It's snowing.

Standing behind the large floor-to-ceiling windows of his office with his pipe in his mouth, Cod gazed out the window at the fluttering snowflakes and the factory building that looked slightly hazy in the fluttering snowflakes.

In this northern country, the first snowfall always comes early, and even before winter officially sets, early snow often arrives early.

In the past...... In fact, it hasn't been long since the snow that comes too early is often seen as a bad start, and can even be associated with death.

The early arrival of the cold means an early end to outdoor activities, the storage of fuel becomes difficult, and civilians will have to fight an even longer winter with limited food and fuel.

So people even have a special name for this kind of early snow: the White Death.

But that was in the past, at least in most of the South, and in Cord's eyes, the first snow was gradually overshadowing his mind of the image of the White Death—a nice view.

I just hope that the snow cover this time is not too large, especially the plains of the Holy Spirit...... After all, there are still many areas in this country that can't withstand the power of the White Death.

Codd bit his pipe, and the red light in the pipe flashed dimly, and the rich smoke slowly dispersed, and his thoughts involuntarily diverged with the scattered smoke.

The wind whipped the snowflakes against the large pieces of crystal glass, a crystal clear material that had always been associated with high and scarce in the past, and it was rare for such a large size to be manufactured - the technology of making cheap, large white crystal had long been monopolized by the Typhonian Empire, and the difficulties of transportation, combined with the deliberate blockade of Typhon, had led to the fact that the standard panes of various buildings in the Ansu era were never more than half a meter in size, and it was not until a year ago that Cecil's alchemy factory successfully cracked the technical secrets of the Typhonians to make cheap white crystal, large-size crystal glass gradually appeared on various buildings in the south.

With the advent of large-scale crystal glass, coupled with the new architectural style brought by Gawain Cecil the Great, the new architectural element of "floor-to-ceiling windows" has gradually become popular this year.

As for how the technicians of the alchemy factory deciphered the technology of the Typhonians in the absence of samples and information...... As a businessman, Cod does not know this.

The rare leisure time did not last long, and a rhythmic knock on the door interrupted Cod's thoughts, and he heard the voice of his eldest son, Parr, behind him: "Father, someone is looking for you. ”

The big merchant turned his head: "The representative of the Marlin Trading Company?" ”

On this snowy day, the other party came very early.

However, the young man at the door shook his head: "No, it's a young man from the north, who claims to be Film, and he says that he has something very important to show you, and that you will definitely be interested." ”

"A young man from the north?" Caud blinked unexpectedly, "It's not easy to travel long distances on this freezing day, maybe it's to try your luck in the South on the Highlander......"

The big businessman muttered, and there was some emotion in his heart.

It was not a surprise to him that strangers came to visit him, as the proprietor of the growing company of the Cord Family, and as the leader of the Carroll Merchants' Association, he was always visited, and among them were some brave young men with dreams—the new order brought about by His Majesty Gawain seemed to bring a kind of vitality to the whole land, and it was always the young people who had the most courage in the vast sea of people, and they were always the most courageous, with new ideas, seeking all kinds of opportunities in this rapidly changing land, and here in CodThere is no doubt that there is an opportunity.

But most of the time, brave young people are just brave, they lack knowledge and experience, so that many of their brilliant ideas don't actually come in handy, but Cod still receives these young people as much as possible - from the perspective of business interests, Cod's family must create this image of accommodating innovation and attracting talent, only in this way can it continue to attract talented people, and from the perspective of personal feelings, Those who have new ideas and dare to challenge make Cod think of himself, of his reckless first business as a young man, and of the passion he has rekindled in the last two years.

It's just that I didn't expect a stranger from the north to come to visit...... The young man probably made some inquiries after coming here.

The partner who made the appointment has not yet arrived, so it doesn't hurt to meet the young man.

"Let him in," Ccord nodded, "tell him in advance, it's only twenty minutes." ”

"Yes, father."

The eldest son, Parr, exited the room, and moments later, a young man with blond hair in a blue coat appeared in front of Cord.

Habitual, Codd first glanced at the young man's dress and temperament-

A more decent coat made of tweed, although it looks older, it is clean and well-maintained; The smile is gentle and polite, with a habitual humility, without the slightest prestige or aristocratic detail.

He should have been a citizen of an upper-middle family, well-educated, perhaps in the service of the aristocracy, perhaps engaged in a profession that required frequent dealings with people of higher rank than himself, and obviously could afford the ticket of the Highlander, or the ticket of the medium class.

"Hello, it is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Curd," said the young man, smiling, with a hint of excitement on his face, "I'm from Barron, and you can call me Film......

"It's a pleasure to meet you, too, Mr. Film—please close the door," Codd nodded, gesturing with his chin to the chair reserved for guests, "feel free." ”

Film quickly closed the door, and then sat down in the high-backed chair with soft cushions, and he heard the famous merchant asking: "Mr. Film, I don't know much about the North, Barron is ......"

"Oh, it's a town near St. Sunil, it's not that famous," Film said with a smile, because he had been taught by his father since he was a child, and he had seen a lot of markets in the old royal capital, he knew the importance of keeping a smile, but he was young after all, so his nervous excitement could not be well concealed, and he spoke much faster than usual, "It is on the west side of the royal capital, and it was lucky that it was not affected by that war......

