Sword of Dawn

Page 232

Victoria nodded: "He did say that."

"Oh..." Wales Moen nodded calmly, and then slowly stood up, "Then I'll leave first, please do what you want."

Finally, Victoria was the only one left in the long hall.

The Queen of the North looked at this empty place, at this place where, not so long ago, it was full of noise and disputes, standing for a long time.

A vague sigh resounded in the long hall, and accompanied by flying snowflakes, her figure disappeared beside the throne.

The snowflakes condensed by the magic power fluttered away, and the last few crystal clear snowflakes fell on the portrait of Francis II hanging behind the throne, melted into water, and slowly dripped.

Chapter 0543

When Victoria returned to her room on the upper floor of Silver Castle, snowflakes were falling from the window.

This winter's snow... one after another, especially after entering the second half of the cold month, the snow has hardly stopped.

Proper snowfall can bring good harvests for the coming year, but it will also make the cold moon more difficult. After this snowfall, many people will die in the villages and towns around the capital...

The cold wind from the north hovered over the ancient capital, stirring the snowflakes falling from the sky into a hazy curtain. Maggie, the black-haired maid, closed the wooden shutters on the inside of the window, blurring the bleak and bleak scene outside the window. Cut off from the outside, a fireplace blazing in one corner of the room kept this gorgeous room warm and cozy—the ice and snow outside the castle seemed like another world.

"Your complexion is not very good," Maggie looked at Victoria who entered the room, and asked softly as she stepped forward to help the Duchess take off her cloak, "Today's meeting is still not going well?"

"There's too many mediocrities sitting in those chairs—everyone's as short-sighted as a squirrel," Victoria shook her head. "What's worse is that I can't get them out yet."

Maggie hung the cloak on the rack next to her, and said softly, "After all, this country still depends on them."

Victoria took a look at this maid who was also a servant and friend. She knew that although Maggie was her maid in name, she had good insight and the power of an extraordinary person. This "Northern Butler" was her most trusted When two people are alone, most of the topics can be talked about.

"The country does not necessarily have to rely on those old-fashioned nobles to function," the Duchess said calmly, "You have seen it with your own eyes."

Maggie raised her eyelids and glanced at Victoria: "Yes, but the price of doing this is very high, and there is another very important point - you are also one of them, and you are also an inseparable one."

Victoria was silent for a while.

Yeah, she can't go that way.

"Don't think about that anymore, there is one more important thing," Maggie's words woke Victoria from her short thoughts. The black-haired maid picked up a sealed letter box with sealing wax from a nearby table and handed it to the Duchess. "A letter for you, from the Grand Duke of the Southern Territory, the White Feather Griffon."

Victoria's eyes widened in astonishment, and she took the letterbox and said, "Duke Cecil?"

She instinctively smelled a disturbing smell from this letter - not long after she returned to the capital, the Duke of the South hastily wrote a letter to herself, and it was still in the coldest cold The letter sent by Lie Zhiyue with the Griffin messenger, what is so urgent?

She quickly opened the letter box, took out the handwritten letter inside, and unfolded it. After seeing the content on it, her brows frowned.

Maggie stood quietly by the side without inquiring about the content of the letter: Although she and Victoria were close, it was not beyond that.

"Maggie," Victoria asked immediately after quickly reading the contents of the letter, "When did the astrologers from the Mage Association report that the red stripes at the bottom of the sun shifted?"

The black-haired maid recalled: "It should be the 10th of the cold moon."

"The 10th of the cold moon... the same day..." Victoria lowered her head, looking at the contents of the letter, "It can't be a coincidence..."

Then she noticed Maggie's slightly curious eyes, took a breath, and took the initiative to mention the content of the letter: "Duke Cecil sent a warning that the Great Wall has changed on the 10th of the cold moon. The overload lasted for three full days, and by the day the letter was sent, although the Great Wall had returned to calm, Duke Cecil believed that the barrier had been permanently damaged during the overload..."

The eyes of the black-haired maid slowly widened, showing no reservation of astonishment.

"It seems that I need to summon the royal mages and royal scholars," the Duchess said in a deep voice, "In addition... there is a new round of noble meetings."

When the word "noble meeting" was mentioned, Victoria couldn't help showing a trace of fatigue in her tone.

However, she is familiar with Ansu's system and knows very well that no matter what she wants to do—even if she is Ansu's queen—she cannot avoid the nobles.

"What a quagmire."

……

The light blue rune brilliance flickered between the overlapping rune substrates, and the surging arcane energy hit crackling arcs, bursting out from between the energy contacts and the gears, in a specially designed for On the experimental platform built for testing large-scale equipment, the heavy and complicated power mechanism is slowly starting to run under the impetus of magic power. The sound of steel meshing and rotating is like a roar from weak to strong, making the entire experimental platform tremble slightly.

