Sword of Dawn

Page 392

The more I laughed, the happier I was, and I even laughed out loud.

"Mom! There's a sister over there! It seems that she just came out of the river, and she's soaked all over!!"

Maggie stopped laughing, followed the sound and looked over, and saw a child not far away was looking at this side with a face full of surprise, and beside her was a young woman with the same wide-eyed eyes.

"Don't bark! Offend people!" The young woman lowered her head and reprimanded her child, then looked at Maggie nervously and worriedly, and shouted from a distance, "Miss, do you need help?"

Maggie smiled and waved her hands, bursts of heat rose from her body, and while quickly drying the clothes soaked in river water, she walked towards the inner city.

At the same time, she still had some doubts and apprehensions in her heart—when she fell down, she seemed to vaguely see some shadows flashing past in the river...but when she came to her senses, she didn't find any clues around her. Did it hit something?

I hope no one was hurt... Otherwise, with that kind of speed and strength, it is difficult for anyone to be safe...

……

In Cecil Palace, in the room where the large pool was placed, the clear water suddenly surged up, condensing into a female appearance in mid-air.

Betty, who was stirring in the pool with a large wooden ladle, was taken aback. The wooden ladle almost fell into the water. She took a half step back, and then stared wide-eyed at Tyre, who emerged from the water.

After a delay of two seconds, Betty bowed belatedly: "Miss Till, good afternoon!!"

"Hey, good afternoon..." Tyre replied in a dazed manner, as if he hadn't realized what happened, "Strange, I'm not in the White Water River... Oh my god!"

Some horrifying "dying memories" surfaced in Miss Kraken's water-filled head.

Betty was taken aback by Till's exclamation, she held the long handle of the wooden ladle tightly with both hands, and stared at him with wide eyes. Looking at the head maid in front of her eyes: "Betty! I was stabbed to death by an iron jaw just now!!"

Betty: "...?"

"Siestas are getting more and more dangerous these days..." Tyr continued, saying words that no one could understand, "I shouldn't have gone out, how could this happen to me when I stay indoors... Hey, Betty, let's talk Is the water getting saltier recently? How much salt did you put in?"

……

Ten minutes later, Maggie, who returned from the "crash point" by herself, came to Gao Wen.

"I heard." Gawain casually put aside the document he was flipping through, and looked at Miss Dragonborn standing in front of him with a strange expression, "You are testing the 'Steel Wing' made by Rebecca... the test Failed?"

"I encountered a mechanical failure in the air, but I don't think it can be regarded as a complete failure," Maggie replied immediately, "The lift-off was smooth, and the flight for about an hour in the first half was also smooth. I think the Iron Wing itself is Works, just has a few design flaws that need tweaking..."

"Failure is the only way to go in the process of technology research and development, I understand," Gao Wen interrupted Maggie, and looked her up and down, "But you...how is your injury?"

"Thank you for your concern. I'm fine now. I successfully decelerated in the last half of the period. After entering the water, I was just a little strained and dizzy," Maggie replied earnestly, "Dragonborn has a strong recovery ability, and it is Not seriously injured."

"Then let's check with Pittman later, and take a rest." Gawain looked at Maggie with a trace of curiosity, "Also... what about the 'Steel Wings' set? Did it stay at the bottom of the river?"

Maggie shook her head: "It's still on me, on my body in dragon form—if you want to take it apart for inspection, you need to find an open place for me to change form."

"I'm not in a hurry..." Gao Wen said casually, but the sudden curiosity in his heart became more and more intense. He stood up from behind the desk, and couldn't help but look Maggie up and down again, "Actually, I've always been very curious. Concerned... What is the principle of your dragon's "transformation"? During the process of form transformation, where did the items you carry with you go? The personal items in human form are nothing more than a huge device like the Iron Wing Can it also be hidden with the transformation of form?"

Maggie opened her mouth, inevitably confused by Gawain's series of questions, but soon she remembered that Cecil's emperor had a strong curiosity about technology, and even in a sense, the legendary The pioneers themselves were the earliest technicians on this land and one of the founders of magic technology——Rebecca and her technicians usually keep coming up with "why" "styles", I'm afraid it's not simply I learned from this legendary pioneer.

She was a little secretly admiring, but at the same time a little at a loss. After forcing out a not so stiff smile, she said embarrassingly: "This involves a very complicated process of material transformation. In fact, even the dragonborn themselves can't figure it out. ...it's a gift of dragons, but dragonborn aren't quite 'dragons...'

