Rock Fortress.

The heavy fortress, once under the direct control of the royal family, has completely changed its appearance.

Once built to control southern power, the Rock Fort had a strong southern wall and a relatively weakly defended northern wall, and the Gorgon River rushed through a gap on the western side of the fortress, flanked by the desolate southern mountains - but after the Cecil occupation of the fortress, the entire fortress was completely transformed.

The southern wall collapsed, and instead of repairing it, the Cecil expanded directly south from the gap, establishing the Rock City at the foot of the fortress and building a new wall outside the rock city, while the northern wall of the fortress has been undergoing a series of reinforcement and renovation works since the end of the summer, and the work is still not complete.

As the magnificent chariot passed under the gate of the north wall of the Rock Fortress, Victoria opened the cover on one side of the carriage, and she looked up at the wall that was being remodeled, and she could only be shocked - on the basis of the original wall, all the weak points of the Cecil city wall were covered with an additional layer of steel armor, and a large number of steel skeletons and supporting structures covered the prismatic outer walls and towers of the wall, like some kind of hideous and terrifying monster carapace, connected together in the upper part of the wall, The metal reinforcement panels reflected the glitter of the sun, and a faint stream of magical light flowed through the gaps in the armor, converging at the top of the wall, where magical devices with straight rails could be seen neatly arranged, the ends of which pointed far in the direction of the plains of the Holy Spirit.

It wasn't a wall, it was a beast forged of steel and rock, with a great deal of magic flowing through its veins, and the Cecil was still sharpening its fangs - anyone who had seen the north wall of the Rock Fortress from the Plains of the Whitsunday would have realized it, and as a powerful spellcaster and ruler of the North, Victoria thought even more: where did the Cecil get all this steel? Could it be that after conquering the South, they cast all the steel of the entire South into the walls of the Rock Fortress? Where did they get such powerful magic? Could it be that there is another undiscovered focus of magic beneath the Rock Fortress? And how did they manage to do all this in such a short period of time?

When the convoy reached the foot of the north wall, the metal skeleton-reinforced gate slowly rose to the sound of a loud bell from the top of the wall, and from near the gate there was a clear sound of machinery running, accompanied by a flow of magic: many of the facilities in the fortress seemed to be powered by magic.

Victoria Wild sat calmly in the car, as the Duchess of the North, she could contain all her emotions in that frosty countenance.

An armed fortress is only a fortress after all, and a fortress cannot be moved, and by building such a fortress, Gawain Cecil is undoubtedly asserting his strength and attitude: the southern border is too strong to allow anyone to dictate, but he also has no intention of stepping into the plain of the Holy Spirit.

At least for now.

One of the purposes of Victoria Wild's trip to the South was to find out what the Founding Hero's attitude was towards St. Sunil – and how long he could wait if he wasn't content to be a duke in the South.

The Ansu royal family, which is mired in the quagmire of civil war, really has no energy left to open a new battlefield.

Guests from the royal capital were taken to the Rock Castle inside the fortress - the castle is still not completely restored, and the upper floors of the castle that were destroyed by the calibrated beam are still scaffolded in several places, and the sight of the shocking holes and crystallized traces of molten rock flowing through the walls can make visitors imagine what a terrible blow it had befallen at that time.

Veronica and Victoria saw the heart-wrenching damage under the castle, but in the end, they didn't say anything.

Cecil has de facto occupied and controlled the entire southern border, and without the power to change the situation, it makes no sense to mention the relationship between the royal family and the Rock Fortress, whether it is the guardian duke of the northern part of the kingdom, or the princess of the royal family who has joined the Holy See, one thing is clear:

Only those who have the opportunity to fight for the interests are the interests, and the interests that are not able to be fought for - if they are raised, they will become a shame.

In the castle's long hall, Victoria and Veronica, the new commander of the Rock Fortress, Wald Perridge, are greeted by a commander in white armor with some kind of magic sword at his waist.

The old knight from the Kant region had never imagined in the past half of his life that he would have such a bizarre experience as this: becoming the commander of a fortress guarding the borders of the duchy at a young age no longer young, and also receiving another duke and the princess of the country on behalf of the guardian duke, which would probably become his boast to future generations for the rest of his life, but at this moment, he must do his part to ensure that he does not lose etiquette and does not disgrace the Duke of Cecil.