On the monitoring platform, which is more than 20 meters away from the experimental platform and separated by two layers of magic shields, Rebecca and Kamel are standing among the technicians, paying close attention to the machine in the distance and everything around the machine. The operation of the magic-like device, and beside the two of them, each magician is also paying attention to the monitoring unit he is responsible for.

A dazzling spark suddenly appeared at the top of a tower-like device in a corner of the test bench.

"Amplifier No. [-] is overloaded!!"

"Amplifier No. [-] and No. [-] are out of balance—the protective tile may have been melted!"

"The core is heating up, and the amplifier groups are interfering with each other—"

"Stop immediately!" Rebecca's eyes widened, and she hurriedly shouted, "Stop immediately, stop!!"

A magician quickly got up to pull a certain lever located on the side of the console, but due to the excessive action, the lever got stuck between the gears of running and emergency stop, and a strange humming sound came from under the console. It was heard that on the experimental platform more than 20 meters away, electric light condensed by arcane energy began to burst out from the surface of each rune device.

"Let me go!!" Rebecca yelled at this critical moment, then casually picked up the iron staff that she never left her body, swung it round and smashed it on the console. She, who designed the entire console herself, It is very clear where to smash at this time - although according to the normal process, there should be no "smashing" operation at all - with a loud bang, a part of the console is completely sunken, and the magic power connection below is also interrupted.

The arcane sparks shooting around on the test platform quickly weakened and disappeared, and the entire unit gradually stopped after a continuous low humming sound. However, in a corner of the test platform, a two-meter-high tower-like device popped out from the top. Billowing smoke - most of the entire set was saved, the rest was apparently badly damaged.

As soon as the device stopped, the staff who had been waiting by the side rushed up. They rushed to the side of the tower device, and raised their arms to point to the alloy tower that was still emitting a billowing heat wave. The magic terminal for engineering was released immediately. A large area of ​​weakened ice cones, accompanied by the impact of magical ice and snow, the temperature of the entire tower began to drop rapidly.

Rebecca stretched her neck to watch the situation near the test bench, and Kamel's voice came from behind her: "How is the situation?"

"Don't think about it, just build a new one..." Rebecca said with a sad face, "Aunt Hetty will kill me... When I reported the budget for the repair laboratory to her last time, her eyes were red... "

"...I'll report it," Kamel said after a short silence, "Accidents and failures are inevitable when doing research."

"But burning eight amplifiers and two large mana engines in six days is not the same..." Rebecca still looked sad, she looked up, and watched the improvised construction with steel brackets and prefabricated panels. I feel a dull pain in my head in the large "laboratory".

This is a newly built laboratory according to the instructions of the ancestors. It is located on the outskirts of the city, far away from the residential area, and implements a safety isolation system and new operating procedures. Facts have proved that such an arrangement has indeed greatly improved the safety factor of the experiment, but the success rate of the experiment... seems a little bit Nothing changed.

"Why on earth," Rebecca said to herself, "why do you always get stuck on overload and interference..."

A senior magician looked at the data recorded recently, and said: "According to the test, the dense arrangement and multi-layer overlapping of magic mesh units can indeed greatly improve the output, and the volume can also be stuffed into the front of the car, but any What it brings is the frequent overload and mutual interference of the booster group and the repulsion mechanism—the magic power output by the multi-layered magic net is very problematic in terms of stability and purity."

"It seems that if we want to make the multi-layer magic net practical, we must first find a way to solve the interference between each layer of magic net," Kamel continued, "In addition, the pressure of the power mechanism at the beginning is also a problem. We have to find a way to redesign the transmission and speed change mechanism, reduce the starting speed, and at the same time reduce the instantaneous pressure of the magic energy engine - the previous two magic energy engines were caused by too much instantaneous pressure and caused mechanical damage."

"It seems that mechanical transmission is not suitable for a monster like the 'Magic Energy Train', and the speed change device can't bear such a big impact at all." Rebecca shook her head, "It's really not possible...We can try what the ancestors suggested. Once 'hydraulic transmission'."

As she spoke, she frowned, because she thought of another question: "But it's not enough to reduce the instantaneous pressure of the magic engine... The mechanical pressure can be reduced, and the magic pressure on the amplifier and the magic net Still can't solve it."

"The magic power of the rune array is rigid...it's really hard to handle," Kamel said buzzingly, "Even if the load on the magic engine is reduced, it's not good for the booster to keep it running. Small challenge."

This is a common problem faced by most magic machines: no matter how sophisticated the magic machines are and how complicated their functions are, their core essence is still "magic circles".

