Persuasion

Neph scrutinized Archbishop Horamick's expression. The Archbishop seemed genuinely unaware of the situation. Under Neph's Offline, he pondered for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "I'm sorry, I think this kind of thing might not be very common in Loen. Perhaps the clergy stationed in Intis would know more about these things."

He paused, looked around again, and then lowered his voice, saying, "But Your Excellency, could you tell me who that steward is? And who is the high-ranking official he admires?"

"Good question—" Neph's lips twitched slightly, and she shook her head, saying, "To be honest, I've also been curious about who the high-ranking official he admires is. As for who he is—well, perhaps you should ask your Machinery Hivemind."

Neph gave the poor deacon a final bit of face. Archbishop Horamick's curiosity wasn't so great as to deliberately inquire, and when his casual question didn't yield an answer, he gave up, simply shaking his head and continuing to lead Neph inside.

Bornova Gustav was tall and handsome, with long chestnut hair. As they entered, the Angel slowly opened his eyes and cast his gaze upon them without a trace of emotion.

Neph stared at his flowing long hair and handsome young face for a few seconds, then turned to Archbishop Horamick and asked, "Are you really unaware of the marital status and love lives of other clergy?"

"----I'm sorry." Archbishop Horamick said stiffly, then stepped forward and whispered a few words in Bornova Gustav's ear.

Such actions were more symbolic than formal. Neph politely ignored them, her gaze wandering around the room. Bornova Gustav listened to Archbishop Horamica while observing the girl.

She looked to be about eighteen or nineteen years old. Her Warlock robes were Pure White and vintage-style. She wore a white pointed soft hat with a blue-green feather Hat Ornament on it, which complemented her serene blue-green eyes.

But in Bornova Gustav's view, the girl was only human in appearance. He could see the white mist floating beneath her human form. The mist was still maintaining its human shape for the time being, but it was extremely unstable and seemed to be on the verge of dissipating.

Angel.

Or rather, Mythical Creature.

He recognized the other party's identity and understood that it was the other party's "essence," that is, the form of Mythical Creature.

Horamick's account corroborated this speculation. Bornova Gustev nodded slightly and turned to Neph, saying, "Please sit down."

Neph sat down without ceremony, and Archbishop Horamick tactfully withdrew. Neph looked at the man before her and finally couldn't help but laugh, "I never expected that I would meet you before I met your father."

Bornova Gustav looked at her, his voice flat and emotionless. "My father is dead."

Neph paused for a moment, looking at the other's calm and expressionless face, and realized that this Angel was indeed as she remembered, with little humanity left, and even her feelings for her father were almost nonexistent.

This terrified Neph, and she abandoned her plan for small talk, stating her purpose directly. "I want to speak with your God."

Bornova Gustav glanced at Neph and replied, "I need to know your purpose."

This is only natural. After a few seconds of contemplation, Neph chose the coolest-sounding explanation from among the many. "It's for the sake of the times."

This question successfully changed Bornova Gustav's gaze. It wasn't obvious, but it was definitely there. Neph felt the gaze on her become more intense. The Angel asked in a deep voice, "What is your relationship with the Twilight Hermit Order?"

"It's alright," Neph shook her head, "But for now, we have the same goal."

Bornova Gustav gave Neph a deep look, said nothing, and simply closed his eyes.

Neph realized he was praying. She stared at Bornova Gustav, a strange thought suddenly popping into her head: Was it possible that Dwayne Dantès was secretly sleeping while praying with his eyes closed in the Evernight Church?

Before she could come to a conclusion, Bornova Gustav opened his eyes and asked her, "Do you wish me to relay your message, or would you prefer to speak directly with my My Lord?"

"There's a way to communicate in person?" Neph asked in surprise.

"You could have communicated on your own," Bornova Gustav calmly pointed out, "If you were willing to pray to the Lord."

That was impossible. Why didn't He pray to me? Neph shook her head without hesitation, rejecting the suggestion.

Under Neph's astonished gaze, Bornova Gustav bent down and took out an object resembling a radio from the cabinet. It was small and made of metal. Neph's eyes widened instantly, and she blurted out, "A radio?!"

Bornova Gustav asked, "This name—you seem to know its efficacy?"

Me? Of course I know, but the problem is, this thing shouldn't even be here!

"Where did it come from?" Neph asked, frowning.

Bornova Gustav answered methodically, "This is a machine made based on radio principles. It is currently being tested and tested. There have been some small-scale trials at the Sea, but only in the form of broadcasts."

"As you said, this is a device capable of receiving and emitting sound. My Lord, as the god of machines, can communicate with you through it."

It can't receive my voice, can it? -- No, Steam shouldn't need this Robot's assistance. Even if it did, I could do it myself -- What was its name again? I think it was Stiano --

Neph stared at the radio for two seconds, then asked with a hint of curiosity, "You said it works on the principle of radio waves, so, can 'The Tyrant ' use it to communicate with people?"

Bornova Gustav glanced thoughtfully at Neph and replied, "My Lord could have communicated with you, but He thought this way might lessen the resentment in your heart."

You are unwilling to pray to Him, or perhaps you don't want Him to speak to you in your mind.

Oh, actually, I'm not that unhappy about the latter, and my dislike for the former isn't because I'm afraid of being categorized or anything. To be honest, I just feel that it would seem strange for me to pray to other gods.

She suppressed the urge to raise her hand to Inverted Cross over her chest, and shrugged, saying, "Okay."

She paused, then asked, "Now that you've made a radio, have you considered making a telephone?"

"Telephone?" Bornova Gustav repeated the neologism tentatively.

