Sword of Dawn

Page 221

Victoria Wilde sat in the car with a calm expression. As the Duchess of the North, she could restrain all her emotions under that frosty face.

Armed fortresses are just fortresses after all, and fortresses cannot be moved. Gawain Cecil built such a fortress, which is undoubtedly to declare his own force and his attitude: the southern border is too strong to allow anyone to Pointing fingers, but he has no intention of stepping into the Holy Spirit Plain.

At least for now.

One of the purposes of Victoria Wilder's trip to the south is to find out what the founding hero's attitude is towards the city of Saint-Sunil—and if he is really not satisfied with being a duke in the south, then what should he do? How long can we wait.

The Ansu royal family, which is deeply mired in the quagmire of civil war, really has no spare energy to start a new battlefield.

The guests from the royal capital were taken to the rock castle in the fortress—this castle has not been fully restored, and the upper floors of the castle that were destroyed by the calibration beam that day are still covered with scaffolding in several places, seeing those shocking big holes and melting Visitors can imagine what a terrible blow this place suffered at that time.

Veronica and Victoria saw the horrific damage beneath the castle, but in the end, they said nothing.

Cecil has actually occupied and controlled the entire southern border. Under the premise that he is unable to change this situation, it is meaningless to mention the relationship between the royal family and the Rock Fortress. The royal princess of the Holy See is very clear about one thing:

An interest is an interest only if it has a chance to be won, and an interest which cannot be won—it becomes a disgrace to bring it up.

In the long hall of the castle, Victoria and Veronica were received by a commander in white armor with some kind of magical sword on his waist—he was the new commander of Rock Fortress, Walder Perici .

This old knight from the Kant region never imagined that he would have such a bizarre experience in the past half of his life: he became the commander of the fortress guarding the border of the principality at an age that was no longer young, and also represented the guardian of the duke. Receiving another Duke and Her Royal Highness the Princess of this country, this may become his bragging capital for the next half of his life, but at this moment, he must do his job well to ensure that he does not lose his etiquette and does not make people feel uncomfortable. Duke Cecil was ashamed.

"Welcome to Rock Fortress, and welcome to the land of the southern border. The current Commander of Rock—Walder Peric salutes Her Royal Highness and Your Excellency the Duke," Walder Peric stood in front of the guests in uniform, The picky etiquette and attitude said, "Please take a short rest here - the reception banquet has been set, I hope the heating of the castle can dispel the chill accumulated during your journey."

"Nice to meet you, Sir Perici." Veronica said with a smile. The saint princess did not know the specific title of the commander in front of her, but according to Anzu's traditional law, the commander of such a key fortress is in the After taking office, he will automatically obtain the non-hereditary "Jazz" title. This title is independent of the general title and enjoys the right to have equal dialogue with most nobles. It reflects Ansu's respect for the brave nobles. Soldiers with outstanding abilities are in charge of the fortress, and they can immediately have enough prestige and legal basis to command the noble commanders at all levels in the fortress.

Victoria Wilde, who was beside Veronica, recalled the incredible magic devices she saw after entering the fortress, as well as the impressive north wall of the fortress, with a little admiration in her tone: "Sai The Duke of Sil has worked a miracle here."

"Believe me, you will be even more amazed after seeing the city of Cecil," Walder Perici said with a smile, and led the two guests to the inner court of the castle, "Your Excellency already knows about your arrival, tomorrow There will be a special convoy coming to meet them.”

Victoria didn't care about the "receiving convoy" that the old knight said. She thought it was just a part of common etiquette: when important guests visited the territory, the local ruler would naturally send a team to greet them.

This indifferent thought lasted until the next day, until she saw those iron-cast magic machines crossing the avenue and parked neatly on the open ground in front of the castle.

Even though she tried her best to maintain her expression, Victoria couldn't help but look surprised at those magical devices that looked like cars but not cars: "This is... your car?!"

"Magic 475 series magic vehicles, the model is 'Pioneer Generation', a creation of magic technology," Walder Peric introduced to the Duchess with a proud look—even though this was the first time he saw Seeing the actual magic vehicle, but he had prepared it long ago, and he was used to seeing those new technology products from the local area, so he was quite calm and indifferent at the moment, like an old driver who has been driving for many years, he memorized it the night before The introductory speech, and try not to let his smile appear the slightest deviation-after all, he is the guardian duke of the kingdom and the famous saint princess, he does not want his smile to make the other party feel any offense, "This is a A new thing, I believe its riding experience will make you forget the carriage."

