Despite her terrible magical talents, poor aristocratic cultivation, and troublesome personality behavior, Rebecca was still the most favored member of the family since she was a child - after all, the Cecil family had completely declined by her generation, and the elders of the family could not find another heir to nurture and care for.

So Rebecca has received so many gifts since she was a child, so many that it is difficult for her to count.

But few of those gifts impressed her.

Whether it's beautiful clothes, or new magic books and history books, there is nothing new in Rebecca's opinion, she doesn't like flowers and new clothes like ordinary aristocratic ladies, and she is not interested in learning history and etiquette, but since her ancestor unveiled the coffin, she finally found someone who can identify with herself and always bring her freshness - an ancestor from seven hundred years ago, Rebecca originally thought that Gawain would be the most old-fashioned and serious family elder she had ever seen, But I didn't expect this ancestor to be so interesting, and the whimsical ideas in his head were not weaker than himself at all.

Even the gift he gave himself was very interesting.

However, holding this so-called "telescope", Rebecca is still a little entangled (or angry with herself): "I don't like to look at the stars!" I didn't like it since I was a kid - what's the point! ”

Gawain just smiled, and forced the silly girl to the terrace on the top floor of the Lord's Palace, and under Hetty's surprised gaze, he helped Rebecca fix the telescope bracket and adjust the focus of the lens, and then pressed the head of the ironhead baby to make her put her eyes on the eyepiece.

Half a minute later.

"It's so much fun to look at the stars!!" Rebecca let out a spineless voice.

"Ancestor, this is ...... What gift for Rebecca you were talking about? Hetty was also attracted by the movement here, and couldn't help but put down the stargazing disk in his hand and leaned over, "There are no magic fluctuations...... What is it? ”

"You can try it," Gawain laughed, "yes...... While it doesn't come with a star chart and may not be as professional to use as a stargazing disk, it should be easier to use than your power-ups if you're only looking at distant objects. ”

Hetty finally pushed Rebecca's head to the side, then leaned in front of the eyepiece to look at it, and suddenly showed a surprised expression.

In this world, the Eagle Eye and the "Astrolab" technology developed on this basis have become the main ways for people to observe the distance and observe the stars, respectively, although they are confined to the caster's circle, but these two technologies still curb people's exploration of optical research routes - the basic physical rules of optics in this world are no different from what Gawain knows, but under the premise that a spell can be used to observe the distance, Who would have thought of combining a few convex and concave lenses to create a telescope?

After all, the two technical routes are too far apart.

Rebecca stared at the magical metal device in a daze, she circled around it several times, but she didn't see even a single rune or a piece of magic material on it, and couldn't help but scratch her hair in confusion: "But why is this happening?" ”

Hetty also looked up curiously: "yes, why?" ”

Hearing their question, the corners of Gawain's mouth couldn't help but turn upward.

They had finally learned to ask why, too—to dig deeper into the principles, rather than be satisfied with what they could use, a thought he had been trying to instill in the Realm Technicians, and now that the effort had finally paid off in the two descendants.

"That's the time to talk about the propagation of light," Gawain thought for a moment and decided to explain briefly, "You should at least know about the magnifying glass......

He explained the effects of convex and concave lenses and the principle of telescopes, but he did not explain all this too deeply and too surely, he only tried to describe how the telescope works with the attitude of solving conjectures, and this is due to the necessary caution -

This strange world is so strange in terms of physical laws, who can be sure that the telescope works, then the optical principle here must meet the standards of the earth? Perhaps in the macrocosm, the propagation and refraction of light show a familiar appearance, but one day when he studies the microcosm and finds that the "light" in this world is essentially something else entirely?

He knew how much influence he would have on Hettie and Rebecca, and even if they were now skeptical of qualified scientists, what he said would make too much of an impression on them, so he always avoided speaking in front of them with an overly positive tone about his conjectures about the principles of magic—unless the knowledge had been fully validated in practice, so as not to influence their research ideas one day.

Rebecca was stunned for a moment, she knew the theory of magic, and she also knew the theory of mathematics, mechanics and some alchemy, but she never thought that the way the world works could be explained from this point of view, which brought her great freshness: "It turns out that the light can be seen everywhere...... Is there anything so interesting? ”

As she spoke, she brought her eyes to the telescope, looking at the stars in the sky with great interest, and she imagined that those distant stars had traveled a long way, through the atmosphere full of magic, and finally fell between a set of lenses, and between the lenses became clearer and more magnified images, she saw more and brighter stars that she had never seen as a child, and also saw those vague celestial structures that were originally hidden between the stars.

Due to the limited craftsmanship of the first telescope and the low magnification, it was impossible for her to see too many secrets of the stars in the lens, but even so, the starry sky was more brilliant than she had imagined, enough to make her exclaim.

