Sword of Dawn

Page 222

Chapter 0523 Dinner

A grand welcome dinner was held in the Lord's Mansion, and this was the first time a banquet of this scale was held since the completion of this large building.

Gao Wen was not a person who liked banquets. Although Hetty and Rebecca were born in orthodox aristocrats, they were not very keen on banquets (of course, the main reason was poverty), but even if they were not interested in banquets, they knew that such activities Necessity in upper social circles—A well-prepared banquet often has multiple meanings in politics, economy, and even military. A deal that can only be "negotiated" by sword negotiations is undoubtedly quite cost-effective.

Gawain still hasn't built a "castle" for himself according to the traditional noble way. He still prefers a house that is comfortable enough to live in, so even though the territory has developed, he only added part of the lord's mansion and expansion, and planned an area for the construction of ancillary buildings on the open space around the courtyard-in the end, this mansion will probably become a building between a castle and a palace, and this is very important for women from the north. It is undoubtedly a novelty for the duke and princess.

In the main hall where the dinner was held, musicians from the Leslie area were playing comfortable and pleasant music. After a few short dances, the guests at the banquet began to sit around the huge dining tables on both sides of the main hall. Taking food, men and women wearing luxurious dresses—including members of the envoys from the royal capital, "new nobles" who survived in the southern border and are eligible to attend the banquet, as well as important officials of the Principality of Cecil and their relatives—at the banquet Shutting back and forth in the hall, Victoria passed through these people like a light snowflake and came to Gao Wen.

"How do you feel?" Gawain looked at the Northern Duchess in front of him and raised his wine glass, "This place should be very different from the environment you are familiar with."

"There are very few nobles, but there are more powerful officials. This is indeed very different from the noble banquets in the north, and the rules here are much less."

"The red tape is depressing, we didn't pay much attention back then - according to my opinion, those young people who are looking for classical aristocratic etiquette can try our Cecil's buffet dinner, the real classic of course comes from me, an ancient study."

"...It makes sense," the Duchess froze for a moment, showing a somewhat stiff smile, and then she looked around, at the neat and bright hall and the large French windows in the distance, and couldn't help but sigh, "Compared to this Your 'castle' is even more impressive... I've never seen a castle of this type, and you don't seem to have designed it as a fortress... nor did you have barracks in the courtyard? "

Gao Wen smiled: "Barracks? My regiment can't fit into the courtyard of the castle, and the old-style castle is damp and cold, and you have to light a fireplace in every room to barely accommodate people. In my opinion, it's not as comfortable as this kind of house—— I am an old man of seven hundred years old."

"Then there is probably no 'elderly person' who is healthier than you in this world," Victoria said helplessly. She is not a person who is good at joking, but she must respond flexibly to a humorous elder, "I pay attention There are no fireplaces here—is the castle warmed by magic?"

"The heat source is the fire element array located underground. It relies on a set of copper heat exchangers to transmit heat to the entire building. There are interlayers in those walls, and metal pipes and bricks are buried inside," Gao Wen explained. , "Not only here, most buildings in this city have similar facilities. There will be a large heat source station in the block. Its heat can heat the entire block. I designed it."

Victoria's eyes widened slightly: "You mean...everyone's home in this city is as warm as here?"

Gao Wen nodded: "Of course, and in fact, some new buildings are warmer than here - the heat exchanger installed in this house is the first generation, and the piping design is not as good as the later ones. I am planning to install it next year. It replaces."

Victoria didn't pay attention to what Gao Wen said later, she just showed a look of incredulity: "...Building such a thing in the whole territory... I'm afraid it's not an easy task?"

"It's really difficult, but fortunately we have magic technology," Gawain said with a smile, he looked into the eyes of the Duchess and watched every change in the other's expression, "and if we plan well, we can Central heating of the whole block under normal circumstances, in fact, will consume less things - don't you think it's better than burning wood and charcoal in every household, and freezing to death every winter?"

The Duchess did not speak for a while.

Cecil City, a rapidly rising city in the "barren land", is incredibly advanced.

This city reminded her of the City of Thousand Towers where she lived for a long time to study magic when she was young—the city of mages in the Violet Kingdom was also advanced, with ubiquitous magic power It makes the whole city continue to perform complex operations as if it is alive. However, in comparison, Cecil City and the City of Thousand Towers are so completely different.

This newly rising city may have less heritage than the city of a thousand towers, and it lacks some magnificent buildings that have experienced many vicissitudes, but its advanced features have penetrated into all aspects, and have even penetrated into every commoner.

This is the power of magic technology?What exactly is magic technology?

After a short silence, she finally spoke: "Ever since I set foot on this land, I have been thinking about what magic technology is. I thought the walls of Rock Fortress were magic technology, and I thought those cars were magic technology." Magic technology, I thought the street lamps in this city and the heating device in this house were magic technology, I thought it was a kind of magic, some kind of new and convenient spell... But now, it seems that it is more powerful than magic. I imagined it was more complicated and novel.”

Gawain didn't say anything, he just nodded and let the duchess continue talking.

After a short pause, Victoria Wilde spoke again: "Magic technology—is it for ordinary people?"

"Ordinary people can really take control of it and benefit from it."

Victoria took a deep breath.

She didn't ask Gawain the principle of this technology, this childish question would only make herself appear abrupt and shallow, she also didn't ask Gawain if he knew what it meant to put the power of magic in the hands of ordinary people, she didn't believe it The promoters of this technology would not have thought of this, she just thought about it silently, and then seemed to turn the topic in another direction: "You relied on it to arm your army, and then defeated the coalition composed of more than 40 nobles in the southern border? "

Gao Wen smiled, and Rebecca's voice came from the side: "They called here on their own initiative!"

Victoria turned her head and saw Cecil's heir standing beside her with a piece of cake. Her eyes were wide open, a bit of cream was still on the corner of her mouth, and her face was full of pride, but the next In seconds, the girl exclaimed: "Wow——Auntie said that I won't let me interrupt casually today..."

"It's okay, we're just chatting," Victoria nodded to Rebecca, "You look beautiful today, Marquise Rebecca."

Rebecca suddenly realized when she heard the other party greet her. This girl who never failed the etiquette class because she defeated all the etiquette teachers hurriedly put the cake aside, trying to salute according to what she had learned in her memory: "Hello, Duchess Wilde, you are also very...huh?"

She finally realized what the other party called her just now.

However, Gao Wen just stood aside with a smile on his face, watching quietly like an outsider who has mastered everything in advance.

"Dress... the Marquis?" Rebecca asked the Duchess with her eyes wide open, pointing at her nose, "Are you talking about me?"

"Isn't that right? According to Ansu's law, the adult first heir to the nobility will automatically inherit the title one level lower than his parents before he officially inherits the title," Victoria said while looking at Rebecca, but it was obviously not just for Rebecca listened, "Duke Gawain Cecil has already opened up land in the southern border that fits his title, so according to the agreement in Silver Castle that day, the rights that the Cecil family should have enjoyed will also be restored. .”

Her gaze finally fell on Gao Wen, and the latter just nodded lightly, indicating that he knew about the matter.

The expression on the Duchess's face did not change, but she sighed slightly in her heart.

As Welsh Moen said that day - things that have already fallen into the hands of the other party are not considered gifts. For such an ancestor-level figure who does not care about the attitude of the second dynasty at all, the "recognition" from Saint-Sunil is a gift. worthless.

And Rebecca was a little confused——she knew about the "agreement in the Silver Castle" mentioned by Victoria, because she followed the agreement when she made the agreement. Back then, her ancestors asked for 700 yuan from Francis II. The second dynasty also announced the recognition of the duke title of the ancestors, but added restrictions: Gawain Cecil's duke title will only be used as his personal permanent honor and cannot be used for the time being. Hereditary, unless he can use the development right to develop the minimum land that meets the duke title in his lifetime, the Cecil family's duke title and related powers can be restored...

At that time, the big shots in Silver Castle seemed to think that it was impossible for the ancestors to carve out a piece of dukedom from the wasteland in their lifetime.

In fact, the ancestor did not open up a duchy from the wasteland—he killed all the nobles in the southern border, which is completely different from what he said at the beginning...

Rebecca—the new Marquis Cecil—blinked her cute eyes, and she was scratching the formula in her brain, which is good at dealing with machines and fireballs, trying to figure out "kill people and occupy them What is the difference between the "no man's land" and "the real no man's land in the wasteland", but before she could figure it out, she saw that her ancestors had continued to chat with the duchess in a natural manner : Sir Ancestor doesn't seem to be surprised at all, and the Duchess didn't mention the details of the covenant that day...

Rebecca thought about it, and suddenly felt that politics is really powerful, so everyone can be shameless...

In front of Gao Wen, Victoria was slightly toasting: "Now that the kingdom is in turmoil, there is a powerful guardian duke guarding the southern border, and everyone in Silver Castle feels much more at ease."

Gao Wen also raised the wine glass in his hand, smiling: "That would be the best - it seems that I, an outdated old man, am quite popular."

The two guardian dukes greeted each other, clinked glasses in a friendly manner, said polite words, and had completely opposite thoughts in their hearts, and left the most perfect angle photos for the reporters carrying the Magic Net terminal on the side of the hall.

Afterwards, Gao Wen was about to leave - as the host of this dinner, he had more than one guest to entertain.

He and Victoria Wilder still have a lot of things to talk about, but he is not in a hurry, the really important things are to be discussed after this banquet.

Looking at her ancestor who turned and left, Rebecca waved her hand: "Master Ancestor—can I have a few more cakes today?"

Gao Wen didn't look back: "Just don't overeat."

"Hey! I know!"

A moment later, Rebecca had another plate of cake in her hands. The newly promoted Marquise smiled and showed off to Victoria: "You should try this—the cake made by Mr. Ballside and the cake he baked. It's delicious as meat."

Really carefree.

Victoria Wilde looked at Rebecca, at this girl who had rubbed cream on her face and didn't behave like a marquise at all, and couldn't help but shook her head.

"Don't you want to eat?"

"No, I'm just a little envious of you."

Chapter 0524 The spokesperson of the church

Due to the periodic ebb and flow of the magic that surrounds the land, there are often more stars to be seen on clear winter nights than on summer nights.

In the windless night, the dark blue sky is full of stars. The starry sky that carries the countless magnificent fantasies of human beings for thousands of years is like a layer of glass upside down in this world. It is clear and beautiful but out of reach. Man-made The lights of the city are flickering in this new city, like the projections of stars in the world - Veronica stands quietly in this city that is very strange to her, surrounded by a faint holy light. Surrounded by the cold air in winter.

A sound of steady, powerful and undisguised footsteps came from behind, followed by the voice of the revived Founding Duke: "Don't like the environment at the banquet?"

"Your Excellency," Veronica turned around, showing a quiet and indifferent smile, drawing the emblem of the God of Holy Light on her chest, "May the God of Holy Light bless you—this is a wonderful battle." dinner party, but I prefer a quieter environment.”

"The God of Holy Light..." Gawain muttered in a low voice, then looked into Veronica's eyes, "Will He also bless those who don't believe in Him?"

The "Princess Saintess" in front of him is an elusive figure to Gao Wen. She is a child of the royal family with extraordinary talents and a devout follower of the Holy Light. She is the youngest living saint of the Church of the Holy Light, and there are countless believers of the Holy Light The most perfect saint princess in my heart, there are too many auras shrouded in this woman who is not much older than Rebecca, but under the brilliant and eye-catching aura... All Gawain can see is nothingness.

He couldn't see through Veronica's true intentions and actions—although all the words and deeds of the other party perfectly conformed to the "personality" of the "Saint Princess", but all the words and deeds seemed to be carefully crafted gems, flawless But there is no blood and flesh. In close conversations, he can never hear any real mood swings and personal likes and dislikes of the princess. What he can feel is always the same "holy and warm", but it is This kind of eternal holy warmth made Gao Wen feel that there was nothing but coldness in the princess's soul.

Is it really because Veronica's faith is so pious that it has become heterogeneous like a holy spirit?

Gao Wen didn't think so, so he decided to test her attitude in a more direct way when communicating with Veronica, but to his disappointment, the expression on Veronica's face was still calm and indifferent, and her tone There is also almost no change: "The God of Holy Light will treat all living beings equally. Whether you believe it or not, He is there and measures all things with justice."

"Including the poor who can't afford the ransom?" Gao Wen asked lightly.

"The God of Holy Light does not need money in the world, but the church needs it—however, a good starting point does not necessarily bring good results. Those priests whose beliefs are not firm enough will be corrupted by money, and the ransom money has become a means of making money in some areas It's also true that we did notice that and we're working on it."

This is the perfect answer - between defending and not defending, and making a promise of justice without a deadline. Obviously, the holy princess who devoutly believes in the God of Holy Light is also skilled in aristocratic circles. .

Gao Wen didn't continue to entangle on this topic, but asked directly: "What do you think about what happened in Lu'an City?"

Even with such a straightforward topic, Veronica's indifferent attitude has hardly changed: "His Holiness is very concerned about the situation in the southern border - in the past period of time, we have completely lost the news of the southern parish, and then came The information from the government is very disturbing. Your Excellency, we have no intention of interfering with your rule, but we must be responsible for the hundreds of thousands of believers in the southern border."

"Hundreds of thousands of believers in the southern region are living well now, and they still believe in the Holy Light. Most of the Churches of the Holy Light in this land are still operating normally - sermons and ceremonies are going on as scheduled," Gao Wen "The only difference is that the people have rewritten the rules with their own choices," he said.

Veronica looked into Gawain's eyes quietly: "Does the way they formulate rules include breaking the church in Luan City and hanging the priests there?"

"The priests of Luan City refused to obey the new rules and refused to die. It is really embarrassing, but I still feel very sorry for what happened in Luan City," Gao Wen spread his hands to make Amber and Pittman Everyone will be amazed by the frank attitude and said, "The priests in the cathedral have used many bloody and brutal methods to maintain authority and amass wealth. I believe they are the priests who are 'not firm enough in faith' you just mentioned. Their mistakes should have been corrected early to prevent them from going further down the path of turning their backs on the gods, but it is a pity that the anger of the people reached its high point first."

Gawain sighed and continued: "When there was chaos in the city of Luan, my army was stationed far outside the city in strict compliance with the order 'Do not attack the church' - this is because the priests of the Cathedral of Luan never We were forbidden to approach at the beginning—then the situation got out of control, and my knights and soldiers tried their best to rescue them, but unfortunately, due to the long distance and high walls, no one could be rescued in the end.”

To be honest, for such a very brief moment, Gao Wen was sure that he finally saw a trace of shock in Veronica's eyes.

However, the astonishment subsided almost immediately, and the tone of the Saintess Princess was still unhurried: "Your statement...has a very novel angle."

"This is a fact, and the evidence is everywhere, and more importantly, the people of Cecil prefer this situation," Gao Wen didn't expect Veronica to be so indifferent under this situation, but this It doesn't prevent him from continuing, "In my opinion, it doesn't matter who appoints the order of Luan City. The survival and interests of the people are always superior to the so-called 'orthodoxy'. I have no opinion of the church—any church— Prejudice and hostility, I am happy to accept any church to survive in my land, but they must abide by the rules here."

Gao Wen is willing to communicate and negotiate with Victoria slowly, because in his opinion, the Kingdom Army is the next major customer to ensure Cecil's rapid development, and a major customer needs to be carefully maintained, but he and Veronica When communicating, he will directly throw out his attitude - because he is really impatient with the Church of the Holy Light, a huge group that is difficult to extract benefits from.

"The survival of the people is better than 'orthodoxy'..." Veronica repeated Gao Wen's words, then raised her eyebrows, "Then where did this 'rule' come from?"

"700 years ago, Charlie and I made an agreement."

"So that seems to be your attitude," said Veronica calmly after a moment's silence, "impressive, and rather... bold in this day and age. I won't comment on that, but I think the Holy Light Cathedral will probably not be very happy after knowing your attitude."

"That depends on how you look at the situation in the southern border and the entire Ansu," Gao Wen said, "but I have a suggestion - if you can't change the status quo, you might as well learn to be more optimistic, after all, there is still a Church of the Holy Light in the southern border." ——I have never expelled any priests and priests, and they are still active and preaching in this land, at least—no one has declared them heretics.”

Veronica looked at Gao Wen: "...you want the Holy Light Cathedral to acquiesce in the independence of the Southern Church."

"You have the right to verbally declare that you do not recognize this matter, and I don't mind."

Veronica was a little startled again, and then she smiled: "Your attitude when talking to me this time is much tougher than last time - can't you be gentler with the younger generation?"

"I'm talking to the spokesperson of the Church of the Holy Light, and the spokesperson has no seniority," Gao Wen also smiled, and his tone slowed down a little, "but now I'm talking to the younger generation——Veronica, you can Live here longer and learn more about this land. Your ancestor, Charlie Moen, once worked hard to build a home where people could live and work in peace, but the irony is that I can hardly find such a place in this day and age. As for me, I have to do it myself. If you stay here for a while, you may have a chance to learn about the ideals your ancestors used to rush out of that wasteland—besides the God of Light, There should be something worthy of your attention, too."

Veronica remained silent for a few seconds, as if she was really touched when Gawain mentioned the word "ancestor", and then she bent slightly to Gawain—a gesture of a junior saluting an elder, She said softly: "I will judge with my own eyes."

Then she left.

