Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

It was his first time teaching this grade, but he could remember all the students' names and match them with their appearances without any problem. This did not surprise the grade director. Rather, this little thing was insignificant compared to his appearance and the sense of perversion it brought.

Boys and girls who are about to reach adulthood, shed their teenage identities and enter the ranks of adults, step out of the middle school campus, enter university for further studies, begin work as clergy, or serve in the army under the Inquisition, these boys and girls sit "below" in the so-called student seats, while the boy who looks like a ten-year-old child sits "above" in the so-called podium, and does not write on the blackboard, but only teaches the history of Zerhar to the students below the stage in fluent words.

The scene was quite funny, but no one dared to laugh.

With the boy's height, if he wanted to teach many students on the podium, he would have to put something under his feet, a bench, a book, or a wooden box. That scene would have been quite interesting. However, what the boy did was very simple. No, it should be said that he did nothing, at least in the eyes of others, he did nothing. He just stepped naturally on the stairs that were emitting a slight golden glow, as if walking in the void, and increased his height out of thin air.

There is no doubt that it is a very pure divine art.

The students were tactful enough not to ask or discuss who this "unidentified history teacher" was, nor did they inquire into where the original history teacher had gone - there was nothing complicated about this matter, he just took a temporary sick leave, and this class was supposed to be replaced by a theology class - only the dean who rushed over after hearing the news was worried, because he happened to know who the person in front of him was.

He had long golden hair tied up in a bun, rare dark golden eyes, a handsome face that was difficult to tell whether he was a man or a woman, an elegant white monk's robe, and a mature temperament that was totally inconsistent with his age. Although he looked young, he was eye-catching enough.

"Since the Kingdom never decrypted the documents from the Continental War, we can only get a glimpse of the internal situation of the Kingdom before the war from a few words. For example, the Kingdom was uneasy about the Empire's isolationist policy and the military expansion before the Continental War, so it increased military spending significantly, resulting in a deterioration of the domestic economic situation. After the Peretan Incident, the Kingdom of Noron and the Terreati Empire declared war on each other. As we all know, our country, the Zelhar Church, mediated between the Kingdom and the Empire before and after the war to prevent the war from escalating."

He had no lesson plans or teaching materials in his hands, and there was no sign of any advance preparation.

"When the Kingdom Army declared war, it launched a blitzkrieg against the southern border of the Empire. The Empire's territory east of Elpolé quickly fell. As the fringe of the Empire's rule, the population there was mainly made up of half-elves and human immigrants. There was a lack of garrisons from the Empire's regular army, so it was difficult to organize a full-fledged defense.

On the contrary, the imperial border guards west of Elpolé regrouped after the first wave of offensives and tried to bypass the main force of the kingdom army and launch an attack on the interior of the kingdom, forcing the kingdom army to return to defend. Although they achieved certain results, they were unable to penetrate deep into the kingdom's mainland because the kingdom's border had been upgraded to fortification and bastion defense before the war, and had to fight a tug-of-war on the border of Noron. "

The boy paused for a moment and then continued:

"As we all know, this was a prerequisite that affected the subsequent development of the war: when our country decided to intervene, the Kingdom's army marched straight into the Empire's territory. Although that was not the real Empire's homeland in the strict sense, but an enclave similar to a colony, it was enough to shock the Empire. On the contrary, the Empire's border defense troops failed to achieve their strategic goals, and the situation in the early stages of the war was not favorable to the Empire. The Kingdom did not intend to stop there, but proposed to both sides the condition of ceding the Empire's border resource belt. In addition, based on the historical comparison of the strength of the Kingdom and the Empire, our country was more inclined to the Kingdom in practical measures.

Because of this, when our country mediated between the two sides, even though both sides declared war almost at the same time, the Empire still regarded our mediation as a provocation. When the negotiations failed, the Empire declared war on our country, and the continental war broke out. We also have no way of knowing the views within the Empire. Perhaps for the Empire, the territorial friction and ethnic disputes between the Elf Empire and the Southern Continent during the Fifth Calendar were also worth considering, so in their eyes, the hostility towards our country is not much different from the hostility towards the Kingdom. "

"I won't go into the details of the war here, as you will learn more about it. In the later stages of the war, our country was able to expel the Imperial Army from our borders and ensure that no Imperial soldiers could cross the border. On this basis, our country was able to start mediation again and urge both sides to cease fire.