"Welcome to the Rock Fortress, welcome to the lands of the South, the current Commander of the Rock, Wald Perridge, salute Her Royal Highness the Princess and Her Excellency the Duke," said Wald Perridge, dressed in military uniform, standing in front of the guests with impeccable manners and attitude, "Please take a break here - the reception feast has been set, and I hope that the heating of the castle will dispel the chill that has accumulated during your journey." ”

"Glad to meet you, Sir Perridge." Veronica smiled and said, the princess did not know the specific title of the commander in front of her, but according to the traditional law of Ansu, the commander of such a key fortress will automatically receive a non-hereditary "knight" title after taking office, this title is independent of the general title, and enjoys the right to dialogue with most nobles on an equal footing, it reflects Ansu's respect for the brave nobles, and it is also to ensure that if there is a low-status but capable soldier in charge of the fortress, Able to immediately have enough prestige and legal justification to command the noble commanders of all levels in the fortress.

Victoria Wild, who was beside Veronica, recalled the incredible magical devices she saw upon entering the fortress and the impressive north wall of the fortress, and her tone was tinged with admiration: "Duke Cecil has performed a miracle here. ”

"Believe me, you'll be even more amazed when you see Cecil," Wald Perridge said with a smile, leading the two guests to the inner court of the castle, "The Duke already knows of the arrival of the two of them, and a special convoy will come to meet them tomorrow." ”

Victoria didn't care about the old knight's "convoy", she thought it was just a part of the usual etiquette: when an important guest visited the territory, the local ruler would naturally send a team to greet him.

The indifferent thought continued until the next day, until she saw the steel-forged magic machines cross the avenue and come to an open ground in front of the castle.

Even though she tried her best to maintain her expression, Victoria couldn't help but look at the magic devices that looked like cars and cars, and showed a look of surprise: "This is ...... Your car?! ”

"The Magic Energy 475 series of magic guide cars, the model is the 'Pioneer Generation', the creation of magic guide technology," Wald Perridge introduced to the Duchess with a proud look - although this was also the first time he had seen the magic guide car in kind, he had already prepared, and was used to seeing those new technology products from the local area, so he was quite calm and indifferent at the moment, he recited the introduction words that he had memorized only the night before like an old driver who had been driving for many years, and tried not to let his smile deviate in the slightest- After all, he was the guardian duke of the kingdom and the famous princess of the saint, and he didn't want his smile to make the other party feel any offense, "This is a new thing, I believe that its ride experience will make you forget about the carriage." ”

"Wizard Technique ......," Victoria repeated softly, linking it to the intel she had gathered over the past year about the South.

The rapid rise of the Cecil family in the South...... It seems to have something to do with this rumored "magic technology".

This technique is said to have been brought back by Gawain Cecil and is a variant of the lost magic technology of the ancient Gondor Empire.

However, as a magician, well-read spellcaster, Victoria Wilder has not seen a single reference to "magic techniques" in any of the ancient texts of the Gondor Empire...... On the contrary, in the sporadic information about the magic net that circulated from the south, she saw a trace of the modern magic formation being extremely optimized......

Her eyes fell on the stiff lines and strange shapes of the magic guide cars—the shape of these "magic guide technology creations" did not match the elegant and refined style advocated by the northern aristocracy in recent years, but their rough and hard lines and the intricate mechanical texture of steel in the details carried a certain indescribable beauty: "I have heard of magic technology...... Could they have been able to make such incredible magical devices? ”

"That's what makes it so fascinating—and of course, it's a lot of money to make a magical device like this." Wald Perridge said that he was not lying: the factory assembly line of the magic guide car is still under construction, and the magic guide cars in front of him are all made by the master mechanic and craftsman Nicholas Egg (although the master has no hands), and the master craftsman's own hands make these cars have a satisfactory reliability, but their cost is far from comparable to that of mass products.

"It's a lot of money...... Victoria's eyes didn't change, she just repeated the words in a low voice, and then nodded, "Since it's Duke Cecil's kindness, I'm happy to accept it, and I'm also very interested in this incredible 'magic technique'." ”

"Please get in the car, and besides—please allow our entourage to ride with you," said Wald Perridge, and as he finished speaking, a handsome young knight approached, "Margarita is a knight trusted by the Duke, and she will tell you the story of the magic car, and act as your guide to make sure your journey is not boring." ”

Victoria wanted to refuse when she heard the word entourage - she wasn't used to riding in the same car with anyone, and the most she could do on weekdays was with Maggie, the black-haired maid, but she nodded after hearing Wald Perridge's words and seeing the knightess named Margarita.

She might have been able to get something useful from the young knightess, and Miss Margarita seemed to be a neat person, and she didn't mind allowing such a person to come closer.

"Margarita Crete, salute the northern guardian of the kingdom."

The female knight Margarita saluted, and Victoria was pleased with the slight nervousness and good manners she showed: this was exactly what a good young knight should be, and it seemed that even in this remote southern frontier, there were excellent talents.

