Sword of Dawn

Page 442

After listening to the head maid Diana's report, Rosetta's already serious and gloomy expression seemed to be a little more gloomy than before, but he didn't say anything, just replied indifferently: "Got it—— Work hard, let's go down."

Diana nodded, and gracefully took half a step back, her figure gradually disappearing into a field of curved light.

"Father," Matilda couldn't help looking at her father, "Is the information Diana mentioned... all reliable?"

"Diana will not make mistakes in this kind of thing, unless the Church of the God of War has woven a huge net enough to cover all the eyes and ears of the royal family to deceive the rogues." Rosetta said indifferently.

"...So there really is a big problem with the Church of the God of War, and Malm Dunit is deliberately hiding us..." Matilda said in a somewhat complicated tone, and she could hear the sadness in her emotions, "The entire Great Cathedral They're hiding from us..."

"Before being your elder and my friend, Malm was first the Pope of the God of War, so before being loyal to the royal family and friends, he was first loyal to his own god," Rosetta said calmly, as if she had expected When it comes to all this, "any pious believer will be like this... When theocratic power and imperial power exist at the same time and there are divergent interests, this is an inevitable situation."

Matilda sensed that there seemed to be deep meaning in her father's words, but before she could ask, she heard the other party suddenly ask about something else: "You haven't shown up at the parliament, have you?"

"Not yet," Matilda recalled the rest of today's itinerary in her mind, and also remembered the several bills that the parliament needed to hear by herself, so she nodded and replied, "I'm preparing to go there."

"Go there early-reservedness is the decency of the royal family, but being late is not."

Matilda glanced at her father, said nothing, just bowed and stepped back: "...Yes, Father."

The garden became quiet again, Matilda's aura was gone, only Rosetta Augustus stood quietly under the Lanye pine, the ruler of Typhon lowered his head and looked at the flower garden in front of him—— The growth of this flowerbed is not very good. Although those precious flowers and trees are doing their best to stretch their flower branches, signs of poor growth are still evident on those plants.

"Diana," Rosetta suddenly said to the air next to her, "what do you think of Matilda?"

In the slight fluctuation of magic power, the figure of the black-haired maid Diana quietly emerged. She did not go away, but some kind of superb breath control ability made her seem to have left the garden, and even deceived the sensitive Ma. Tilda's eyes.

The head maid slightly lowered her head and said respectfully: "I shouldn't comment on your heir, Your Majesty."

"How did you learn the hypocrisy of human beings?" Rosetta slightly raised her eyebrows, and said with a half-smile, "This is not a public occasion, and Matilda was grown up under your own eyes. .”

The black-haired maid was silent for less than two seconds before answering: "...As a human being, Matilda has outstanding talents, outstanding intelligence, sharp eyes beyond her age, and is able to accept the problems that have emerged in recent years. At the same time, she has a great influence among the middle and lower nobles of the empire and the emerging dignitaries—but she doesn't control the conservatives very well, and she is obviously not as skilled as you in this regard."

"The common problem of young people—she is not good at hiding her own tendencies," Rosetta nodded, "I am also responsible. I paid too much attention to the governance of the country and the construction of my own order system, so that I failed to make Matilda He and Hadilon have been trained well enough, if the two children were not diligent, their precious talents would have been wasted."

"'Cultivation' does not allow human beings to fully mature, and the field of experience needs to be summed up and comprehended by individuals," Diana said bluntly, "You didn't receive enough training before you became the emperor, but the fact Prove that you are far superior to the carefully 'manufactured' heir."

Rosetta was silent for a while, then smiled and shook her head: "There are some things that only you dare to say directly."

"This is the answer that is most in line with the facts and in the interests of the country," Diana replied in a soft but unaffected tone, "that's why I don't understand Prince Malik and Fabro and Coleman Ronnie The choice of the two dukes."

"Because human beings are not machines, we are always full of variables, and it is a luxury to keep human beings rational forever," Rosetta shook his head lightly, then he suddenly looked at the black-haired maid beside him, his expression became quite Solemnly, "You will still serve Typhon's next king, right?"

"As long as I can continue to provide services," Diana said meticulously, "this is the contract established since the ancestors of the Augustus family took me in and provided the necessary repairs."

"I believe in this contract. In this regard, you are far more reliable than humans." Rosetta smiled, and then waved her hands. "Let's not discuss these, let's talk about the gossip that has been circulating in the city recently. What's worth it?" Are you paying attention?"

