musicians of old

Chapter 487 Behind the War (4K [-]-in-[-])

Father Lavoisier wants to enter the abnormal area to investigate?
The Church of the Holy Sun also has a plan to investigate the abnormal area? .
Originally, what the other party said should sound a little sad for no reason, but the target expressed by the other party completely attracted Roy's attention, and he immediately thought of related people and things.

A strong man like Father Lavoisier not only has more resources, but also must know more secrets.

If Mr. Fanning is in a certain place, secretly planning to enter the abnormal area, will there be any possibility of their intersection or cooperation?
Roy's thinking jumped and accelerated almost instantly.

Now the teams entering the abnormal area are scattered and frequent, but apart from the strategy of going alone or mingling in a secret organization, there are not many formal and relatively safe options, and the biggest possibility-joining the investigation team of the special inspection agency can almost be directly ruled out for him.

Thinking about it this way, I'm not sure, but the possibility of intersection with the church is very high!

Monsieur Father, I would like to take the liberty of asking you about a person.On the eve of saying goodbye to several people in the hotel lobby, this sentence almost blurted out from Roy's mouth.

Moreover, I rehearsed it several times in my heart.

I am willing to listen to his sentence "no going", but I really want to know more news.

Current personal situation, mental state, people traveling with you, safety risks, how long is the general possible duration. Or, better yet, is there any reason why he can not go?

Even if there is no result, it’s okay to talk about this topic.

But in the end Roy opened his mouth and didn't make a sound.

The investigation plan of the abnormal area is a confidential task for any organization and group, and what I am investigating is Fanning's affairs. Even if Father Lavoisier is honest enough, even in private, he must be cautious.

What's more, there are still many people present here.

"I'm not counted as a guest in this city, you've sent them to treat Miss Roy and her party with respect."

Fanning had already turned his head away, started walking, and told the priest who was serving as reception to ignore him.

When Roy recovered his mind, he realized that he hadn't responded for a long time, and he was a little rude. After all, his concern had nothing to do with Bishop Lavoisier's future misfortune, nor the church's beliefs and achievements.

"Mr. Priest will return with the 'God's Theme'. Now Janus has a new life, and he will welcome this glory with a completely different look at that time."

She made up for such a blessing, and the sentence was organized hastily, which was a little unnatural.

The figure of the grey-haired priest in front had disappeared at the stairs.

The next day was still an early meeting, dinner, and departure.

After walking together for four days, stopping and going, accompanied by some necessary social interaction or the "rescue" link of Lavoisier's action, everyone has visited the three small towns in the northeast of Puntuya and the five districts in the county.

The person in charge of the diocese who was in charge of the contact was also following the handover rotation, but Roy never found a suitable opportunity to talk about this matter.

At dusk on the fourth day, the crowd crossed from the county to the urban area and entered the southwest section of the long and narrow territory of Puntua County. There are three other parishes distributed here. Although it is called a "small town", the area of ​​villages, towns, fields and rivers is actually wider.

"Durke, the head of the Diocese of Lowland Raubken, has an audience with His Excellency the Bishop, and welcomes Miss Roy."

This time, a one-armed, emaciated old priest greeted him at the gate of the city. Under his slack eyelids, he seemed to be able to see a dim and ever-depressing light.

After making some arrangements in the church not far from the city gate, everyone changed to the carriage provided by the diocese to inspect the situation in the small town of Raubken in the lowlands.

Roy, who opened the curtain of the carriage, began to see many different people and things.

For example, traces of explosions, scrap steel bars, piles of rubble, and newly built simple houses.

"This shouldn't be counted as the front line. Could it be that there is also a war?" She asked with a frown.

Many original houses on both sides of the street have been bombed, and it is not an exaggeration to become "destroyed walls" or "ruins". At a glance, most of them still constitute the normal streetscape in the past, but a closer look at each building shows that the load-bearing structure and basic functions have been seriously damaged.

"The bombing came from above." The old priest Durke pointed to the sky with his one arm, "But those guys usually don't come out after nightfall."

"An attack from an airship?" Roy felt a little incomprehensible.

