Knight and Wand

Chapter 334 The Dream of the Masses
Goliad
Leon looked at the bard whom he had not seen for three years, and countless doubts surged in his heart. He opened his mouth to speak, but the wound on his face moved, and his damaged lungs made it difficult for him to speak.

“——Shh~”

The poet gestured to calm down, put his feather hat back on, and walked into the room while gesturing with his fingers.

A warmth flowed from deep within Leon's heart and lungs, circulating through the meridians of magic and blood throughout his body.

The severe pain from domestic violence was clearly fading away quickly.

Leon sensed the state of his body through the circulation of magic elements, and felt that the shattered bones and broken internal organs were slowly returning to their original state as if time was turning back.

Within a few breaths, he had the strength to raise his hand.

Leon instinctively touched his chest, which had almost lost its bone support but was kept from collapsing and pressing on his internal organs by the Tempering Technique, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Leon propped himself up and sat up quietly against the headboard. He did not break free from Ines's hand, tried not to disturb the sleeping girl beside him, and turned to look at the mysterious poet.

"Thank you." Leon said gratefully.

"You're welcome, Lord Pendragon. I also want to thank you for posting notices all over the world and inviting me to taste this intoxicating and mellow love wine~"

Goliath smiled politely, leaned back in the armchair beside him, narrowed his eyes, and waved his hand in front of his nose as if tasting wine or perfume.

"Ah~ Like the wisteria winding around the corridor, like the twin lotus flowers, like the fragrant osmanthus.~ I think I have a new inspiration."

Leon paid no attention to the poet's strange abstract tone and words, and only regarded the other party's teasing as the professional disease of being a matchmaker.

At this point, Leon didn't want to beat around the bush with the mysterious Goliath in front of him, so he immediately asked the question that was bothering him.

"Master, the greeting you said to Corvis six years ago, was it a greeting to me? Do you know that I and..." He paused, glanced at the sleeping Ines, then raised his head and continued: "Do you know that Ines and I come from parallel time and space? Who are you? Are you the Goliath of this world, or the Goliath I know in another world?"

"You have a lot of questions."

Goliath raised an eyebrow while chuckling.

"'Parallel time and space', parallel time and space? It's an interesting word and concept. I seem to have heard some friends talk about a similarly described wonderful realm in the past."

While joking, the great bard changed his posture, smiled, and twirled his neatly trimmed beard: "Perhaps I can add this idea to the new poem story, but unfortunately, according to my shallow understanding, at least in this land where you live, there has never been another parallel world as you mentioned."

"Has there never been a parallel time and space?" Leon frowned.

"Hmm." Goliath pointed at himself as a matter of course: "So your question is naturally easy to answer. Of course, I have always been myself, the elegant and talented Goliath."

"But if there is no parallel world, then where are Ines and I now?!"

Leon asked in a deep voice: "This place is very different from the world we live in! Right now, there are really two Ines."

He instinctively squeezed Ines's fingers, feeling her real presence, and stared at Goliath.

"Are you saying that our previous life experiences are all fake? Are our memories all illusions?"

"Of course not~" Goliath shrugged.

Leon narrowed his eyes: "So, is this world fake?"

"Neither. Ah, I can give you a perfunctory explanation based on the common sense of ordinary people, but perhaps it is better to answer seriously."

Goliath stroked his chin and asked with a smile: "How do you define the so-called true or false?"

"Existence is true, non-existence is false." Leon replied with a frown.

"Then what is existence and non-existence? Can we perceive it with our physical body? Looking at everything here, can we judge that one is fake just because of the difference? Then is it possible that when we open our eyes and close our eyes and wake up, everything we face with a slight change is a new world?"

Goliath said, stretching out his hand and tugging at the hem of his clothes: "When I change my red dress into an elegant blue dress, then I in the blue dress will no longer be myself?"

"This cannot be generalized. You told me that there is no parallel world. I just assumed that the premise you said is true." Leon pondered and shook his head: "If there are no two different worlds, then there must be a sequence when you choose clothes. But you in red and you in blue will not appear together."

To be honest, he was almost confused by the poet's words.