"There are no changes worthy of attention among the people, but since two days ago, there have been some abnormal news from the Mage Association," said the black-haired maid, "The mages said that something was wrong when they prayed to the goddess of magic. Prayers have lost their feedback, and it seems that the last vestige of the goddess of magic's attention to the mortal world has disappeared."

"Goddess of magic?" Rosetta couldn't help frowning, "Why is even the goddess of magic in trouble..."

Then he glanced at Diana: "What is Ms. Windsor Maple doing?"

"She is collecting feedback from the mages, and at the same time organizing people to conduct tests - because the mages have not formed a religious group, it is difficult to define who should investigate the abnormal situation of the goddess of magic, so she should eventually find you to report the situation .”

Rosetta's expression was gloomy and serious, and she was already lost in thought when Diana's voice fell, and at this moment, a new breath stepped into the royal garden.

Diana looked in the direction where the biological reaction appeared, and a moment later, a senior attendant in a dark blue blouse appeared at the end of the cobblestone path.

"Your Majesty," the senior attendant bowed to Rosetta Augustus, "a 'special line message' from the Cecil Empire, bearing the royal seal."

"Dedicated line to send a letter?" Rosetta suddenly showed a serious expression, "Bring the letter."

Dedicated line transmission, this is a new thing based on modern communication technology after Matilda completed her mission to Cecil and established further diplomatic relations between the two countries.Unlike the "credentials" that required lengthy transmission and complicated diplomatic procedures to be transmitted between the rulers of the two countries (sometimes this "delivery" may even take as long as several months), the special line It is a "letter" that relies on the magic net communication of the Cecil Empire and the communication tower network of the Typhon Empire to quickly deliver.

Such a "letter" is sent from the source, automatically forwarded through layers of magic network nodes or communication tower nodes, and can reach the destination quickly with only a small amount of manual intervention, counting the necessary manual forwarding time and The entire process of transcription and delivery at the end took less than an hour, which is almost a conceptual level improvement compared with the communication efficiency in the old days.

Rosetta took the letter from the attendant. It was a "duplicate" that was printed out of the Obsidian Palace's communication tower less than half an hour ago. The paper still smelled of ink. The coat of arms of Typhon's royal family, and the emblem of Cecil's royal family can be seen at the lower end.

The ruler of Typhon remembered what he had discussed with Windsor and Daniel last time about the new communication technology—if only from a technical point of view, the communication efficiency between Typhon and Cecil could actually be further improved , as long as those useless manual links are opened up, and the technology of the communication tower is completely upgraded, then the rulers of the two countries may even have a direct call without delay. This sounds miraculous. It is feasible, but what stands in the way of its realization... is nothing more than the conservative nobles and traditional mages who still hold most of the dividends from the communication tower.

The main topic to be discussed in the parliament today is about the upgrading of communication technology—just like yesterday's meeting, today's dispute may still have no results.

Moderate discussions and votes cannot solve the problem of the distribution of interests between old and new groups. There are usually only two best ways to silence the old forces, either to wait for them to die, or to use the wheels of new things to directly grind them in the face—and Roll over without stopping.

Hopefully young Matilda will come to realize this after facing the chaotic parliament.

Rosetta shook his head, and temporarily put irrelevant things behind him. His gaze fell on the text on the letterhead. He had just read two lines before subconsciously frowning.

This letter was sent in the name of Gawain Cecil, and the above content was straight to the point——

"To my neighbors and friends, I have recently become aware of some very disturbing developments which may reach Typhon as far as thousands of miles away - my mages report that the Goddess of Magic appears to have disappeared ..."

Rosetta took a breath slowly, and he glanced at the attendant on standby, who immediately understood the intention, quietly bowed and retreated away from the garden, then he withdrew his gaze and continued to look down:

"...This may be a harbinger before the outbreak of some kind of large-scale incident. As neighbors closely connected with the country, I think it is necessary for us to share information on such matters. This is not only for the friendly relationship between the two countries, but also considering the The common future of mankind...

"... Cecil's mages have made a series of attempts and 'investigated' using technical means, and my advisors now have a dire speculation that the Goddess of Magic may have fallen for some unknown reason— — This sounds unbelievable, but we all know that something similar happened 3000 years ago, when the White Star fell, the Druids lost their 'gods'...

"...The mages will continue to investigate, and I hope Typhon can pay attention to this matter, because the belief of gods is not limited to one country or one place, it spans all mortals and affects the order of the entire mortal world... ..."

