Commodities from the Cecil Empire are gradually flowing into many countries in the northern part of the mainland. Even though it is the winter season, driven by high profits and the support of the imperial family, merchants are still not afraid of the severe winter and the danger of the road. Those novelty or interesting or useful things are brought to distant foreign lands.
Among the majestic mountains in the extreme north, a gray-white giant stone fortress was built on the top of the mountain. The cold wind howled across the mountains, rolling up layers of snow and cold fog outside the fortress. Huge braziers blazed all over the fortress. The grease mixed with frost fire grass juice and bright crystal dust made these flames glow red like blood, and even howling cold winds couldn't blow them out.
A series of invisible curtains shrouded the ancient "Longlin Fortress", together with those huge braziers to resist the howling cold wind from the outside. Inside the fortress, there were also huge braziers and fire pits blazing in the extremely wide hall. A middle-aged man in a dark red cloak was sitting on a large seat, looking at the magic mechanism in front of him with great interest.
The brilliance of the flame shone on the face of the middle-aged man, casting a shimmering light on the resolute face, short gray hair, high cheekbones and bridge of nose.
"Your Majesty, this is the magic terminal brought by those Cecil merchants—it can be used to release different simple spells by inserting different boards. It is very convenient for self-defense and as a tool," said a tall man. , a courtier with a bushy beard and a broad forehead stood next to the throne, introducing the items presented by the attendants, "In addition, this is the alchemy potion they sell-the effect is very ordinary, but the price is surprisingly cheap. In fact, according to our The price, the potion in it is even cheaper than the bottle itself…”
The middle-aged man with short gray hair, the current Grand Duke Baloger who has ruled the Holy Dragon Principality for thousands of years, nodded: "Recently, I have often heard news about this."
According to the tradition of the Principality of Shenglong, although its head of state is the "Duke", the subjects still use the title of "Your Majesty" instead of "His Royal Highness" in the southern country.
"Yes, Your Majesty," the courtier said with a bow, "in the past six months, the number of businessmen from the south has increased day by day, and the new 'Royal Cecil' is very encouraging business activities, and the novelties brought by those businessmen are very popular among the young people of the Principality. People's favorites—especially those machines that can work by themselves, and crystal devices that can record images."
Baloger looked at the magic terminal quietly for a moment, then said unhurriedly: "It's... very interesting."
Standing on the other side of the throne, a courtier with white beard and hair wearing a white twill gown couldn't help but said: "But recently young people are too keen on external things, and even discuss going to the south to 'see the world', That doesn't seem like a good sign."
Without turning his head, Baloger said casually, "Why isn't it a good sign?"
"Excessive curiosity about the outside world will shake the minds of the younger generation. When the people of the principality start chasing exotic things from foreigners, they tend to forget the admonitions of their ancestors. The long exile has not yet ended, and it is not right to step out of the mountains rashly. Noble move…”
"The admonitions of our ancestors only told us not to go to the north—but they never told us not to go to the south," Balogar said indifferently. "The reason why we were not interested in those kingdoms in the south in the past was simply because they were old and weak. It's not worth seeing."
While speaking, the Grand Duke of Dragon Blood shook his head with a playful smile on his face: "But now... some wonderful changes seem to be taking place in the south."
After a short pause, the ruler of the Holy Dragon Principality turned his eyes to the courtier with white beard and hair: "As for the so-called 'noble act'... Sir Eugene, the so-called nobility is up to the people."
Then he looked to the other side of the throne, and nodded to the courtier with a bushy beard and a wide forehead: "Sir Gorosh, the ice and snow lord in the southern mountains has sent us two envoys recently to discuss the official opening of trade routes." Maybe we should do something about it.”
…
Cecil Empire West, Ten Forest City, Franklin Castle.
The Gray Elf Wenna was sitting in the living room covered with soft thick carpets and decorated with shields and rune curtains hanging on the wall. The light from the magic spar lamp shone on the clean round table. There was a psychedelic brilliance in the room, she looked at Duke Baldwin Franklin in front of her, with a slight smile on her face: "Our first cooperation in the new era was very successful—the first batch of alchemy potions and as Samples of oriental cloth are in great demand in the plains and hills, and the Gray Elf King has ordered me to bring a present dedicated to His Majesty Gawain Cecil, as a token of our friendship."
This lady, who was as petite as a human child, was actually the leader of a large gray elf tribe, while speaking, she gestured to the entourage next to her. A small box one foot square was placed on the table in front of Baldwin.
The faint light of runes flashed, and the magic mechanism of the small box was released. After the lid was opened, a crystal ball about the size of a fist lay quietly on the velvet cushion.
"This is a high-purity crystal ball from the Ancestral Peak. As you know, the crystals produced on the Ancestral Peak have the best quality in the entire continent. This crystal ball was carved and polished by the dwarf artisan Mackintosh Gray Mountain , and blessed by the Fairy King, may the two kingdoms maintain a long-lasting friendship, as pure and flawless as this crystal."
"I will hand over this precious gift to His Majesty the Emperor," Duke Franklin nodded, ordering his attendants to put away the gift, "When the roads are clear next spring, we will establish permanent embassies and send ambassadors to each other. I will invite you to go to our imperial capital together, and you will definitely like the prosperous business atmosphere there."
"I'm looking forward to it," Wenna the gray elf smiled, nodded slightly, and then asked, "In addition, our king wants to confirm one thing. When will the second batch of textiles and alchemy potions be available? , there is a big gap in both commodities.”
