Sword of Dawn

Page 415

After placing the saber under the flag, Earl Owen finally breathed a sigh of relief. He returned to the sailors, turned around, and watched the sword and flag on the wall quietly with everyone, just like 700 years ago. Like the people in this hall before.

After a few minutes, they left the town hall and started on their way back to the Spirit.

The brilliance of the huge sun shone on the ruined town, and there were unknown birds and beasts screaming in the nearby dense forest, and the lush plants continued to grow quietly on this land. In the direction of the distant coast, Spirit urged the crew to The loud and melodious flute is sounding as we return to the beach to gather.

……

Aldernan, in the study of the Obsidian Palace, Emperor Rosetta Augustus put down the documents in his hand, looked up at the two mages sitting opposite, with a smile on his face:

"After many hardships, there is finally good news from the 'Spirit' that successfully landed on Thasos Island—today is a day worth celebrating, two masters."

Chapter 0877 Invisible

Standing in front of Rosetta Augustus were the president of the Royal Association of Mages, the legendary mage Windsor Mapel, and the current master of magic, Daniel, who has become the president of the Imperial Association of Craftsmen.

They are the most outstanding scholars and technical personnel in the empire, they are the most trusted consultants in the extraordinary and industrial fields of the royal family, and they are also the right-hand men of Rosetta Augustus himself.

Not many people in the empire know about the news that the Courage departed from Port Mobius. That ship is the crystallization of Typhon's most advanced technology, and its related news is naturally kept secret, but the people who can stand in this room Apparently not bound by secrecy regulations.After hearing Rosetta's words, Windsor was the first to smile: "This is really good news."

Daniel asked curiously, "Is Spirit still on Thasos?"

"Still on Thassos, but will return today," Rosetta said unhurriedly. He knew what Daniel was curious about. "The news was sent back by magical communication—Port Mobius owns the east coast. The most powerful communication tower, and on that ship... there is a small communication circle improved by Ms. Windsor Mapel herself."

Daniel was taken aback for a moment, then looked at Windsor Mapel indifferently, and nodded with the same indifferent expression as before: "Not bad results."

"Thank you for your compliment," Windsor said immediately, "It's just some modification of traditional spells, not a breakthrough creation."

"But it is also an effective transformation," Rosetta Augustus said, "It turns out that the communication technology of the Eternal Sleepers is extremely useful, and the distance between Thassos Island and Mobius Port is not short. The old-fashioned communication towers can’t complete such a long-distance communication. It’s just that the improved communication circle is not very stable—it has been several days since Spirit successfully arrived at Thassos, but the communication has been affected by the ocean’s magical environment. Interference, the information was not successfully sent back until today."

"This is the problem we have to solve in the next stage," Windsor Mapel said immediately, "It hasn't been long since we got the technology of the Eternal Sleeper, and the improvement of the communication spell has just started. In many cases, it is even simple and rude to use their The idea is only applied to our own communication technology, and there is still a lot of room for optimization. In the future, whether it is efficiency or cost, our communication technology will definitely have greater improvements.”

Rosetta Augustus glanced at the legendary mage and smiled: "I have always believed in your ability, ma'am."

……

The corridor from Obsidian Palace to the Royal Library is long, hundreds of steps, and it is usually quiet.

Only a few are qualified to walk here.

Daniel and Windsor Mapel walked in this long corridor, and only occasionally saw the royal guards standing guard on both sides. The footsteps of the two mages were very light, which made this empty corridor even more deserted and silent .

The first one to break the silence was Windsor Mapel. She turned her head slightly and looked at the former mentor who was walking beside her: "Teacher, I still remember when you took me through this corridor for the first time. ——At that time, I had just broken through to a high level, and you said that it is a great honor for a mage to be able to go to the Royal Library from this corridor..."

Daniel's expression didn't change, he just responded indifferently: "Not a few years after that, you will be qualified to unimpeded in this area as a legendary mage."

Windsor Mapel said subconsciously: "Mentor, I..."

"No, I didn't blame you," Daniel paused slightly, and he glanced at the former apprentice beside him, with nothing but peace in his eyes, "I'm just saying, your talent is indeed very good, and this talent belongs to you , we should all accept that fact.”

Looking at the calm eyes of the tutor, Windsor suddenly inexplicably felt a little calmer in her heart.

She hadn't seen such a calm appearance of her mentor for many years.