"Magic technology..." Victoria repeated the word softly, linking it with all the information she had collected on the southern border in the past year.

The rapid rise of the Cecil family in the southern border... seems to be related to this rumored "magic technology".

It is said that this technology was brought after the resurrection of Gawain Cecil, and it is a variant of the lost magic technology of the ancient Gondor Empire.

However, as a spellcaster who specializes in magic and has read many books, Victoria Wilde has not seen a single word related to "magic technology" in any ancient books about the Gondor Empire... On the contrary, in those ancient books that have been handed down from the south In the sporadic information about the magic net that came out, she saw a trace of the modern magic formation being extremely optimized...

Her eyes fell on those magic vehicles with tough lines and strange shapes-the appearance of these "creations of magic technology" did not match the elegant and refined style advocated by the northern nobles in recent years, but their roughness The tough lines and the complex mechanical texture of steel in the details have a kind of indescribable beauty: "I have heard of magic technology... so it turns out that they can be made into such an incredible magic device?"

"This is exactly what makes it so fascinating—of course, it costs a lot to manufacture such a magic device." Walder Peric said, he did not lie: the factory assembly line of the magic car is still During construction, the magic vehicles in front of me were all made by the master mechanic and craftsman Mr. Nicholas Egg (although the master did not have hands). The master craftsman's own hands made these vehicles have satisfactory reliability , but its cost is far beyond what mass products can match.

"Is the price expensive..." Victoria's eyes did not change, she just repeated these words in a low voice, and then nodded, "Since it is Duke Cecil's kindness, I am willing to accept it, and I also agree with this I am very interested in the mysterious 'magic technology'."

"Please get in the car, and please allow the entourage we arranged to ride with you," Walder Perici said, and as his words fell, a valiant young female knight walked over from the side , "Margarita is a knight trusted by the Duke. She will explain the story of the magic car to you and act as your guide along the way to ensure that your trip will not be boring."

When Victoria heard the word entourage, she wanted to refuse—she was not used to riding in the same car with anyone, and she would only be with the black-haired maid Maggie when she traveled on weekdays, but when she heard Walder Pe After Rich said, she nodded after seeing the female knight named Margarita.

She might be able to get some useful information from this young female knight, and this Miss Margarita also seems to be a neat person, and she doesn't mind allowing such a person to get closer to herself.

"Margarita Crete, Hail to the Northern Guardian of the Kingdom."

The female knight Margarita saluted. The slight nervousness and good manners she showed made Victoria very satisfied: this is exactly what a qualified young knight should do. It seems that even in this remote southern border, There are also good people.

Later, Knight Walder arranged another female knight for Veronica as an entourage-the princess, who has always been approachable, accepted the arrangement and thanked Walder for his kindness.

Victoria Wilde boarded the magic vehicle, and she saw a young man in uniform sitting in the front seat of the car—she had seen someone in the car just now, but she only noticed the young man at this moment Various controls around.

Is this the mage who controls this magic device?

The "driver" who drives the car is not outside the carriage, but sits in the carriage with the passengers. If this is seen by some strict and rigid people, it may be very inappropriate, but Victoria doesn't care about it—for example, From this point of "etiquette", she was more concerned about how this magic vehicle was built.

She sat in the back of the car with Margarita, and Maggie, the black-haired maid, sat in the front next to the driver.

A part of the team boarded several other magical vehicles, and they would set off for Cecil City with Victoria and Veronica, while the rest of the entourage would continue to take those vehicles that traveled all the way from the capital. The horse-drawn carriage from the plains was slowly driving behind—this was the arrangement suggested by Wald after considering the speed difference between the magical carriage and the carriage.

The whistle sounded and the convoy set off.

Riding this incredible magical device for the first time brought a novel experience to Victoria, and she hadn't had this feeling of curiosity and confusion for many years. She felt that this magical vehicle with a complex structure was gradually Acceleration - There is a mechanical vibration coming from under the car, but the overall driving process of the car is much smoother than that of a horse-drawn carriage, and the "mage" who controls the car is using a disc, some joysticks and pedals To control the operation of this magical creation... He did not use magic.

The duchess from the north looked at all this curiously, but she didn't want to show herself too frivolously, so she began to think of ways to divert her attention--soon, she noticed that the female knight beside her was standing in front of her. Saber at hand.

It was a saber with magic runes. It was obviously an extraordinary weapon, and there seemed to be an almost identical rune sword on the commander of the fortress.

