The last rays of sunset on the horizon fell into the depths of the mountains, and in the dimming of the sky, the glow of the magic crystal street lamps lit up one by one under the control of the chronograph - before the stars in the sky twinkled, the stars of the earth brightened first, and in the bright lights, the nightlife of the citizens of Cecil had just begun.

The night is not the end of the day, but the beginning of another activity.

The street taverns are brightly lit, the workers who have just finished work are resting and relaxing in the taverns, filling their stomachs, the magic network radio installation in the square is broadcasting the evening news program, so that the nearby citizens stop and stay in high spirits, some restaurants and shops that are open late have lit up the light signs at the door, enthusiastic shopkeepers and clerks are soliciting customers at the door, and there are waves of people walking towards the east or south of the city - that is the direction of the factory area and the night school.

Sonia? Frost Leaf stood on the street, looking at the bustling appearance of the city in amazement, she looked at the street lights, and couldn't help but say, "Here...... It is far more lively than the royal capital of Ansu. ”

"Cecil is the most prosperous city in the South, and probably the most prosperous in Ansu," Sölderlin said beside him, his tone not without pride, he was temporarily assigned to lead visitors around the city, after all, no one in this city is more familiar with the preferences of the Silver Elves than he is, "There may not be the historic buildings of St. Sunil, but everyone here lives better." ”

"I can tell," Sonia nodded slightly, "this place reminds me of the Imperial Capital of Gondor...... The same brilliant lights, the same advanced prosperity, but they are fundamentally different...... There is only one Imperial Capital of Gondor, but there is more than one prosperous city here. Looks like I can't take you home with me – it's a great place to stay. ”

Silver elves love to travel, almost every young elf has at least a hundred years of travel experience, in the elf proverb, "a good place to stay" is the best evaluation of a foreign land.

"It's growing fast, and it's going to grow even faster in the future—even in the rest of Ansu, where the relatively closed and backward cities have been growing over the centuries, and the Silver Empire is ...... The Silver Empire hasn't changed much in 10,000 years," Salderling said, "and it's a very oppressive place for me. ”

"Her Majesty has been pushing forward with the construction of the new city."

"I don't mean the new city, Mother, you know," Thorderling interrupted Sonya, "...... How has it been in my hometown over the years? ”

"If you mean peace, then the empire has always been peaceful, if you mean that those 'legacies'...... 'legacies' are declining," Sonia sighed softly, "As of fifty years ago, all technological research has fallen into a bottleneck, stuck in the bottleneck of the Primordial Elven Great Cess, the data is broken, the data does not correspond, and the technical field is all black box...... Scholars still hold on to hope, but others say we are mired in the quagmire. ”

"The bottleneck of the primordial elves ......," Thordrling couldn't help but repeat softly the words that meant something special to the Silver Elves.

Legend has it that there was only one group of elves in the beginning, whether it was the gray elves, the sea elves, the dark elves or the silver elves, all of which originated from the "primordial elves" on the distant old continent......

The primordial elves who escaped the disaster left the old continent on the ark flying on the sea, and in the sea area that was about to reach the new world (Loren continent), they encountered the tower in the eternal night, and they strayed into the tower, but they were cursed by the incredible force to fall apart, the noble primordial elves turned into a flawed subspecies, the gray elves, dark elves, sea elves and silver elves split and gradually parted ways, and the civilization heritage of the primordial elves was also cut apart in this great division, And it is fragmented in the messy memories of various subspecies, and it is difficult to reproduce it.

Many elves know this legend, and most elven scholars agree that this legend should be true, or at least partially true.

"Isn't that weird? Our technology may have been interrupted, but even if we start researching it from scratch, we shouldn't have stopped for so long," Thorderling couldn't help but say, "Is it true that we subspecies elves have degraded in the process of mutation, so that our minds are completely unable to understand the technology of the primordial elves?" It shouldn't be. ”

Sonia shook her head: "No one knows what's going on...... Maybe the Queen and the High Academy know something, but they can't do anything about it. And things like this are not something that a ranger like you or a messenger like me can think through. ”

Thorderling fell silent for a moment, but in the silence, he slowly raised his head and looked in the direction of the city center.

