The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 325

Chapter 326
Beyad’s Childhood
Beyad pulled Eivass along, walking through the streets of the Hrasal Empire at night.
Eivass admired the architecture of the Imperial era with appreciation. From Eivass’s perspective, these Imperial-era buildings were close to Gothic style, characterized by their height, sharp verticality, and numerous ribbed vaults.
The buildings varied in height and width, lacking any organized specifications. They were unlike Glass Island, where an entire city district had the same color, and building heights and sizes were almost identical. The architecture here exuded a strong sense of freedom and artistry.
Almost all the exteriors of the buildings were adorned with extensive reliefs and intricate carvings, as well as a large amount of colored glass. It was worth noting that Avalon, famous for its glass production, couldn’t even achieve full coverage of ordinary glass windows in rural areas two hundred years later. Yet, in the Hrasal Empire today, as far as the eye could see, all the buildings on the streets were decorated with copious amounts of colored glass… and these glasses were almost all unique and magnificent artworks.
In the vast blank spaces, one could see many artistic graffiti. The entire street was paved with stone slabs, and a passing carriage had a luxurious, jade-like shell. Eivass glanced at it and felt it might be whalebone. But it was hard to say; it could be some other kind of bone.
The clothes of the people on the street were gorgeous and intricate, lacking the rustic feel of the Avalon countryside. This vibrant city was filled with a sense of opulence and art.
The late Hrasal Empire… this was truly a peak era in human history. Despite its internal contradictions being extremely sharp and its numerous factions, the ultimate reason for the empire’s disintegration did not stem from the common people but from the power struggles of the upper class. The prosperity of the Hrasal Empire was the same cause as its destruction.
It was the first, and possibly the last, large empire in human history where the Nine Great Paths coexisted, and all professions were treated equally without discrimination. Even professions like Necromancer, Demon Scholar, Blood Mage, Scammer, or Assassin could become prominent figures in the empire’s high echelons. All Extraordinary Abilities were fully taught and applied, giving the empire a productivity far ahead of its time.
The street even had public lighting facilities resembling streetlights, although they were not powered by electricity but seemed to burn some kind of oil. However, these streetlights were dotted throughout the entire street, casting a bright and stable light, with hardly any dim areas.
The Secret Cult that worshipped Sister Sasha could openly operate on the street, and not far away was the Necromancer Academy – the spirit-piercing Spirit Tower was entwined with visible ghouls. Necromancer apprentices, clad in dead leaf robes, had just finished their evening classes and were wandering the streets hungrily, looking for food.
Assassins, wearing leather armor and hoods to conceal their faces, linked arms with knights in armor as they entered a roadside tavern. Alchemists, with bottles and jars hanging from their waists, and Mages, with glowing blue eyes and solemn expressions, were discussing something at the street corner.
Demon Scholars, in purple robes, were accompanied by demons of various appearances. They openly let their demons out to follow them – Eivass even saw a Punisher Demon pass by, which specifically looked back at Eivass and the Shadow Demon at her feet, casting a warning glance at Eivass.
Vampires with scarlet eyes leaned against a wall with one hand, chatting with a girl they happened to meet; witches on broomsticks sped past in the air. At the street corner, an artist set up an easel, observing the night view of the district and the people on the street.
Only the moon in the sky remained eternal, shining quietly upon the Earth as it would centuries later.
Beyad, holding Eivass’s hand, slowly passed through the bustling crowd. She led Eivass to a tavern, skillfully ordered two mugs of ale and three bowls of meat soup, and sat down in a booth. From here, they could maintain a suitable level of privacy while also observing what people outside were doing.
The tavern was not rowdy nor vulgar. On the performance stage in the center, people were dancing – not a professional troupe, but citizens dancing led by a professional dancer. Below, there was also a band playing musical instruments; they didn’t look very professional either, yet bursts of joyful laughter erupted from time to time.
Next to the performance stage, there were several tables where people were playing chess. It was a chess-like game, but the pieces were very large – they weren’t even moved by hand but were semi-automatic. People would pat the pieces and then pat the squares, and the pieces would fly over to their corresponding positions.
In other booths, there were masked Diviners. They carried crystal balls, pendulums, and cards, whispering with people in the corners. Eivass also saw young children selling lottery tickets – it sounded like horse racing, but the more Eivass listened, the more something felt off. She felt that these “horses” seemed to refer to something… like a certain prince.
“That’s people betting on who will be the next emperor,” Beyad noticed Eivass’s gaze and casually said, “It’s a traditional form of entertainment for the citizens.”
“What, is it surprising?” Beyad asked Eivass softly while waiting for the soup.
“Mhm,” Eivass nodded gently. Of course, she was surprised. If anything, she was surprised in every sense of the word. Whether it was Beyad pulling her into an unremarkable citizen’s tavern, or the nightlife and games of people in the Imperial era, or the harmonious scene of the Nine Great Paths on the streets, or the fact that citizens dared to treat imperial succession as a gamble to “bet on horses”… the prosperity and joy here even made Eivass momentarily think that the decadence and cruelty in Crescent Moon Manor were an illusion.
Moreover, if Eivass remembered correctly, the dreamscapes constructed for Ascension Rituals usually only involved a few people. Just like Eivass’s first Ascension Ritual, there were very few living people on the streets, resembling the sparse passersby on the streets in the later stages of Conan. This was not to reduce the Pillar God’s workload… the main reason was to provide clear clues for these Ascenders. After all, if they had to ask each person one by one, they might be targeted for suspicious behavior after questioning only a few. It would also make the ritual heavily reliant on luck – whoever contacted an important character first would gain more information than others. Therefore, Ascension Rituals usually removed unnecessary people.
—But in this ritual, there were far too many passersby. There were many guests at Crescent Moon Manor before. At the time, Eivass thought that with so many people to interact with, the investigation would likely last until next month. And now, she was stunned the moment she came out. The streets were also full of people! If Eivass hadn’t clearly remembered that this was an Ascension Ritual, she would have thought she had truly returned to that era.
Although this ritual was constructed by Amber, Eivass remembered that Amber’s previous rituals were not this complex. This must be a requirement of the Twin.
“This is a tavern I used to frequent when I was little. It was purely by chance at first. It was raining, and I insisted on coming out to play out of stubbornness, ended up getting separated from my servant and stumbled in here to take shelter. The boss saw me shivering and gave me a bowl of meat soup to warm me up; the proprietress found me a towel and dried my hair. At that time, I thought it was the best meat soup I had ever tasted.”
Beyad looked at the silent Eivass and smiled to herself. “It’s not just a personal feeling… I genuinely think the meat soup here is excellent. The proprietress simmers beef bones and chicken frames together. And when I was young and frail, the proprietress would give me extra pieces of meat. My father taught me ritual magic from a young age, and my mother taught me how to be a charming Witch. When I got tired of studying, I would run out here to drink meat soup and listen to Bards play their instruments. Sometimes, jesters would come on stage to tell jokes, or perform adult-themed comedic plays, and the boss would always scold them, saying, ‘There are still children here.’ Even after I became an adult and started taking over the family business, I felt lonely at times and sometimes wanted to drink alone… I would still come here then.”
Beyad spoke, resting her chin on her hand and giving Eivass a beautiful smile. “I brought you here to share my childhood, my little dear… and also to bring ‘her’ here to see. It’s been a long time since you’ve been back… If you were me, you’d probably want to come here and see too. I thought about it, if I were you, I’d probably want to come here for a bowl of soup. I can feel it, you seem very lonely.”
Hearing this, Eivass was stunned. And the Shadow Demon sighed softly in Eivass’s heart.