As we all know, on the 20th day of the Snow Moon nineteen years ago, the Supreme Acolyte Evelyn, the Elf Queen Diliana, and the Noron King Garcia III jointly issued a ceasefire declaration, and the continental war officially ended. "

He placed his hands on the podium and looked around the classroom.

"Question: Can anyone tell me who is on the just side and who is on the unjust side in this war?"

No one answered.

None of the students in the audience raised their hands, only the dean of studies had more cold sweat on his forehead. He definitely did not behave like this because he was weak.

The boy didn't mind this, and just continued to ask:

"Question: The Terriati Empire pursues isolationism and expands its military without reason; the Kingdom of Noron increases military spending for self-protection and brings up racism and border disputes; the Kingdom of Zelhar takes ill-considered mediation actions and fails to align with the elves' way of thinking - among these three, who is just and who is unjust?"

Still no one answered.

The young man still had no expression on his face, as if the current situation did not exceed his expectations.

This question was too strange, tricky, vague, expansive, and looked like a trap. Even the dumbest student would not raise his hand and answer "my country is just, and the kingdom is unjust" - anyone could tell that this was not the answer the boy wanted.

What is justice, how to define injustice, how to determine whether the various actions between the three countries are just or unjust, each country in the continental war is not completely independent, and the actions of one of them will inevitably affect the other two, so thoughts and actions are intertwined into events, and finally become a mess. With different positions, there are different ways to interpret behaviors, and as interests are involved, simple actions can become complicated and worthy of discussion. Among the three countries, only the religious country Zelhar has made the relevant archives public for its own fairness, and neither the kingdom nor the empire has decrypted the relevant documents of this war. Even so, scholars from all countries know that these documents are enough to cause an uproar, giving scholars in related fields ample opportunities to increase the number of their papers.

For these middle school students, the study of the Moral and Philosophy course is just superficially on paper, used to cope with homework and exams, and not integrated into life and thinking. They may be able to vaguely combine the content of the textbook with what the strange teacher said, but they are still unable to come up with a complete thinking, let alone use what they have thought to answer the questions raised by the teacher.

This anxiety even made them ignore the etiquette in the classroom for a while - not to the point of whispering, but enough to make students look at each other in confusion, conveying information through their eyes. Unlike the history teacher who faithfully conveyed the information in the textbook, the style of this temporary substitute teacher was really hard to understand.

The boy still did not make any statement about this, as if confusing the students was what he wanted to do, and the answer itself was not important. The boy did not need these students who were still in the upper middle school to tell him the answer, nor did they need to use this answer to fill in the test paper and get the necessary score to pass the exam.

Of course, this was just a small episode in the class - it was not uncommon for questions to be answered by no one, but this time, the teacher did not give a standard answer as usual, but continued teaching until the bell rang for the end of get out of class.

……

"I am back."

"Ah."

"..."

"..."

"Why are you staring at me?"

After a strange silence, the blond boy decided to break this unusual situation first, so he closed the white wooden door of the office and asked like this.

"Have you forgotten what I was going to do when I went out?"

The young man sitting behind a desk on one side withdrew his gaze and continued to write something while asking a question. Unlike the boy's overly eye-catching appearance, the young man's appearance can only be said to be between special and ordinary, with black hair and a thin figure. In addition to his slightly handsome face and overly pale skin, the only thing that is unique is his turbid yellow eyes that seem to be staring at others. Of course, this is only limited to the situation when he is sitting. If the young man stands up, others will naturally notice his height of nearly two meters and his limbs that are very slender compared to ordinary people.

Only those with extremely subtle observation skills would notice his subtle writing style, a habit that is more recognizable than his appearance.