"Mother, do you think human intelligence can help?"

Sonia apparently didn't understand what Sölderlin meant: "You mean the city's technology? They...... It is indeed more advanced than other places, but the human race today is clearly behind the Silver Empire......"

"Perhaps, on a general level, the human kingdoms have not yet returned to the glory of the Gondor era, but did you know that it is in this city of Cecil that humans have used a new technology called 'rune logic' to achieve the magical effects of elves on man-made machines......"

Sonya's eyes widened: "...... You mean seriously? ”

Thorderlin looked at the Lord's Mansion from afar: "I just have this feeling that this is where hope lies. ”

……

Gawain withdrew his gaze out the window, returned to his desk, signed his name on the paperwork, and handed it to Hetty: "I agree to the improvement of the repulsive train, you are right, cost is a major issue - we cannot just emphasize the most advanced solution." ”

"Thank you for your understanding," Hetty said, bowing her head, "Ancestor, the reward for the Carol merchant Codd has been served, including the order to prepare him to be canonized. But...... Do you really want to canonize a commoner merchant as a knight? ”

Gawain glanced up at the other party: "Hetty, do you still attach so much importance to 'origin'?" ”

"No, it's not a matter of origin," Hetty shook her head, "but the title of 'Knight'. Traditionally, knighthood has been earned by military merit and other martial arts, and it is a symbol of bravery and loyalty, and although it is the last of the noble titles, it has a special honorary significance. And the profession of 'businessman' has always been regarded as an honor...... Nothing related. ”

"Cod is more than just a businessman, Hetty," Gawain said unhurriedly, looking into Hetty's eyes, "He's a trailblazer. ”

"Trailblazer?!" Hettie repeated the word in astonishment, apparently she had no idea that the Ancestor would utter such a special word—a word that came out of the mouth of the "Pioneer of Pioneers", which was especially significant, and she remembered that the last person to be so evaluated by the Ancestor was the Nameless Wild Mage who had invented the magic web......

"To take the first brave step in a wilderness for the benefit of all generations is to pioneer, not limited to the land, not limited to technology," Gawain said, "I know that Cord is a businessman, and he did it for profit, but I cannot deny the value of what he has done." He took the magic technique even further into the civilian realm, and in many ways it was even more in-depth and pragmatic than I thought – an advantage that his profession and experience bring. In this respect, he is already enough to be called a pioneer, and he was the first to build a new factory and the courage to take the initiative to try new things...... It is also a veritable chivalric character. ”

Speaking of this, he paused slightly, and continued: "More importantly, we need to encourage all behaviors that contribute to the promotion of magic technology, and for now, Kede is the most suitable benchmark for this. ”

"I see," Hetty bowed her head, "I'll take advantage of this opportunity." ”

Gawain snorted and asked, "How's the progress on Kamel's side?" ”

"The research institute has already copied all the technical materials brought by the elves, and handed them over to the Rune Research Institute for analysis and translation, and the work has just begun. According to your orders, the analysis of the magical energy purification part of the 'Stress Relief Mechanism' will be prioritized. ”

Gawain nodded slightly, sighing slightly in his heart.

The magic systems of elves and humans are completely different, in terms of specific spells, due to the different brain nerve structures of the two races, humans and elves can hardly understand each other's spell models, even a small number of mixed-race descendants who have inherited the characteristics of both races can only release a small number of "cross-racial spells" at the same time, in the old technological era of "extraordinary power belongs to itself", this obstacle has plagued scholars of the two races for thousands of years, and until the concept of "mathematics" was introduced into the field of magic research, It was only when technicians began to study magic with pure computation and reasoning, rather than relying on individual psychic perception and casting talents to construct magic, that obstacle was finally broken.