What has mentorship been like over the years?Resistance, boredom, frustration, anger, hysteria... Ever since he tried to break through the bottleneck of talent with some terrible methods many years ago and failed, this once gentle and wise old man seemed to be a different person, getting closer and closer to himself. In the end, he even voluntarily left the Royal Association of Mages and chose to live in seclusion in an inaccessible place. After many years, the old man returned to the imperial capital, and his attitude towards himself was still cold and full of distance—that kind of old man The estrangement showed no sign of melting, and Windsor Mapel even felt that the rift would never disappear.

The once close master and apprentice became strangers.

However, a series of plans by His Majesty the Emperor forced this pair of strangers to come together again—whether they like it or not, as the two most outstanding talents in this country, they must meet frequently here , working together, communicating, arguing, and helping each other because of technical and intellectual contacts.

"Actually, I am very glad to have such an opportunity." Windsor Mapel smiled and said with emotion, "Your Majesty's mission has brought us all back to 'on track'. I think you have proved that you have done so many years ago What I want to prove—human talent is not limited to extraordinary power, your talent in the field of magic technology is also at the 'legendary' level."

In Windsor Mapel's view, Daniel's calmness now must be inseparable from the development of magic technology-this persistent old man has proved himself in a new field, and this "proof" is enough to unravel his mystery. The knot in my heart, and as long as the knot is untied, the kind mentor will gradually come back.

Daniel just glanced at Windsor quietly.

A powerful legendary mage with outstanding talent and a transcendent status, but this does not mean that she has the ability to read people's hearts.

fair enough.

"You don't need to compliment me, you know I don't like compliments," Daniel shook his head, and said lightly, "In fact, people who are talented in the field of magic are usually not bad in the field of magic technology—mathematics and science. Magic is interlinked in many places. Your improvement in the communication spell proves your ability in this area, and it is not something ordinary people can do to understand the technology of the Eternal Sleeper in a short period of time."

"Thank you for your compliment," Windsor smiled, but then frowned and said seriously, "However, I also encountered many difficulties... The rune system of the Eternal Sleeper was born out of divine magic, but the communication spell and There is a problem of energy conflict between divine spells, now I try to use pure arcane magic to drive two sets of runes, which leads to very low stability of the whole system, and it is prone to reverse flow and meltdown... I think Sisi The Er people must have solved this obstacle before they can boldly apply the rune of the Eternal Sleeper to those 'Magic Net Terminals'. Recently, I am looking for this key conversion structure from the samples of Magic Net Terminals..."

She carefully and carefully talked about the problems she encountered in the face of brand-new knowledge, just like when she was an apprentice discussing difficult problems with her mentor many years ago, but soon she found that Daniel did not respond to her, and the old man was just silent. Standing quietly by the side, looking at this side with strangely calm eyes, this made her confused: "Mentor?"

"I'm listening, but I don't have any good suggestions," Daniel shook his head slowly, his eyes still on Windsor Mapel, and then he was silent for two seconds before sighing softly, "You really very talented..."

"I'm glad you're willing to listen to me talking about these issues with you—I know they're boring, and it's not your job," Windsor smiled, then took a half step back, "I'm going to take a step first—I and Prince Hadiron has an appointment and will meet in half an hour."

Daniel nodded simply: "Well, you go."

Windsor Mapel left, leaving Daniel alone in the long and empty corridor.

He looked at the direction where the former apprentice left, and sighed softly in a voice that no one could detect.

"Windsor... your talent is really great..."

Two seconds later, the old mage shook his head and continued to walk forward slowly and steadily.

He was not jealous, nor had he ever loathed any of his apprentices.

It was only at this moment that the ability shown by Windsor Mapel made him feel a little "dangerous".

In the end, however, he decided to do nothing.

This is not because of Windsor Maple's status as a legendary mage. In fact, he knows that Windsor Maple is completely defenseless against him, and with the help of his secret advantage, he can also completely avoid any frontal contact. To sabotage the research projects of the Royal Society of Mages, or at least greatly impede and delay their progress.

It's just that there are many talented people in this world, and in the mighty Typhon, there is more than one person like "Windsor Mapel". There have been many in the past, and there will be many in the future.

The master said that he doesn't mind the development of Typhon, and he is even happy to see other mortal kingdoms prosper—because he will guarantee that Cecil will always be the most powerful of all kingdoms.

Under this premise, the master does not advocate that he obstruct most of Typhon's technological progress—because every technological progress, whether it is Typhon's or Cecil's, is the common wealth of mortals.

