Chapter 572 — The Road

"To stride bravely into a savage domain, to hazard oneself for the benefit of ten thousand generations — that is what it means to pioneer, and it is not confined to land, nor to technology," Gao Yang said. "I know Kode is a merchant, that he made those innovations for profit, but I cannot on that account deny the value of what he has done. He has carried magitech a step further into the civilian sphere, and in many respects deeper and more practical than I had imagined — that is the advantage his profession and experience give him. In this regard he already deserves to be called a pioneer, and the courage with which he built the first of the new factories and took the initiative to try new things... that too is knightly character in the truest sense."

Here he paused briefly, then continued, "More importantly — we must encourage every act that helps spread magitech, and for the present, Kode is the most suitable standard-bearer for that."

"I understand," Hetty lowered her head. "I will make the most of this opportunity for publicity."

Gao Yang gave a murmur of assent and asked, "How goes the progress on Kamel's side?"

"The research institute has finished copying all the technical materials the elves brought, and handed them to the Runic Research Institute for analysis and translation; the work has only just begun. As you ordered, priority will be given to analyzing the mana-purification portion of the 'pressure-release mechanism.'"

Gao Yun nodded slightly, sighing inwardly.

The magical systems of elves and humans were utterly different. In specific spells, because the two races' cranial nerve structures differed, humans and elves could scarcely comprehend each other's spell models at all; even the rare mixed-blood descendants who inherited traits of both races could only cast a small number of "cross-racial spells." In the old technological era when "transcendent power was returned to the self," this barrier had vexed scholars of both races for hundreds and thousands of years — and it was only when the concept of "mathematics" was introduced into the field of magical research, when technicians began to study magic through pure calculation and reasoning rather than relying on individual spiritual perception and casting talent to construct spells, that this barrier was finally broken through.

In the kingdom of mathematics, the two sharply distinct magical systems had a common language for the first time; no matter what image or "transcendent intuition" a spell model might produce in the minds of the two races, in runic logic it was unified within a single framework.

The elves possessed technology beyond that of the present human nations — though the Silver Empire was declining on the whole, the height of its technology still far surpassed humanity's, and those vast troves of lost science were undoubtedly a treasure house for humankind.

Gao Yang lowered his head and began to review once more the documents awaiting his approval and examination.

Once the northern lords and royalty had marshaled their resources and balanced the various factions, he would have to leave this land for a time. Though he could still direct his territory remotely through the arcane net by setting up relay towers along the way, remote control had its limits after all; before departing, he must arrange everything as thoroughly as he could.

...

Saint Frostrest City, within the Silver Castle.

The radiance of magic-crystal lamps illuminated this ancient royal castle of long history; in the study on the castle's second floor, the lights burned bright.

Wales? Moen sat in a broad, comfortable velvet chair. He tilted his head back and looked at the magical fixtures set into the opposite wall: beneath exquisite brass lamp brackets, hexagonal rune baseplates were arrayed in neat order, like some new sort of wallpaper, extending all the way down to the floor and vanishing beneath it.

Victoria Wilde sat across from the crown prince. She noticed his distraction but paid it no mind. "The coronation has been canceled, Your Highness—please understand, we cannot afford to provoke the Eastern Marches. But rest assured, it is only postponed. Sooner or later, you will sit upon the throne."

"Postponed or not, I do not mind," Wales said, drawing his gaze back from the arcane-net units to look at the duchess before him. "I hear the thermal ray gun has been successfully replicated?"

"It has indeed been replicated," Victoria nodded. "In truth, the technology behind that thing is not complex at all. We still do not know how the runesmiths of the Southern Marches were lucky enough to find such a perfect runic array, but its core formation is genuinely very simple. The royal mages and runesmiths quickly reproduced an identical weapon, only..."

Wales said quietly, "It is a question of cost, is it not?"

"...Cost, and production speed," Victoria nodded. "It is simply impossible to build those magical weapons for a few gold coins, and even if we mobilized every low- and mid-tier mage and runesmith in the city, and threw in the output of the new factories, we still could not produce enough ray guns to arm a legion in any short time."

The duchess could not help but recall the royal mage who had successfully replicated the thermal ray gun—and the look on his face, the look of a man ready to prove his loyalty with his life, when she had answered his question of how many weapons were needed with: several thousand.

"Buying beats building," Victoria said slowly. "That is the conclusion the Royal Mages' Association reached after discussion."

The fingers Wales Moen rested on the arm of his chair suddenly went white with tension, but just as quickly relaxed again.

He said in a low voice, "That is indeed a rational conclusion—but rational does not necessarily mean wise."

"In this regard, I agree with you. But we have not yet cracked the Southern Marches' technological secrets—that is the fact of the matter," Victoria said mildly.

Wales shook his head. He knew that with the power in his hands, there was truly very little he could do, and so after a moment of silence he changed the subject. "When do you leave the royal capital?"

"After the cargo ships set out," Victoria said. "I will go to the Holy Spirit Plains to take personal command and prevent any change on the front lines—Duke Bai Yu will remain here to assist you in affairs of state."

In times of political upheaval, at least one regent duke had to remain stationed in Sacred Frost Perch—partly to steady the situation, and partly to... steady the royal family.

Wales understood the deeper meaning in Victoria's words. He merely said calmly, "I understand."

Victoria nodded, then rose to her feet—but she did not leave. Instead she quietly regarded the middle-aged prince for a moment.

She could not help but recall how, when she was very small and first came to the Silver Fortress, to this very study, her father and Francis II had sat exactly where she and Wales sat now—and Francis II then had been just as quiet, just as silent, as Wales was at this moment.

"Your Highness," she suddenly could not help saying, "guard Xuanyao City well—that is the duty in your blood."

"I understand."

Recommended: The urban master Lao Shi's new book: