It's been a fantastic and fun journey.

At least so far.

Matilda sat in a comfortable and wide seat with impeccable dignity, quietly watching the mountains of Cecil's empire gradually receding outside the window, the wind and snow had subsided a lot, the scenery outside began to become open and distinct, and the interior of the carriage was surrounded by some kind of magical device, the scenery, the music, the just right temperature, and the abundant food stored on the train made this long winter journey extra comfortable.

Even comfortable people forget that they are sitting in the body of a steel beast, and that they are galloping over the cold winter wilderness of Cecil at a speed far faster than that of a galloping horse.

A young man with short blond hair and a young face with an extraordinarily mature and calm temperament sat opposite Matilda, and when he noticed that the exotic princess in front of him seemed to be in good spirits, he showed a faint smile and a little pride in his tone: "How was it to travel on the magic train?" ”

Matilda withdrew her gaze from the window and looked at the young man opposite.

This young man named Philip has a surprising identity, he is so young, but in fact he is already one of the military commanders of the Cecil Empire, he commands the most powerful ground legion of the Cecil Empire, and the main force of this legion...... It is now located in the Long Wind Line.

The presence of such an important military commander to greet and "escort" the envoys led by the Empress Typhon was of equal status and in full compliance with the rules of etiquette.

Matilda smiled.

"Great experience," she says with a smile, "and we got to see the best view." ”

Philip laughed as well.

Under the proper arrangement of the reliable Maryland general, and with the efforts of units at all levels in the Changfeng region, Her Royal Highness the princess in front of her has indeed only had scenery to see from the time she entered the territory of Cecil to the present.

"Frankly, this level of travel experience is not new to me," Matilda continued, "and the novelty is that it all happens with the help of a magic machine. In the past, it was not difficult to rely on the power of a mage to move such a large vehicle through the wilderness quickly, or to maintain a comfortable travel environment in a harsh environment, but I never imagined that magic technology could use inanimate steel to achieve the power that should be in the hands of a mage.

"At Typhon, most of the nobility embraced the power of the magic machines and welcomed the new magic trains and factories of all kinds, but there were still some old-fashioned mages who didn't like these things - they always said that the machines lacked a soul."

"It's different from us," laughed Philip, "we think there's another kind of soul in the machine, one that hides in the spinning gears and moving pistons, and that all it needs is lubricating grease and surging magical energy, and it's a loyal friend of man." ”

“…… That's why magic technology first appeared in Cecil, and it's the fastest growing in this land," Matilda said with a hint of emotion, "I've always been interested in magic technology, and I love it even more than traditional spells, but unfortunately Typhon still has a long way to go in this regard." ”

This was programmed modesty, and Philip was well aware of it, so he just smiled faintly and didn't respond positively.

After all, business blowing is not his field of expertise......

A middle-aged male aristocrat with black hair, who sat next to Matilda, joined the conversation: "I also pay attention to magic technology, and frankly, I have even invested in it myself, researching it, which is really a very expensive undertaking, and from this point I have great admiration for the Cecils - you are people who dare to pay the price for profit, and you are full of adventurers. ”

Matilda glanced at the male aristocrat - the Count of Doure, one of the "progressive aristocrats" of Aldernan's most enthusiastic about the field of magic technology, he owned the largest plantation in the north, and also invested in several large-scale textile mills and spinning mills, and his role in the mission was actually to some extent representative of the noble group of Aldenan who paid attention to magic technology and tried to find more commercial value from it.

Thinking of this, the princess Typhon nodded approvingly: "It is true that building factories and developing machines is expensive, but the rewards are indeed amazing—so that it can attract more and more nobles and merchants to become investors." Is this the same with Cecil? ”

“…… Of course. Philip smiled and nodded.

The train raced across the wilderness, and outside the window, the undulating ridgeline was nearing its end, and it seemed to be about to enter the plain.

Matilda couldn't help but reminisce about the "of course" that Philip finally replied to herself, for some reason, she always instinctively felt that there was more meaning in this word, but she couldn't grasp the root cause for a while.

At this moment, the train finally broke out of the cover of the mountains, and after the huge rock wall flashed, the endless plain in front of it suddenly opened up.

At the junction of the plain and the end of the mountain, on a natural plateau, a huge stone monument rises next to the railway line, which seems to be surrounded by a fence, and near what appears to be the maintenance and monitoring station of the railway line.

Matilda had just noticed the unusual structure, and was about to wonder why such a conspicuous thing had been set up in the wilderness, when she suddenly heard a loud and high-pitched flute sound from the top of the carriage, echoing across the vast plain.

This made her stunned for a moment: why did she suddenly honk her horn? Are there stops or staggered trains?

As confusion welled up in her mind, she and the Typhon emissaries around her were surprised to see the Cecil people in the carriage standing up in unison, including the young army commander, these noble knights and generals turned out of the car window at the same time, staring at the huge stone monument standing at the end of the mountain, solemn, as if saluting.

The envoys of Typhon were startled and even nervous when the surrounding Cecil people stood up at the same time, but at this moment they were only at a loss, and those solemn faces made them not know whether to ask out loud, so they could only remain confused and wait for more than ten seconds, until Philip and the others sat down, Matilda couldn't help but ask: "General Philip, may I ask what ......is this?"

"Did you notice the stele?" Philip looked at Matilda and asked calmly.

"Yes, I noticed - and was about to ask."