Since it is a "magic circle", the magic power consumed by each magic circle activation is fixed. The "efficacy" of this spell may be affected by the casting materials and the environment, but the mana it consumes is a fixed value .

Even if the starting pressure of the magic engine is reduced to the minimum, the magic power required for its operation will be [-]% reflected in the amplifier and magic net unit that power it. How many repulsion runes will be consumed? Mana, without the slightest discount.

As a result, the mechanical structure of the magic engine may be able to withstand it, but the runes of the energy supply part will still burn out, just like today.

One problem after another, before each problem is solved, a series of new problems will appear, mechanical structure, material strength, magic power interference, load of each device... all obstacles are piled up together, and they are almost unreasonable Have a clue.

It was a quagmire.

Rebecca looked at the arcane master in front of her, and suddenly couldn't help asking: "Master Kamel, what was the means of transportation in the Gondor Empire back then? It stands to reason... such a huge empire must also need similar equipment. Is it a large transportation tool of the magic train?"

Hearing Rebecca's question, Kamel couldn't help revealing the color of memories: "Back then... we didn't use mechanical magic vehicles back then, but borrowed the power of large elemental summons to transport goods, such as summoning The Hurricane and the Wavebringer, they are so powerful that they can move mountains and seas..."

Rebecca was stunned when she heard this: "This...such high-level elemental creatures can also be summoned and controlled? How did you ask them to help?"

"It's very simple, sign a summoning contract to give half a ton of dark blue magic crystal..."

"Okay, you don't need to say anything."

Dark blue magic crystal!Half a ton! !Not to mention the Hurricane Messenger, even a wind elemental lord could kneel down and deliver goods to you Gondorians, right?

Rebecca marveled at the behavior of local tyrants in the Gondor Empire in the past, but soon, various problems encountered in the current magic train project still filled her mind.

Miss Marquis covered her forehead: "My head hurts..."

Kamel looked at this talented but somewhat childish girl, and couldn't help but want to comfort her, but before he could speak, Rebecca suddenly raised her head: "Actually, I think it's... Is this way of thinking a little wrong? Or... can we change to another direction?"

"what do you mean……"

"Concentrating the power on the front of the car seems simple and crude, but it is too difficult to realize. These huge power things are forced together and it is very unstable," Rebecca said while thinking, her wonderful brain is so fast It started to run, "Master Kamel, do you still remember that we had a plan at that time, that is, if the high-power locomotive could not be built, we would distribute several smaller power magic engines to several cars of the entire train?" Go up, make a power carriage..."

"I remember that this plan encountered the problem of synchronization and coordination of each power carriage," Kamel said while thinking, "Do you think... synchronization and coordination will be simpler than the problem we are currently encountering on the front of the car?"

"What if?" Rebecca said, "Anyway, we have made plans for both sets of plans, and now the key components of the front set of the device have also been burned and must be rebuilt, so why not simply build an additional experimental platform and put the power Should we try the decentralized solution? Of course, we will not give up on the power concentration solution at the front of the car, we can continue to work hard, maybe the two solutions can complement each other, and we will find a breakthrough!"

As she spoke, the girl began to think again: "Also... I've been wondering recently whether it is possible to use a continuously running weight-reducing magic circle to lighten the load on the entire train... but the weight-reducing technique is a spell that takes effect within a certain range. How to control its effective area and prevent the train from becoming unbalanced when turning has to be carefully considered...but I think these may be the direction of breakthrough."

That's really optimistic thinking.

However, looking at Rebecca's passionate eyes, Kamel found that he was also infected—maybe there is some reason?

"Okay," the ancient arcane master nodded, "finish the plan tonight, and we'll go to Ms. Hetty to apply for funding tomorrow."

"...Eh? Didn't you go?"

"Let's go together," Kamel said buzzingly, "You are the supervisor of the entire magic technology department, and any major changes in the project require you to go in person."

What the great magister said was well-founded and righteous.

Rebecca had to believe it or not.

Chapter 0544 The New Laboratory

In Cecil's first-level government affairs department, Hetty's office, the uncle and nephew were staring at each other, while Kamel quietly floated next to them, as quiet as a light bulb.

"Aunt... this is all the budget request..." Rebecca felt that Hetty might not be in a good mood, but she still handed her plan and budget application form, which she had been working on all night, to her aunt, "Theoretically... as long as the lab doesn't explode for two months, you don't need to add funds in the first quarter..."

The corners of Hetty's eyes trembled slightly: "Did you know that you blew up four times in six days, totaling eight amplifiers and two engine test machines?"

Rebecca shrank her neck: "But didn't you say that...failure is the cornerstone of success, and the research path of a magician is always accompanied by the price of failure..."