"I've always wanted to throw big fireballs into the sky and blow those stars down," Rebecca looked up and blinked, "but they're so far away......"

"Actually, you know, most of the stars in the sky are essentially big burning fireballs," Gawain said with a smile, but quickly added the second half of the sentence, "Of course, this is just my conjecture. ”

"Stars are also flaming fireballs?" Rebecca looked at Gawain in surprise, "And what are they used for fuel?" How can it be burned for so many years? ”

It's hydrogen in my hometown, but God knows what the stars are burning here......

However, Gawain couldn't answer directly, so he could only smile awkwardly: "I don't know either." ”

"Ancestor, you're not lying to me, are you?" Rebecca looked at Gawain suspiciously, "How could a star in the sky be a big fireball!" ”

"You can't talk to your ancestors like that!" Hetty immediately gave Rebecca a serious look, but Gawain was half moved, and she said the second half of the sentence, "The ancestor was hanging in the sky in the first place, he must have seen with his own eyes how those stars burned—right, ancestor?" ”

Gawain: "...... Forehead...... Yes, yes......"

"Uh-oh, that's amazing!" Rebecca let out an exaggerated exclamation, then touched her chin and pondered, "Then you say, if I hold the fireball very big and hit it very, very far, can it become a star?" ”

“…… That's probably impossible," Gawain spread his hands with a smile, "the real size of the stars is much bigger than you think. Of course, this is my guess. ”

Hetty showed a thoughtful expression: "Ancestor, did you say that 'Ao' is also a big burning fireball?" ”

"O'...... Probably so. ”

Gawain clasped his hands to his chest and looked up at the brightest star in the night sky.

Of course he knew what it was, or rather, he could probably guess what it was.

That's the "sun" around which this planetary system really orbits.

The planet under his feet (currently assumed to be a planet) is not a standard planet, but is very likely just a satellite orbiting a gas giant, the gas giant is what people usually call the "sun", but this gas giant is also orbiting another celestial body, according to the current information, the latter's body is very likely to be "Ao", which is the brightest star in the night sky, and is a mysterious lone star that can occasionally be seen during the day. It is the "ultimate mystical star" with a special status in the minds of magicians and specialized astrologers.

There are many interpretations of the "Ao" by the Transcendents, but everyone seems to agree that it has a special role in the field of the occult: it is the reference point for almost all astrological observations, and it is also the "spiritual focus" most often used by magicians when meditating, and even in some religious legends, the "Ao" is associated with the abode of the gods: it is a guiding beacon to the abode of the gods.

Rebecca looked at the sky and suddenly realized: "Speaking of which...... Today's 'Oku' seems to be brighter than ever. ”

"When winter comes, the brightness of the Olympics will increase, don't you know? This is astrological common sense! Hetty gave Rebecca a helpless look, "I really don't know where you threw away all the things you learned as a child." ”

Rebecca stiffened her neck: "I know this, but this winter's starry day seems to be brighter than usual!" ”

"Yes......" Huttie looked at the sky suspiciously, she couldn't tell such a subtle change with the naked eye, but she knew that Rebecca did have an amazing sensitivity in these inexplicable areas of detail, so she was also skeptical, "Maybe there is a change...... Speaking of which, I remember reading in some of the less popular magic books that when the stars are in the right position, the connection between the ultimate mystical star 'Ao' and the human world will become stronger, and the gates of the realm of the gods and the human world will be loosened, and the year when the stars are in the right position in the prophecy seems to be the last few years. ”

Listening to Hetty's sudden words, Gawain inexplicably had a sense of immediacy.

The stars are in the correct position...... Why does this sound so unlucky?

And just as he was wondering whether this "correct position of the stars" was a wilderness monster or some kind of magical phenomenon, the door to the terrace was suddenly pushed open, and the panicked cry of the Siren lady followed: "Oh, it's over, it's over, it's over!" ”

"What's the end?!" Gawain had never seen Tyr so flustered, this seafood who was often in a state of hibernation was lazy and lazy no matter what he did, which startled him all of a sudden, "Someone wants to stew you?" ”

"Stars are here! The position of the stars! Tyr jumped up to Gawain with his fishtail and gestured, "Today is the time for the stars to return!" Once the stars are in the right place, the big squid in the deep sea ...... Big Squid ......"

Gawain had been thinking about the stars and the deep-sea evil god just now, when he heard Tyr, a deep-sea creature, mention the suspected ancient god in such a panic, he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat: "You make it clear!" What happens to the 'big squid' in the deep sea when the stars are in the right position? ”

"There is no limit to the number of big squid!" Tyr was so anxious that tears were about to fall, "I missed the meal!" ”

Gawain: "...... What?! ”