"The railway line under your feet was urgently extended and built on the basis of the original Baisha Mining Railway Line after the end of the Crystal Cluster War," Philip said slowly, "In order to send food and security troops into the East in time and prevent the aftermath of the Crystal Cluster War from causing large-scale famine and chaos in the East, the construction period of this line must be compressed until the end of winter."

"In order to quickly pass through the most complex of the Beesel Mountains, the Third Construction Corps used a large number of geological shaping spells, including a regiment of mages urgently drawn from the old royal capital, and large construction machinery capable of releasing fossils into clay.

"While breaking through the Karlin Pass, a hidden focus of mana caused the spell to spiral out of control and the mountain wall collapsed.

"Thirty-seven people were buried underneath, including seven mages and twenty workers."

Matilda's eyes widened slightly, and the Count of Durre subconsciously spoke: "So it's to commemorate the mages who sacrificed......"

"It's a memorial to all those who have died," Philip looked into the eyes of the Count of Durre, "the collapsed rock wall swallowed the victims, the aftermath of the spell caused the flesh and blood to merge with the stone, and we carried the flesh and blood out of the pass and made a monument to the end of the Carlin Pass that they had tried and failed to break through—with their backs to the Bissel Mountains and the eastern plains.

"It is customary on this line for trains to whistle after passing the Kalin Pass and for soldiers to salute as they pass by monuments."

Matilda listened quietly and intently, her expression not seeming to change much.

The emissaries from Typhon listened quietly, some seemed confused, others seemed to be thinking.

The black-haired and black-bearded Count of Dürer, a big investment aristocrat from Aldernan, couldn't help but look out the window, looking in the direction where the monument had gone, and in the sound of the car whistle that seemed to still linger in his ears, he couldn't help muttering:

"Such a big monument...... Even if the mage makes a move, it will not be easy to build. ”

Maybe it's enough to build another textile mill.

Matilda listened to Count Durre's sloquette and watched the plains of Cecil retreat rapidly outside the train.

A foreign land......

……

Winds from the far north swept through the towering mountains, whipping up snow between them, and the banner of the Dragonborn fluttered high on the heavy spire of Dragon's Castle, the end of which was facing south.

"The envoy group has been decided, and it will leave in the near future," said the Grand Duke of Dragon's Blood, Baloger, standing on the wide stone terrace of Dragon's Landing Castle, overlooking the snow-capped realm, to the courtiers beside him, "Sir Golosh, you must be foolproof to lead the team." ”

"The mission will be accomplished, Your Majesty." Sir Gorosh bowed his head and said in a deep voice.

Baloger nodded, and his tone was leisurely: "We have indeed been closed in this bitter cold mountain for too long, and the world outside the mountains is also worth seeing."

"Be the eyes of the principality, and take a good look at the Cecil Empire to see what is so extraordinary about them.

"Count us 'exiles' as well...... lived up to the kindness of Tallund. ”

"Tallund......" Sir Gorosh's eyes changed slightly, "how long will we have to wait......"

"From the very beginning, it was an almost permanent wait," said Archduke Baloger unhurriedly, "and it is with hopelessness that our patience will endure." ”

“…… Yes, Your Majesty. ”

Baloger was silent for a moment, retracted his gaze, looked at the trusted courtier beside him, and suddenly smiled slightly: "Speaking of which, you and your daughter haven't seen each other for a long time, right?" ”

“…… I saw it once from afar five years ago," Sir Golosh said with some helplessness and embarrassment, "foolish child...... She messed around in the human world, and it was really unruly. ”

"Young man, it's normal to be reckless or rebellious, didn't you also jump over the Dragon Leap Cliff when you were young?" Grand Duke Baloger smiled and shook his head, "Think of it as a short trip to the human world, travel for decades or hundreds of years, and you will probably come back when you have had enough." ”

Sir Gorosh was silent for a moment, then sighed: "...... I hope so. ”

……

The cold wind blew, and Maggie, who was walking next to the flight test site, suddenly couldn't help but sneeze loudly, feeling a strange chill welling up in her heart.

Rebecca, who was walking next to her, suddenly glanced at the dragonborn friend curiously: "Huh? What's wrong? Got a cold? ”

"No...... Probably not," Maggie rubbed her nose vigorously, feeling a little strange in her heart, "but she suddenly felt a little cold, and she couldn't help but sneeze." ”

"Isn't it really too cold to catch a cold?"

"Definitely not," Maggie shook her head affirmatively, "the Dragonborn are very strong, especially not afraid of the cold. I grew up in colder places than here, and in the coldest part of the winter we even wore our clothes and played 'Ice Racing', which was a chilly sport. ”

Rebecca's eyes lit up and she became very interested: "Ice Track? What is that? ”

"Ah, it's a little game that is popular among the Dragonborn children," Maggie couldn't help but laugh as she remembered something funny from her childhood, "The main game is to stuff yourself into a sturdy vat, roll down the pre-cut ice path from the top of the mountain, and see who gets up first at the bottom of the mountain - yes, if you spit out, you will be disqualified, even if you are the first to stand up." ”

Rebecca: "...... Wow! ”

Sonya, who was walking on the other side, stared at Maggie with strange eyes: "You people from the Holy Dragon Principality...... Playing this kind of thing since childhood? ”

Maggie thought for a moment and shook her head: "Of course not all children play like this. ”

Sonia breathed a sigh of relief: "I'll just say ......"

"Girls are the kind of play I'm talking about – boys don't have buckets."

Sonya: "? ”

It's really a foreign custom...... It's hard to imagine.