Rosetta's eyes continued to move downward, and the following content made his eyes tremble even more:

"...Furthermore, at the same time that the Goddess of Magic was showing abnormalities, the priests and priests of the God of War also reported anomalies - in a sense, I think what they reported was more disturbing than the disappearance of the Goddess of Magic...

"...Many priests serving the God of War have experienced symptoms of mental intrusion. They are repeatedly harassed by violent phantoms and voices, and the more they pray to the God of War for shelter, the more serious the mental intrusion is, as if the intrusion came from Like God of War...

"...These are internal affairs of the church, but the visions of the Goddess of Magic and the God of War have inevitably attracted my attention...

"We all know that during the 'Anzu Civil War' period, the crazy dark believers once created a god who was out of control. I don't want to say blasphemous words, but this incident proves that the 'power of the gods' is not as mortals imagined That can only be beautiful, and it can also become terrifying and violent. Now, I am worried that some forces are brewing similar things... The "divine disaster" on the Holy Spirit Plain in the past may repeat itself, and it will be worse than those created by the dark druids. What's more dangerous is that the Goddess of Magic and the God of War—especially the latter—has a great influence on belief in contemporary times...

"My friend, when you read this letter, I am also preparing to issue a warning to neighboring countries, but I think Typhon should be the most vigilant among all countries, and the reason is self-evident...

"...If you agree, I am willing to share with Typhon some of the experience and effective protection techniques of the Cecilians against the 'God's Disaster' on the Holy Spirit Plain. Of course, no one wants the God's Disaster to really repeat itself, All just to prepare for a rainy day...

"...your neighbor, Gawain Cecil."

Rosetta glanced at the final signature, and after a few seconds of silence, she took a deep breath.

Diana stood quietly by the side, without showing any curiosity about the contents of the letter.

"...It's a timely reminder," Rosetta said as if talking to herself, "'God disaster'...that's an apt word."

Diana's voice came from the side: "Your Majesty, do you need to summon Grand Duke Ferdinand to discuss?"

Rosetta nodded: "Well, let Grand Duke Ferdinand come here immediately, I will meet him in the study."

As he spoke, he turned and prepared to leave the garden, but when he was about to take a step, he stopped suddenly, and his eyes swept over the blue-leaf pine beside the flowerbed.

The tree has been sick for many years, and the incurable disease has even begun to affect the growth of other surrounding plants.

"Also tell the garden officer to cut down this tree."

Chapter 0931

The parliament hall in Aldernan has a gorgeous triple spire, the largest spire is located on the top of the whole building, which is used to symbolize the imperial power that protects and guides the entire empire, and the second spire symbolizes the nobles under the imperial power. Also known as the "Pillars of the Empire", the lowest tier of spires has the widest area and also directly covers the Council Hall, and nominally symbolizes the glorious citizens of the Empire, the "Foundations of the Empire".

This bold and groundbreaking symbolic statement is a kind of microcosm of Rosetta's decades of New Deal reforms, although in reality, the number of "civilian councilors" under the triple spire is not even half that of noble councillors, and they really have There are very few people with the right to speak, so that whenever people mention Aldernan's parliament, they almost default to the old "noble council" at the top, and subconsciously ignore the other part of the council .

Rosetta Augustus has been working to change this, and this situation has indeed changed a lot in the past two years.

The booming machines and the large companies that popped up overnight allowed the citizen councilors to rapidly increase their capital to speak in parliament—strictly speaking, it was the capital for business representatives to speak in parliament.

It was also the first time that Matilda realized that some powers were more effective than the royal family's decrees and guidance.

She sat on the golden high-backed chair that symbolized the royal family, and looked down at the entire rectangular hall below with a calm expression. The magic spar lamp illuminated this place from the roof, making the faces under the roof look clear and clear. vivid.Those who hold the greatest power below the imperial power in Typhon's social structure are expressing their opinions there, discussing a plan that may change the entire era, and those who are qualified to speak in the front row are trying their best to show their persuasiveness and appeal In order to win the support of more ordinary members of parliament, and more importantly - to win the position of Princess Matilda, who represents the will of the royal family.

In Typhon's special parliamentary system, the will of the imperial power occupies a large proportion. Unless the consensus of the parliamentarians in a certain bill can show an overwhelming consensus, otherwise people must work hard to win the support of the spokesperson of the imperial power.

