"This is the fragment of the Tablet of Eternity?"

Looking at the shards of metal in front of him, which were only the size of a palm, Gawain couldn't help but show a look of surprise.

"Yes, the Eternal Slab - I didn't expect it to be like this," Viscount Andrew shook his head weakly, "The fragments of the Eternal Slate are secretly enshrined by the major sects, and other forces or individuals who can get the shards will never display it casually, so I didn't know what it was dug up at first, but soon my people found the remnants of the text in the ruins, and I was sure that this metal plate protected by a heavy magical device was actually the legendary Eternal Slab Fragment......"

Speaking of this, Viscount Andrew couldn't help but shake his head and sigh: "Many of the magic devices in the ruins have stopped working, but the only ones used to protect this slate fragment are ...... Those mechanisms have been working so far, and in order to get them, I put a lot of money into them, but I didn't expect that holding them in my hands would be the beginning of a bigger price......"

Gawain couldn't help but think of a sentence on the earth in his previous life: Puff is not guilty, but he is guilty.

He picked up the "slate fragment" (can this thing really be called a "slate"?). He was sure that it was really metal, a pale golden metal that did not belong to any of the magic or conventional materials he knew, but more like some unknown alloy, the front of which was extremely smooth, as if covered with a thin layer of enamel, and the "enamel" was covered with intricate fine lines, and the back had some indiscernible grooves, some of which were inlaid with small pieces of crystals.

At the edge of the metal plate, there are neat fractures, which are like some kind of connecting teeth, making the whole fragment a complex geometry, not so much "shattered" from a whole, Gawain suspects that the so-called eternal stone slab itself is made up of a large number of such geometric pieces, like some kind of puzzle......

It's really interesting.

He looked at the fragment over and over again, and said thoughtfully, "It is said that mortals will receive the revelation of the gods when they come into contact with the Eternal Stone Tablet, why do I have no effect at all when I hold it?" ”

"It's useless to just make contact, you still need to communicate with them with mental power," Viscount Andrew said slowly, "but my strength is low, and even if I communicate, I can only hear some vague whispers, and I can't get any knowledge at all." But if it's you...... Perhaps it is also possible to gain power directly. ”

Gawain nodded, but he didn't have the slightest intention of using his mental power to communicate.

In fact, he was deeply jealous of it.

Eternal Slate, the legendary thing that brought the belief in the gods to the world, the first generation of mortal sages created so many religions because of contact with the Eternal Slate, and obtained the power to use divine magic, in the eyes of ordinary people in this world, this may be a gift, but Gawain can't help but wonder if this thing has some kind of mind control, brainwashing and indoctrination and other powers, in case he is not able to communicate well and is directly occupied by the spirit of those gods? Even if you don't occupy your mind, you won't be able to hear the gods whispering in your head every once in a while!

"Please take this slate with you," Viscount Andrew said suddenly, "whether you want to collect it yourself, or give it to the king, or give it to a church you believe in and want to befriend." ”

"Are you sure?" Gawain raised his eyebrows, "You should know the value of this thing, even if you don't dare to keep it, you can give it to the king or the church with your own hands in exchange for a lot of benefits." ”

"I don't want to have anything to do with this thing anymore," Viscount Andrew shook his head vigorously with exertion, "I don't even want to hand it over through my hands—and I wouldn't have survived if it weren't for you today, so consider it a gift." ”

Gao Wen smiled: "I really can't say if this is a gift or a plague god ......"

But despite saying that, he didn't hesitate to put away the shards of the Eternal Slate.

This thing is indeed a time bomb, it can even make a dark organization like the Society of the End of Everything take risks against a kingdom noble, but this thing is also a treasure, it may contain the secrets of the gods, and it may even give Gawain a glimpse of the truth of this world, no matter what, Gawain can't turn a blind eye to this thing.

In the case that the Society of the End of All Things had just failed once, he could confirm that no one would come to fight this thing for the time being, and it would take time for the news to get out, and it would be difficult for outsiders to know in time that the shard of the stone tablet had reached his hands. At this relatively safe time, Gawain wants to study this mysterious fragment.

His identity as a "nominal legend" is also a strong guarantee for keeping this slate fragment: although Cecil is now weaker, the name of a legendary powerhouse in this era is often more intimidating than a powerful noble leader, and Gawain doesn't mind taking advantage of this situation.

Of course, he also took into account the hidden dangers of doing so, so if the situation was really critical, he didn't mind giving it to the king or the church - the knowledge of the gods is indeed valuable to some people, but it may not be converted into the productivity he needs, and when the time comes, it will be worth exchanging such a sample for other benefits, as long as the benefits are sufficient. But it's certainly the most unavoidable option.