This kind of steam aircraft is bulky, poorly maneuverable, and covered with soft materials. It would be understandable if it appeared on the front line. How could it fly into the relatively inner county without incident?
"It's the kind of shorter and lighter military aircraft, which was not popularized in the era when I went to the battlefield."

In previous conversations, I learned that this old priest surnamed Dulk also participated in the war when he was young—the local turmoil in this era has never stopped—he was originally a country musician. He lost an arm during his service.

Durke recalled the situation over the past four months: "Initially, the army and navy of the two countries had the impression of this kind of gadget. It was just that the wood and metal were stronger, and the flying speed was faster. They didn't have much interest until someone discovered their advantages in reconnaissance."

"With the motivation to do your own reconnaissance, you have the motivation to hinder the enemy's reconnaissance. But at the beginning, there were no weapons and equipment on it. Some people brought bricks and tried to smash other people's propellers.

"The issue of air combat was brought to the attention of the authorities, and then they brought the guns up."

"From pistols, shotguns, rifles to sniper rifles, they found that in this kind of air combat, it is most useful to equip a fixed machine gun that can be fired along the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. However, this machine gun also has a fatal problem. Shooting from the rear of the propeller is easy to hit its own blades."

"In our Janus army, someone came up with a wedge-shaped deflector made of steel, which temporarily solved this problem. However, the powerful impact of bullets hitting it would still easily cause engine failure. At this time, Tiolein of the Northern Continent began to sell a component called a 'shooting interrupter', and said that there are specifications suitable for more than a dozen common military aircraft models."

"I really don't know." Roy smiled helplessly when he heard this.

Tiolein is currently saying that he is a "neutral party", and he has also promised that he will never impose unreasonable restrictions on a certain party in terms of trade. However, all motives are still interests.

Over the past 100 years, Tiolein has exported a large amount of industrial technology, which will inevitably be affected in various fields in various countries, and also in the military, directly or indirectly.

"The inventor is Carmen Leon, the mentor of the Guidance School, a great physicist, and the founder of the second-generation differential engine." Durke said, "This device perfectly avoids the problem that the machine gun hits its own propeller when it shoots from the rear. The driver can pour out firepower without any scruples. Whenever the blades are turned to the front of the machine gun, the interrupter system can exquisitely temporarily stop the firing of bullets. The Lydians are very optimistic about this invention and some other weapons. In the past few months, the arms sold to them by Tiolein The amount is more than four times that of Janus."

"Isn't the state religion of Lydia enshrining 'Raven'?" Ms. Hermosa, who was accompanying Roy, said at this time, "The priest of the 'Spiritual Discipline' mainly studies 'Desolation', and he pays more attention to introspection and restraint than your church. Since the start of the war, it has been suppressing you steadily. It is indeed strange enough to play so aggressively."

"Who knows, they are currently the most aggressive in the territorial disputes in the Southern Continent." An acolyte deacon spread his hands slightly, "In the final analysis, the reason for the war, which has been overused hundreds of years ago, is that they want to make use of the issue and realize more appeals in the territorial competition in the Southern Continent."

As if he saw Roy's look a little bit apologetic, the old priest Dulk smiled relievedly:

"Miss Roy has some thoughts about secular war in her heart, which is normal. But you are not only the eldest lady of the Extraordinary School, but also a musician in the art circle. What you have done on this trip is a noble move. In my opinion, there is no need to have too much grievance."

"After the Southern Kingdom evaporated out of thin air, the whole world is having a hard time. As far as I know, the debt default rate, unemployment rate, and bankruptcy rate in the Northern Continent all rank first. It can be said that Tiolein is now 'making war fortune' by selling arms, but the goal of the warring parties is ultimately to 'make war fortune'. No one is more noble than the other."

"As long as the war starts, the human imagination will leap forward endlessly in weapons and equipment; as long as the enclosure competition in the southern country is hot enough, other people will pay more attention to the contradictions there; as long as the military factories are fully loaded and the orders from the upstream and downstream industries are sufficient, the unemployed young people lying on the streets will have more places to go."

Fan Ning, who had been listening silently, couldn't help but take a few more glances at the one-armed old priest.