"Remember. And as you all know, I don't forget."

"The Saint Glazeward Collection Room is no more than 500 meters away from the middle part of the academy. Coupled with your special voiceprint, I heard everything clearly, from your sudden impulse to substitute for the class to the outrageous remarks you made to the students in class."

"Um……"

"Besides, this trip was originally my job, but you just followed me on your own."

"Well, that's right."

The young man still had no expression on his face. He walked all the way to the deepest part of the spacious office and then sat down on his own soft office chair.

"But you still haven't answered the original question."

"Please use some logical reasoning."

Whether it is a desk or a chair, or a huge bookcase, coat rack, or even a small round table for meeting guests in the same office, they are all elegant and solemn, but their size is totally disproportionate to the boy's body. Undoubtedly, these are office tools prepared for adults. When their user is a boy who looks just over ten years old and whose appearance is so beautiful that it is difficult to tell whether he is a boy or a girl, the picture will naturally become a little funny.

The boy didn't care.

As long as he waved his hand, the book he wanted would automatically float in front of his eyes, the pen would automatically rise from the table, and the half-written document would unfold by itself. Even if the boy did not hold them, the work could still be carried out.

For young people, these things have long been commonplace.

After all, he is the real owner of this office.

Herbert Maiwen, Director of the Scripture Bureau of the Glorious Divine Court, an Asmo who is over a hundred years old.

"That's too much trouble. Just state the conclusion directly."

"You did something so special, it's hard not to pay more attention to you."

"Really? I thought you would find the middle school courses too boring."

"I completed the advanced courses in the orphanage."

As for the young man he was talking to—

"Yeah."

"It's just that I was interested in your sudden strange behavior, so I had to wait for dozens of minutes despite the noise outside. Otherwise, I would have come back early."

Vavolo Remnessens, deputy director of the Scripture Bureau of the Glorious Temple, this young man seldom appears in front of others, but as the "listener of the voice of all things" who is not a saint and the deputy director of the Scripture Bureau, naturally everyone in the Central Cathedral knows him.

For Vavolo, who had overly sensitive hearing, leaving this specially treated office was undoubtedly a very torturous thing. If the application materials this time did not require his personal confirmation, he would not have considered giving up the opportunity to take a nap in the afternoon and leaving his seat.

"You are the special one, not what you say. I wonder why you said this to those students. It's too early for them, isn't it?"

"So, what's your answer?"

"There is no justice or injustice in the continental war. Both the kingdom and the empire have enough reasons to start a war, and it is hard to say which of their methods is better."

"So, what about us?"

"As long as we cannot resolve the issues between the Kingdom and the Empire, we also have no right to claim to be righteous. Many people see our mediation as such. This kind of troublesome matter is fine, but it is the responsibility of the Foreign Affairs Bureau. It has nothing to do with me. I don't want to get involved or discuss it."

"You're right. But we have to do this."

Herbert said as he turned to the next page of the document.

"Vavolo, when do you think the Second Continental War will begin?"

"Recently. Maybe two to three years. It's not up to me to decide."

"Who will Noron go to war against?"

"Anyone is possible. They probably can't forget the principle of non-alignment proposed by Zelhar during the continental war. Terriati is an old enemy. They also have many targets in the south. Who knows?"

“Can humanitarian aid to Noron slow down the pace of Hasar?”

"How would I know? That's the Foreign Affairs Bureau's headache. Noron has too many bad debts. If this amount of money was enough for them to fill the hole, they wouldn't have to sell the land at a low price."

Although he had an attitude of "none of my business", Vavolo still gave his answer. It seemed that he was in a good mood today as his sleep was not disturbed, even though he went out and suffered so much.

"If we stop providing aid, the chances of us being attacked first will increase."

"That's something the Foreign Affairs Bureau should worry about."

Vavolo repeated what he had said.

"Besides, as the shield of stability on the continent, isn't it very suitable for Zelhar to bear the wrath that Noron has accumulated for so many years in front of all countries?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Just kidding. Do you think the disappearance of the saint has anything to do with them?"

