The last ray of sunset in the sky fell into the depths of the mountains. Under the gradually dimming sky, the glow of the magic spar street lights lit up one by one under the control of the timing device. Before the stars in the sky twinkled, the stars on the earth brightened up one step at a time. , and amidst the bright lights, the night life of the citizens of Cecil is just beginning.
Night is not the end of the day, but the beginning of another period of activity.
The street tavern is brightly lit, and the workers who have just got off work are resting and relaxing in the tavern, filling their stomachs. The magic network radio device on the square is broadcasting the evening news program, which makes the nearby citizens stop and stay, full of interest. Restaurants and shops lit up the illuminated signs at the entrances one after another. Enthusiastic shop owners and clerks were attracting customers at the entrances, and waves of people walked towards the east or south of the city, which was the direction of the factory area and night schools.
Sonia Shuangye stood on the street, looking at the bustling city in surprise. She looked at the street lights and couldn't help but said: "This place... is far more lively than the capital of Ansu's king."
"Cecil is the most prosperous city in the southern border, and I'm afraid it's also the most prosperous in Anzu," Soldering said beside him, his tone not without pride. He was temporarily assigned as a guide to guide visitors around the city. After all, here No one in the city is more familiar with the preferences of the silver elves than him, "There may not be the historic buildings of San Sunil here, but everyone here lives better."
"It can be seen," Sonia nodded lightly, "this place reminds me of the imperial capital of Gondor back then...the same brilliant lights, the same advanced prosperity, but they are fundamentally different...there is only one imperial capital of Gondor, and this place is prosperous There is more than one city. It seems that I can't bring you home. This is indeed a good place to stay. "
Silver elves love to travel, and almost every young elf has at least a hundred years of travel experience. In the elves' sayings, "a good place worth staying" is the best evaluation of a foreign land.
"The development here is very fast, and it will develop even faster in the future. Even in other places in Ansu, those relatively closed and backward cities have been developing continuously in the past few hundred years, and the Silver Empire... the Silver Empire has been growing. Nothing has changed in ten thousand years," Solderling said, "It was a very depressing place for me."
"Her Majesty has been pushing ahead with the construction of the new city."
"I don't mean the new city, mother, you know that," Soldering interrupted Sonia, "...how has the hometown been in these years?"
"If you mean peace, then the empire has always been peaceful. If you mean the 'legacy'...'heritage' is in decline," Sonia sighed softly, "As of fifty years ago, all technological research was in a state of decline. We are stuck at the bottleneck of the Great Split of the original elves, the data is broken, the data cannot be matched, and the technical field is full of black boxes... Scholars still maintain hope, but some people say that we are already in a quagmire."
"The bottleneck of the original elves..." Soldering couldn't help repeating this word with special meaning to the silver elves.
Legend has it that there was only one family of elves at first, no matter gray elves, sea elves, dark elves or silver elves, they all originated from the "primitive elves" on the remote old continent. The palace in the sky, but a sudden disaster caused this powerful ancient civilization to fall apart...
The original elves who escaped from the disaster left the old continent on an ark flying over the sea. In the sea area that was about to reach the new continent, they encountered a high tower in the eternal night. Reckless, they strayed into the tower, but they were forced to fall apart by an incredible force. Curse, the noble original elves turned into flawed subspecies, the gray elves, dark elves, sea elves and silver elves split, and gradually parted ways, and the civilizational heritage of the original elves was also cut apart in this great split , and fragmented in the messy memory of each subspecies, it is difficult to reproduce.
Many elves know this legend, and most elven scholars agree that it must be true, or at least partially true.
"Isn't this strange? Our technology may have been interrupted, but even if we start from scratch, we shouldn't have been stagnant for so long," Solderin couldn't help but said, "Could it be that our subspecies elves are really Has degeneration occurred during the mutation process, so that our minds can't understand the technology of the original elves at all? It shouldn't be."