For the first time in the realm of mathematics, two distinct systems of magic have a common language, and whatever the image and "transcendent intuition" that a model of magic may produce in the minds of the two races, it is united in a single framework in runic logic.

The elves have more technology than the current human nations - although the Silver Empire as a whole is in decline, its technological height is still much higher than that of humans, and those large scale of lost technology are undoubtedly a treasure trove for humans.

Gawain lowered his head and began to continue examining the documents that were waiting for him to review and review.

When the lords and royal families of the north have sorted out their resources and balanced the forces of all parties, he will leave this land temporarily, although he can still use the magic net to remotely command the territory by setting up relay towers along the way, but the remote control has its limitations after all, and he still has to arrange everything as much as possible before leaving here.

……

The city of Saint-Sunil, inside the Silver Fort.

The glow of the magic crystal lamp illuminates this historic royal castle, and the study on the second floor of the castle is brightly lit.

Wales? Moen sat in a large, comfortable velvet chair, and he looked up at the magic lamps embedded in the opposite wall, and under the beautiful brass stands, hexagonal rune substrates lined up neatly like some new wallpaper, all the way to the floor and then disappeared under the floor.

Victoria? Wilde sat across from the crown prince, she could see the other party's distraction, but she didn't care: "The coronation is canceled, Your Highness - please understand, we can't provoke the East." But don't worry, it's just a postponement, and sooner or later you'll be on the throne. ”

"Postpone it, postpone it, I don't care," Wales withdrew his gaze from the magic net units and looked at the Duchess in front of him, "I heard that the thermal ray gun has been successfully copied?" ”

"It's indeed a copy," Victoria nodded, "Actually, the technology of that thing is not complicated at all, although we don't know how the rune craftsmen in the south were lucky enough to find such a perfect rune arrangement, but its core formation is indeed very simple, and the royal mages and rune craftsmen quickly copied the exact same weapon, but ......"

Wales said quietly: "It's a matter of cost, right?" ”

“…… The cost, and the speed of production," Victoria nodded, "It's impossible to make those magic weapons with a few gold coins, and even if we mobilize the city's low- and mid-level mages and rune craftsmen, coupled with the production capacity of the new factory, we won't be able to build a ray gun that can arm a legion in a short period of time." ”

The Duchess couldn't help but think of the Wang family mage who had successfully imitated the heat ray gun, and remembered the other party's expression of imminent death when the other party asked how many weapons she needed to make, and she replied that she wanted thousands.

"It's better to buy than to build," Victoria said slowly, "This is the result of the discussion of the Royal Mage Association. ”

Wales? Moen's fingers on the armrests of the seat suddenly turned white with exertion, but quickly relaxed again.

He whispered, "This is indeed a sensible conclusion, but sanity does not necessarily mean sensible. ”

"In this regard, I agree with you, but we have not yet cracked the technical secrets of the South, and that's the current fact." Victoria said lightly.

Wales shook his head, he knew that with the power in his hands, he could do very little, so after a moment of silence, he changed the subject: "When are you leaving the royal capital?" ”

"After the ship departs," said Victoria, "I will go to the plain of the Whitsunday to take charge of it myself, and prevent any changes on the front line—the Grand Guild of Patrick will stay here to assist you in the affairs of state." ”

In times of political turmoil, at least one regent is to remain in charge of the city, both to keep the situation under control and to ...... Suppress the royal family.

Wales understood the meaning of Victoria's words, and he simply said calmly: "I understand. ”

Victoria nodded, then stood up, but instead of leaving, she glanced at the middle-aged prince quietly.

She couldn't help but recall that when she was very young, when she first came to Silver Castle and came to this study, her father and Francis II were in her and Wales respectively, and Francis II was as quiet and silent as Wales at that moment.

"Your Highness," she said suddenly, "guard this city—it's in your bloodline. ”

"I understand."