Mythology: Ragnarok

Just as Granny Tang was giving her advice, a knock came from outside. Milton then pushed the door open and entered. With a grim face, he told Agreed, "The worst-case scenario has happened. The Church of Light withdrew its troops yesterday and is now beginning to consolidate and integrate those territories."

Upon hearing this news, Agreed was somewhat at a loss. It was the first time he hadn't wanted his prediction to come true. Unfortunately, at that moment, Agreed realized a principle similar to 'Murphy's Law': 'Everything tends to move in the direction of your worst-case scenario, and you must always be prepared for the worst.'

Agreed sighed with some disappointment, then asked Yubaba, "Grandma, how long will it take for me to fully recover and walk normally?"

Grandma Tang knew she couldn't persuade him, so she could only sigh helplessly and say, "Your constitution is good, but it will take at least another three weeks to fully recover. I know what you want to do, but don't push yourself. Many things can't be rushed. Just lie down and rest. We'll talk about everything after three weeks."

Agreed nodded; he knew now was the time when there was no rush.

Milton comforted him, saying, "Don't worry, I'll wait here for you to recover. Let's work together to figure out a way to fight those bastards from the Church of Light."

Afterwards, Yubaba and Milton left the room, and Agreed lay down again, staring at the ceiling, feeling immense pressure.

……

Three weeks later

Agreed was practicing swordsmanship and doing rehabilitation exercises in her courtyard. Hepburn was taking care of the children beside her. After finishing her training, Agreed wiped the sweat from her forehead and walked over to the mother and daughter. She saw that the two of them were engrossed in reading a book, so she asked softly, "My darlings, what are you reading?"

Serena looked up at Agreed and exclaimed, "Dad, I'm reading a book called 'Peerless Tragic Love,' and the main characters are all so pitiful."

Upon hearing her daughter's answer, Agreed couldn't help but twitch her lips. Taking her daughter, who was not even eight years old, to read romance novels—Audrey Hepburn, you really are something! No, I should say, you are truly worthy of the title!

At this point, Agreed could only helplessly advise, "Daughter, just treat these books as jokes and don't bring them into reality, or you'll become stupid from them."

"Dad, why? These books are so interesting!"

Agreed could only chuckle and then explained, "Most of these kinds of stories start with two idiots who can't explain anything to each other, causing all sorts of misunderstandings under the guise of doing what's best for each other. Then, they're forcibly separated because of family background, status, national feuds, and a whole host of other things. And then, just at the right moment, the misunderstandings are forcibly cleared up. If there were even a shred of normal human communication and the frankness that lovers should have between them, the thickness of this book in your hand would be reduced by at least half. In short, the vast majority of romance novels can be categorized as 'love stories between two idiots'."

Serena thought for a moment and responded with some agreement, "It seems that Dad's words really summarize most of the plot of this book. How amazing!"

Agreed shrugged helplessly and said, "Fine, you'll understand what I mean sooner or later. Go ahead and read it, but I still maintain that you shouldn't project yourself onto the characters in the book; that's stupid."

As he spoke, he glanced at Hepburn, who was still engrossed in reading the novel, and, in a fit of anger, flicked her forehead lightly, saying, "And you, can't you act like a mother? Are you really that oblivious? Is this something an eight-year-old should be reading?"

Hepburn, rubbing her sore forehead, said aggrievedly, "So what if I'm eight? What can't I watch? Didn't you say that parenting should focus on guidance?"

"Is that how you guide me?" Agreed asked in surprise, spreading his hands.

“These books… it’s not so bad to use them as negative examples.” Hepburn suddenly hugged his waist and looked up at Agred, pouting, “I was wrong, you haven’t spent time with me in so long, and now that you’ve recovered from your injury you’re all stern with me.”

Seeing this, Agreed immediately softened his tone and stroked him affectionately, saying, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault for being negligent. It's okay, I'll keep you company tonight."

Their foreheads touched, and it looked like something unspeakable was about to happen, when Milton suddenly pushed the door open and was about to shout, "Ah..."

Seeing the scene before him and hearing Hepburn's fierce gaze, Milton quickly and tactfully said, "Excuse me, I went to the wrong place..."

As he spoke, he turned to flee, but Agreed quickly called out to him.

"Don't leave, since you're already here, let's get straight to the point."

Milton could only awkwardly scratch his head and say, "I just saw that your injury has almost healed, so I wanted to ask about your plans and when we're leaving."

Agreed thought for a moment and then replied, "About a week later. I need to spend more time with my family during this time. My plan is to travel to various countries to persuade the Eastern nations to form a coalition to attack the Church of Light. I have already asked the Avalon royal family to send invitations to the surviving Eastern nations to discuss the formation of a national alliance. We'll go and persuade them then, hopefully they'll have some sense."

Milton nodded, then stepped out of the courtyard and called out, "Then I won't disturb you any longer, please continue." He then considerately closed the gate behind him.

On the other side, in the sanctuary of the Church of Light

Pushkin knelt on the ground and cried out to his father, the current Pope of the Church of Light: "Father, why disband the Knights of Light! We just defeated the Mind Flayers; even if we didn't achieve great things, we certainly put in a lot of effort. All these years you..."

"Enough!" the Pope roared, interrupting Pushkin's questioning. His face darkened as he continued, "Do you know the extent of the losses you and the Knights of Light have caused us by your unauthorized actions? If the beast tide had continued for a while longer, we could have conquered the West much more easily, instead of resorting to such desperate measures! You still think you're right? My Lord has already ordered the disbandment of the Knights of Light. Your primary task now is to find the artifact!"

"A divine artifact?" Pushkin asked in bewilderment.

The Pope slowly walked from the throne above to Pushkin and said, “That’s right, this is a task specially assigned to us by God. Its priority is higher than all the work we have at hand. Our Lord recently sensed the power of the artifact in this world, so he specially assigned us to search for it in this world. This is our Lord’s command and the tools he gave us to find the artifact. Keep them safe.”

As he spoke, the Pope took out a compass, the needle of which pointed directly in the direction of Pushkin. Unfortunately, the Pope did not think of it in that direction at all, and only took it as the compass pointing in a general direction.

Pushkin then took the compass and put it in his pocket. He then stood up and left the hall in a sullen mood. He no longer wanted to say a word to his father.

At this moment, the Pope looked at Pushkin's departing figure and said softly with a hint of disappointment, "My most valued son, when will you be able to abandon your childish ideas and truly show me a qualified successor?"

This position absolutely cannot be passed on to those brothers of yours who only think about wine, women, and horses. But when will you stop going against me and become obedient and sensible? Sigh~

The Pope shook his head helplessly, turned around and began to process the memorials submitted by his subordinates. As the Pope, he had many things to attend to.