It's been a fantastic and interesting journey.
At least for now.
Matilda sat on the comfortable and spacious seat with an impeccable dignified posture, quietly watching the mountains of the Cecil Empire gradually receding outside the car window. The wind and snow had weakened a lot, and the scenery outside began to change. The interior of the carriage is surrounded by soothing music released by some kind of magic device. The beautiful scenery, music, just right temperature environment, and the rich food stored on the train together make this long-distance travel in winter a wonderful experience. exceptionally comfortable.
It is even so comfortable that people will forget that they are sitting in the body of a giant steel beast, and that they are galloping on Cecil's cold winter wilderness at a speed far exceeding that of a galloping horse.
A young man with short blond hair, a youthful face, but an exceptionally mature and calm demeanor was sitting opposite Matilda. He noticed that the foreign princess in front of him seemed to be in a good mood, so he showed a faint smile, with a little pride in his tone : "How is the experience of traveling on the magic train?"
Matilda withdrew her gaze from the window, and looked at the young man opposite.
This young man named Philip has a surprising identity. He is so young, but he is actually one of the military commanders of the Cecil Empire. He commands the most powerful ground army of the Cecil Empire, and this The main force of the army... is now located in the Changfeng line of defense.
For such an important military commander to greet and "escort" the embassy led by Princess Typhon is of equal status and fully complies with the etiquette norms.
Matilda smiled a little.
"It was a great experience," she said with a smile, "and we had the best view."
Philip also laughed.
Under the proper arrangement of the reliable General Maryland, and with the efforts of all levels of units in the Changfeng area, Her Royal Highness in front of her has indeed only seen the scenery since she entered the territory of Cecil until now.
"Frankly speaking, this level of travel experience is not new to me," Matilda continued, "What is novel is that all of this is achieved by relying on magical machines. In the past, relying on the power of a mage, It is not difficult to make such a huge vehicle quickly pass through the wilderness, or maintain a comfortable travel environment in a harsh environment, but magic technology can use lifeless steel to achieve these things, which should be controlled by mages The power of this is something I never imagined.
"In Typhon, most nobles agree with the power of magic machines, and welcome the new magic trains and various factories, but there are still some old-fashioned mages who don't like these things—they always say that the operation of machines Lack of soul."
"This is different from us," Philip laughed. "We feel that there is another kind of soul hidden in the machine, which is hidden in the rotating gears and moving pistons. It only needs lubricating grease and surging magic energy. It is the faithful friend of man."
"... So magic technology first appeared in Cecil, and it also developed the fastest in this land," Matilda said with a touch of emotion, "I have always been interested in magic technology, I love it even Beyond traditional spells, it's a pity that Typhon still has a long way to go in this regard."
This was a programmed modesty, and Philip knew it very well, so he just smiled lightly and didn't respond positively.
After all, business bragging is not what he is good at...
A black-haired middle-aged male nobleman sitting next to Matilda also joined the topic: "I also pay attention to magic technology. Frankly speaking, I am even investing in it and researching it. It is really a waste of money. From this point of view, I have great admiration for the Cecil people—you are people who dare to pay the price to gain benefits, and you are full of adventurer spirit."
Matilda took a look at the male nobleman—Earl Dürer was one of the "progressive noblemen" in Aldernan who were most passionate about the field of magic technology. He owned the largest plantation in the north and invested in several Large-scale textile mills and spinning mills, his role in the mission, in fact, to some extent represents Aldernan's nobles who pay attention to magic technology and try to find more commercial value from magic technology group.
Thinking of this, the Typhon princess nodded in agreement: "It is true that the construction of factories and the research and development of machines are indeed costly, but the returns are indeed astonishing - so it can attract more and more nobles and businessmen to become investors. This point, in Cyprus Is it the same for Syl?"
"...Of course." Philip smiled and nodded.
The train was speeding across the wilderness. Outside the car window, the undulating ridge line was almost at the end, and it seemed that the front was about to enter the plain.
But Matilda couldn't help thinking about the "of course" that Philip finally answered her. For some reason, she always instinctively felt that this word contained more profound meaning, but she couldn't grasp the root cause for a while.
At this moment, the train finally rushed out of the cover of the mountains. After the huge rock wall flashed past, there was an endless plain ahead, and the scene outside the car window suddenly opened up.
At the junction of the plain and the end of the mountain range, on a natural high ground, a huge stone monument stands next to the railway line. There seems to be a wall around the stone monument to cover it, and there seems to be a maintenance and monitoring site for the railway line nearby.
Matilda had just noticed the unusual building, and was about to wonder why there was such an eye-catching thing in the wilderness, when she suddenly heard a loud and high-pitched flute sound from the top of the carriage, echoing on the vast plain.
This made her suddenly stunned: Why did the whistle suddenly sound? Is there a stop here or a staggered train
Just as confusion welled up in her heart, she and the surrounding Typhon envoys were surprised to see the Cecilians in the carriage standing up at the same time, even including the young army commander, these noble knights and generals They turned out of the car window at the same time, staring at the huge stone monument standing at the end of the mountain range, solemn and solemn, as if paying homage.
The Typhon envoys were taken aback when the surrounding Cecilians stood up at the same time, and even became nervous for a while, but at the moment they were only dazed. Those solemn faces made them wonder whether they should ask or not, so they could only remain confused After waiting for more than ten seconds, after Philip and the others sat down, Matilda couldn't help asking: "General Philip, may I ask if this is..."
"Have you noticed the stele?" Philip asked calmly, looking at Matilda.
