"I attended a few of Professor Lessing's lectures," Rano sighed. "Back then, I found his lectures very interesting; they clarified many things that were previously unclear. It's just that the church later labeled him a blasphemer..."
"Mr. Schuster, I know what you're trying to say. Based on my experience, I'm certainly more likely to accept your points... But right now I'm just an employee, getting paid by the Joint Investigation Bureau, and I don't want to get involved in these topics anymore."
"Of course, of course, I didn't intend for you to become an ambassador for blasphemy." Carlo leaned on the edge of the ship's railing. "I'm saying this to provide some background information; without understanding this context, any investigation will inevitably be shrouded in mystery."
"Background information?"
"Aren't you curious why I called you to this lake today?" Carlo asked. "The present moment is connected by countless past causes and effects. Understanding those past causes and effects helps us understand the present problem, just like Vicania— "
"Here we go again!" Rano covered his face.
"Just take it as entertainment. I'm not going to report you for listening to blasphemous remarks without permission. Besides, don't you really want to know anything about the love-hate relationship between Vicania and Morzul?"
"By Vicania..."
Rano said this, but his fingers moved a crack away from his face, his eyes filled with hesitation.
"You say no, but your body says otherwise."
"I'm really leaving!"
"Hehe, this is the middle of the lake. If you want to leave, you'll have to jump into the lake and swim back. Based on what I just said, do you think you might encounter water ghosts in this lake?"
Rano was truly at a loss.
Carlo shrugged. "Since we can't escape, let's continue listening to Lessing's blasphemous remarks."
"According to the earliest verifiable version of Vicania's teachings, she was already a goddess who prayed for a bountiful harvest."
"Going further back, there may be images of other gods incorporated into it, but at that time it was not called Vicania, because the name Vicania is clearly Hiro Script name."
"Furthermore, the concept of a bountiful harvest usually only becomes a mainstream prayer in stable agrarian societies. The Vist People ' mode of production was mainly based on hunting and gathering, and there is no record of large-scale farmland reclamation."
"Therefore, it can be argued that the faith gradually arose in Vicania after the Empire conquered the area and established an imperial-style town, with agriculture replacing the original hunting and gathering production."
"The reason why Vicania spread in Vista and even more in the Western Territory is partly because it replaced the original beliefs here, especially the beliefs centered around Morzul."
"As I said before, in the mythology of the Vist People, Morzul already had the divine office of the god of war. If a defeated tribe continues to worship a god of war, it means that they still harbor the idea of resistance and still think about taking up arms again one day."
"The Empire will not allow such a threat to exist, so a more moderate faith must be used to cover the original foundation."
" Vicania, the goddess of harvest and healing, gentle and loving, is clearly more suitable as the mainstream faith here, replacing the worship of Morzul."
"And the most obvious sign of replacement is in the ' Golden Bough '."
" Golden Bough..." Rano frowned.
"Golden branches symbolize life, prosperity, and divine grace. But why branches? Why not ears of grain, which would better represent a bountiful harvest?"
"Conversely, branches are part of a tree, but to whom did the image of the tree originally belong in the Vist People tradition?"
Rano seemed to realize something, opened his mouth, but made no sound.
"Judging from your expression, the answer is obvious, isn't it? Morzul is the ' Tree in the Lake,' and Golden Bough takes the image of the 'branch,' cutting off the roots of the 'tree,' retrieving it from the dead world at the bottom of the lake, gilding it with gold, and turning it into Holy Relic in Vicania's hands to bless humanity."
"Replace the trees rooted in the dark lake with branches that shimmer with golden light, replace the chill of death with the warmth of harvest, and replace the Tree in the Lake after death with those that rest in peace, blessed with Golden Bough... The trees no longer grow in the dark lake, but on the prosperous land, stretching towards the bright sky."
"This is a very clever approach. It doesn't completely negate the symbolism of the Vist People; it retains the form but changes the connotation. Gradually, the old associations will be replaced by the new ones."
"As for the love-hate relationship between Vicania and Morzul, it's not hard to understand. In the exchange of faiths, the loser is either absorbed into the divine or condemned as a demon."
In the mythology of the Church of the Golden Bough, Vicania suppressed the " Ancient God of Decay " with her Golden Bough Spear, planted Golden Bough in the swamp, bestowed fertility upon the earth, and granted prosperity to all living beings. This " Ancient God of Decay " is the embodiment of the "decayed" side of Morzul.
Carlo paused for a moment, giving Rano time to process this information, and then continued, "However, what's interesting is that there isn't much imagery of the ' Tree in the Lake ' left of Morzul during the War of the Churches. Otherwise, you wouldn't need me to explain the connection between Morzul and the ' Tree in the Lake.'"
"Among those who believe in Morzul, He still retains the power of the cycle of life and death, but the withered aspect far outweighs the reborn aspect. His servants are described as Foul Spirit, walking corpses, ghosts, water spirits, and other dead beings. Rebirth has become a death and resurrection, rather than a whale falling and all things coming to life."
"In other words, the Morzul that manifested itself possesses both the original faith's elements and the ' Ancient God of Decay ' described in the Church of the Golden Bough, much like... the form that stabilized after being suppressed by the Vicania faith."
Rano was silent for a moment, then let out a sigh of relief.
"Mr. Schuster, what you've said isn't new in theological studies," Rano said. "My understanding is that the wars of the gods began very early, and those changes were probably a response to pressure from other deities, culminating in the most intense manifestation during the War of the Churches."
"Your understanding is that Morzul during the War of the Churches had actually suffered multiple defeats and weakenings at the hands of Vicania during the long war of the gods, and had been stripped of many powers, thus presenting its current form."
"Yes."
"Hmm, that could be one explanation." Carlo nodded.
Rano was somewhat surprised; he had expected Carlo to refute him and offer some other shocking remarks.
But he waited a while, and Carlo looked at the lake, seemingly observing something.
Rano cleared his throat. "Mr. Schuster, what does all this have to do with the case we're investigating?"
"Which Morzul do you think is the real one?"