Ever since the middle of sumr, all things have gotten on track, and this vast nation has started to accelerate its developnt according to the trajectory Gawain set for it.
In the study room carpeted with velvet, a cool breeze gently blows from the vent in the corner of the room. The pre-noon sunlight is quite bright, making the old-fashioned bookshelves and decorative weapon racks appear far more radiant than usual. Gawain sat on his usual chair listening to the report, while Aunt Heidi stood across from the desk.
The desk was newly replaced, its style similar to the previous one.
"This is the diplomatic and economic activity report from the West," Aunt Heidi said as she placed the sorted docunts in front of Gawain, briefly summarizing the content. "Overall, the contact with the remaining tribes of Augari went smoothly—including the elves whose attitude was unclear previously. So far, the gray elves and human tribes that first made contact with us have already established stable comrcial exchanges with the Empire, and agreed to the introduction of the Magic Web and railway systems within their territories. The other tribes agreed to establish business channels, but as for the Magic Web and railway... they want to wait and see the ’results’ in the gray elves’ and human lands before considering it further."
Gawain nodded with satisfaction: "The tribal country of Augari is a loose alliance, and they are accustod to such. Engaging with them requires a step-by-step approach. At least the Five Kings Council has shown a friendly attitude, which is the biggest progress. Has there been any news from the Dwarf Kingdom on the continent’s west coast?"
"The dwarves are very interested in our machines, and with the gray elves helping to build a bridge, negotiations have always gone smoothly. However, there are inconveniences in land transportation between us and the dwarves. We not only have to cross the entire tribal country of Augari but also large areas of forests and mountains, so formal trade must wait until Northport is operational—via the west coastal shipping route. Before then, dwarves are unlikely to purchase our heavy machinery on a large scale due to cost considerations."
"It shouldn’t be too long... Progress on the Northport has been smooth, and the sea demons Technical Team agreed upon earlier should arrive at the North Coast in the next couple of days, which will accelerate the construction of the ships," Gawain remarked casually. "Is there anything else to report?"
"There is another matter," Aunt Heidi nodded, "Lady Venna Baizhi, the tribal leader of the gray elves, wishes to further expand the export quota for alchemical raw materials. She seems to plan to establish a new economic ’brand’ for Moss Woods—making the alchemical raw materials mastered by the gray elves a significant economic pillar of the tribal country of Augari."
"Gray elves... I rember that Lady Venna’s daughter is currently studying at the Imperial Academy?"
Aunt Heidi recalled briefly and nodded: "Yes, li Baizhi—she’s a new student this year, enrolled through the standard exchange student program into the Departnt of Magic, with a minor in alchemy and social managent."
"A triple-major?" Gawain couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, "That’s a diligent child... wait, the gray elf freshman in the Departnt of Magic? Was she the one who jumped out of the window during Master Kal’s lecture?"
"It’s her," Aunt Heidi seed to twitch at the corner of her mouth, "The Imperial Academy has already begun to strengthen classroom managent and the safety guarantee around teaching facilities..."
"...Gray elves were the earliest foreign and another race to establish a good relationship with the Empire and maintain a good relationship with the Moen Dynasty throughout the Anzu Era," after two seconds of silence, Gawain awkwardly brought the topic back on track, "They are a trade-savvy race, whose footprints are all over the West Continent. Gray elves rchants are even called the ’connector of the West Continent.’ We need to engage well with such a race—and their interest in new things also helps us promote new machines and industrial products to the western region of the continent. We can agree to Lady Venna’s request—but the specific quota needs to be jointly determined by the economic and industrial departnts."
"I understand," Aunt Heidi nodded, "After returning, I’ll organize an internal eting and promptly give an answer to the gray elves."
Gawain responded with an "uh" before he could ask sothing else when suddenly a knock at the study door echoed from outside.
After gaining Gawain’s response, the door to the study was opened, and an elderly gentleman with an elegant and calm deanor and deep, serene eyes stepped inside—Godwin Orlando, head of the cultural departnt.
Gawain looked up at this old scholar who invested in the Cecil Clan in the earliest days and made significant contributions to the nation, raising his eyebrows in surprise upon noticing the man’s attire: Today, Orlando wore a brand-new black formal suit and trousers, with a gold chain hanging over the pocket on his chest. His graying hair was ticulously combed, and he wore a pair of bookish gold-rimd glasses, contrasting sharply with the old scholar’s usual attire.
"Your Majesty," Godwin first greeted Gawain, then nodded to Aunt Heidi seeing she was present, "Aunt Heidi, good day."
"You started wearing new formal suits too?" Gawain asked with interest.