Durke looked up at the sky again: "In short, those pilots started thinking about shooting each other, and they also made up their minds about the factories, facilities, and warehouses below the plane. Finally, they finally brought the shells up. So a month ago, Carmen Leon invented an automatic bombing device with shell racks, throwing systems, and bombing sights according to the needs of the battlefield. Now 'air strikes' have almost become one of the routine military actions of the two warring parties."

The carriage slowed down, and everyone watched while talking.

Along the way, under the ravages of air raids, some citizens still choose to live in "dilapidated houses", but more of them are newly built simple houses that are crookedly squeezed together from along the street and the river, or halfway up the hillside.

Most of them are made of bamboo and wicker, together with a small amount of stone and cement, it looks very loose.

However, Roy sensed that the simple, basic and relatively low-cost "key" secret ritual altar was operating inside them, which guaranteed its basic functions of blocking sight and sheltering from wind and rain, and it would not collapse for a while.

In terms of resistance to bombing, they will not be stronger than the original buildings, but the advantage is that they can be built quickly and flexibly. These women and children have laid out almost all their belongings, barrels, pots, bowls, plates, kitchen knives, cutting boards, stoves, grills for cooking, oil jugs, milk buckets and sugar bowls locked in greasy cabinets, folding beds or broken sofas for sleeping.
This made the already narrow streets even more cramped, and the people wriggling in them looked like crooked needles and threads sewn on a long wound.

"Whether it's work or housework, people can only make up for the work that was delayed by avoiding air raids during the day, so you may feel that it is a bit crowded and noisy now."

"Fortunately, those guys are greatly affected by the weather, they can't come out at night, and they can't come out even in rainy days"

A clergyman and a local official explain.

Roy nodded politely, and stopped in front of some lively "little ponds".

These are actually bomb craters left after the bombers flew away. After the rain and snow melted inside, they showed a "lifelike" side-children squatted in a circle, cleaning the scraped potatoes and vegetable leaves, and some women even beat their clothes with long sticks.

Strictly speaking, this place does belong to the rear of the war.

"Rear" and "front" are definitely not the same.

But the "rear area" is also different from the previous "big rear area". It has indeed been completely far away from the influence of the scattered circle of the holy city that has been around for thousands of years.

"There's a long queue ahead, what are they fighting for?"

Roy saw the people at the end of the front line of sight lined up from the left side of the street to the right side, and then turned back from the right side to the left side. They actually "turned around" four times. In addition to the crowded sheds on both sides, the street was abruptly "cut in half" into several sections, and the way of the carriage was also blocked.

There were vague doubts and quarrels about bargaining.

"It's the grain store. Now the price list is changing too fast. It changed in the first few days, and now it changes several times a day. When the salary is paid, everyone will immediately replace it with wheat flour, bread, sugar or oil before the next price increase."

"Sorry, saw some of my colleagues, I have to say hello"

Roy also gave Fanning a smile with his mouth curled up beside him.

It stands to reason that the streets are very lively, full of fireworks and anger.

But she remembered what she said to the priest yesterday, "there is a new life", and she suddenly felt that it didn't seem very appropriate.

"Miss Roy is probably not the first time she has come to Janus."

Fanning intertwined her eyes for a moment, and looked into the distance again.

"Well, I've been here nearly ten times, but I used to stop in San Porto or several other big counties, and I always went to concerts."

"Do you think that the light in this world shines everywhere? Is the gospel preached everywhere? Do people in the city and the village have milk and honey to eat?"

Roy was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head.

Fan Ning said with a leisurely gaze: "On that day in the holy city, I asked the Lord for mercy with a mass. His gift was a surplus of 60 pounds, but there were 200 million believers in the city who needed to eat and drink. Over the past few days, there were nearly a hundred people who were advised by me, and those who were vigilant and pardoned, or judged and convicted, were tens of thousands. The corn, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the air thrive in the sun as before."

Roy gave a soft "hmm": "I used to have one, one."

"Friend?" Fanning smiled.

Wearing a white windbreaker, she had a look of melancholy memories on her face, without nodding or shaking her head:
"...he said the world was filled with sorrows he couldn't comprehend."

(End of this chapter)