"We can supply large quantities of alchemy potions at any time. Alchemy factories have been built in the western region. As for the textiles from Typhon..." Baldwin Franklin pinched his chin in embarrassment, "You know, it will take a long time to transport, The last batch of samples was transported from the east to the west through the Baishui River and land convoy relay transportation, but now the large river transportation of the Baishui River has been temporarily interrupted due to seasonal changes, and the railway required by the magic train... It is impossible to complete this year.
"Of course, even then we can still supply a small amount of textiles, which can at least solve part of the gap."
"A sufficient supply of alchemy potions has already solved half of the problem," Wenna said with a smile. "As for textiles...we understand your difficulties. It is also extremely difficult to transport bulk goods from the east to the west."
Speaking of this, the leader of the gray elf tribe suddenly paused, and then changed the subject in a natural tone: "Also, since you mentioned the 'magic train' just now, I have heard this strange term several times recently... Can you describe it to me in detail?"
The corners of Baldwin's mouth turned up slightly, and he leaned over while stroking his fingers lightly: "Oh? Are you interested in it?"
"Being able to quickly transport a large amount of goods across the entire empire, and the cost sounds very low, I don't think any businessman with a normal mind would be uninterested in it," Wenna said in a soft and mature voice, "It's not just me who is interested , even our gray elf king, and even several other kings, are very interested."
"Ah, then I'm going to introduce you in detail." With a smile on his face, Baldwin waved to the shelf next to him, and the exquisitely restored magic train model flew smoothly into his hands, " First, let's start with the concept of 'Magic Powered Vehicle'..."
…
The misty moon is getting darker, and the year is coming to an end. In this special year, this young and ancient country has experienced too many things and too many changes.
In this year, many people and events are destined to be recorded in history and become an important mark in the vast civilization of mankind. This year, many new things are also destined to be born in this world, changing people's lives, Many old things have been quietly eliminated by the times, and gradually disappear from their original stage.
After a day of training, Jin Na walked slowly on the ramp at the back door of the Windcaller camp. The wind from the mountains and forests blew past her. It was not violent, but surprisingly cold.
She recalled today's special flight experience in her mind, and felt that she was still quite excited in a short time.
Today, she finally broke away from the stage of ground simulation and familiarity with mechanical operation. For the first time, with the help of an auxiliary trainer, she drove the magical machine named "Dragoon" into the blue sky, even though it was only an hour. The training in the air, the experience that was very different from riding a griffin still left a deep impression on her.
It was smoother, faster, and more agile. The inanimate steel and crystal were constructed into an exquisite flying machine like a bird. She and another trained soldier sat in the cockpit of the "Dragon Cavalry" that could take three people. The trainer led her across the sky at the northern foot of the dark mountain range, and the tremor brought by the air flow was transmitted to her hand through the joystick, which made her think of the reins of the griffin, but it felt completely different.
Two loud calls came from nearby, interrupting the thoughts of the newly promoted commander of the dragoons. When she raised her head, she realized that she had unknowingly come to the southern end of the Windcaller camp, and came to a place special place.
Several large wooden nests were placed under a row of wooden sheds. Railings thicker than an adult's thigh could be seen around the nests. The unique smell of large birds floated into her nostrils along the wind. She saw huge The wings and sharp beak flashed by.
Unknowingly, she walked near the griffin's nest.
The Windcaller camp is a facility for training dragoon pilots, and it is more or less one of the cutting-edge facilities of the Empire. The old-style Griffin's Nest seems a bit nondescript here, but from a practical point of view, this is actually normal—a new-style magic flying machine After all, it has only just come out, and apart from a few trainers sent from the research and development unit, even the training of the first batch of pilots has just begun, especially before that, there is not even a single aircraft in this training facility that can fly. In this case, the fast transportation task between this camp and the imperial capital must of course be completed by old-fashioned flying units.
Therefore, in the cutting-edge aircraft training facility of the Windcaller Camp, there has always been an old-style Griffon team.
But I'm afraid it won't be long before these griffins will be dismissed...
A trace of emotion suddenly appeared in Jin Na's heart, and she couldn't help but came to a lair she was familiar with.
Almost instantly, a gigantic figure stood up in the nest, and then the head with a sharp beak and white feathers appeared in front of her.
"Hi, old man."
The female knight reached out and gently brushed the feathers around her old friend's neck.
The griffin uttered a loud cry.
Jin Na couldn't help laughing: "You are still so energetic."
"Actually, it's cursing," a voice suddenly came from the side, "and it's really ugly."
Jin Na turned her head in surprise, but saw the blond elf instructor approaching from not far away.
Beside the elf instructor was a quiet and quiet lady with long black hair.
The black-haired lady was the assistant trainer who led Jin Na to complete the training today, and she was one of the technical experts sent by the Institute of Magic Technology.
Jin Na immediately stood up straight and gave a standard and neat military salute: "Instructor Sonia, Ms. Maggie."
Sonia first responded to Jin Na's military salute, and then waved her hand: "You can relax, today's training is over."
Jinna exhaled, and the griffin next to her yelled loudly again.
Sonia immediately glared at the huge, noisy bird: "Vulgar language!"
The griffin raised its head, and on that feathered face, there was a vaguely proud expression.
Jinna: "..."
(Mom!!!!
It is said that the manuscripts are about to run out...but I should try harder tomorrow...)