Extraordinary weapons are powerful equipment created by magicians and rune masters with great painstaking effort and cost. Only those with a certain status and financial resources can tailor such equipment for themselves. Therefore, it is rare to see two pieces of extraordinary armaments look the same. Exactly the same, yet in Cecil...it seems that many extraordinary items based on magical powers look exactly the same.

From the small saber, to the huge "magic vehicle", as well as the magic devices on the city wall that were obviously some kind of weapon, identical extraordinary items could be seen almost everywhere.

Victoria knew what that meant, and it meant that the Cecilians were capable of mass-producing these magical items, at least to some degree.

Magic items are precious and cannot be mass-produced-this concept is deeply rooted in the hearts of most Ansu people, and due to technical limitations, it is indeed a fact at this stage, but this does not represent the awareness of the rulers of the kingdom It's less than the meaning of mass production of extraordinary items.

"Miss Margarita, this sword is very beautiful."

Complimenting a knight's sword is a very common and ceremonial opening speech, especially when the superior is willing to open the topic. This kind of praise has the meaning of the superior's criticism, and it also gives enough respect to the lower-status party , Victoria is very familiar with the etiquette between words.

The young female knight really showed a reserved smile. She touched the hilt of the rune sword with the back of her hand, and said with a little pride in her tone, "This is the sword bestowed by the Duke—it is my pride."

"It seems to be an extraordinary weapon?"

"Yes, this is a rune sword," Margarita smiled, "but I can't demonstrate it to you here - once activated, the blade of this sword can easily cut through the car's shell, it's too dangerous .”

Victoria couldn't help showing a look of admiration—no matter how polite the admiration was, Margarita introduced it along the way: "...Of course, this sword is not only powerful, it is also composed of the best The swordsmith has adjusted the weight and balance of the blade. It is very comfortable and flexible when wielding it with one hand, and it is also full of power when holding it temporarily with both hands. Its hilt is also specially made. After the end is unscrewed, a single A single dose of healing potion, in other words, as long as the sword stays with you, even if other supplies are lost, the soldiers will have at least one chance to save their lives..."

Victoria listened carefully to Margarita's introduction, and she did get some useful information as she wished... But for some reason, she always felt that the female knight's familiar words and phrases when introducing the sword seemed to be specially memorized. of……

And after Margarita finished introducing her saber, she managed to get the Duke of the North interested in the set of white commander's magic armor she was wearing.

The magical energy in the gaps of the armor and the runes in the details made Victoria realize that this is also an extraordinary armor.

"This armor was also given by the Duke - it protected me through the most dangerous battlefields (watching the artillerymen firing on the walls outside the Rock Fortress), and kept me unscathed in the face of five times the enemy (receiving prisoners time), I was wearing it to break into the gate of the Rock Fortress (actually, I walked in, because when the Second Corps entered the city, let alone the gate, the city walls were blown up), this is a trustworthy piece of armor —and you see, it has a unique pattern..."

Victoria nodded subconsciously: "...It's really... very beautiful..."

The young female knight in front of her was surprisingly talkative.

Looks like this trip really won't be boring.

Chapter 0522 Reception

The guests from the royal capital finally arrived.

Everyone in Cecil City—from the officials of the government affairs hall to every civilian in the city—has made full preparations.

As early as half a month ago, the news that the Duke of the North and the Virgin Princess would visit the Cecil Territory at the same time was published in the newspapers and spread all over the South. This is a big deal.

Ordinary people may not be able to figure out the political significance or interest entanglements behind this, but at least they can recognize the legal justice of the Principality and the legitimacy of the Cecil surname in this land—even though Gawain is not aware of it. I am very concerned, but people in this era are still used to believing this.

So this has become a big event, and according to the standard of a big event, it has been prepared for half a month. On this increasingly cold winter day, a grand welcome ceremony is waiting for guests from afar in Cecil City.

A team of seven magic vehicles was driving on the North-South Highway—this was the first section of modern road built by Gao Wen on the "cross axis" centered on Kant City—the flat and open concrete road allowed the new-style The magic vehicle drove more smoothly, and the open winter fields on both sides soothed the mood of everyone in the car. Grand Duchess Victoria was sitting in the second car, looking at the scene quietly through the crystal window on the door. end of a wide road.

The road surface was paved with some kind of man-made material, much like the "petrified mud" made by the alchemists in the north, but it must be cheaper, otherwise the Cecilians would not use it to pave the road.

There are neatly arranged magic spar lamps on both sides of the road, which means that Cecil's avenue is also accessible at night, but the street lamps in the wilderness are far away from the city... How did the Cecil people charge these magic spar lamps?Is it related to the legendary magic net?