There is no parallel universe, so how can you say that two worlds that are so different are both real?

Goliath picked up the apple on the table, took a bite, and said with a smile: "I don't intend to teach you magic, but your view of time and space is too constrained by so-called common sense. I have to correct you. In the endless void, common sense is often just an illusion limited by the perception and function of living beings."

Seeing that the other party was willing to explain, Leon humbly said to the powerful and mysterious wizard in front of him: “I would like to hear the details.”

"In fact, you have already given the answer." Goliath pointed at the other person with the hand holding the apple: "For this land, the me wearing red clothes and the me wearing blue clothes cannot exist at the same time, but right now, are there two 'simultaneous' and 'different' me?"

"What about Ines? There are two of her in this world. How do you explain that?" Leon pointed at the girl beside him who was holding his hand tightly.

"Think about it carefully, Lord Pendragon, are the two Miss Ines existing 'at the same time'?" Goliath asked with a teasing look.

What do you mean?
Leon was silent and thoughtful, and after a moment, he suddenly realized something.
Goliad didn't keep the secret, and waved his hand while chewing an apple, saying: "The two Miss Ines, one after the other in the flow of the River of Time, there is a difference of three local years, isn't it?
The so-called two 'different' Miss Ines you saw were just her in red clothes and her in blue clothes three years later. No matter what the circumstances, changing clothes will not make her a different individual. "

"According to you, we have come to three years later? This is still our world?" Leon opened his eyes wide in surprise, but then he immediately shook his head: "No! Inis and everyone here have different experiences from three years ago, six years ago, or even longer ago. Not only the experience, but also the environment of the whole world is different! There is no spiritual field here, and my ancient fortress has long since turned into ruins in time."

"Are those things fundamentally different from the clothes I'm wearing?" Goliath didn't rush to explain directly. Instead, he put down the half-eaten apple and looked at him: "Sir Pendragon, do you believe that the fate of all things is fixed and unchangeable?"

Leon was suddenly diverted from the topic. He was confused and thought for a moment. He shook his head and replied, "I don't know the truth, but emotionally, I don't want to believe in fate. It sounds like every choice I make has no real meaning. It's a bit frustrating."

"It's more than just frustrating, it's simply despairing~ So I don't believe it either, and I know it's not true, but here comes the question." Goliath threw the apple up and caught it again, raised his eyebrows and asked back: "Fate is not predetermined, so I dare to ask you, before making countless choices, before deciding your own fate, do those countless futures and countless streams of the river of time not exist? If not, then where does the choice come from?"

Leon pondered, then said in surprise: "But you said that there is no 'parallel world'. If the future possible world before the decision is made is still there, then what is this if not a parallel world?"

"It's not parallel. As I said, now is the future that has not yet been determined by all living things. It may even have been abandoned by the choices and collisions of countless lives. It is a future that is no longer possible. It is one of the possibilities that is not sure at the front end, not the parallel ones you said, at least for most people." The poet's voice lingered in the room like reciting a poem.

As if by illusion, Leon saw a deep vertical shadow in the poet's eyes.

"I still don't understand what kind of actions must be taken in the past to change the entire world's more distant 'past' in the future?" Leon scratched his head at the poet's explanation.

However, Goliath pursed his lips and said, "If we look deeper, either you will have a greater impact on the River of Time in the future, or the root cause of this result is not you. Who knows? After all, I am just a bard, not an omniscient wise man."

A mere bard? Leon sighed in deep doubt and raised his hand with a headache: "Okay, for now, let's assume that what you said is true. This is the fate that has not yet been confirmed by the choices of all living beings. So all living things have not yet found this 'blue dress' from somewhere and have not decided to wear it, right?"

Seeing the poet nod, Leon immediately asked the most important question with a serious expression: "Then can Ines and I make everything return to the state where the whole world is still wearing 'red clothes'?"

Goliath nodded without comment, finally finished eating the apple, and put the core back on the plate upright: "Before fate is determined, it can be intercepted and anchored from the countless erratic possibilities in the 'Dream of the Mass'. It must not be through the power of the two of you now.

