do it.

This is just a festival where people politely express their respect for the pillar god - or, in other words, to express their respect for the elves who believe in candlesticks.

In Avalon, people return to their homes as much as possible the night before the Candlemas; if they are unable to do this, or if they have conflicts with family members, they go to stay with their friends.

Just like Sherlock.

Even the poorest people will try their best to make delicious food on this day and have a little luxury. Not only to pay respect to Si Zhu, but also to reward myself.

The most important ritual on the eve of the Candle Festival is to boil a large pot of hot soup.

Any kind of soup will do. The rich have their own ways of surviving, and the poor have their own ways of surviving. Again it's just boiling a pot of water.

After the soup boils, each family member can throw something they like into the pot, and then the family will drink the soup together. This soup contains Si Zhu's blessings to people...even those who are seriously ill and dying will stay in the world for two more days.

Although the Lord Zhu does not care about people's respect for himself, he will also protect those believers who pray to him for peace on this day. If there are homeless people, they only need to light a candle, or even just light a match, and the candlestick will give them some strength, so that the flame can continue and their bodies can gradually recover. Healthy, so that they will not freeze to death in the cold wind, but can safely see the sunshine tomorrow morning.

Because of this, even the most ruthless killers would not kill on this day.

It is not only the restraint of conscience, but also the reverence for the pillar god.

And obviously, Edward won't work overtime either.

If Aiwass stays in the Palace of Silver and Tin, then only Julia and Edward will be left in the family; if Aiwass brings Yulia here, then only Edward will be left in the family.

——It’s too lonely.

"There must be no problem with Yulia," Aiwass thought, "but with Edward...can I bring him with me?"

"Anyway, I have no problem with it."

Isabel moved her butt nervously, sat upright and said nonchalantly: "I also want to see brother Edward.

"He should only dare to call you Her Majesty the Queen."

Aiwass joked: "I don't dare call you sister."

After saying that, the two looked at each other and smiled.

Ligeia held the hot beer she had brewed, sipping it in small sips and looking at the two of them with squinting eyes.

After that natural kiss, the atmosphere between the two changed subtly.

The most obvious thing is that Isabel has become bolder.

Before, she obviously didn't dare to joke with Aiwass, nor did she dare to act coquettishly. She only dared to come to Aiwass when she was talking about business... At other times, she would wait for Aiwass to come to her.

Aiwass also respected and distanced Isabel before. Rather than being friends, we are more like elders or teachers.

Although on a verbal level, the two have yet to officially confirm their relationship. But the actual atmosphere and mode of getting along have changed.

Ligeia easily noticed this change in the atmosphere.

It's not like she never fell in love when she was young. Looking at the smile on Isabel's face, I just felt a little bit sour.

——Tsk, there is too much lemon in this beer, which is a bit unpleasant. Ligeia thought.

As for Aiwass, there was actually some work that had been hoarded, waiting for Isabel to handle it.

After the new king came to the throne, he toured the country for five days, and he would definitely have a lot of work when he came back.

The half day I came back early was used to deal with the backlog of work.

The contract with Grandet, the matter with Emma, ​​the new Minister of Trade who was killed by Aiwass, the pressure on the Minister of Camelot, the gifts given to her by those ministers... these things, Ai Was Wentz was originally reserved for Isabel.

Because according to Aiwass before, the relationship between him and Isabel must be maintained well.

Isabel trusts Aiwass enough, so Aiwass cannot consume this trust at will. Therefore, although he can do some things by his own will, he still has to make up for the processes that need to be made up.

...But from the perspective of Aiwass now, he feels that he can be busy again.

For those things that in principle required Isabel to nod and sign, he could also implement them in advance and sign them himself. For example, the business contract with Grandet.

Mainly because Aiwass started to feel a little sorry for Isabel.

After all, this is the last day of the year, so let's give her half a day off... She will be busy for two more days tomorrow and the day after.

Let her have a good rest this afternoon. After she is completely free, she will give a summary report to Isabel.