Almost 80.00% of the entire road from Rock Fortress to Cecil City is this kind of open road with uniform specifications, only a few areas are old gravel roads or stone roads, and those old roads are obviously under construction State - This indicates that the ambitious founding hero intends to use this road to connect his entire principality.

The Duchess thought of the "Avenue of the Cross" (Road of the Kingdom) built by Ansu before the civil unrest in the Brumaire, running through the east, west, north, south, and north of the Holy Spirit Plain. , but other facts have proved that such a transportation system that connects the whole territory and has a unified standard can play a surprisingly large role in the development of the kingdom.

As long as the ruler can maintain the centralization of power, the unimpeded road will only help the development of the kingdom. However, the authority of the second dynasty has plummeted, and the road of the kingdom has been cut up and down by the feudal lords everywhere. The southern border... Cecil has risen, and no one can resist the authority of the Cecil family. Their "Principal Avenue" quickly spread across the wilderness...

If the authority of the royal family can be restored, the first priority should be to reorganize the Kingdom Avenue, even if it uses coercive means, it must end the behavior of the lords cutting the roads—the Duchess looked at the south, but what she thought about was the Holy Spirit Plain.

"We're almost there." The female knight Margarita said softly, interrupting the duchess' thoughts.

She raised her head and saw an unfinished city wall stretching across the wilderness in front of her. The road pointed straight to the outpost in front of the city wall, and in the few gaps in the city wall, she could see large areas of houses and buildings. buildings.

"Is that Cecil City?" She looked into the distance, "It is indeed very large..."

"No, that's just the new city on the north bank—and it's the unfinished part," Margarita shook her head lightly, "We have to pass through this area and cross the mechanical bridge to reach Cecil City. Riverside Plaza."

A trace of doubt flashed in Victoria's eyes, but she didn't ask anything—she felt that she had asked enough questions along the way, and no matter what she saw next, she had better use her own eyes to judge.

The convoy passed the outpost and drove into the new city on the north shore of Cecil. As soon as it entered the city, Victoria saw the huge banners hanging on both sides of the road:

Welcome to Cecil.

She was amused by the novelty of the welcome, and soon the novelty gave way to surprise.

Huge banners are fixed on the three-story buildings on both sides of the road, spanning the entire street, and connected by many magic spar lamps wrapped in colorful cloth, extending along the road, and the neat buildings are like guards. Lined up along the roadside, and in the clearing between those buildings and the road, countless crowds have gathered—thousands of healthy and vigorous people in warm winter clothes on this cold winter day On both sides of the road!

When she set off from the royal capital, Victoria never thought that she would see such a welcoming scene—even when she saw the majestic and majestic rock fortress and the vibrant Carroll City and Kant City, she I never thought I would see such a welcoming scene.

This is winter! !

However, there are more and more people on the side of the road. The magic guide team drove into the city, and the leading vehicle blew its horn—it was a loud whistle made by some kind of airbag and copper pipe device— - When the flute sounded, those gathered by the road cheered loudly, and it was unknown whether they were cheering for the guests or the cars.

At the same time as the car whistle sounded, there were rapid and orderly hoofbeats from the path on both sides, and several teams of cavalry with bright armor appeared from both sides of the road. They were wearing uniform white armor and painted with The burqa with Cecil's emblem, holding a flag in his hand, quickly approached both sides of the convoy, and trotted forward with the convoy that had already slowed down.

Victoria looked at the scene on the road outside in surprise, but her almost instinctive restraint and etiquette made her respond most appropriately—she opened the car window according to the method Margarita taught, and smiled slightly at the knights and citizens outside the window. nod.

The convoy approached the riverside block, and people who had already prepared appeared on the buildings on both sides of the road. Flower petals sprinkled from high altitude, sprinkled on the convoy like winter snowflakes, and sprinkled on the cavalry guarding the convoy. At the end, Victoria has seen the mechanical bridge that is gradually lowering——

Is that a bridge made of steel?

She clearly saw the huge gear and lever structure running under the bridge. Some kind of powerful mechanical device pushed the bridge body down gradually and brought the two bridge decks together tightly. Slowing down, it happened to be driving on the bridge when the bridge mechanism was closed-the cavalry on both sides of the convoy was also moving forward at a constant speed, and there was not even the slightest confusion in the pace of each horse.

How long have these soldiers been training?How many soldiers of this level does Cecil have?

The Duchess felt the mechanical vibrations from the magic vehicle under her body, and watched the city on the other side of the river, driven by magic power, getting closer. The loud sound released by a kind of amplification magic, but the music is not like the court style music she has heard in any welcoming ceremony. Loud beat, but more majestic and powerful.