He used to not understand the great idea of ​​his master, and just executed orders in this area mechanically, but after personally participating in the construction of the magic industry and seeing the changes of Typhon and Cecil, he felt that he could vaguely Yuedi understood the idea of ​​the master's "community of mortals".

He took a long breath and smiled.

Windsor Mapel's talent is her own, as her mentor... I should be happy.

……

Matilda Augustus was sitting on a small sofa by the window through which the sunlight slanted in, illuminating the crystal ornaments and the Cecil Cube on the table.

She flipped the pages of the book in her hands, and stroked the hair hanging down her ears. At this time, footsteps came from not far away, and she lifted her eyes from the book and looked in the direction of the door.

The young Prince Hadiron was entering the room.

"Hardiron," Matilda nodded, "Aren't you going to meet Ms. Windsor Mapel at this time?"

"In half an hour, sister," Hadiron said casually, "what are you looking at?"

"The gift that was sent by international mail just this morning," Matilda raised the book in her hand that looked heavy, and then pointed to the table not far away—the neatly arranged tome Lying in an exquisite wooden box, this is obviously a large-scale series of books, ""The Foundation of Everything", this incredible tome has finally been completed, and Emperor Cecil sent me a set of signed copies as promised. Looking at its sociology volume, I feel very enlightened."

"The Cecilian's 'Encyclopedia of Natural History'?" The young Prince Hadiron muttered casually, sitting down opposite Matilda while reaching out to the bookcase, "Speaking of Cecil... …do you feel like there’s been more and more stuff coming from Cecil lately? Their magazines, their newspapers, and their toys… I saw merchant kids playing with rune cubes when I was in town , they happily chanted 'Cecil Cube,' and it seemed that having a 'Cecile Cube' among the children was something to be very proud of."

"This proves that their parents have sufficient financial strength, and it also proves that they themselves have sufficient wisdom to understand how the cube works." Matilda glanced at Hadillon, "read carefully—the one in your hand I haven't opened it yet."

Hadiron immediately put the "Agronomy Volume" back into the bookcase: "Then I just don't read it."

Matilda's attention had already been attracted by her younger brother, she looked into Hadillon's eyes, and asked seemingly casually: "Speaking of gifts... the gift I brought you from Cecil has you already It’s been more than a month since I accepted it, and I haven’t commented yet.”

"Ah—my God," Hadillon's cousin suddenly became weird, and he gave Matilda a sad look. "Sometimes I wonder if you are deliberately playing tricks on me...you can't give Me some real, normal gift..."

"I think books are the most normal gifts, especially books that are rich in knowledge and inspiring," Matilda said immediately, "Hadiron, you have always been lax in your studies—that's why you have A legendary mage like Ms. Windsor Mapel personally taught it, but until now..."

"Stop, stop, I broke through to the high level last month, so your preaching in this area is useless," Hadiron immediately raised his hand and shook his head again, "And I admit that the book does It’s a good gift—but don’t you think twelve books on mathematics and mechanics plus 180 seven sets of papers is a bit too much?”

Matilda looked at her younger brother quietly, and after two seconds, she nodded with a serious face and said, "That's Cecil's specialty."

"...This is really bad." Hadiron stretched his hands helplessly, "That's why I said, there are too many Cecils here now..."

Chapter 0878 Seepage

Cecil stuff has become more and more common in the city since last year.

The wheels ran over the newly built road in the noble district. The high-quality road surface and the equally high-quality wheels almost completely offset the bumps when the vehicle was driving. Ferdinand Wendell sat in the black magical car, his eyes swept out the window, and saw There were new shops in the street that were getting their facades up--among the black spiers of the rather Aldernan style, a striking expanse of glass windows filled the street-facing wall, filled with unpacked Good shelves, the workers are hanging signs in front of the main entrance of the store, with a few words written in beautiful cursive letters on it:

“Best Dessert - Taste of Cecil”

"...It's as if only Cecilians know how to make desserts." Ferdinand frowned and couldn't help muttering softly.

The butler sat across from him, and this honest and reliable man who had served the Ferdinand family for decades shook his head: "Actually, the shopkeepers are only locals——the phantom drama makes those merchants with a keen sense of smell act gone."