"I am still opposed to such a radical transformation and restructuring plan - although I recognize the advantages of new technology and have always been happy to embrace the bright future brought by new technology, we must be aware of the scale of the existing network of communication towers. And the cost and benefits behind it," a middle-aged nobleman in a dark blue coat with a loud voice stood up, turned and said to the MPs behind him, "rebuilding the entire communication network means Years of investment have come to naught—it hasn’t even had time to recoup the cost, and it’s still unknown whether the newly built network will work stably…”

"It's not just a matter of cost and benefit, Mr. Earl, it's also a matter of technology," someone stood up again, "Don't you know the limitations of communication towers? Their technical foundation is outdated. Under the premise of online communication, continuing to maintain investment and construction of the communication tower network has actually become a waste, a waste of the wealth of the empire..."

"What about those who maintain the communication towers? What about those who rely on the communication towers for their livelihood? We can't just use businessmen's ideas to solve problems-we also have the responsibility to maintain the survival of the people!"

"Isn't this responsibility more reflected in the seventeen communication towers where you have the right to benefit?"

"Please don't bring personal issues into such a solemn occasion. If you introduce self-interest, I'm afraid everyone here will lose their right to speak, sir!"

The debate below became more and more intense, but the seemingly emotional speakers still maintained order just right, expressing their views in accordance with the parliamentary process, no one overstepped and disturbed the imperial power here, and Matilda just quietly Sitting quietly on the chair that belonged to her, watching all this with a blank expression.

Before this session ends, these people may have to argue for a long time.

They had been arguing for quite some time yesterday.

This seemingly chaotic situation was actually very clear in Matilda's eyes. She could see that the old nobles had already reached an agreement, but the lesser nobles who should have stood in the noble camp in the past were now Vaguely stood together with the businessmen - the latter's alliance would have been unimaginable a few years ago, but since last year, similar situations have happened more than once.

The reason is simple. Factories and start-up companies are gathering more and more wealth and occupying more and more influence, while the "new faction" among the petty aristocrats and middle-class aristocrats are the main investors in these industries. In terms of interests, they are tied to the merchants, while the upper-class nobles still control large-scale traditional industries and wealth, and control a lot of infrastructure, which makes the latter slow to respond to the new investment boom. One step, but it is still a huge force that is difficult to resist.

These two forces have become more and more clearly divided and occupied their own territory. Each of its members is closely watching the other's every move. They keep a close eye on their pockets and do not want a coin to fall on the opposite side.

The distribution of benefits is more real than any team.

The friction between the two forces has gradually increased since last year, but because their respective dominant areas do not overlap much, the intensity of this friction is also very low. It was not until recently that it suddenly became so intense. This is because a certain These new technologies suddenly broke the existing "rules", and businessmen and aristocratic investors suddenly had the opportunity to get their hands on those infrastructures, and the old owners of those facilities... of course reacted fiercely to this.

Matilda wanted to yawn, but she held back.

There will be no result in this debate today, but she has already foreseen the result in a few days: there will be a compromise plan, the traditional communication tower will be preserved, and those facilities with high maintenance costs will be remodeled and changed. As a new technology carrier, businessmen and aristocratic investors will get a chance to buy shares. However, on the whole, the entire communication network will still be firmly controlled by those old families and the Mage Association.

Matilda is even sure that those opportunities to invest in the communication tower renovation project will be actively released by the old family and the mage association-it seems to share the income of the communication network, but it can make the current relationship still It is difficult for the weak aristocratic investors and businessmen to maintain a consistent and tough attitude.As long as there is a certain bonus as "appeasement", compromise members will easily appear within the emerging interest groups, and they will give up the radical plan to completely rebuild a communication network in exchange for more secure and safe benefits. The association and the nobles behind the association are happy to see it.

After all, the Mage Association is not stupid, and those big nobles are not stupid. Of course, they can see the benefits of the new communication network-they just don't want this thing to be controlled by others first.

……

The seriousness of the matter exceeded Archduke Ferdinand's expectations. This unprecedented crisis made the old Duke, who had experienced many battles, couldn't help frowning tightly.

"That is the case, my old friend," said Rosetta Augustus, sitting on a high-backed chair, calmly watching the Grand Duke standing opposite her, "as I told you before, the gods Not too reliable protectors - a detached, powerful, unknown and completely above mortal beings, whether they have been providing shelter for mortals or not, I am always wary of them."

"...I have never understood your concerns about the gods, but now I have to admit that what you said is right," Ferdinand Wendel said in a deep voice, "I just didn't expect that we would have to face these things in our lifetime... ..."

As he said that, he couldn't help frowning again: "Do you need to verify the information disclosed in the letter by Gawain Cecil? I still find it hard to believe... Cecil's ruler will To remind us so frankly and kindly."