"Yes, I noticed—and was just about to ask."
"The railway line under your feet was urgently extended and built on the basis of the original Baisha mining railway line after the crystal cluster war," Philip said slowly, "in order to send food and security forces to the east in time To prevent the subsequent impact of the crystal cluster war from causing large-scale famine and chaos in the eastern border, the construction period of this line must be compressed until the end of winter.
"In order to quickly pass through the most complex terrain of the Baissel Mountains, the Third Construction Corps used large-scale geological shaping spells, including a group of mages dispatched urgently from the old capital, as well as large-scale construction machinery that can release fossils into mud.
"When breaking through Kalin Pass, a hidden mana focus caused the spell to go out of control, and the mountain wall collapsed.
"Thirty-seven people were buried below, including seven mages and twenty workers."
Matilda opened her eyes slightly, and Earl Durer subconsciously said, "So it's to commemorate the sacrificed mages..."
"It is to commemorate all those who died," Philip looked into Earl Dürer's eyes, "The collapsed rock wall swallowed the victims, and the aftermath of the spell caused the human flesh and stone to fuse together, making them indistinguishable. Boulders of flesh and blood had been carried out of the pass, and a monument had been erected at the end of the Kalin Pass they had tried and failed to break through—with their backs against the Bythel Mountains, and their eyes on the plains to the east.
"It is customary on this line for trains to sound their horns after passing the Karin Pass and for soldiers to salute when they pass the monument."
Matilda listened quietly and seriously, her expression didn't seem to change much.
The envoys from Typhon listened quietly, some seemed confused, some seemed to be thinking.
A big investment aristocrat from Aldernan, the black-haired and black-bearded Earl Dürer couldn't help looking out the window, looking at the direction where the monument had gone, and couldn't help muttering amidst the sound of car whistles still lingering in his ears. stand up:
"Such a big monument... Even if the mage takes action, it will not be easy to build."
Maybe, enough to build another textile factory.
Matilda listened to Earl Durer talking to himself, and watched Cecil's plain receding rapidly outside the train.
A foreign country...
…
The wind from the extreme northern sea blows over the towering mountains, rolling the snow between the mountains, and the dragonborn's flag flutters high on the thick spire of Dragon's Landing Castle, with the end of the flag facing south, fluttering endlessly.
"The candidates for the envoys have been decided, and they will depart in the near future," Grand Duke Baloger of Dragon's Blood stood on the wide stone terrace of Dragon's Reach Castle, overlooking the snow-capped country, and said to the courtiers beside him, "Golo Sir Shi, it must be foolproof if you lead the team."
"The mission must be accomplished, Your Majesty." Sir Golosh said in a low voice.
Baloger nodded, with a leisurely tone: "We have indeed been closed in this bitterly cold mountains for too long, and the world outside the mountains is also worth visiting.
"You should be the eyes of the Principality, and take a good look at the Cecil Empire to see what's extraordinary about them.
"As well as us 'exiles'... lived up to Tarrond's kindness."
"Talrond..." Sir Gorosh's eyes changed slightly, "How long do we have to wait..."
"From the very beginning, this has been a near-permanent wait," said Grand Duke Balogar unhurriedly. "If we maintain hope with a hopeless attitude, our patience will last."
"... yes, Your Majesty."
Balogel was silent for a moment, looked away, looked at the trusted courtier beside him, and suddenly smiled slightly: "Speaking of which, you and your daughter haven't seen each other for a long time, right?"
"... I saw it from a distance five years ago," Sir Gorosh said with some helplessness and embarrassment, "A child who is messing around... She is really out of order in the human world."
"Young man, it's normal to be reckless or rebellious. Didn't you also jump over the Longyue Cliff when you were young?" Grand Duke Baloger shook his head with a smile, "Take it as a short tour in the human world, tour After decades or hundreds of years, I will probably come back after playing enough.”
Sir Gorosh was silent for a moment, then sighed: "... I hope so."
…
The cold wind was blowing, and Maggie, who was walking by the flight test field, couldn't help but sneezed suddenly, feeling a strange chill in her heart.
Rebecca, who was walking beside her, looked at her dragon-born friend curiously: "Hey? What's the matter? Have a cold?"
"No... probably not," Maggie rubbed her nose vigorously, feeling a little strange in her heart, "I just felt a little cold suddenly, and I couldn't help sneezing."
"Isn't it too cold to catch a cold?"
"Definitely not," Maggie shook her head with certainty, "Dragonborn's body is very strong, especially not afraid of the cold. I grew up in a colder place than here, and we even wear clothes during the coldest winter. It's a cold sport to play 'Ice Run' in one suit."
Rebecca's eyes lit up immediately, and she became very interested: "Flying on the ice road? What is that?"
"Ah, it's a small game popular among dragonborn children." Maggie couldn't help laughing, probably because she remembered the interesting things in her childhood. Roll down from the top of the mountain along the pre-dug ice path, and go to the foot of the mountain to see who is the first to stand up—by the way, if you vomit, you will be directly disqualified, even if you are the first to stand up."
Rebecca: "...wow!"
Sonia, who was walking on the other side, stared at Maggie with strange eyes: "You people from the Holy Dragon Duchy...have you been playing with this kind of thing since you were young?"
Maggie thought for a while, then shook her head: "Of course not all children play like this."
Sonia breathed a sigh of relief: "I'll just say..."
"Girls are the kind of play I'm talking about—boys don't use barrels."
Sonia: "?"
This is really a custom in a foreign country... It's hard to imagine.