บท 34: Negotiations
บรรณาธิการ: Atlas Studios
When her name was suddenly mentioned, Rebecca quivered. To a successor of a declining clan, all these things that were happening before her eyes were things that she would never have dreamed of. Even when she ran into the woods to fight wolves and was smacked dizzy by their paws, she had never had such a feeling before. Watching her ancestor talking cheerfully and wittily with the other big figures, she had even forgotten that she was also one of the important participants in this meeting.
But at least Rebecca had the merit of being stubborn. Even if she was a little confused, she calmed herself down with her strong, almost dead nerves. After gathering her words, the little lord from the south began to explain about the nightmare that happened in Cecil territory to the King.
Everyone listened attentively. Even if they had not expected that such a young lady would be speaking, the disaster itself demanded their serious attention.
Those present had already had some knowledge of the incident in the south. The news was brewing throughout the entire southern region. Various versions of rumors were spreading all around. Of course, this was all thanks to Gawain. Gawain sent people mainly to spread the news of his "resurrection", and not to talk about the disaster. However, disasters were inherently good catalysts for the spreading of rumors. After two months of brewing and spreading, the news had already become well known in the south.
The civilians might not have the channels to learn about the truth, but the nobles were not lacking in that. Through various means, those present had more or less learned of the event. Francis II even had secret reports from many nobles in the south. However, no matter how detailed the reports were, they could not be more accurate and reliable than hearing it from one who had personally been involved in the incident.
With Rebecca's increasingly fluent narration, the pieces of the story of the disaster slowly came together and was linked to the Dark Wave of seven hundred years ago, and the emergence of a dragon shrouded the whole story in another confusing layer.
Gawain sighed softly as he looked at the King and the nobles with furrowed brows.
Only a while ago, these people were still more concerned about the resurrection of the founding duke and whether the Cecil Clan was seeking benefits from the royal household, and perhaps had completely forgotten that the main reason for the Cecil Clan to come to the capital was actually to give a report on those monsters. But how could they be blamed when Gawain's presence was so prominent?
What was more, he was the one who caused his own presence to become so prominent.
"… Now most of the Cecil territory has already become scorched earth. The dragon's flame contained magic, and the lands that it has scorched will not be able to grow food for several years. My people have no choice but to seek shelter with Viscount Andrew." Rebecca had already stood up. With clenched fists, her timidity and nervousness from before was gone. "Your Majesty, and all the lords present, although the Cecil territory is small, this disaster is a signal. We may not know why the dragon appeared, but the monsters brought a real disaster. Those monsters appeared seven hundred years ago and led to the destruction of the Gondor Empire. My ancestor has experienced it all firsthand."
Francis II started whispering with the King's Hand and the Duke of the North. Several others also lowered their heads in discussion. It seemed that they had not completely ignored the information that Rebecca had brought them. They should be thankful for the continuous spreading of news, the secret letter from the south, and Gawain Cecil's very presence. Without these, all that an aristocrat from a declining clan could garner from coming before the King to report on the monsters and the dragon destroying their territory would only be ridiculed. Forget bringing about a discussion, they might even bring guilt upon themselves.
However, it was hard to tell how much the news meant to them and how much of a response they would put up.
After all, the world had been too peaceful for the past seven hundred years.
"Duke Cecil," said the tall, thin man sitting a few seats to the left of Gawain. He was Duke Baldwin Franklin of the West, who looked refined in manner. "I believe that your descendant has been honest about this matter, but this thing sounds really unbelievable. Forgive me, but are these monsters really… the monsters from the Dark Wave seven hundred years ago? "
"I have dealt with them for twenty years until I died. I would recognize them even if you turned them into ashes," Gawain said gravely, "And I have fought against them again, and I can confirm that those were the same monsters that emerged from the Dark Wave. It's a pity that they would quickly disintegrate once they die, leaving behind no samples of their corpses at all. Moreover, the dragon that appeared after burned the entire territory. Now there is no way to send someone over to check on the situation in Cecil territory. "
Baldwin Franklin and Duke Silas Loland of the East, who sat beside him, looked at each other. Seeing that, Gawain said, "If you think the Cecil Clan deliberately exaggerated the truth to exchange for your sympathy, so as to take this opportunity to return to the center of power, you can just say so."
"No no no, we won't think of it that way," said Duke Baldwin hurriedly, "We just need to… confirm these things. After all, it involves the Dark Wave seven hundred years ago. The magnitude of this… is on a scale bigger than what any single human kingdom can face alone… "
"But they are already at our doors!" Rebecca stood up, unable to hold herself back. "I saw those things!"
