What opened the stubborn gates of the Principality of the Holy Dragon?

Gawain was indeed curious about this.

The Principality of the Holy Dragon is located in the extreme north of the continent, half of the country is frozen mountains, there is not much fertile land, and the living environment is extremely harsh for ordinary humans, but it is such a country that always calls itself a "principality" and has a bad living environment, but it can make Ansu in the most powerful period of the year extremely jealous, and even half of the establishment of the Northern Mountain Corps is to be vigilant against the principality in the frozen mountain range, which is naturally for a reason.

The citizens of the Holy Dragon Principality call themselves dragonborn, and the more upper-class nobles they are, the more they claim to have pure dragon blood - outsiders don't fully believe this statement, because the Holy Dragon Principality hardly deals with other countries, and no one has ever seen the "Dragonborn" show the appearance of the dragon's power, but at least one thing is certain, that is, the people of the Holy Dragon Principality are by no means ordinary humans, although they look similar to humans on the outside, But their children can run around the mountains shirtless and with monsters in the mountains of the far north at dozens of degrees below zero, which does not look like the average physical fitness of human beings......

And now Gawain has obtained empirical evidence from Maggie: the so-called "dragonborn" identity of the Holy Dragon Principality is true, at least their upper-class citizens are indeed dragons, but they are just dragons with genetic defects that are weaker than ordinary dragons.

The kingdom established by the Dragonborn, even if it is small, will be extraordinarily capable of fighting.

In addition to its strong combat power, the mountains of the Holy Dragon Principality also contain the best quality magic metal veins in the northern part of the continent, and a small amount of metal ingots flowing from the Holy Dragon Principality to the outside world are all sought-after goods among the northern countries.

Such a country that can fight itself, has valuable strategic resources, and is still in a neutral state, will naturally attract the attention of neighboring countries, as early as the Ansu era, the northern aristocratic forces of the kingdom represented by Victoria Wilde have been trying to establish a clearer and more stable connection with the Holy Dragon Principality, but it has never had any effect.

The Dragonborn seem to be very uninterested in the "outside world", and apart from maintaining the most basic material flow with the outside world, they do not establish diplomatic relations with any country, let alone send envoys.

"Maybe it's our magic creation that has aroused their interest, or maybe the situation of the empire has reached the ears of that dragon-blooded Grand Duke," facing Gawain's words, Victoria could only say her own speculation, "It may even be that the Cecil merchants who have been operating frequently in the north for more than half a year have changed the opinion of those 'dragonborn' about us......"

"What do you mean by this?"

"The Dragonborn have always respected warriors who can challenge the mountains and defy the cold, and as long as they meet this standard, even ordinary human traders will be courteous on their side - in the past, such 'warriors' were few and far between, and since the wholesale price of the Frost Resistance Potion was reduced to one gold pound and a half ton, the Cecil merchants operating in the northern regions are all 'warriors'......"

Gawain smiled dumbly: "This is also counted?" ”

Victoria's tone was indifferent: "The people of the Holy Dragon Principality are not surprised that the people who come to challenge the cold winter and the mountains rely on equipment and potions - in their opinion, foreign objects are also part of their strength, as long as they face the cold wind and enter the mountains, they are their friends." ”

“…… Looks like I'm going to have time to ask Maggie to learn more about the Holy Dragon Principality. Gawain said with a smile.

Of course, he didn't believe that he really relied on a large group of merchants pouring potions and singing songs, and the merchants who were racing on the ice field knocked on the door of the Holy Dragon Principality, and Victoria also took it as a joke when she talked about it, but in any case, the closed and inextricably linked country to Cecil opened its doors to Cecil, and the fact itself was worth celebrating-

The banished "Dragonborn", even if they surpass humans in all aspects, should not have a good time in the icy mountains, and the various creations of the magic industry can undoubtedly improve their quality of life, presumably the dragon-blooded Grand Duke will not refuse the magic net and the machine - it will be easy to do if he does not refuse.

The Cecil people again asked their friends to build a railroad......

While in a happy and relaxed mood, Gawain's mind shifted to the north, and he remembered what he had been planning recently.

"In previous correspondence, I told you about plans to build the north coast, set up a port, and explore the sea," he said, looking at Victoria, "what do you think about this?" ”

Victoria's pale eyes were as calm as ice and snow, and she said as she pondered: "Some northern nobles are a little worried about this, mainly because they are worried about the huge investment, the small return, and the danger of the sea, but they have no real power, so they don't need to care too much about this.

"I understand your idea of setting up a port, from the point of view of the construction of the 'Cecil Settlement Area', the current land transportation is very limited, the terrain in the Oguray tribe is complex, the road construction period is long, and the western and southern parts of the continent are blocked by mountains and forests, and there are not many continuous rivers, relying only on the trade gateway bordering the moss forest and the western border, the scale of trade that can be accommodated is very limited - if a port can be established on the north coast and the northern ring of the continent can be restarted, there is no doubt that this problem can be greatly solved.

"One investment can be huge, but the benefits are just as unimaginable.

"During the Ansu period, the nobles in various places were divided, and it was impossible for the lords near the northern ridgeline to complete such a project, but now the empire has the ability to concentrate the power of the whole country, and it is possible to build the northern coast, set up ports, and even restart the northern continental route."

Victoria Wilder, who has never been much of a talker, did not hesitate to speak at all when talking about these things, and listening to the duchess's coherent narration, Gawain gradually showed a satisfied look.

As he had judged before, Victoria had a vision.

