Chapter 458 — Dissemination
Blade of Dawn · Page 4 of 4
"Sign? Ah! Not me, not me!" The young man glanced at the mood in the room, at his dumbstruck elder brother and his father's face full of wrath, and quickly grasped the situation. He waved the newspaper in his hand. "It is the Southern March nobles—the Southern March nobles have signed! Look, the front-page headline in today's paper, and there is even a picture!"
"What picture, what front-page headline..." The great merchant Kord stepped forward and snatched the newspaper from his second son's hand. He knew of this "newspaper" invented by the Cecil folk; by a merchant's keen instinct, he had recognized its significance the very first moment he saw it—what it carried was timely information of vital importance to merchants. And so, ever since the regular courier carriages had begun appearing in the domain of Carroll, he had instructed his second son to buy the new newspaper at the earliest moment. But he could not imagine what information in a newspaper could be so astonishing as to agitate this youngest son of his—always timid and meek—into such a state.
And once he unfolded the newspaper, he understood.
He saw that black-and-white "picture," that lifelike "picture." It was clearly an image left by some kind of magic—a real event that had truly happened. The power of magic had recorded this event, and the Cecil folk's "magic-industrial" arts had copied that record countless times and sent it to every place under their rule—including this Carroll in the north.
"The Duchy Concludes Its Covenant—All Old Lords of the Southern March Swear Allegiance to Cecil Law..." the great merchant Kord murmured to himself, and then suddenly realized what message this newspaper was conveying.
"Signing... signing!" the great merchant cried. "Quick, maid, fetch my coat, I am going to the administrative hall—damn it, that old fool Donny lives right next to the administrative hall. I pray he does not make a habit of reading the paper in the morning... I must be the first!"
The two sons were startled by their father's violent reaction. They exchanged glances and asked in bewilderment: "Father?"
"There is no time. Now is the moment to declare where we stand," Kord said rapidly as he took the coat the maid hurriedly handed him. Halfway into it, something suddenly occurred to him, and he turned to fix his eyes on his eldest son. "Parr, go south at once, find Weiler—tell him I am buying that plot of his!"