Later, the Valder knight arranged for Veronica to be accompanied by another female knight, which the usually approachable princess accepted and thanked Vald for his kindness.

Victoria Wilde got into the car, and she saw a young man in uniform sitting in the front seat of the car—she had seen someone in the car earlier, but only now she noticed the various controls around the young man.

Is this the mage who controls this magic device?

The "driver" who drove the car was not outside the car, but sat in the car with the passengers, which would be very inappropriate in the eyes of some strict and old-fashioned people, but Victoria didn't care about this - she cared more about how the magic car was built than about "etiquette".

She sat in the back of the car with Margarita, and Maggie, the black-haired maid, sat in the front seat, next to the driver.

Some of the party would take a few other coaches and set off for Cecil with Victoria and Veronica, while the rest of the group would continue to ride the carriages that had crossed the plains from the royal capital, slowly following them - an arrangement suggested by Wald, after considering the difference in speed between the chariots and the carriages.

The whistle blew and the convoy departed.

The first time she rode on this incredible magical device was a novel experience for Victoria, and she hadn't felt this mixture of curiosity and confusion for many years, she felt that the complex magical vehicle was gradually accelerating—from under the car there was a mechanical vibration, but the overall movement of the car was much smoother than that of the carriage, and the "mage" who controlled the vehicle was using a disc, some joysticks, and pedals to control the magic creation...... He didn't use magic.

The Duchess from the North watched with curiosity, but she didn't want to be too frivolous, so she began to find a way to distract herself—and soon she noticed the sword that the knightess beside her had in her hand.

It was a sword with magical runes, it was obviously a transcendent weapon, and the fortress commander also seemed to have an almost identical rune sword on him.

Extraordinary armaments are powerful equipment created by magicians and runemasters with great effort and cost, and only people with a certain status and financial resources can tailor such equipment for themselves, so it is rare to see two transcendent armaments look exactly the same, but in Cecil...... It seems that many otherworldly objects based on magical powers look exactly the same.

From small swords, to huge "magic carts", to magical devices on the city walls that were apparently weapons of some kind, the same otherworldly items can be found almost everywhere.

Victoria knew what that meant, and it meant that, at least to some extent, the Cecilians were capable of mass-producing these magical items.

The notion that magical objects are too precious to be mass-produced - this is deeply ingrained in the hearts of the vast majority of Ansu people, and due to the limitations of technology, it is indeed a fact at this stage, but this does not mean that the rulers of the kingdom are not aware of the significance of mass production of supernatural items.

"Miss Margarita, this sword is beautiful."

Complimenting a knight's saber is a common and ceremonial opening line, especially when the superior is willing to take the initiative to open up the topic, this kind of praise has the connotation of the superior person's appreciation, and gives enough respect to the lower party, Victoria is familiar with the etiquette between words.

The young knight smiled reservedly, and she touched the hilt of the rune sword with the back of her hand, and her tone was a little proud: "This is the sword given by the duke—it is my pride." ”

"It seems to be a transcendent weapon?"

"Yes, it's a rune sword," Margarita smiled, "but I can't show you how to show it here - once activated, the blade of this sword can easily slice through the shell of a car, it's too dangerous." ”

Victoria couldn't help but look admiring—no matter how polite the look was, Margarita took the opportunity to introduce it: "...... Of course, this sword is not only powerful, it has also been rebalanced by the best swordsmiths, making it very comfortable and flexible when wielding it with one hand, and it is also very powerful when holding and slashing with both hands. Its hilt is also specially made, and when the end is unscrewed, it contains a single dose of healing potion for a single person, in other words, as long as the sword does not leave the sword, then even if other supplies are lost, the warriors will have at least one chance to save their lives......"

Victoria listened carefully to Margarita's introduction, and she did get some useful information as she wished...... But somehow, she always felt as if the female knight's familiar words and phrases when introducing the saber seemed to have been memorized......

And after Margarita introduced her sword, she succeeded in getting the Duke of the North to take an interest in the white Commander Magic Armor she was wearing.

The magical energy between the cracks in the armor and the runes in the details had already made Victoria realize that this was also a transcendent weapon.

"This armor was also given by the Duke - it protected me through the most treacherous battles (watching the artillerymen fire at the walls from outside the Rock Fortress), kept me unscathed in front of five times as many enemies (when receiving prisoners), and I wore it to break into the gates of the Rock Fortress (actually walked in, because when the Second Corps entered the city, let alone the gates, the walls were blown up), it was a piece of armor to be trusted—and you see, it also had a unique pattern......"

Victoria nodded subconsciously: "...... Truly...... Beautiful......"

The young female knight in front of her was surprisingly talkative.

It looks like the trip really won't get boring.