Margarita's voice came from the side: "This is the 'March of the Phalanx', I hope you like this impassioned tune."

Is this the preference of the founding hero?Is this reflecting the spirit of martial arts?

Victoria nodded as reservedly as possible, expressing her admiration and satisfaction appropriately. At this moment, the convoy had already driven off the mechanical bridge. In front of the convoy, there were welcome slogans and a large crowd gathered.

Victoria was used to these crowds of townsfolk gathering on winter days.

She maintained a nearly non-existent smile, showing the most decent appearance to the people outside the car window—then she suddenly saw some people waiting on the side of the road, pointing at herself with strange things that should be magical devices, with His expression suddenly stiffened.

However, she forcibly stopped her instinctive urge to cast spells, because she noticed that knights and soldiers wearing Cecil armor were standing beside those people—she guessed that those magic devices should also be part of the welcome ceremony, so she He adjusted his expression in an instant, and continued to deal with everything with an indifferent expression with a slight sense of alienation.

In the next second, accompanied by a series of loud explosions, one after another light blue air masses suddenly rushed into the sky from the block in front, and burst into large expanses of brilliant fireworks in the sky.

The entourage from the royal capital in the convoy raised their heads one after another, opening the car window in surprise. Even Victoria couldn't help showing a look of surprise for a while.

But she quickly returned to her usual self.

That should be the fireworks released by Cecil's mages to stir up the atmosphere—Victoria thought—this kind of fireworks is not uncommon for the nobles. is an indispensable item, and she shouldn't make a fuss about it.

Although the fireworks released by Cecil's mage are indeed a bit different from other places-how did they make the fireball technique explode so much?And how many mages did they organize to create such a large-scale fireworks?

"What a grand welcome ceremony—I almost forgot it was cold winter," the Duchess admired sincerely, "I think I felt the enthusiasm and sincerity of Duke Gawain Cecil, this welcome ceremony must be Expensive."

Beside her, the female knight Margarita smiled and nodded: "Important guests should have a grand welcome."

"It took a lot of budget to welcome those two," Hetty said in a distressed voice while standing beside Gawain in the newly decorated riverside square, "it's almost enough for a new rune foundry... ..."

"Important customers should have a grand welcome," Gao Wen smiled and glanced at Hetty who was distressed about the budget, then turned his head and looked at Rebecca who was standing beside him, "The fireworks are well designed."

Today's Rebecca finally put on the clothes of a decent noble lady. The heir of Cecil wore a light blue court dress, and tried hard to maintain a quiet and steady appearance next to her ancestors, but when she heard Gao After Wen's words, she still couldn't help muttering: "Actually, I still want to set off a few fireballs myself—the howitzer is definitely not as big as my fireball..."

Gao Wen sighed: "We want to welcome guests, not kill them."

"I threw it into the sky..."

"That's what you said before you blew up the yard wall last time."

"Wow--"

Hetty had to cough softly to remind the grandparents beside her: "Grandfather, they are here."

The convoy arrived at the square.

Victoria and Veronica witnessed the prosperity of Cecil along the way, saw the cheering crowd, and saw the extremely grand fireworks. They and their entourage crossed the mechanical bridge over the White Water River and passed through the wide and neat riverside avenue , escorted by the cavalry and countless flowers, this team from Saint-Sunil finally came in front of Gawain Cecil.

I have seen what I should see, and I must have felt what I should feel.

The military band on the square once again played the impressive march of the phalanx. Flower petals--a by-product of the daily teaching of the Druids and Alchemy Department of the General Academy--flyed over the square, and the magic car was steady. It stopped in the middle of the square, and Victoria and Veronica got out of the car under the escort and support of the heroic knights.

"It's an impressive journey," said Victoria Weld, the ruler of the northern border, bowing in front of Gawain as a junior meeting an elder, and then raised her skirt to salute according to the rules of meeting nobles of the same level. imagination."

"Cecil always welcomes visitors, especially after old people." Gawain nodded with a smile, accepting the other party's full set of etiquette, and then he looked at Veronica, "This is the second time we meet in this place Yes, Princess Veronica."

"It's completely different from the last time," said the saint princess wearing a priest's robe with a soft smile and a sweet voice. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I couldn't believe that a city could grow to this extent within two years."

"It's all about surviving in this barren land—for survival, human beings are omnipotent," Gawain turned sideways and opened his hands, "Welcome to Cecil—it's ready to welcome you gone."