Chapter 911 Gift

Joan had to admit that the two problems revealed by the instructor just now, that people are born involuntarily and are doomed to die, are indeed cruel reality.

Professor Moriarty is not the first person to discover this cruel reality. In fact, the reason why people worship idols and various gods and are inspired by religion is to fight against these inescapable existential anxieties.

For Professor Moriarty and Joan, the saddest thing is that they are both outstanding arcane spellcasters, and their rationality is far more than emotional.

According to rational logic, it is easy to deduce that a proposition is true:

If a so-called "god" is not the only omniscient and omnipotent existence, then it cannot be regarded as a real god, and it is not worthy of people's unconditional worship.

Based on this conclusion, the vast majority of mages, including Joan and his mentor, would rather worship knowledge than gods with limited abilities.

They cannot find spiritual comfort from religious beliefs, so they can only find another way out by themselves, trying to anchor a comforting meaning to their lives.

Joan doesn't fully agree with the teacher's vain and pessimistic arguments, but he is willing to learn nutrients from the teacher's thoughts, and try to find another path on this basis to seek his own spiritual destination.

...

The next afternoon, as agreed, Mrs. Josephine visited Joan's laboratory again.

As soon as she entered the door, she took out two beautifully wrapped gift boxes from her handbag, put them on Joan's desk, and casually told him that they were just some small gifts, and she didn't know if he liked them or not.

Joan actually didn't want to accept any gifts, but the kindness was hard to turn down, so he had to thank him again and again, and opened the box, which surprised him!

He originally thought that the gift Mrs. Josephine brought was just like the "apple pie" yesterday, it was just a small thought, and it didn't hurt to accept it himself.

However, this gift was unexpectedly expensive!

In the first gift box, there was a briar pipe and premium tobacco. Even if Joann didn't smoke, he could see that it was worth a lot.

The other gift box was even more incredible. Inside it was a pocket watch with a gold shell. The exquisite workmanship must have come from the hands of a famous craftsman.

"Mrs. Josephine, these gifts are too expensive, I dare not accept them!"

Joan held the gift box with a look of embarrassment on his face.

Madam Josephine smiled faintly, opened the platinum cigarette case, took out a thin cigar, and shook it at him.

"Do you mind if I smoke here?"

"Of course not, you can do whatever you want."

Joan raised his hand and performed a "magic trick", a small flame rose from his fingertips, and lit a cigarette for the countess.

Mrs. Josephine nodded her thanks, took a puff of the cigarette, and slowly exhaled it with a faint fragrance from between her two sexy red lips. Her gorgeous face was covered by the smoke, adding a bit of mystery to her.

"Joan, I don't want to buy you or please you by giving you a small gift."

"I did not mean that--"

"Listen to me."

The countess raised her hand to signal him not to interrupt.

Joan had no choice but to remain silent, as if to listen attentively.

She exhaled another cloud of smoke, her demeanor and tone of voice seemed a little sad.

"I give you gifts, of course, because I have a good impression of you. There is no doubt about it. I hope that these small gifts can make you feel happy, feel your happiness, and satisfy myself."

"In this sense, I'm not giving you a gift to please you, but to please myself. It can be said to be a selfish behavior."

"Let me think about it."

Joan felt a little dizzy, and had to spend some time sorting out the logic chain inside.

The countess smiled softly, pulled an armchair, kicked off her small leather shoes, put her slender feet on the seat, bent her knees, and half sat and half lay on the large seat in a freehand gesture .

The food and middle two fingers of the right hand hold the cigarette, the elbow of the left hand rests on the armrest of the seat, the palm rests on the cheek, and takes a puff of cigarette from time to time, looking very relaxed.

"Ma'am, are you expressing such a concept that altruistic behavior will also bring you intangible benefits at the same time?"

“For example, people who do charity not only come back in vain, but also feel that they are in a position higher than the beneficiary because of the gratitude of the beneficiary, or just because of the fact that they help the other party out of the predicament, and thus get satisfaction. .”

"This relatively higher status can be wealth, power, morality, emotion, or just an illusion."

"Every act of generosity and kindness is an affirmation of one's own superiority, and at that moment, one feels like a savior."

Joan tried to describe Mrs. Josephine's state of mind based on her own experience.

"That's a good point, Joan. At this time, you look more and more like your mentor when you were young."

The countess took the ashtray from the young mage and flicked the ashtray.

"Pure metaphysical speculation is too boring, let me add a vivid example for you."

"It's probably not hard to imagine that little girls usually like dolls, especially the ones that can change clothes."

"A little girl, when she carefully sews a set of beautiful clothes for her favorite doll and puts it on the doll herself, for the doll, if it has sentience and emotion, of course it will be considered a very good gift , it is worth thanking the little master for his generosity."

"However, the owner of the doll, that little girl, is doing this to please the doll?"

"Obviously, she is just pleasing herself, and the doll in new clothes is just a vehicle for her to please herself. There is really no need to be too grateful."

"Your examples are indeed very vivid and convincing, but I think... this way of thinking is too cold and inhuman."

Joan protested in a low voice.

Madam Josephine gave him a charming look.

"You withdrawn and shy little boy, dare to criticize Midgard's most popular courtesan for being unreasonable. Tell me loudly, who gave you the courage?"

Joan blushed, and didn't dare to make a sound.

Madam Josephine pointed at him with a cigarette and said with a smile, "This is a lesson for you."

"Silly boy, you should stop arguing with others."

"The truth may not become clearer and clearer, but the feelings must become colder and colder. Promise me, don't do such stupid things in the future, okay?"

"This...let me go back and think about it carefully."

Mrs. Josephine is a very wise person, but Joan vaguely feels that her wisdom is not the same as the kind of wisdom she has always believed in, and is different from the concept held by most people.

This made him feel a little confused. Could it be that Mrs. Josephine's deviant thoughts are closer to the truth than the mainstream ideas recognized by the public?

"Okay, let's not talk about these boring things. The gift I gave you is of course your disposal. If you don't like it, just throw it into the trash can."

Madame Josephine took a puff of her cigarette and said nonchalantly.