Chapter 521 — Southland Observations

"The Mana 475 series arcane car, model 'Pathfinder, First Generation,' a product of arcane technology," Wald Perrich introduced to the Duchess with a proud look. Though this too was the first time he had seen an arcane car in the flesh, he had come prepared, and being accustomed to beholding new technological products from the homeland, he appeared quite calm and composed at this moment. Like a veteran driver of many years, he recited the introduction he had memorized only the night before, trying not to let his smile deviate in the slightest; before him, after all, stood the kingdom's Guardian Duchess and the renowned Holy Maiden Princess, and he did not wish his smile to give them any sense of offence. "This is a new thing; I believe the ride will make you forget horse-drawn carriages."

"Arcane technology..." Victoria repeated the term softly, linking it in her mind with all the intelligence about the Southern Marches she had gathered over the past year.

The swift rise of the Cecil family in the Southern Marches... seemed to be bound up with this rumoured "arcane technology."

It was said that this technology had been brought by Gao Yang Cecil after his resurrection, a variant of the lost magical arts of the ancient Gondor Empire.

Yet as a spellcaster who specialized in magic and had read widely, Victoria Wilde had never seen a single word about "arcane technology" in any ancient text concerning the Gondor Empire. Instead, in those scattered materials about the magic web that had circulated out of the south, she had glimpsed the shadow of modern magical array patterns after extreme optimization.

Her gaze fell on those arcane cars with their hard lines and peculiar shapes. The appearance of these "products of arcane technology" was utterly at odds with the elegant, refined style that northern nobles had admired in recent years, yet their rough, forceful lines and the intricate steel-mechanical texture of their details carried a certain indescribable beauty. "I had heard of arcane technology... so it can be made into such incredible magical devices?"

"That is precisely its charm. Of course, the price of building such magical devices is also considerable," Wald Perrich said, and he was not lying: the factory assembly line for arcane cars was still under construction, and these few arcane cars before them had all been made personally by the master of machinery and craftsmanship, Nikoxi "Egg Boss" (though the master had no hands at all). The personal work of a master craftsman gave these cars a satisfying reliability, but their cost was far beyond anything mass-produced goods could compare with.

"A considerable price..." Victoria's eyes scarcely changed; she only repeated the words softly, then nodded. "Since it is Duke Cecil's kindness, I am glad to accept it, and I am also very interested in this incredible 'arcane technology.'"

"Please get in. And also, please permit the attendants we have arranged to ride with you," Wald Perrich said, and as his words fell, a dashing young woman knight came over from the side. "Margareta is a knight deeply trusted by His Grace; she will tell you the story of the arcane car and serve as your guide along the way, so that your journey will not be dull."

At the word "attendants" Victoria had meant to refuse; she was not used to sharing a carriage with anyone, and ordinarily, when travelling, she would at most have her black-haired maid Maggie with her. But after hearing Wald Perrich's following words and seeing the woman knight named Margareta, she nodded after all.

She might be able to learn something useful from this young woman knight, and this Miss Margareta looked like a clean, brisk sort of person; she did not mind allowing such a person to come a little closer to her.

"Margareta Crete, I pay my respects to the North's Guardian of the Kingdom."

The woman knight Margareta made her salute; the slight nervousness she displayed and her good manners pleased Victoria: this was precisely how a qualified young knight ought to behave, and it seemed that even in this remote southern frontier there were talented people.

Afterwards, Sir Wald arranged another woman knight as attendant for Verodai; the ever-affable princess accepted the arrangement and thanked Wald for his kindness.

Victoria Wilde boarded the arcane car. She saw a young man in uniform sitting in the front of the vehicle; she had noticed someone in the car earlier, but only now did she take note of the various control devices around the young man.

Was this the mage who controlled this magical device?

The "driver" who drove it did not sit outside the cabin, but inside it with the passengers. In the eyes of certain strict, old-fashioned folk this would doubtless be greatly improper, but Victoria paid it no mind; compared with such a question of "etiquette," she cared far more about how this arcane car had actually been built.

She sat in the back row with Margareta, while the black-haired maid Maggie took the front row, next to the driver.

Some of the personal attendants in the party boarded the other arcane cars; they would set out together with Victoria and Verodai for Darklight City, while the remaining attendants would continue in those horse-drawn carriages that had come all the way from the capital across the plains, following slowly behind. This was the arrangement Wald had suggested after weighing the difference in speed between arcane cars and carriages.

The whistle sounded, and the convoy set off.

Her first ride in that wondrous magical device brought Victoria a novel experience—and it had been many a year since she felt anything so compounded of curiosity and bewilderment. She sensed the intricate magical vehicle slowly gathering speed: from beneath the floor came the shudder of machinery at work, yet the whole of the journey was far steadier than any carriage's; and the "mage" who controlled it governed the magical construct with a dial, a set of levers and pedals… and used no magic at all.

The Duchess out of the North watched all this with curiosity, yet she had no wish to seem frivolous, and so set about finding something to draw her attention elsewhere—soon enough she noted the sword that the lady knight beside her had laid close to hand.

It was a sword graven with magical runes, plainly a transcendent armament; and about the person of that fortress commander there seemed to be one almost exactly the same.

Transcendent armaments were mighty equipments that mages and runesmiths wrought with immense toil and cost, and only those of a certain station and wealth could have such a thing tailored to themselves; thus it was seldom one saw two transcendent armaments that looked alike. Yet in Cecil… it seemed that a great many transcendent articles founded upon magical power looked exactly alike.

From small swords to the vast "magic carriage," from the magical devices upon the walls that were plainly some manner of weapon—identical transcendent articles met the eye at almost every turn.

Victoria knew what it meant: it meant that the Cecilians were capable, at least to some degree, of mass-producing these magical articles.

That magical articles were precious and could not be mass-produced was a conviction sunk deep in the hearts of most Ansians, and by reason of the limits of technique it was indeed the truth of the present age—but that did not mean the kingdom's rulers failed to grasp what the mass production of transcendent articles would signify.

"Lady Margarita, this sword is very beautiful."

To praise a knight's sword was a common and wholly proper opening, and it suited above all the case when a superior was pleased to open the conversation herself: such praise carried the tone of a superior's appraisal, and yet accorded the lesser party respect enough. Victoria was entirely at home in this etiquette of words.