Hetty clutched her forehead: "Did I still have the second half of the sentence at the time - rational magicians will find a way to minimize failure, and too honest wizards will basically die of poverty."

Rebecca raised her neck: "I never said that."

"..." Hetty looked at the Marquis Cecil in front of her speechlessly, then sighed under the pure and persistent gaze of the girl, and sat back behind her desk, "First put the plan Here, let me have a look."

"Oh, good!" Rebecca quickly handed over the plan in her hand, and at the same time, a smile appeared on her face, "I knew you were the best, auntie!"

"Don't rush to be happy, I have to take a closer look at your plan." Hetty took the plan and said without raising her head, "Don't forget, before I became the chief political officer, I was also a mage— "

She carefully looked at the follow-up test plan formulated by Rebecca, and quickly noticed that there were completely different ideas and verification processes in parallel in this plan, which made her raise her head: "At the same time, verify the power Two schemes of centralized and distributed power, and at the same time test the impact of weight reduction on the balance of the two car bodies?"

"Yes—don't worry, I've already arranged the manpower."

"It's not a manpower problem..." Hetty frowned, "Are you a little too urgent?"

Rebecca herself is a girl with super mobility, and she has been a bit out of her mind since she was a child. Looking at the plan that this girl came up with, Hetty couldn't help but worry that she would rush in, but when she saw Rebecca coming together Kamel, she became a little uncertain again - Rebecca's head is prone to fever, but Master Kamel's brain nerves are gone, so it shouldn't be possible to have fever with this child, right?

"...I'm in a bit of a hurry, but there's nothing I can do." Rebecca listened to Hetty's question, but she didn't hide anything. She said her thoughts openly, "Master Ancestor has signed a mining agreement with the Eastern Realm. Agreement, it is not easy to transport the ore from the White Sand Mine back. Although the ore can be transported to Gelan first, and then shipped from Gelan to the inner industrial area along the Baishui River, there is still a long road in between If we want to go, we must follow the mining method planned by the ancestors, even if there are magic vehicles to transport them..."

At this point, she paused, showing a persistent look: "So I want to solve the train problem before the ore backlog in the White Sand Mine becomes serious... Even if I can't make the best one, at least I have to make one that can run. "

After listening to Rebecca's words, Hetty couldn't help but have a hint of astonishment in her eyes.

It turned out that this child had thought so much...

No wonder the ancestor always reminded himself not to treat Rebecca as a child, and said that this girl was just lively, but what she thought...was not superficial at all.

"Your idea is very good," Hetty sighed softly, "The ancestors should be very happy. How about it, I will approve the funds for you first, but I also..."

"Wow!"

"Don't be too busy, I still have a few words to remind you," Hetty glared at the iron-headed baby who was about to jump up, "You are right in what you said just now, even if you can't make the best one, At least one that can run - in my opinion, your expectations for the magic train may be a bit high. We just made the magic train, and you want to build a magic train that is equivalent to a hundred times the traction The front of the train... the steps are too big. You know, such a powerful magic device produces more than just quantitative changes. I suggest that you can set the target of the magic train a little smaller—since there is a "track" Things, even if you use a magical cart to pull four or five carriages, it is far beyond the current carriage fleet, isn't it?"

Hearing Hetty's words, Rebecca couldn't help showing a look of unwillingness on her face.

But she had to admit that there was some truth to what her aunt said—the facts have proved that when a set of magic devices reaches a certain scale, its mechanical pressure, magic power load, and environmental requirements are not just quantitative changes. Simple.

Seeing the change of expression on Rebecca's face, Hetty shook her head helplessly, then picked up the pen for signing, and prepared to write her name.

The advance money received from the royal family...before it was warmed up, it was about to become an explosive being manipulated by Rebecca.

Butler Cecil let out a long sigh in his heart, and his hands that approved the funds trembled slightly.

At this moment, the magic net terminal placed next to the desk suddenly buzzed, accompanied by the flickering lights, this sudden communication interrupted everyone's movements.

Rebecca watched her aunt put the signature pen aside, watched the latter turn on the communication, and then watched the figure of the old ancestor appear above the communicator.

The three people in the room immediately stepped forward: "My lord ancestor." "My lord ancestor." "My lord."

"Hetty—ah, Rebecca and Kamel are also on your side," Gawain on the communicator quickly noticed the people in the office, "It's just right, there's no need to look for them anymore."

Hetty asked curiously, "What happened?"

"Come to the Institute of Magic Technology. I, Pittman, and Jenny are waiting for you here," Gawain smiled. "There are good things for you to see."

The three people in the room looked at each other. After a brief moment of stupefaction, Kamel suddenly realized: "I may have guessed what it is..."

After arriving at the Institute of Magic Technology, Kamel's conjecture was confirmed——