"Phantom theater?" Ferdinand repeated the word that has been heard more and more recently, "I've heard of it... Last winter, Cecil's businessman bought a piece of land in the south of the city and opened a new theater. .But it was open to civilians—the fares were cheap, and almost everyone was packed into one hall.”

"Yes, it's a cheap drama for the common people, and nobody saw it at first," the butler said with a smile, "after all, no one knows what it's for--the upper class people are not interested, and the common people are very careful about themselves." Small change in your pocket. But those Cecil businessmen advertised in the newspapers at great cost over a month ago, and let the theater open for free for three days in a row, and now it suddenly became popular, and brought opened some shops…”

As the butler said, he looked out of the window, and the shop called "Cecile's Dessert" had passed the window, and it was almost out of sight.

"It is said that several kinds of desserts appeared repeatedly in the plot of the new drama, and at the end there was a scene where the main characters shared desserts after a safe reunion, so those desserts aroused people's interest inexplicably—the store you just saw , in fact, it is already the third one opened in the city.”

Hearing the butler's words, Ferdinand had an incredulous expression on his face. He frowned and shook his head: "I really don't understand... Dramas are supposed to be elegant and profound. What are those Cecilians doing..."

"It's really hard to understand, but the civilians seem to welcome it—after all, compared to jewelry and manors, desserts are at least something they can afford, and it can somewhat allow middle-class citizens to show their 'decency'."

"You know it very well," Pei Dinan couldn't help but glance at the housekeeper, "Have you also watched the so-called 'Phantom Drama'?"

"I haven't," answered the butler. "I'm past the age of the theater and the new stuff, but my son and two daughters have, and young people seem to like it."

Ferdinand seemed to be in a moment of thought, then he shook his head, picked up the newspaper that had been put aside before, and continued to read the content on it - this newspaper is a local in Aldernan, founded in Habiye Reston After the great success of the "Imperial", the emperor gradually opened the door to private newspapers, but the threshold for running a newspaper is still very high. Today, there are only three or four popular newspapers in Aldernan. Ferdinand Wendel As a somewhat staid old aristocrat, the only newspaper he loves is "Jazz Weekly".

Unfolding the second page of the newspaper, the huge printed letters came into his eyes——

It was an advertisement for Cecil Steel Investments looking for someone to operate in Aldernan.

The layout is large, eye-catching and luxurious, and it takes a lot of money to place such an advertisement.

"Even the "Jazz Weekly" began to appear advertisements for Cecil Merchant," Grand Duke Ferdinand said helplessly. "In the past, who would have dared to imagine such a thing?"

"This is probably the era of economic openness..." The butler cooperated with the master's topic, "It is said that our merchants have also opened many shops in Cecil City... As long as the magic train is still speeding across the border, in the future such There will always be more and more cases, after all, no one will be against money."

Listening to the butler's words, Duke Ferdinand seemed to be thinking, but he didn't say anything.

……

"No one will have trouble with money," Viscount Hermiel sat on a soft red sofa in a comfortable posture, gently shaking high-quality White Mountain wine in his hand, with a happy and sunny smile on his face, which seemed to be Being contagious generally makes everyone who faces it happy, "Of course, we used to say that no one would have trouble with gold coins-it's just that times have changed, Earl Hallmark."

A middle-aged gentleman with a thin figure, a high nose bridge, and short blond hair tightly sticking to his scalp sat opposite Viscount Hermiel. He also held a wine glass in his hand, but his posture was obviously more upright and conservative than that of the young Hermiel.

He is Hallmark, a member of the high society in Aldernan, one of the ministers of economics appointed by Rosetta Augustus after the reorganization of the imperial order, and the Duke of Seven, who was also the minister of economics and was responsible for organizing the Imperial Bank Different, this conscientious and prudent earl is responsible for the external economic activities of the empire—since last year, he has been in charge of business negotiations with the Gaoling Kingdom and the Silver Empire, and has achieved great results.

"Paper currency has a unique advantage - and if used properly, it can connect us more closely with our business partners." Earl Hallmark did not show any displeasure at Viscount Hermiel's relatively frivolous behavior , as a seasoned socializer, he always faces any visitor with the most appropriate attitude.

"Yes, our business partner," Viscount Hermiel nodded, expressing his appreciation somewhat exaggeratedly, "I heard about the business negotiations between you and the Silver Empire, it is really a wonderful negotiation model, even if you only read some words For the record, I also admire your quick thinking. I have dealt with some elves and know how difficult it is to change their minds - they can be more elegant, friendly and courteous than any nobleman, but that That doesn't mean they'll buy from you."