She could easily see the difference between a feudal kingdom and a centralized empire, and the meaning of opening a port.

But her limitations are also obvious: she only notices the economic benefits of restarting the northern ring of the continent, but she does not realize that Gawain's vision of "exploring the sea" is actually broader.

But she is not to blame, this is caused by the limitations of the times and the general social environment - after 700 years of human beings being away from the ocean, how many people can still realize how cramped this seemingly vast continent is?

"Aside from the Northern Ring Route, what I really care about is ...... And the whole ocean," Gawain said unhurriedly, "Victoria, I mean the far sea. ”

Sure enough, after hearing this, Victoria, who had always had no expression, also frowned slightly.

"Far Sea...... It's full of storms and magical turbulence, and Your Majesty, the Church of the Storm is gone," she couldn't help but say, "Exploring the far sea is very different from restarting the offshore route. ”

"I know, but we can't stay on this narrow continent forever," Gawain said, "There's a much bigger world in the depths of the ocean - the Krakens, the Dragons, these powerful races, you know, they come from across the ocean, they can come and go between their kingdom and this continent freely, and we humans can't step out of it, this situation is not very reassuring." ”

This continent...... Is it narrow?

Victoria was a little puzzled for a while, but she still agreed with Gawain's second half of the sentence.

Those ancient and powerful races can come and go freely in the human world, but human beings can't take a step in front of the ocean, knowing that there may be a wider world on the other side of the sea, but they can only hide on the land and guess what is there...... It's a bit aggrieved.

Of course, an empire, especially an empire that still needs to develop, cannot start an ocean-going operation regardless of the cost just to "not be aggrieved", without sufficient interests to promote, no matter how high the prestige of the emperor and the Supreme Government Department is, to forcibly promote a cause that does not see the future will also shake the foundation of the empire, but if it is only to carry out a certain degree of exploration, a certain degree of technological accumulation...... That's still fine.

She knew that Gawain meant the same thing.

On this basis, she seriously considered how to explore the far seas with the current strength of the Cecil Empire.

In her thoughts, she said slowly: "Your Majesty, if you want to explore the open sea, then the northern coastline is probably not a good 'starting point'......"

Gawain frowned: "Why do you say that?" ”

"According to many records, starting from the northern coastline, after crossing the passage to the sea formed by the Violet Kingdom and the Holy Dragon Duchy, there is an extraordinarily large permanent storm circle on the sea, which does not seem to weaken or deviate all year round, and there is no safe route in it, and man-made ships should not be able to break through its blockade at all......"

Gao Wen's eyes widened in surprise slightly: "There is such a storm circle? ”

Beyond the extreme north of the continent, over the Violet Kingdom and the "Sea Peninsula" of the Holy Dragon Principality, there is a blind spot for the surveillance of his satellite lens!

"Yes," Victoria nodded, "In fact, not only is it recorded in ancient books, but when the weather is clear and the magical environment on the sea is relatively stable, looking towards the ocean from the heights of the northern mountains, you can sometimes see hazy 'cloud walls' surging on the sea, which is indirect proof of the existence of storm circles." ”

"A wall of clouds that can be seen directly with the naked eye in the north?!" Gawain was really shocked this time, "How big does that thing have to be?" ”

"If the ancient records are correct, if the Wilde family's observations and calculations over hundreds of years are correct, its effective range is larger than the entire northern realm, and even larger than the entire Violet Kingdom, enough to cover one-half of the Cecil Empire!"

Gawain: "......"

After a moment of astonishment, he couldn't help but muttered to himself: "How did this thing come to be......"

"No one knows, the existing theories of magic and meteorology cannot explain it, but there are many legends and stories about the eternal storm on the ocean among the people of the north, but they are either contradictory and absurd, or they are attributed to the power of the gods, and have no reference value."

"This storm circle is permanent?" Gawain couldn't help but confirm again.

"Yes, the Wild family hasn't seen it fade in the slightest for at least seven hundred years."

"Can you get around?"

"It can't be bypassed from the north direction - it completely blocks the northern route. If the Northern Ring Continental Route is successfully activated, it will be possible to start from the western part of the strait, bypass the western coast of the Violet Kingdom, and officially enter the ocean - but this is very difficult. ”

"yes, it's not easy," Gawain couldn't help but sigh, "Not to mention the long voyage added out of thin air, it's unknown whether the Violet Kingdom will be willing to let our exploration ships circle around their offshore waters......"

As he spoke, another question came to his mind:

North of the Continent...... There is a massive and never-ending storm structure in the northern part of the continent, so what else is there in that direction?

The dragon seems to have come from that direction......

Could that massive storm have anything to do with dragons? Or rather...... Was the storm created by the dragon to guard their portal?

If that's the case, then exploring the ocean from the north is really a good choice.

At this moment, Victoria suddenly spoke again: "Your Majesty, if the northern route is not an option, in fact, we have another choice......

Gawain raised his eyebrows: "There is another choice?" ”

Victoria nodded slightly: "We don't just have an outlet to the sea on the north coast, in the northeast corner of the eastern border, near the border point with the Holy Dragon Principality, at the end of the cliffs and highlands, there is also a small outlet to the sea......"

"Duke of Ice" said slowly, and the satellite map in Gawain's mind slowly adjusted.

He saw the estuary, the estuary that he had subconsciously ignored because it was near the border of the Principality of the Holy Dragon, and there was a lack of clear landmarks around it.

Suddenly, he felt the image in his mind tremble.

Fragments of scattered memories came to the back of his mind!

That's a memory that belongs to Gawain Cecil!