After Veronica left, a hazy shadow squirmed beside Gawain, and quickly condensed into the figure of Amber. The half-elf blinked and looked at the direction Veronica left, and muttered in a low voice: "I I doubt she can see me..."

"She never looked at you."

"That's why I said she saw me—she looked in all directions, but she didn't look at me," Amber said professionally with her hips on her hips, and then she looked confused, "But then again... ...What kind of attitude is this 'princess saint'? You have told her so directly, but she still doesn't look angry. Could it be that she actually approves of you?"

"No, she never showed any attitude," Gawain shook his head, "No matter what I say to her, even if I want to burn down the Holy Light Cathedral or announce my conversion to the God of Holy Light, she probably won't show any attitude... This kind of person is the most difficult to deal with, because it is unpredictable."

"Tch, that's why I don't like magic sticks," Amber curled her lips in dissatisfaction, "he's better at deceiving people than a liar."

"Compared to this, is there anything going on tonight?"

"They finally crossed the Rock Fortress and came to your old Zongzi's base camp, of course they want to 'take a look'." Amber waved her hands carelessly, "I also saw a familiar face—— But they are fairly well-behaved, basically there is no place that is too overstepped, the officers of the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Iron Rangers are just watching from a distance, and I will continue to watch."

"That's good."

……

"A home to live and work in peace..." In the courtyard of the lord's mansion, Veronica, who left the terrace but did not return to the banquet hall, walked slowly along the flower bed in the quiet night, and stopped at the edge of a certain pool. Looking up at the lights of thousands of families in the distant urban area, he whispered to himself, "This city... really looks like..."

After looking at it for a long time, she withdrew her gaze from those magic spar lamps, and walked forward, but another group of light that was different from magic spar lamps came into her eyes from another direction, making her Her steps stopped again.

It was a tall figure full of sparkling arcane energy. His body was cast by energy, and a large number of rune armor pieces maintained his human form like some kind of seal. Beside this tall figure, Followed by a woman with white hair and shawl.

Veronica's eyes were attracted by the unusual arcane energy body. She looked at him, and then her eyes fell on those rune armor pieces—those ancient metals depicting the magic symbols of the ancient Gondor Empire era. , Some of the armor pieces can still see the imprint of the Starfire era. Veronica stared at them fixedly, and she didn't look back until the two sides were very close.

This is the legendary ancient magister?The once hidden power of the Cecil family?

When Veronica looked at Kamel, Kamel was also observing the "Saint Princess" who seemed to be walking in front of him. The two sides observed each other for a long time, until Veronica looked back, and Kamel Ercai took the initiative to break the silence: "Good evening, Your Royal Highness—is the banquet hall too stuffy?"

Hearing the other party's voice, Veronica kept her eternally decent smile, and she saluted: "Breathing fresh air is good for your health, Master Kamel, are you also here to breathe fresh air?"

"...I haven't breathed much these years," Kamel said buzzingly, and turned slightly before the embarrassing atmosphere spread, "The one next to me is Cecil's rune master, Jenny Pei Miss Luo."

"You... hello," Jenny raised her skirt nervously and gave a salute. Although she had met Veronica once when she was a member of the "Hundred People's Aid Reconstruction Team", she had But there is no chance to have a face-to-face conversation with the legendary Princess Highness, "Nice to meet you."

"Me too, Miss Jenny."

After a brief exchange of greetings and courtesies, the two sides passed each other.

"I was so nervous just now," Jenny said in a low voice until she walked a long way, "But Her Royal Highness is indeed very kind..."

"Really? I didn't notice," Kamel said in a low voice, "I just felt a... familiar and uncomfortable breath from her."

"Aura? What aura?"

"God—she is either related to God, or has been to God's Domain."

Chapter 0525 Observation

Cecil arranged the most comfortable accommodation for the guests from the royal capital - not in the Lord's Mansion, but near the Lord's Mansion, in an independent building under the Government Affairs Office.It is said that this building was built specially to welcome important guests, and was called "Autumn Palace" by the Cecilians because it was completed this autumn.

This novel arrangement once again made the visitors feel the uniqueness of the Principality of Cecil.

The Duchess Victoria was leaning lazily on the soft and comfortable couch, relaxing the muscles of her limbs that were slightly stiff due to the fatigue of the journey and the dinner, and carefully observing all the furnishings in this room—frankly speaking, here The furnishing does not match the word "luxury". Although everything is exquisite, it is not in the same style as the rooms in Silver Castle, but the things here are still impressive.