"It's like—" Neph hesitated, trying to describe the phone, "a walkie-talkie, you know? With it, we can stay in touch even from a great distance—uh, it seems to be wireless; I don't know anything about wired ones—"

Chapter 10 Persuasion

Given Neph's age, while she couldn't say she had never seen a landline phone, she certainly had little experience using one. Therefore, she only described her impression of cordless phones briefly before giving up on the matter.

Bornova Gustav replied thoughtfully, "My father's manuscripts seem to contain a similar idea."

Neph's lips twitched. She was suddenly curious about what would happen if she told Bornova Gustav what Emperor Roselle was really like, but in the end, she did not do so.

After all, this only satisfied her curiosity to a certain extent, and had no other benefits, only various negative effects, such as adding trouble to her meeting with Emperor Roselle.

Moreover, Bornova Gustav's attitude was clear from the beginning. Unlike Bernadette, who had complex and profound feelings for her father, for Bornova Gustav, "father" was just a noun.

If it were Bernadette, knowing these things would definitely make for a great show.

---By the way, didn't I promise to teach Bernadette Chinese?

Neph paused briefly, then spoke without hesitation, "Aren't you going out?"

Bornova Gustav left, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.

Neph's eyes darted around, and she reached for the radio, pressing the button without tuning. Amidst the crackling sound, she shouted in Jotun, "Stiano?"

"Buzz---- Neph ----Buzz buzz----" The radio struggled to keep going, "Is that your name?"

"Just call me that," Neph leaned back, smiling as she replied, "It's the name God gave me."

She no longer needed this Lie to maintain appearances, because regardless of the truth, she was already a true Angel and had received recognition. But—one of the key points of lying is to maintain consistency between the Lie.

As for how she got the name Neph, she and the "True Creator" know it themselves, and there's no need to explain it to outsiders.

"Neph," the radio continued to run, the voice a plain mechanical sound, seemingly mixed with the whirring of gears, its gender and age indiscernible, "What do you want to talk to me about?"

Neph blinked and smiled, "Do you want me to Door Opening, or be a little more subtle?"

"Door Opening." The owner of the voice seemed unwilling to waste words.

Neph narrowed her eyes slightly, opened her mouth slightly, and uttered a short sentence. "War of the Gods."

"Buzz----Buzz----" The radio got stuck.

Neph didn't rush to speak. She leaned back in her chair, relaxed, until the voice on the radio spoke up, "Adam —has obtained the last key to godhood, and is only one Ritual away from becoming a god. So, did He send you as a persuader?"

"I am not—I am not His person." Neph hesitated for a moment, not calling Adam by his name directly.

It wasn't that she was afraid of being overheard; it was just that, although Neph couldn't compare to the "True Creator" in terms of Adam, she still remembered that he was the Divinity Aspect of her Lord, and calling him by his name always felt inappropriate to her.

At most, she imitated Amon, telling people that he was one half of her master.

To be honest, this didn't seem to be very respectful either— Neph guiltily raised her hand and made an Inverted Cross in front of her chest.

She paused, then added, "To be precise, the person who commissioned me was my Twin Sister."

The sound of "sister" from the radio crackled even louder. The God of Steam and Machinery seemed to be pondering, piecing together the words amidst the crackling. "Intis and Loen have long been at odds, and Feysac is also eyeing them covetously."

"Among the Seven Gods, Storm, Wisdom, and Eternal Blazing Sun share similar attitudes. They both crave war and want to gain more benefits through it, yet they also fear war and do not wish for the war to truly expand, so that Adam can usher in the era he needs."

"The God of Combat and the Earth Mother are united in their cause; their goal is the Evernight. However, the Earth Mother will dissuade the God of Combat, advising him not to act rashly until he has sufficient confidence."

"And what about you?" Neph asked.

"Me?" Stiano replied in a mechanical voice.

Neph smiled and asked, "Are you and Eternal Blazing Sun on a good relationship?"

"Buzz----Buzz buzz----" The radio went back to having no signal.

Neph shook her head slightly. She knew this was tacitly allowing her to continue, since Bornova Gustav was right outside the door. If the God of Steam and Machinery didn't want to talk, he could simply let His Angel in.

So Neph said, "The War of the Gods is inevitable. Your papacy is located in Trier, and the second papacy is located in Loen. You are destined to be caught in the middle. Before the War of the Gods begins, you must choose one side to be close to."

"However, since you became a god in the Fourth Epoch, the Church of Steam and Machinery has always been lower in status than the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun in Intis. This only slightly improved after Roselle appeared and you changed your name to the God of Steam and Machinery."

"But even now, you are not evenly matched with the Eternal Blazing Sun; at most, you are just not so badly suppressed."

Choosing Eternal Blazing Sun will not benefit you at all, because if Intis wins, Eternal Blazing Sun will benefit, but Intis loses, you will bear the consequences.

"I don't think you share the same bond as the Earth Mother and the God of Combat, so why are you so fixated on this?"

"You don't want me to help instigate the War of the Gods— " Stiano finally realized, "You want me to stand on the side of Evernight."

"Of course," Neph smiled, "As for how to start a war, I have other ideas."

"What are your thoughts?" Stiano asked.

"To be honest, that's a rather impolite question," Neph shook her head, "and besides, I can't say, after all—"

Neph shrugged and chuckled, "Well, what can you do when your radio works on the principle of radio waves?"

"You want to start with the Storm?" Stiano understood. "Indeed, it's the most impulsive of all parties."

Dude, has your reputation as a brute spread this far even among the gods?

Neph's lips twitched slightly, and she nodded, but did not intend to reveal her solution.

Stiano didn't press further. He continued through the radio, "As you said, standing on the side of the Eternal Blazing Sun brings me no benefit, but what benefit would it bring me to stand on your side?"

Neph curved her lips into a slight smile and asked rather impolitely, "I'll say it."

"You don't think that just because you're on Eternal Blazing Sun's side, they'll win, do you?"