"Some scholars have conjectured that the transformation spell of dragons is actually a kind of space replacement. We temporarily store another body in a space that cannot be opened by a third party, so that we can explain our transformation process. The huge volume and mass changes in the medium, but we do not agree with this guess...

"Another explanation is 'elemental criticality', which holds that dragons' transfiguration spells 'elementally reshape' the material that makes them up, just like shaping a pile of sand into different forms, and we recorded The 'code' of each combination of sand grains can also extract extra sand grains from the 'beach' of the elemental world to shape the body... In fact, this kind of statement is more difficult to apply than the theory of 'space replacement', which needs to be explained There are too many links, and most of them cannot be verified through technical means...

"But in my opinion, I prefer to believe in the second explanation."

Speaking of this, Maggie couldn't help but shook her head with a wry smile: "Perhaps the dragons in Tarrond know more, they have higher technology and more knowledge...but they never share these things with outsiders. Knowledge, including the mortal races on Loren, as well as us exiled 'Dragonborn'."

Gawain has always been concerned about the mysterious and inextricably linked between the dragons and the dragons, but at the moment his attention is still more on the unknown knowledge - many transformation spells in this world are always his favorite. What is confusing and curious is also an area that cannot be fully explained by rune logic so far. As the source of transformation spells, the transformation of dragons seems to contain the biggest contradiction and secret of the world's "material boundary"— —

What is going on with the "matter" of this world?Why does the operation of magic force cause such weird changes in matter?Huge monsters weighing several tons can transform into light human beings, and the huge mass seems to "disappear out of thin air"... How does this process happen?

to the elements?Attributed to space-time replacement?

No matter what the reason is, it seems that it is inseparable from the operation of magic power, which involves the most essential question: what exactly is magic power?

How does this kind of thing that is most likely to be a kind of "wave" affect the essence of everything in the world...

Gao Wen frowned. Today's conversation with Maggie seemed to have suddenly touched some intuitions in his heart, and once again made him pay attention to the strange connection and "boundary" between matter and magic in this world.

For a long time, he was busy paying attention to the operation of the empire and the complicated situation on the mainland. At this moment, the conversation about "transfiguration" suddenly brought his attention back to the "unknown" border, and in his thoughts In the midst of the chaos, he couldn't help but think of the magic tide again.

Under the influence of powerful chaotic magic, a terrible disaster that spread to the whole world and turned all matter upside down.

Gao Wen's thoughts couldn't help spreading wantonly for a while, and various thoughts were constantly reorganized and connected by inspiration. In his wild thoughts, he even came up with a somewhat absurd and weird idea:

The world's matter has been turned upside down... Could it be that the magic tide is a "transformation" that affects the entire planet...

"His Majesty?"

Maggie watched Gawain talking and suddenly fell silent, her expression became more and more serious. The initial bewilderment quickly turned into nervousness. Woke up.

Gao Wen quickly sorted out the thoughts and conjectures just now, and then slowly sorted out after preparations. At the same time, he looked at Maggie with a little apology: "Sorry, I was a little distracted thinking about something just now. Where are we talking?"

"We're talking about the principle behind Transfiguration." Although Maggie was puzzled, she didn't ask any more questions, and just replied with a lowered head. "I mentioned that Tarrond may have more relevant knowledge, but the Dragon Clan never communicates with outsiders." share their knowledge and skills."

"Tallond..." Gawain couldn't help muttering softly, "Is the hometown of My little pony... really curious."

Chapter 0832 The Stranger from the South

In the brightly lit research and development workshop, the prototype of the Steel Wing was disassembled into individual components, which were spread out on platforms and supports.

On the lower edge of the huge pair of metal wings, the broken and twisted metal structure is particularly eye-catching.

Accompanied by a clanging sound, Rebecca got out from under one of the giant wing structures, with oil stains on her face, and a newly dismantled part in her hand.

"One of the magic capacitors used to balance the load burned out, and it should be the main cause of the imbalance of the entire device," Rebecca said to the technician beside her while holding up the parts in her hand, "all other mechanical failures and parts deformation It was created during the crash."

Maggie leaned forward curiously, looking at the pie-shaped part in Rebecca's hand: "What's the reason? Why is it overloaded all of a sudden?"