"As we all know, unless one of you and I is a spy for Noron and they are ready for war, they have no ability or reason to kidnap Lunicia."

"I think so too."

As he said this, Vavolo stood up from his seat, hugged his pillow, and seemed to be planning to leave this office with nothing to do, return to his lounge, skip dinner time, and combine the unfulfilled nap time with the night.

Herbert did not stop him. Unlike the Sacrifice Bureau, the Sacred Relics Bureau, and the External Affairs Bureau, which had been working overtime recently, the Scripture Bureau was more relaxed than any other department in exchange for authority and treatment. Even if Wavolo was absent for half a day today, there would be no problem. They even lacked the need to communicate with other departments.

As the situation became more delicate, it became difficult for the Sacred Relics Bureau to organize a decent archaeological expedition team, and the number of documents that needed to be authenticated by the Scripture Bureau or the number of cultural relics that needed to be "specially handled" by Vavolo also decreased significantly.

"What about you? What are you going to do after the war starts?"

"Dig a hole and bury yourself."

"Ah."

Should I answer "hmm" here?

"It's not my turn to worry about the children's personal safety."

Herbert still did not look up, but just glanced at the many documents in front of him, writing unfinished records. They had enough time, high enough authority, and a sufficient degree of control over the documents, which made it easier for them to get closer to the true face of things and the special rules presented in the turbulence than the front-line personnel.

"It's just that while they're hiding from the war in the countryside or in the fortress, I hope they won't forget today's problems."

"Really? Then they may have to consider how to survive first."

"Because this is the spirit passed down from generation to generation in the Glorious Divine Court, which denies the possibility that the war cannot be ended."

"You still care about that kind of thing. How many of the things you mentioned can we see in the Divine Court today?"

"..."

"Thinking so much will make you age prematurely, although I think you will definitely live longer than me."

"Yeah."

Herbert did not comment.

He just turned his head and looked out the window.

Beyond the garden of the Sutra Bureau, beyond the walls, beyond the streets and houses, beyond the towering bell gallery - the moon and the starry sky are not visible at the end of the sight, all that can be seen is the darkness of the night shrouded by clouds and mist.

Some see it as terror, others see it as mercy.

Chapter 9: Dawn in the Far North (Part 1)

heavy.

After waking up slowly, the biggest feeling coming from my body was heaviness.

Perhaps the word "heavy" is not enough to describe it. It feels as if the body has exceeded the scope of the soul, and has become dull, slow, and difficult to control. The fingertips are no longer fingertips, the arms are no longer arms, and the legs are no longer legs. It seems that this body no longer belongs to me, the touch has become numb, and the movements have become empty.

However, neither his physique nor the strength in his muscles had changed. As long as he focused more and connected his mind and body, his vision would become clear again, his limbs would no longer be sluggish, and his lips would open and close normally.

I'm just still somewhat numb.

Today, it seems less cold than yesterday - is it because of the cold air and the residual heat of the small fire? No, it is not like that. If you think about it and put your skin against the ice wall stained with water vapor, you will know that the reason for this thought is that the sense of touch of the fingertips is dulling.

Not so cold anymore.

Not bad, after all, I am afraid of cold.

The pain sensation might also be reduced like this, but whether this is true or not, I have no idea because I was not injured yesterday, and Lunicia has no interest in hurting herself.

What about the sense of smell?

You can smell the faint aroma of lychees - wrapped in hard and bright red, with bright but soft thorns, using a dangerous and seemingly poisonous appearance to protect itself, and underneath it is a pure white and sweet interior. Lunisia likes lychees very much. In the afterglow of summer, iced lychees are always so impressive. Even without alcohol, if you eat too much, it will inevitably make you feel like you are drunk and deeply immersed in it.

I could smell a faint strange smell - what should I say, a strange smell mixed with a rich sweet fragrance? If other people were to smell that smell, they would definitely show disgust and avoid it. Not only was the smell itself disgusting, but the meaning of the smell was also ominous.

It was sweet, the scent of black lily.