Sonia shook her head: "No one knows what's going on... Maybe the Queen and the Supreme Academy know something, but they can't do anything about it. And things like this are not something that a ranger like you or a messenger like me can think about clearly. "
Soldering fell silent for a while, but in the silence, he slowly raised his head and looked in the direction of the city center.
"Mother, do you think human wisdom can help?"
Sonia obviously didn't understand what Soldering meant: "You mean the technology of this city? They... are indeed more advanced than other places, but humans today are obviously lagging behind the Silver Empire..."
"Perhaps, on the general level, the human nations have not yet returned to the glory of the Gondor era, but do you know that in this city of Cecil, humans use a new method called 'runic logic' to technology, to realize the magic effect of elves on man-made machinery... "
Sonia's eyes widened: "...are you serious?"
Soldering looked at the lord's mansion from a distance: "I just have the feeling that this is where the hope lies."
…
Gao Wen withdrew his gaze from the window, returned to his desk, signed his name on the document, and handed it to Hetty: "I agree with the improvement plan of the repulsive train, you are right, the cost is a For major issues, we cannot blindly emphasize the most advanced solutions.”
"Thank you for your understanding," Hetty lowered her head, and then continued, "Ancestor, the rewards for Carol merchant Kodd have been delivered, including preparing him to accept the canonization order. But... you really want to Canonize a commoner merchant as a knight?"
Gawain looked up at the other party: "Hetty, do you still value 'birth' so much?"
"No, it's not a matter of birth." Hetty shook her head, "it's the title of 'Knight'. All along, the title of knight has been obtained by relying on martial arts such as military exploits. It is a symbol of bravery and loyalty. Although it is the last of the noble titles, it has a special meaning of honor. The profession of 'merchant' has always been regarded as having nothing to do with honor... "
"Cord is not just a businessman, Hetty," Gawain said unhurriedly, looking into Hetty's eyes, "he is a pioneer."
"Pioneer?!" Hetty repeated the word in astonishment. Apparently, she never expected her ancestor to say such a special word. The word came out of the mouth of the "pioneer among the pioneers", which seemed particularly meaningful. She remembered that the last person who received such an evaluation from her ancestors was the nameless wild mage who invented the magic net...
"Taking the first step bravely in the barbaric field, taking risks with oneself, and benefiting all generations, is to open up, it is not limited to land, nor is it limited to technology," Gao Wen said, "I know that Codd is a As a businessman, he made those pioneering works for profit, but I cannot deny the value of what he did. He pushed magic technology further into the civilian field, and many aspects are even deeper than I thought And pragmatism is the advantage brought by his career and experience. From this aspect, he is enough to be called a pioneer, and his courage to build a new factory for the first time and take the initiative to try new things... is also a veritable knight character .”
Having said that, he paused for a moment, and continued: "What's more important is that we encourage all behaviors that help the promotion of magic technology. For now, Codd is the most suitable benchmark for this."
"I understand," Hetty lowered her head, "I will seize this promotional opportunity."
Gao Wen hummed, and asked, "How's the progress on Kamel's side?"
"The research institute has copied all the technical information brought by the elves, and handed it over to the Rune Research Institute for analysis and translation. The work has just begun. According to your order, priority will be given to the magic of the 'Pressure Relief Organ'." Able to purify parts for analysis."
Gao Wen nodded slightly, sighing slightly in his heart.
The magic systems of elves and humans are completely different. In terms of specific spells, due to the different brain structures of the two races, humans and elves can hardly understand each other's spell models. Even a few mixed-race descendants who have inherited the characteristics of both races, It can only release a small number of "cross-race spells" at the same time. In the old technological era of "extraordinary power belongs to itself", this obstacle has plagued scholars of the two races for thousands of years, until the concept of "mathematics" was introduced into magic research In the field, technicians began to use pure calculation and reasoning to study magic, instead of relying on individual spiritual perception and spellcasting talents to construct magic, and this obstacle was finally broken through.