And the great magic that can cause such a large-scale impact range, except for those ancient wizards in this world who were ambitious, there would be no other possibility. "

"Lorelites?" Leon was excited when he heard this: "We are indeed in this situation because we accidentally activated the ancient magic secret ritual in the Orlandon Palace. If we restart the magic in the palace, will everything return to normal?"

Goliad shook his head and said, "I have been to the palace of Orlandon before. Recently, I heard about the appearance of the Holy Sword of the Sun, so I went there again.

I can confirm that the powerful sword is the 'anchor source' that drives all changes, but I have not found any traces of magic that can cause such an effect. According to what you said, even if there is, the magic ritual is likely to be forever upstream of the River of Time for everyone now. And it is an upstream that cannot be reached."

"However, this is not that important. What is important is that the world must be anchored before the cause and effect are determined. In addition to the stable energy source, the magic must also have a subjective decider who can stabilize the flow of the 'River of Time' from the countless possible branches of the 'Dream of the Masses'.

Otherwise, it will be drowned by the chaos of all the uncertain destinies in the crowd, and nothing will be formed in the end. Over the years, the emperor of Atias and I have been looking for someone to anchor the world."

"Can everything be restored by finding the so-called anchor person?" Leon asked.

Goliath smiled and said, "Maybe. To be honest, I'm not used to wearing blue clothes. That annoying color always reminds me of some guys I don't like."

"?"

"Don't mind. I just speak my mind." Goliath waved his hand.

"Then have you found the anchor person?" Although Leon was curious about how the other party was in contact with the emperor of the Atias Empire, he still focused on the key point and continued to ask.

The poet nodded easily: "Just found it."

Leon was briefly surprised, but then he reacted immediately.

Wasn't it me who activated the magic in the palace that night? Who else could it be?

"I am the anchor?" Leon pointed at himself.

But the bard shook his head slightly: "You are indeed very interesting, Lord Pendragon, but it is not you who subconsciously stabilized this thread from the fate of all things in the dream of the swarm."

Leon was stunned for a moment, then instantly realized what the other party was referring to, and was speechless.

"The choice of the anchor, combined with the anchor source as the key, may be able to correct everything, but I don't know if it will succeed."

Goliath stood up and took off his hat. "That's all, Lord Pendragon. The choice is yours. You can try it or just continue with the fate you have been chosen for."

He adjusted his feather hat and turned away. "Anyway, I am still very young, and I have found such an interesting job. Since the journey home is far from over, I am not in a hurry to embark on a new journey. Even if I accompany the unborn god to fulfill His 'Dream of the Crowd', it doesn't matter."

"Wait." Leon tried to get up and keep her, with many questions in his mind that had not been answered.

If what the other party said is true, why is there Ines three years later here, but not myself three years later?
Who is Goliath? Why did he lend a helping hand so many times?
The dream of the horde is an academic concept in Lorelit magic that maps the movement of all things under the turbulent flow of the river of time. But what does the unborn god mean?
However, as soon as he lifted the quilt, Leon had already lost the bard's figure from his sight without blinking.

He stood up and walked quickly to the balcony, looking around.

The unknown northern town in front of him was shrouded in the moonlight, and there was no trace of Goliath anywhere around.

Come back.

Leon looked into the room. Ines, who had just been listening to everything silently, was now sitting up on the edge of the bed.

He knew that the other party had woken up long ago.

Regardless of whether what Goliath said was true, the other party made it very clear before leaving.

He recalled that night when he had asked Ines to hide in the inner circle of the magic ritual in a desperate situation.

Since this person who anchored the fate of the current world from the dream of the masses is not himself, there is obviously no other candidate.

Except for the Holy Sword of the Sun, which is still in the hands of the big lion, half of the choice is now in his hands.

The right to choose to decide the fate of all things on the earth beneath your feet?
Facing Ines's gaze, Leon couldn't help but recall the memories of their companionship over the past few years that seemed like a dream or reality.

The emotions that surged in his heart, and the sudden burden of carrying the fate of countless people, made him suddenly speechless.

In the past or in the present.
(End of this chapter)