Pitman and the two knights, who had gone to the atrium to rescue them, also returned to the council chamber later.

"The power of the cultists has begun to fade from the castle, and it is not difficult to remove the magic from those poor people," the old druid explained why he had managed to deal with that large-scale evil spell so quickly, "I and the two knights rescued some of the people, and then let the people who were rescued in a slightly better condition also help save people, plus by controlling the plants, it was considered to have dug up all the people buried in the ground - but there were still many people who lost their lives, a third of them were no longer saved, and among the remaining people who were alive, There are also many who have been severely damaged, some of them can recover, and some of them are afraid that they will always be in a mess. ”

"It's a huge loss." Gawain glanced at Viscount Andrew with some sympathy.

Andrew could only smile wryly and shake his head: "I'm afraid I'll have to spend a lot of money to clean up the aftermath...... But I'm still alive, and I can always get around. Now I am most glad that my two sons went to collect rent in the territory a few days ago, and their drag saved their own lives. But my youngest daughter ......"

"Your daughter is alive," said Philip Knight, "but the poor girl is so badly damaged and now in a state of madness that perhaps only the gods know if there is any chance of her recovery." ”

"It's good to be alive, it......'s good to be alive," Viscount Andrew said with a complicated expression, this once elegant, confident, and proud nobleman had aged at least twenty years this night, and his voice was tired now, although there were many things that could be said to be good news, it could not support his already seriously depleted body and spirit, but he still tried to raise his head and look at Gawain standing next to him, "In any case, I want to thank you for your rescue, the Leslie family owes you and your knights a great favor- If you need anything, please feel free to mention it. ”

Obviously, he knew that there was something wrong with giving away that hot slate shard as a gift......

"Watching and helping each other is a rule that Charlie and I set for the Ansu nobles seven hundred years ago, and I am only fulfilling what I said back then," Gao Wente said in a righteous manner, "I will not take advantage of this opportunity to rob the fire." But now that we have a chance to talk, maybe we can strengthen our cooperation. ”

"Cooperation?" Viscount Andrew repeated the word.

"You should know that the new Cecil Territory is under construction, and we are short of all kinds of materials, and most of the materials are purchased from Tanzania Town," Gawain laughed, "At present, what we lack the most is magic storage crystals, as well as various magic materials, and there are large-scale crystal veins in the Tanzanian mines. ”

Seeing that Viscount Andrew's expression was a little stiff, Gawain continued: "Don't be nervous, I have to spend money to buy it - I only hope that in the future, we can purchase a large number of crystal-based magic materials from Tanzanian Town at a favorable price, we don't ask for quality, even the lowest-grade magic storage crystals are fine, we only require enough quantity." You don't have to worry about losing anything, you know, our supplies are huge, and the purchase volume of the new Cecil territory can definitely swallow up a large amount of your crystal output, even if the price is lower, the profit you make will exceed the cost of transporting those crystals to other territories in pieces, and then find a market on your own. If you agree, then I will send someone to negotiate the specific price after your side has calmed down a little. ”

Viscount Andrew relaxed, nodding his head slightly as he listened: he began to recognize that it was a win-win idea, Cecil could get a lot of cheap magic guide materials, and Tanzania Town would not have to worry about the sale of crystals, and he could quickly raise money to repair the castle and clean up the aftermath.

As for how the Cecil family, who were poor not long ago, suddenly became rich and recently started coinage...... Viscount Andrew didn't want to know at all.

It doesn't matter if they found gold in the Dark Mountains, or if the old ancestor dug up his true coffin book seven hundred years ago, it doesn't matter to him, as a flexible Viscount of the Frontier, Andrew Leslie has always been very open-minded and can grasp the parts that are really good for him.

In fact, he guessed part of it correctly: Gawain did dig up the coffin book, but what he dug up was the coffin book of the entire Ansu Kingdom......

Seeing Viscount Andrew's nod, Gawain continued: "Second, population. I'd like you to help me spread the word that Cecil is taking in the homeless, and if you have one and you don't want it, you can send it to me. All in all, no matter what kind of surplus population, as long as it is not a traitor, I want it. I'm not going to ask for a specific amount in this regard, you just do what you can. ”

This time Viscount Andrew nodded even more happily: he didn't think there was anything wrong with sending the population to Cecil's territory, in fact, it was even a good opportunity for him to clear the territory of the "useless population", after all, there were too many homeless people piled up in the slums, and they didn't produce a little value.

"One more thing," Gawain smiled, "I want to hire people who can read and write, who know math, no, not at the level of scholars, but their apprentices—I want a group of them, whether they are note-takers or scribes, and the requirements are literacy and patience anyway." ”