Chapter 326 Bayard's Childhood
Bayard pulled Aiwass along the streets of the Helasar Empire at night.
Aiwass looked at these buildings from the imperial period with admiration.
From Aiwas's perspective, these buildings from the Empire period are close to the Gothic style. The common features are that they are tall enough, have a sharp vertical sense, and have a large number of pointed rib vaults.
The buildings vary in height and width, with no set standards or formal specifications, unlike the Glass Island where the entire city is the same color, height, and size. The architecture here gives people a strong sense of freedom and art.
Almost all the buildings' exteriors were covered in relief carvings and cutouts, as well as a vast amount of stained glass. Even in Avalon, a land rich in glass, two hundred years later, it was impossible to fully cover its towns with ordinary glass windows. Yet, now in the Hellas Empire, every building on the street was adorned with a vast amount of stained glass... and almost all of this glass was a unique and magnificent painting.
In those large blank areas, you can see a lot of artistic graffiti. The entire street is paved with stone slabs, and a passing carriage has a gorgeous, jade-like shell.
At first glance, Aiwass felt that it looked like whale bone, but it was hard to say, it could be something else.
The clothes of the people on the street were ornate and complicated in style, with almost none of the rustic feel of the Avalon countryside.
This vibrant city is full of richness and artistic feeling.
The final years of the Herasil Empire... this was a truly peak period in human history. Despite its sharp internal conflicts and numerous factions, the ultimate cause of the empire's disintegration lay not with the lower classes, but with the power struggles at the top.
The prosperity of the Herasil Empire was caused by the same reasons as its destruction.
It was the first, and possibly the last, major empire in human history to feature nine parallel paths, with equal opportunity for all professions. Even necromancers, demonologists, blood mages, tricksters, and assassins could rise to high positions within the empire. All extraordinary abilities were fully taught and utilized, giving the empire a productivity that was ahead of its time.
The streets were actually lit by public lighting similar to streetlights, but they weren't powered by electricity, but seemed to burn some kind of oil. These streetlights filled the entire street, shining brightly and steadily, with almost no area dark.
The secret order dedicated to Sister Sasha could openly operate on the street, and not far away was the School of the Dead—the ziggurat that pierced the sky was entwined with visible ghosts. Necromancer apprentices, dressed in robes of dead leaves, had just finished their evening classes and were wandering the streets hungry, looking for food.
An assassin in leather armor and a hooded face walked arm in arm with an armored knight into a streetside tavern. An alchemist, bottles slung around his waist, and a solemn mage with a gleaming blue in his eyes discussed something on a street corner.
The purple-robed demonologist was accompanied by a variety of demons. They unleashed their demons openly, following them around. Aiwass even saw a punishment demon passing by, which turned back to glance at Aiwass and the shadow demon at her feet, casting a warning look at Aiwass.
A vampire with bloodshot eyes leaned against the wall with one hand, chatting with a girl he had just met. A witch darted through the air on a broomstick. On a street corner, an artist held up his sketchpad, gazing at the night scene and the people living on the street.
Only the moon in the sky remained unchanged, shining down on the earth as quietly as it would hundreds of years later.
Bayard held Aiwas's hand and walked slowly through the noisy crowd.
She dragged Aiwass to a tavern, skillfully ordered two glasses of ale and three bowls of broth, and sat in a booth.
From here you can maintain a certain degree of privacy while still being able to see what people are doing outside.
The pub was neither loud nor vulgar.
On the stage in the middle, people could be seen dancing—not a professional troupe, but rather citizens led by a professional dancer. Below them was a group of instrumentalists, who also didn't look very professional. But they occasionally burst into cheerful laughter.
Next to the stage, there were several tables where people were playing chess. It was a game similar to chess, but the pieces were huge—they weren't even handheld, but semi-automatic. People tapped the pieces and then the grid, and they flew to the corresponding positions.
In other compartments, masked fortune tellers, armed with crystal balls, pendulums, and cards, chatted quietly with people in corners.
Young children could be seen selling lottery tickets—it sounded like a kind of horse racing ticket. But the more Aiwass listened, the more he felt something was wrong. He felt that those "horses" seemed to refer to something... perhaps a prince.
"That's people betting on who will be the next emperor."
Bayard noticed Aiwas's gaze and said casually, "This is the traditional entertainment of the citizens."
"Why, are you surprised?"
While waiting for the broth, Bayard whispered to Aiwass.
"Um."
Aiwass nodded slightly.
Of course she was surprised.
Rather, it was unexpected in every sense.
Whether it was Bayard dragging her into an ordinary citizen's tavern, or the nightlife and games played by people during the imperial era, or the joyful scene on the nine avenues of the street, or the fact that the citizens dared to directly gamble on the succession to the throne and "bet on horses"...
The prosperity and joy here even made Aiwass think that the decadence and cruelty in the Crescent Moon Manor was an illusion.
Moreover, if Aiwass remembered correctly, the dreams created by the promotion ceremony usually only had a few people. Just like Aiwass's first promotion ceremony, there were only a few living people on the streets, almost as sparse as the pedestrians on the streets in Conan's later years.
This is not to reduce the workload of the Pillar God... The most important thing is to provide these promoted people with clear investigation clues.
After all, if they were to question everyone one by one, they might be targeted after just a few questions due to their suspicious behavior. Furthermore, that would make the ceremony heavily dependent on luck—whoever made contact with the important figures first would gain more information than others. Therefore, promotion ceremonies usually eliminated unnecessary people.
——But there were too many passers-by in this ceremony.
There had been many guests at the Huyue Manor before. At the time, Aiwass had thought that with so many people interacting, the clues would probably take until next month to investigate.
But now she was stunned when she came out.
The street is full of people!
If Aiwass hadn't clearly remembered that this was a promotion ceremony, she would even think that she had truly returned to this era.
Although this ceremony was built with amber, Aiwass remembered that the last ceremony built with amber was not that complicated.
This must be the requirement of the Twin Mirror...
"This is the tavern I often visited as a child. It was originally a chance encounter. I was willful and insisted on going out to play when it started raining, but ended up getting separated from my servant and mistakenly came here to take shelter. The owner saw me shivering with cold and gave me a bowl of meat soup to warm me up. The owner's wife found a towel for me to dry my hair.
"I thought at the time, this is the best broth I have ever tasted."
Bayard looked at the silent Aiwass and smiled to herself.
"This isn't a personal feeling... I just think the broth here is delicious. The owner stews beef bones and chicken racks together. And since I was skinny as a kid, the owner would put in a few extra pieces of meat just for me.
"My father taught me ritual magic from a young age, while my mother taught me how to become a charming witch. When I got tired of studying, I would come out here to drink broth and listen to minstrels playing the harp. Sometimes clowns would come on stage to tell jokes or perform some humorous plays that were not suitable for children, and every time that happened, the boss would curse, "There are children here."
"Until I grew up and took over the family business, I felt lonely and sometimes wanted to have a drink alone... That's when I would come here."
Bayard said, supporting his face with one hand, looking at Aiwass with a beautiful smile: "I brought you here to share my childhood, little cutie... and also to bring 'her' here to see.
"It's been a while since you came back... If you were me, you would probably want to come here and take a look. I thought about it and if I were you, I would probably want to come here and have a bowl of soup.
"I sense that you seem lonely."
Hearing this, Aiwass was stunned.
And the Shadow Demon sighed softly in Aiwas' heart.
(End of this chapter)
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