"The Silver Empire is a difficult fortress to conquer, because their society almost does not need Typhon's industrial products at all-advanced technology allows them to live without worry, and there is a kind of arrogance in their bones, but in the end our progress in the Gaoling Kingdom It opened the way for the entire negotiation process," Earl Hallmark said unhurriedly, "Elves still need goods from the human empire, mainly enchanting paper and alchemy substrates...although the scale is much smaller than I imagined .”

"But at least it gives us an additional trade route to the south of the mainland," Viscount Hemir said with a smile, "It is said that the merchants of the Cecils have already done business with the Ogulei tribal country, and even with the dwarves in the far west of the mainland. In terms of business, they are one step ahead of us."

"More than that," Hallmark shook his head, "They even have connections with the Silver Empire."

Viscount Hermiel's eyes widened in surprise.

"Silver Empire? Cecil?" The young viscount couldn't help but exclaimed, "How did they do it? I mean...there is such a vast wasteland in the middle that even a bird cannot fly over... "

"Of course it's not a commercial activity like ours, but the relationship between the Silver Empire and the Cecilians is indeed very close," Earl Hallmark said in a serious tone, "I heard the news from the Gaoling Kingdom as early as The elves and the Cecilians came together when the nations worked together to restore the Great Wall. Of course, that wasteland hindered their direct commercial activities, and only a few goods would come from the moss forest through the long land trade route. Depart, pass through the territories of the gray elves, orcs, and goblins, pass through the rift valley area in the southwest of the mainland and the forest sea at the edge of the Gaoling Kingdom, and finally enter the elves' territory..."

Having said that, the middle-aged nobleman frowned and gently turned the wine glass in his hand: "This kind of circulation is not on a large scale, and it does not pose a threat to us commercially, but who knows what will happen in the future? Cecil People are too good at creating unexpected things, and they put great effort into maintaining the connection with the elves, so they must have plans for the future."

Viscount Hermiel's slightly frivolous smile also slowly disappeared. He stood up from the sofa, paced slowly while thinking, and returned to his seat after going around twice, taking a sip After drinking, he finally said as if he had made up his mind: "It looks like...the market in the south of the mainland will become a 'battlefield' sooner or later..."

"Even if the Cecils don't intervene, the market in the southern part of the mainland will become a battlefield, Hemiel, you should know how many things our factory can produce in a day—short-sighted people only want to sell those things to them Neighbors and country people, but people with a long-term vision will realize that the farther the goods are sold, the longer-term and richer benefits will be brought.”

Earl Hallmark said, showing a slight smile to Hermiel.

"Hemir, we have opened up the trade routes leading to the Gaoling Kingdom and the Silver Empire. The Empire's Southern Investment Company has already begun to seize gold. Just like every new field, the first to gain a foothold in it is always will reap the greatest benefits."

"Of course." Hemil put down his wine glass, he breathed a sigh of relief, and a sunny smile appeared on his face again, "So I am willing to fully support your 'Southern Investment Company', and I am willing to invest one hundred thousand in the initial stage... No, £15. I trust, Monsieur Earl, that you will make good use of it."

"Hermiel, my friend, you can stay home and wait for a good return." Hallmark stood up, showing a smile, and stretched out his hand to Hemiel, "Shareholder earnings will prove your sharp vision today. "

Hermiel also reached out and held Earl Hallmark's slender and thin palm: "Actually, I don't have a keen eye, I just discovered a trick, and I have been insisting on following it—"

"Oh?" Hallmark couldn't help being curious, "Would you like to share this know-how with your new business partner?"

"It's very simple - I will do what the Cecilians do," Viscount Hermiel laughed, "They invest everywhere, and I will do it - in this era of new things and new fields everywhere, I don't need to be the first, it's enough to be the second."

Hallmark looked at the young viscount who was smiling happily, and was dumbfounded for a while.

After a pleasant conversation, the rising noble star who had been in the limelight in the past two years bid farewell and left.

Earl Hallmark, who is thin, with a high nose bridge and short pale blond hair, returned to the reception room. Looking at the two wine glasses on the small round table and the sofa where Viscount Hermiel had sat before, the expression on his face remained unchanged. , but still couldn't help muttering: "Hey, impetuous young man..."

The servant walked into the room and began to tidy up the things in the room. The butler also walked in, waiting for further instructions from the master.