Chapter 63 — An Unforeseen Disturbance
Blade of Dawn · Page 2 of 3
This was something wholly different from the Magic Web and the waterwheel. Gawain had to fuse the knowledge of two worlds to complete this design. If the "Magic Web" was the cornerstone of the Cecil Territory, then designing such a peculiar "hybrid furnace" was Gawain's own "cornerstone."
Gawain understood clearly that only by completing it could the many wild ideas in his head have any hope of becoming reality—and in this, no one could help him.
He finished the design of the combustion chamber and the molten-iron channeling section, then, drawing on Gawain Cecil's knowledge, reserved space for inscribing the magic circle. After that he rubbed his temples and reached out to the side: "Betty, bring me that leather parchment bag for the blueprints... the one with the red cord."
There was no response from beside him—only faint snoring. Turning his head, he saw that the weary little maid had curled herself into a tiny ball on the cushion and was fast asleep.
Sitting here doing nothing while keeping him company must indeed have been rather boring for her.
Not knowing whether to laugh or sigh, Gawain shook his head and was about to get up and fetch the bag himself when he saw Betty suddenly scramble up with her eyes still closed, then grope her way toward the corner of the tent, open the chest, take out the leather bag, and wobble back to stand before him...
She had hardly opened her eyes the entire time...
Amused beyond measure, Gawain took the leather bag, and as he put the blueprints away he watched Betty struggle to open her eyes: "If you're sleepy, just go to sleep. Heaven knows how much longer I'll be busy."
By now Betty had finally come fully awake. She forced her eyes wide and shook her head vigorously: "I won't sleep! The master hasn't slept, so I won't sleep!"
Then she lowered her head and looked at the drafts spread across the table, putting on a thoroughly earnest expression. Seeing this, Gawain was a little curious: "Can you understand any of this?"
"No..." Betty shook her head. "I can't read..."
"Oh, then this must be terribly dull for you," Gawain said with a laugh. "No wonder you fell asleep just now."
"I wasn't asleep!" Betty shook her head hastily, then her gaze drifted involuntarily back to the drafts covered in writing. "Master, you know so many words..."
She had been dead sleepy a moment ago, yet now, looking at the drafts strewn across the table, her drowsiness seemed to have passed entirely. Gawain found this rather interesting and ventured to ask: "Would you like to learn to read?"
Betty nodded instinctively, but then at once shook her head nervously, fingering a button on her maid's uniform: "Mrs. Hanson says maids mustn't learn to read—just do their work well."
"That's nonsense. Everyone can learn to read!" Gawain corrected her at once, then, on a sudden whim: "If you want to learn, I can teach you a little."
Betty's eyes drifted toward the papers again, but this time, before nodding, she shook her head: "But Sir Philip says paper and pens are precious in the territory, and I mustn't waste them..."
Gawain was taken aback. He had been about to say that there was plenty of paper here anyway, but then he realized that Sir Philip had a point. With the territory unable to support itself and all traffic with Tanzan Town dependent on messengers riding back and forth, such supplies truly grew scarcer with every use. Giving Betty paper to practice writing on was indeed a bit of a luxury.
And besides, who was to say whether the girl would really stick with it? What if she was only playing around?
Still, looking at the little girl's muddle-headed expression, Gawain could not help but smile: "Wait here a moment."
He went and picked up a branch, ran his hand along it—and under the power of a knight, every burr and twig was scoured away clean. Then he trimmed one end roughly with a small knife and handed it to Betty: "Practice on the ground first. We'll see how it goes."