In the kingdom of mathematics, for the first time, two distinct magic systems have a common language. No matter what kind of image and "extraordinary intuition" a spell model will produce in the minds of the two races, it is in the logic of runes. , are unified in a framework.
The elves have technology that exceeds that of the current human nations. Although the Silver Empire is declining as a whole, its technological height is still much higher than that of humans, and those large-scale lost technologies are undoubtedly a treasure house for humans.
Gao Wen lowered his head and continued to look at the documents waiting for his approval and approval.
After the northern lords and royal families have reorganized their resources and balanced the forces of all parties, he will leave this land temporarily. Although he can still use the magic net to command the territory remotely by setting up relay towers along the way, the remote Remote control has its limitations after all, and he still has to arrange everything as best he can before leaving here.
…
Saint-Sunil City, inside the Silver Fort.
The brilliance of the magic spar lamp illuminates this historic royal castle, and the study room on the second floor of the castle is brightly lit.
Welsh Moen sat in a large and comfortable velvet seat. He raised his head and looked at the magical lamps inlaid on the opposite wall. Under the exquisite lamp holder made of brass, the hexagonal rune boards were neatly arranged. Arranged, like some new wallpaper, stretching all the way to the ground, and disappearing under the floor.
Sitting opposite the crown prince, Victoria Wilde saw that the other party was distracted, but she didn't care: "The coronation has been cancelled, Your Highness, please understand that we can't stimulate the East. But don't worry, it's just a postponement, you will sooner or later sit on the throne."
"Postpone it, I don't care." Wales withdrew his eyes from the magic mesh units, looked at the Duchess in front of him, "I heard that the heat energy ray gun has been successfully imitated?"
"It's indeed imitated," Victoria nodded. "Actually, the technology of that thing is not complicated at all. Although we don't know how the rune craftsmen in the southern border were so lucky to find such a perfect rune arrangement, its core The formation is indeed very simple, and the mages of the Wang family and the rune craftsmen quickly copied the exact same weapon, but... "
Wales said quietly: "Is it a matter of cost?"
"... cost, and production speed," Victoria nodded, "It is impossible to manufacture those magical weapons with a few gold coins, and even if the city's low- and middle-level mages and rune craftsmen are mobilized, coupled with the production capacity of the new factory , we will not be able to create a ray gun that can arm an army in a short time."
The Duchess couldn't help but think of the mage Wang who successfully imitated the heat ray gun, and when the other party asked her how many weapons she needed to make, and she replied that she wanted a few thousand, the other party's attitude of about to die expression.
"It's better to buy than to make," Victoria said slowly, "This is the result of the discussion by the Royal Masters Association."
Welsh Moen's fingers on the armrest of the chair suddenly turned white from exertion, but soon relaxed again.
He whispered: "It is indeed a sensible conclusion, but sensible does not necessarily mean wise."
"In this regard, I agree with you, but we haven't cracked the technical secrets of the southern border. This is the current fact." Victoria said lightly.
Wales shook his head. He knew that with the power in his hands, he could do very little, so after a moment of silence, he changed the subject: "When will you leave the capital?"
"After the cargo ship departs," Victoria said, "I will go to the Plains of the Holy Spirit and personally sit in charge to prevent the front line from changing. The Duke of Baldwin will stay here and assist you in handling state affairs."
During the period of political turmoil, at least one regent duke must remain in the city of Saint-Sunil. On the one hand, it is to calm the situation, and on the other hand, it is to... the royal family.
Wales understood the deep meaning in Victoria's words, he just said calmly: "I understand."
Victoria nodded, then stood up, but she did not leave, but quietly glanced at the middle-aged prince.
She couldn't help recalling when she was very young, when she first came to Silver Castle and came to this study room, her father and Francis II stayed where she and Wales were at the moment, and Francis II at that time The second king is also as quiet and silent as Wales at this moment.
"Your Highness," she suddenly couldn't help but say, "It's in your blood to guard this city."
"I see."