"Don't worry. Calm down." Gawain pressed Rebecca's shoulders to sit her down. He turned to look at Francis II. "I understand why you would be cautious. After all, the cost of starting a war is enormous. I have also brought some evidence with me. These are weapons and equipment used by our warriors in the south. Though the bodies of those monsters cannot be preserved, their weapons will inevitably get elemental contamination when fighting them. The corrosive substance left on those weapons should provide you with something to take reference from. I believe that even the most brilliant royal scholars will not be able to find any samples from the real world that would match these corrosive substances."
Two strong chamberlains lifted up a large box. After opening the box, several worn-out swords and some contorted armor fragments were displayed in front of everyone.
Those things seemed as though they had been soaked in strong acid. The originally bright and smooth metal surface was now filled with holes, and it looked dirty. The metal that was most severely corroded by the elemental power even turned into a texture similar to rotten wood where large pieces of debris could break away with a slight twist.
"Now they are harmless. You can touch them directly with your hands, but until half a month ago, these pieces of steel were still disintegrating," Gawain explained as he watched the King and the nobles examining the samples, "If the historians in these seven hundred years have not been too lazy, there will definitely be records of these in the history books."
"There is, there is…" Francis II said as he nodded.
"Also, we found a notebook of a wild Mage coincidentally. His notebook mentioned the eruptions of the red spots of the sun and signs of a surge in magical power…"
Gawain reported all the information that he had. But it was clear that the information from the wild Mage's notebook had not garnered much attention.
For most of the people present, those things were not as convincing as the fragments that fell from the swords and armor on the table.
"Do you know where the dragon went?" Finally, the duke Victoria Wilder of the North broke the silence. She seemed to care more about the whereabouts of the dragon than those monsters. "Or might you have any idea of what its purpose might be?"
Gawain shook his head. "I don't know about that."
Although he was older, it did not mean that he was more knowledgeable than the people present. Gawain Cecil, who lived seven hundred years ago, had never once faced a dragon.
Well, at least not in his memory, he did not.
After seeing those crystals last night, Gawain no longer put that much trust in the memory he inherited.
"Actually… three months ago, there was a rumor about a dragon in my territory," said the duchess, clearly and unhurriedly. "Someone claimed to have seen a dragon flying from the cold mountains farther up north. But in the end, there were no other witnesses, and it was confirmed that the one who started the rumor was drunk. He mistook the blowing snow in the mountains for a dragon."
Gawain immediately probed further, "Did that person describe how the dragon looked like?"
"No." The duchess shook her head. "But I can continue my investigation when I return."
"You must, not only for the dragon, but also those monsters," Francis II said. "See if similar things have appeared in other parts of the kingdom, or if there are any unusual signs of magical power surges."
Rebecca could not help but speak up again, "But investigating alone is not enough. We must also prepare for battle. Those monsters will appear without warning. If we don't make preparations in advance, we won't be able to defend in time. If we were to wait for the investigators to find their traces, it would definitely be too late… "
Duke Silas Loland of the East looked at Rebecca disapprovingly. "Are we supposed to prepare every soldier across the kingdom to wait for these monsters that we don't know when they might appear, or if they would even appear?"
Rebecca replied reflexively, "It'd be great if we could do that…"
"That would be impossible. We can't just mobilize all the soldiers in the country for just an imagined possibility. The local aristocrats will start rebellions for it, and it would daMage the royal family's credibility," Duke Silas said with a serious face. He was strong and tall, with a typical soldierly demeanor. "Besides, we also have to deal with the threat of the Typhon Empire from the east. That kingdom is like a wolf. They have been trying to take a bite off Anzu for some time already."
After the destruction of their homeland, the survivors of the Gondor Empire broke out in four directions. In the end, kingdoms were established in the north, south, east, and west. The Typhon Empire was a kingdom located in the eastern part of the continent, and it was currently the most powerful of the four kingdoms.
Anzu's human nations in the north, south, and west all coexisted with the kingdoms or races that had already existed before. But Typhon was the only kingdom in the eastern part of the continent. One could easily imagine its power and how they operated.
Anzu and Typhon were adjacent to each other. There were also large plots of fertile lands and bountiful mines at their borders, which naturally became a point of contention.
In the first few hundred years, the human nations that shared the same origins were still all about brotherhood and keeping peace, but long-term peace was simply an ideal. In the Anzu's civil strife one hundred years ago, the Typhon Empire took the opportunity to make a slight move on the border. Following that, the two kingdom's relationship began to take a drastic turn. Now there was pretty much no peace between them.
There were no large upfront wars, but the small fights had never once stopped.
Currently, the south of Anzu was barren but peaceful; there were no conflicts between the other kingdoms and Anzu in the north; the tribal kingdom of Augari in the west had always been Anzu's ally. Among the four borders, only the east border had been under the pressure of war in the current century. Duke Silas Loland, who was the combat type, would never agree to divert military power to guard against those illusionary monsters. For him, those creatures that were as good as legends were no more of a threat than the Typhon soldiers loitering right under his nose.
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