"Lily," Aiwass ordered, "you will go to the Inspectorate later. Ask Edward to come directly to the Palace of Silver and Tin after work...or give him a call. Forget it, let's call him directly. , so that you don’t have to make another trip.”

"Okay." Lily nodded in agreement.

"Lulu, have you decided where to go this afternoon?"

Aiwass turned to look at Isabel and reminded: "But we are still in the mourning period. If you want to watch an opera or other entertainment, I am afraid it will be difficult. And the Chinese New Year is coming soon, and there may not be many people to find on the Glass Island. It’s a band.”

"Need not."

Isabel shook her head slightly and said obediently: "I want to accompany the teacher."

"Master Yanis..."

Aiwass suddenly asked: "Speaking of which, where did she go today?"

He suddenly realized that he didn't seem to see this elf who was always noisy today.

Her cheerful yet elegant laughter can always be heard in the painting.

Today he and Isabel even kissed in the bedroom... If it were normal, Yanis would have popped up smiling and smacking her lips.

And even at lunchtime, she didn't show up.

Master Yanis will leave after the funeral the day after tomorrow.

Now it's more than a year ago... She is not in the Palace of Silver and Tin, where has she gone?

"I have no idea."

Isabel shook her head: "But I guess... she should be at the place where she first met her grandmother. It should be in the Red Queen District, I don't know where exactly."

"Then let me accompany you to look for it."

Aiwass chuckled and stretched out his hand to Isabel: "I'm going to visit the teachers by the way...

"But you are not suitable for walking outside with this appearance. By the way, when you go to those people to investigate intelligence, you shouldn't be wearing this face, right?"

"of course!"

Isabel proudly puffed up her chest, as if asking for praise: "I have mastered the power of [Strong Illusion]... my appearance can be changed at will."

As she spoke, the green light of the road lit up in her pupils.

Isabel put her hands on her face, and the light pink light bloomed between her fingers. As she gently wiped her face, Isabel changed her appearance directly.

Under the influence of the illusion, Isabel's hair turned white and her pupils turned blue. The whole person looks smaller.

——She looks very similar to Yulia except that her eyes are blue instead of red.

Aiwass tried to reach out his hand and touched her head. And Isabel also smiled and leaned her head over for Aiwass to touch.

It's very miraculous, there is no mold wear or the invisible head in the void is touched.

Aiwass did indeed feel the same touch as Yulia's hair at a lower position than Isabel.

Obviously, it was because Isabel had enough contact with Yulia that she was able to become her likeness with incomparable accuracy.

"...Is this the illusion of strength?"

Aiwass sighed: "If I hadn't watched the illusion you used, I might have been deceived for a moment."

The reason why I say it was a moment is because Yulia would never curl her eyebrows and show a coquettish smile like a kitten like this.

"I deliberately left a loophole," Isabel said somewhat unconvinced, "If I turned into a complete Yulia and concentrated on acting, I don't think you might be able to see through it - I am an 'all-rounder'. The same goes for acting. What I’m good at.”

But when she said this, Aiwass suddenly reacted: "Then whose appearance you used when you asked the question before? It couldn't be Yulia, right?"

"...Hey?" Isabel suddenly started to act stupid.

"It can't be me, can it?"

Aiwass guessed it immediately.

Isabel defended: "I still made a lot of changes! If they meet you in the future, at most they will think you look familiar and they will never recognize you!"

——If it had been in the past, she would probably have to carefully apologize now. How could he have the energy to argue with Aiwass now?

But this way of getting along makes Aiwass more relaxed.

So Aiwass stretched out his hand with a smile and ruffled the hair of Isabel, who played "Yuliya": "Then we'll be clear."

Isabel held her head and transformed back into her original form in a burst of distortion. Her hair has also become messy.

"...Hmph." Isabel wrinkled her nose, but couldn't help laughing.

She doesn't usually laugh that much, but today she couldn't stop laughing. It's like seeing a sunny day, feeling relaxed and happy.

I’ll use your face next time!

Isabel covered her head and thought viciously in her heart.

Another update of nearly 7,000 words, complete!

Please give me a double monthly pass~