"Mr. Film, tell me why you're looking for me," Cord interrupted, "it's not an easy journey from Saint-Sunil to here, so why is it worth coming so far from home in the middle of winter?" ”

"Yes sir, it's a long way off, and if it weren't for the fact that the Highlander was much faster than a normal boat, I'm afraid I'd still be on the Gorgon River by now, and maybe even a halfway ashore after that - after all, the river is about to cease to sail," said Film, opening a small box he had brought with him, and placing the contents solemnly on the table in front of Curd's eyes, "I came to you to show you something...... I asked some people in Rock City, and they all said that if you have a new idea or something, you can try your luck with the president of the Carroll Chamber of Commerce, you are always willing to help young people, you are generous and discerning, and you will often buy their good ideas......"

Cord didn't pay much attention to the compliments in the other party's words, but set his eyes on the small box, but the contents of the box made him frown.

It's just a crystal, a photo crystal, it should be an artificial crystal from the south, the grade doesn't seem to be high, but as a magic item, its price in the north should still be quite expensive - looking at Film's careful look at this crystal, you know that this thing must be very precious to this young man from the north, and it is probably the most valuable belongings on him.

After all, the north is not like the south, and magic-related items are still a fairly scarce and valuable item there, although recently the new communication line composed of mechanical ships and magic cars has begun to transport magic items and various cheap artificial crystals from the south to the north, but due to the limited quantity, this still can't change the high price of magic items in the north in a short period of time.

Regardless, the Lingering Crystal is not a rarity for Cord...... So, what is valuable should be what is recorded in it?

He raised his head and looked at the young man standing in front of him: "What's in this?" ”

"Yes, sir, please let me show you ......" Film said as he took out a few metal plates with runes from the box - they were a few rune substrates, but there were no regular steel seals and standard buckles, perhaps imitations produced in the small factories in the north that were established during the "Ansu reform" - Film put these things together, and then fiddled with them for a long time, and finally made these not-so-standard magic devices work successfully. He then placed the Shadow Crystal from the South on the mana of the pile, "It's almost ready, it's almost done, sir." ”

Cod wanted to say that he had an advanced magic net terminal here, a new model with a universal slot, and it was completely possible to play the content in the photo crystal directly, without such a toss, but in the end he still watched the young man complete all this operation with curiosity and patience.

He saw that the poor quality crystal finally began to light up, and then a picture appeared above the crystal.

A man dressed in a brightly and exaggerated costume stands in the projection, loudly complimenting someone outside the frame.

A woman in a long dress walks in from outside the frame and argues with the man.

After a comical argument, a third person arrives in the center of the frame, who appears to be trying to mediate the conflict, but is attacked by both men and women......

Cod stared at the picture in the projection in a daze, and it was not until the end of this short plot that the picture began to repeat itself before he finally muttered to himself: "This is ...... What ......"

"The Lady of Butterfly Manor, ah, that's been in the royal capital in recent years...... I mean, the old royal capital, the repertoire that was very popular in the old king," Film said quickly, his energy soaring, and all the tension seemed to have dissipated, "of course, only a small part, of course, and I have made a few adjustments...... Because crystals are not a stage after all...... Ah, sir, I should have made it longer, and there was a very good fight and debate behind it, but it couldn't be helped, Wang Du...... The magic net terminal on the old royal capital was only allowed to be used for less than ten minutes at a time, and it took me a lot of effort to manage the staff to help me record the picture with a photo crystal...... And I don't dare let my father know about it......"

Cod felt that his mind was racing, and in the midst of his thoughts, he subconsciously asked, "Your father?" ”

"Yes, his name is Barna, and he is a well-known playwright in Saint-Sunil and the surrounding area, and he has his own troupe...... But no one knows here......" Film said with pride and embarrassment, "We often perform for the nobles, but now...... You should know that the nobles don't seem to have the energy to come to our shows, and there aren't as many of the nobles of Saint-Sunil...... My father wouldn't be happy to know that I had made the script he was most proud of like this, and that I had taken his actors to 'perform' in the square......"

"Child," Cord abruptly interrupted Film's slightly rambling remarks, his eyes burning into the young man's eyes, "how did you come up with that?" I mean, I put the drama on the crystal......"

"I went to see His Majesty the Emperor's coronation," Film laughed, a little shy, "but I was standing far away, and I could only see a huge image suddenly rising in the square—and then I was told that it was a magic web terminal from the south, and unlike the illusions made by the mages, there seemed to be a lot of magic net terminals in the south, and they were placed in the streets and alleys......"

Speaking of this, the blonde young man paused slightly in embarrassment before continuing, "Sir, our troupe is in a bad situation right now—everyone is not doing well. The theater in Saint-Sunil is half closed. ”

The war in the north has changed the lives of many people.

That's why there is the "Highlander", and there are the human beings that Film saw on the ship.

While the stubborn father was still waiting for the nobles to return to the theater, the brave young man ran out to see the world in the distance, to see the place where the incredible magic devices were born.

Maybe the nobles would come back to the beautiful and elegant theaters when they recovered, but Cord looked at the crystal that was still playing the picture in front of him, and he knew that something was about to change.

He even shuddered.

He wasn't the only one who could have thought of mounting the Heating Rune on an iron plate and the Icicle in the food locker.

How much can this thing be worth?

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