"If I'm not mistaken... it should be that the acceleration is too fast and the waste energy has been accumulated too much to be released, and then you happened to perform a large-scale maneuver, such as rolling at a large angle, which directly exploded the magic power capacitor. "" Rebecca frowned, "We really didn't consider this... Humans can't do this kind of operation at all, the body will not be able to bear it, we still don't know enough about dragons..."

Rebecca was still muttering, but Maggie's expression became awkward. She lowered her head with a trace of shame: "It's...it's my fault..."

Rebecca shook her head immediately: "No, the occurrence of this kind of failure during the flight itself is a design problem-the magic capacitor has a limited load, and we should have added restrictive measures from the beginning. It is actually good news-at least The fault is due to the design, and redesigning and retesting can solve it a little bit, but if it is a flaw in the strength of the material, it will be in big trouble."

Maggie is not an expert in magic technology, but she has been a tester with Rebecca's research team for so long, and she is no longer unfamiliar with related technical terms and concepts. She understands that everything is exactly as the other party said—— — Design omissions can be corrected, which is easier to break through than material difficulties.

It's just that there is still a trace of shame in her heart, because in the final analysis, the crash was caused by herself.

The feeling of embracing the blue sky is too charming, making it difficult for the young dragonborn to control herself. She knew that she was too intoxicated with that feeling, so she neglected to pay attention to the working status of the steel wings at all times—there must be some signs before the magic capacitor is overloaded. She wasn't indulging in the feeling of flying freely at the time, and she probably wouldn't let things develop into a crash.

Although Rebecca is usually not very good at guessing people's hearts, she can at least guess what Maggie is thinking at this time. She waved her hand vigorously: "Don't think too much, the tester is supposed to test the various limits of the prototype. It is inevitable that there will be equipment damage during this process. It is better to find problems during the test flight than to cause accidents after the prototype is mass-produced in the future.”

Speaking of this, this Cecil Steel Ball seemed to suddenly think of something, touched his chin and changed the topic: "And compared to my side, you should think about how to apologize to Till later..."

Maggie was taken aback, her face full of confusion: "Miss Till?"

"When I went back to eat yesterday, I saw Till scrambling in the corridor, telling people everywhere that she was stabbed to death by an iron jaw that fell from the sky-this should be the second time you hit her, the last time You smashed it with the Dragoon prototype..."

Maggie: "..."

……

The afterglow of the setting sun shone among the mountains in the northern border, and the light golden light splashed over the undulating ridgelines. The majestic Winter Castle stood on the top of the snow and rocks, overlooking the icy mountains and rivers— ——This is a completely different scenery from the south. It is less prosperous and lively, but more magnificent and boundless.

Byron, who visited this northern city for the first time, stood on the terrace overlooking most of the city. His eyes were filled with the magnificent scenery from the north. He was a mercenary, and he couldn't help but express a lot of emotion. Want to lament the vastness and magnificence of the empire——

"...there are so many fucking mountains."

After searching his guts and finding that he only had this sentence, and couldn’t think of a few more reliable words, Byron scratched his chin in embarrassment, and suddenly felt that it might be reasonable for Philip to persuade him to read more books—at least in When encountering such a scenery, he can describe it with a few more literary words...

At this moment, a voice suddenly came from behind, interrupting Byron's emotion and greatly increasing his embarrassment: "General Byron, what were you talking about just now?"

Byron turned his head with a stiff expression, and saw that the Duchess Victoria in a white dress had arrived on the terrace at some point, looking suspiciously at this side, the corners of his mouth trembled, and he scratched unnaturally. Scratching his face, he smiled dryly, "Aha...just talking to myself."

Victoria glanced at Byron, didn't seem to doubt it, but nodded slightly: "The banquet hall is ready, you, the general of the empire, should show your face."

Byron's expression suddenly became a little stiff, as if he was a little helpless, but in the end he didn't say anything, and walked up to Victoria.

The envoy from the Holy Dragon Principality has not yet arrived, and the banquet tonight is to make initial contact with the upper class in the northern border.

A general from the southern part of the empire led a construction corps to the north to build the North Port and a series of facilities on the northern coastline. This is undoubtedly a big event. You have to see what kind of character the general from the imperial capital is, and for Byron, this kind of "rule-based upper-class society" is not a pleasant thing.

In the brightly lit hall of Winter Castle, the banquet has already been set. The long tables are filled with precious wine and exquisite food. The band is playing brisk upper-class music in the corner of the hall. The nobles and government officials in various dresses Randomly distributed in the hall, talking about foreigners from the south, talking about the upcoming Beigang project.