"He is a formidable opponent, but in this matter he is our friend," Rosetta shook her head. "In the book Matilda brought, Gawain Cecil has more than He once mentioned that the fate of mortals must advance and retreat in the face of the mighty power of nature and gods, and I thought that was just some kind of propaganda gesture and slogan, but now I am willing to believe his sincerity in this regard."

"...We all live on this land." Pei Dinan said in a low voice.

"Yes, we all live on this land," Rosetta said flatly, "so I called you here today to prepare for the disaster that may happen to this land."

"...Can we really deal with the threat from the gods?" Ferdinand couldn't help being a little suspicious, "Of course, the Cecilians seem to have successfully fought against the 'divine disaster', but what they are facing is not the real gods, and luck A large proportion of the…”

"What we are going to face is not a real god," Rosetta shook her head. "In other words, I don't think the gods will directly 'attack' the world of mortals."

"Gods will not directly 'attack' the world of mortals..." Pei Dinan repeated subconsciously, with a confused expression on his face.

"The gods need a 'medium', they don't come so easily, do they?"

Ferdinand frowned, and looked at the monarch in front of him who had sworn allegiance for decades. For some reason, he suddenly saw a trace of strangeness on the other side's face: "You mean..."

Rosetta was silent for a few seconds, and then suddenly said something seemingly irrelevant: "You know, I've started to envy our neighbors recently..."

……

After Duke Ferdinand left, Rosetta was still sitting quietly in the study, leaning on the armchair that could completely cover people, as if in deep thought, until after ten minutes of silence and stillness , he suddenly raised his hand, and turned off the lights in the study with a small magic skill.

The night outside was already dark, and only the starlight shone on the high tower of the Obsidian Palace. As the lights in the study room went out, darkness quickly spread up, and the starlight outside the window also passed through the crystal window next to it, spreading throughout the study room.

Everything in the study was immersed in the indifferent night.

Rosetta lightly tapped the armrest of the seat, and in the rhythmic tapping sound, he seemed to be patiently waiting for something to arrive.

After dozens of knocks, a little yellow light suddenly appeared on the desk of the study, and then this dim light quickly spread, quickly covering the desk, bookshelf, floor, wall... just a few seconds Within the clock, the entire study room was already illuminated by a dim yellow light, and this turbid light also filled the window not far away, outlining the scene of Orlandle 200 years ago.

Dusk fell suddenly.

Rosetta raised his head, and the familiar things in the study were rapidly changing their appearance. Some old and stale illusions that had long since disappeared in history were covering the familiar furnishings, rustling whispers and unknown Light laughter from somewhere sounded from all around, as if a banquet was being held next door to the study room, and the laughter of the guests came through the wall and a certain balcony, even as if some guests had already walked in through the wall This room is whispering something in Rosetta's ear.

Rosetta completely ignored these illusory voices, just quietly staring in the direction of the door, and the next second, those laughing or whispering voices suddenly disappeared.

Outside the closed door of the study, in the direction of the corridor, the sound of hobbled footsteps that seemed to be dragging a heavy object suddenly sounded after the whispers disappeared, and seemed to be a little closer here.

In the next second, there was a knock on the door from the direction of the study door.

Rosetta did not respond, and the knock on the door continued patiently.

It knocked for a long time, until time seemed to stand still in this eternal twilight, before Rosetta broke the silence: "Can you keep knocking, or do you expect to knock this door down by knocking?"

The knocking on the door suddenly stopped, and after a few seconds of deathly silence, a deep voice sounded like a blend of countless voices came from outside the door: "Your mental strength is really amazing... …there are countless times I thought you were going to break down, and yet you are still yourself…”

"Surprising?" Rosetta shook her head, "But you are not human."

"This is really a meaningless detail," said the voice outside the door. "I don't like details, so let's talk about the main point... Why did you enter this dream on your own initiative? This is a very rare situation."

"I'm suddenly curious about something, but I can't find the answer in the mortal world—maybe you would like to answer something?"

As soon as his words fell, a strange atmosphere suddenly filled the entire dream space. The atmosphere seemed to be mixed with surprise and joy. At the same time, there were countless senses of spying coming from all directions. It seemed that in the depths of this dream, Between those ancient memory corridors, halls, and courtyards, the sights of countless "guests" were instantly attracted, and they were staring at Rosetta Augustus indifferently.

In the study room in front of Rosetta, the wall that was originally hung with ordinary decorative oil paintings suddenly fluctuated like the surface of water. The decorative oil paintings were swallowed by the wall, and then spit out again, but the picture on it has become Macho Leigh Augustus.