Chapter 48 — Satellite Warning

"There was a surge of magical energy just now; spellcasting became much easier," Heidi nodded. A surge of magical energy was a normal phenomenon when red spots appeared on the sun's surface—in fact, even red spots on the sun were a normal phenomenon—but the frequency of both red spots and magical surges had indeed been somewhat higher lately. Coupled with the disaster in Cecil Territory and Gao Yang's earlier warnings still fresh in her memory, she could not help growing tense. "Could it be..."

Heidi's face gradually paled.

"No, it hasn't reached the point where monsters will appear," Gao Yang shook his head to steady her. His judgment rested on two things: on the one hand, no sign of magic-tide contamination could be seen on the bird's-eye view; on the other, from the experience of Gao Yang Cecil, the elemental forces in the air were still stable, so there would be no problem. "It's just an ordinary-grade red spot and magical surge..."

"Magical surges and red spots are normal phenomena in themselves, but usually there's only one every three to five years," Heidi said, looking deeply worried. "And this is already the second in just a few months..."

In truth, the worry and tension in Gao Yang's heart were not one bit less than Heidi's.

If anything, because he had one more layer of concern—the question of his connection to some "surveillance satellite" high above—his tension at this moment was even greater.

But at the same time he knew very well that he had now become the pillar of the entire Cecil Territory. Especially in front of Heidi and Rebecca, he could not let any weakness or wavering show.

Besides, weakness and wavering could not solve the problem anyway.

"Don't worry, there won't be any monsters. And even if a real magic tide comes, I have experience with it," Gao Yang comforted his descendant. "Let everyone focus on their own work. Only by building a solid and stable home will we have the means to stand against nature."

Looking into Gao Yang's confident eyes, Heidi felt her heart settle as well. She gave a slight bow and returned to her work.

And watching Heidi use her magical power to aid the construction work, Gao Yang gave a slight nod.

Perhaps Hedy and Rebecca could not, in many of their ideas and outlooks, transcend the era and class into which they had been born, but they possessed one foundation that no other noble in this age had.

And that was this: they did not believe that their status and position set them apart from the people of their domain.

Otherwise, a proper noble lady like Hedy would never have gone out to the construction site to assist the work with magic.

And as he watched the earth rapidly harden into foundation under the force of magic, Gao You marveled at the convenience of magic while realizing something else: once the hardware needed for minting coins was in place, hiring a few down-and-out wild mages to help build the camp might be a rather good idea.

But before that, there were more important questions that had to be carefully considered.

Gao Yang turned and went back into the tent, sat down again at the desk, and with quick strokes of the pen wrote three questions on a blank sheet of paper:

What is the relationship between that "sun" in the sky and the magic tide on the earth?

What might the "surveillance satellite" actually do, and what is its present condition?

Why did Gao Yang Cecil, seven hundred years ago, leave behind a crystal capable of helping him reestablish contact with the satellite?