Under the leadership of Victoria, Byron came to the hall and dealt with these strange but influential people in the north.

Everyone is smiling, courteous, with just the right amount of gentleness and kindness, and welcomes the "spokesperson of the will of the emperor" with a sincere attitude.

Byron wore a dark blue imperial general uniform with gold tassels and ribbons, and walked in the hall accompanied by Victoria.

As a knight who was born as a mercenary, he is not good at this kind of "high society" life, but as a soldier, he can keep a straight face and maintain an indifferent personality throughout the whole process without being said to be lacking in etiquette.

Similarly, as a knight born as a mercenary, he is very good at observing the situation in various situations.

He could clearly feel that more than half of the people here kept a wait-and-see attitude towards him as a "outsider", and this did not surprise him at all.

After chatting with the unknown number of XX Earls, Byron temporarily left the scene on the grounds that the hall was stuffy, and went to the balcony to get some fresh air and rest his brain by the way.

Undisguised footsteps came from the direction of the banquet hall, Byron turned his head and saw Victoria Wilder walking towards this side.

He shook the wine glass in his hand as a greeting to the Duke of the North, then turned his head, looked at the distant mountains that had gradually been submerged in darkness, and continued to sigh in his heart that there were so many mountains in this place.

The voice of Duchess Victoria came from the side: "General Byron, you seem to be very interested in the scenery of the northern border?"

"There are indeed more mountains here than in the south," Byron smiled, "and they are all tall and majestic, impressive."

"There are so many mountains in the north that there are very few flat lands or even hills. Coupled with the cold climate, it is not as suitable for living as the south," Victoria said lightly. The scenery is a symbol of bitter cold for mountain residents. Since the days when Ansu was established in the past, this land has not been very rich. It is not a grain-producing area, nor a commercial center. Protecting the kingdom's northern gate—the relatively difficult living environment and the hundreds of years of 'Northern Barrier' stance have made the people of the northern border more courageous and resolute than people in other regions, but they are also more difficult to deal with."

Byron didn't know the purpose of the duchess suddenly mentioning this, but he had already unconsciously thought of the people in the banquet hall, so he showed a thoughtful look, but forgot to respond to the duchess' words.

Victoria herself didn't take it seriously, and just continued: "General Byron, you are ordered by His Majesty to build Beigang. This will not only deal with the cold wind and frozen soil, but also deal with the people in this bitter cold land. I want to hear What do I think?"

"Of course," Byron restrained his thoughts, "I will start the Beigang project soon, and I definitely want to listen to your suggestion."

"Northern Harbor is a gateway, not only the gateway of the empire, but also the gateway of the northern border. Such a gateway is enough to bring about a huge change in this cold and barren land," the Duchess of Victoria said calmly, her eyes wide open. Profound, sincere tone, "If the northern circumcontinental route is successfully launched, a large part of the trade between the empire and the Holy Dragon Principality, the Ogure Tribal State, the Dwarf Kingdom and other countries will be completed through the North Port, which will change the northern border. The status quo of poverty. Thanks to His Majesty for the magic era, new technologies and new businesses can bring prosperity to a land that is not suitable for living in the northern border, but unfortunately, many northerners did not realize this at the beginning—— That's something you have to think about."

"I understand what you mean," Byron nodded, "The development of Beigang will bring prosperity here, but before seeing the real money, the locals will only feel that there are a bunch of outsiders messing around on their land, and they are Their lives dictate — yes, that's a problem."

"However, His Majesty still chose to send you, a southerner, to build the North Port instead of appointing a person in charge from the local consuls in the north." Victoria looked at Byron and said slowly.

Listening to the other party's words, Byron smiled suddenly after two seconds of silence: "North Port is not just a civilian port."

"...someone commented that you were an uneducated rude person, but now I don't see it that way."

Byron raised his eyebrows: "I haven't read many books, but the cunning and vision of mercenaries are not trained through books."

"...Your Majesty chose to send you, it really is deliberate," Victoria seemed to smile, but her tone remained flat, "You are the first batch of soldiers created by Cecil's order, and you are a typical example of new officers—you Strictly obey the discipline and safeguard the interests of the empire, give priority to orders rather than noble traditions, and the production and construction corps you bring follow the same principle. The North Port must be built by people like you, not any northern consul, not even It's me—this way, we can ensure that Beigang belongs to the empire, not to the north."

"But you seem to be quite indifferent about it." Byron glanced at Victoria and said rather curiously.

"Your Majesty's choice is very correct, and I... didn't choose Cecil Order on impulse," Victoria responded calmly, "The old forces entrenched in all parts of the empire are thorns that cannot be removed. Outside the southern border, there are still many places in this country that have not been completely rectified. There are many old nobles who still retain their influence, and it will take a long time to completely eliminate this influence. Both Grand Duke Baldwin and I know this , and have decided to fully support His Majesty's all measures to transform this country, so we will send our respective heirs to the imperial capital and respond to the Cross Artery Railway plan as soon as possible.

"General Byron, I'm telling you this today so that you can complete your mission without distraction - North Port is an imperial project, and the Wilder family will do their best to support it. Our family has thrived on this land Hundreds of years have had a profound impact on the Northern Territory, which I cannot deny, and from today onwards, all northerners under the influence of the Wilder family will not become obstacles to the Northern Territory Project, which I can assure you you promise."

Byron took a deep look at Victoria, and said with a half-smile: "...So in other words, after the start of the North Port, the local forces that still obstructed... are not from the North."

"It's normal for rogues to harass the construction corps in a bitter cold remote place, and it's also part of the construction corps' job to strangle the bandits. The Wilder family will fully support these righteous deeds," Victoria said lightly. She turned around with calm eyes. Looking in the direction of the banquet hall, "please don't worry, those who secretly engage in small tricks will never dare to step on the stage, and rogues will always be rogues. After a few beatings, those restless people will calm down. "

Byron couldn't help but shook his head: "I'm afraid that before Beigang is built, many people will secretly say that you have betrayed the people in the north."

"After the North Port is completed, they will be the ones who praise and support the North Port," Victoria said expressionlessly, "They will soon be overwhelmed by the astonishing scale of cross-border trade and the power displayed by the empire in this process. And these people basically have no position in front of interests."

"At that time, it will be a matter for you, the Grand Consul, to consider," Byron said casually, "I am just a soldier, and I will only carry out orders from His Majesty. My mission is the North Port and the fleet. On this basis, I Not going any further."

Victoria nodded, and said: "In addition, although my reminder may be a bit redundant, as the Duke of the North, I still have to say some things - I hope you can pay attention to your sense of proportion, some people who disturb the order may just be instigated Rise up civilians."

"Duchess Victoria, I am a soldier," Byron looked into Victoria's eyes and said seriously, "It is my most basic duty to distinguish who is an enemy and who is a friend."

"Then I have nothing to worry about."

Chapter 0833 Cecil Cube

The open wilderness plain spreads out in sight. On the endless field, there are already layers of green vegetation in the early spring that is not afraid of the cold wind. The wheels of the magic vehicle crush the hardened road. The car window kept receding, and farther away, the majestic and towering city walls of the Fort of Treaty came into view.

Matilda, who was wearing a court dress and black hair shawl down her shoulders, looked at the wilderness outside the car window, with a calm face and deep eyes, as if she was thinking.

She and the envoy led by her have completed their visit to Cecil, and are now taking the magic vehicle sent by Changfeng Fortress to the Fort of Contract, while the support personnel sent by Winter Wolf Castle are already waiting there—— The majestic castle built for the signing of the Ansu-Typhon Peace Agreement is still functioning today. The king has passed away, and a dynasty has also come to an end in the flames of war. Today, only the castle built of stone still stands on the frontier, with the new imperial flag flying, showing the peace of the new era.

How many of them are worthy of lamentation, and how many historians and philosophers will write about it?

Matilda withdrew her gaze and looked at the majestic officer sitting opposite—the commander of Longwind Fortress. General Maryland personally escorted the mission, which was a symbol of the sincerity of the Cecil Empire.

"Your Highness Matilda, we are coming soon," General Maryland nodded slightly, noticing the gaze from the other side, "I hope this trip to Cecil has left a good impression on you."

"It was an impressive and pleasant trip," Matilda smiled. "General Maryland, thank you for escorting me all the way."

The convoy drove up the ramp in front of the Fort of the Treaty smoothly. The flags of Typhon and Cecil fluttered high above the gray-white city walls and towers. On the open space where the soldiers stood guard, she saw several black magical vehicles painted with shields and crown emblems.

It was a magical vehicle sent by Winter Wolf Castle, and it was made by Typhon himself.