"Ah... yes, it’s sort of an experint," Godwin was about to report when Gawain’s words stunned him for a mont. Then he looked down at his clothing, showing a slightly reserved smile, "After all, there are many young people in the Administrative Office, even the elderly are starting to gradually change their attire. The old scholar’s robes are only worn in ceremonial occasions now... last week, even Pittman ordered a formal suit and dress outfit; I decided to try one too."
Then the old scholar, feeling a bit unsure, asked: "Does it look strange on ?"
"It’s very fitting," Gawain said with a smile, "Makes you look much more spirited—and adapting to the trend is not a bad thing."
"That’s good—this morning, I felt awkward wearing it out of the door," the old gentleman moved his neck slightly, "Actually, it’s quite comfortable, but I always feel like I’m being imprisoned by the fabric... fortunately, I’m starting to adapt a bit now."
While speaking, he approached Gawain’s desk and casually handed over a report from his dossier: "Your Majesty, there’s been so progress in the ’Literacy Preservation’ project recently, which I’ve compiled into a report."
The "Literacy Preservation" he ntioned is the large-scale survey and preservation integration project carried out by Gawain nationwide on various literary works, legends, knowledge, and historical records. It is short for the "National Cultural Texts and Knowledge Heritage Ergency Preservation Project," and Godwin Orlando is one of its main responsible persons.
Gawain took the report and began scanning the contents, while Godwin supplented so details:
"We have successfully compiled the noble genealogy of the entire western region from the First Dynasty to the Second Dynasty and registered and organized it against the current roster of the nobility...
"...We found so valuable docunts in the grand library of St. Soniel, which may help us interpret so historical truths from the most chaotic period of the Second Dynasty of Anzu..."
At the beginning, the elderly scholar specialized in docunt managent was reporting on relatively "normal" matters like this, but he quickly ntioned the latter part of the report concerning technical recovery, with details that made Gawain’s expression beco strange:
"...A fortnight ago, a working group made an unexpected discovery while organizing local files in the Pompeii Area and interacting with local people. A villager took out a ’protection scroll’ passed down through generations and shared with us the construction technology of the II class artificial intelligence logic library. Director Jenni judged that this technology might be related to the Gondor Iron Man and may help us solve the problem of automatic coordination in factory machinery...
"...The action led by Vip Grant Sir to investigate the private collections of various noble families has also made progress. A down-and-out baron in the western region discovered blueprints for a critical structure of the Photonic Compressor Chip Etching Machine in his family cellar — it turns out his ancestor was possibly one of the rare fugitives of Gondor scholars from the Second Founding period, and the descendants accidentally preserved precious technology. However, due to only a portion of the blueprints being preserved and the interruption of family succession, these blueprints’ function had been forgotten. Master Kal believes that the etching technology for photonic compressor chips from the Gondor era cannot be used in modern tis, but certain magic symbols and chanical structures on the blueprints still have reference value...
"...A wandering swordsman in the eastern region has shared with us the key technology of the Light-Wave Suppressors — he possessed a completely defunct energy conduit with an internally referential structure. For hundreds of years, he and his family have been using this energy conduit to crack walnuts, utterly unaware it’s a relic from the Gondor era. Master Kal believes this conduit might help us solve the heat dissipation issue of the Rainbow Light Generator.
Additionally, the wandering swordsman who made contributions has already been rewarded. Given the risks of illegally possessing weapons and the increasingly tightened Transcendent registration system, the swordsman is currently undergoing training with the local security forces, with the intention of becoming a local sheriff — similar ’incorporation’ situations are increasingly common in the Duke of the East territory. As social order gradually stabilizes and the new system continues to be implented, forrly unruly ’wild’ Transcendents are now being incorporated in batches."
Godwin Orlando ticulously reported the key content. Even though his original profession was in docunt work and he was already advanced in age, he recited the technical aspects without any omissions. It wasn’t until Gawain’s expression beca distinctly odd that he couldn’t help but pause: "Your Majesty, is there a problem?"
"Uh... no, there’s no problem," Gawain couldn’t help but rub his temples, feeling that this thod of ’villagers from xx region sharing xx technology with you’ really gave a sowhat indescribable sense of dissonance. Yet, the existence of the Gondor Empire’s legacy and the comprehensive cutoff of modern technology and culture made this situation seem inevitable. He couldn’t explain the nuances to others, so he had to suppress his full stomach of feelings, "Progress... not bad, very good."
Then he looked up at Godwin, partially to divert his own embarrassnt and partially to sincerely express, "It’s really tough for a scribe like you to also manage technical matters."
"Please don’t say that — it’s not all up to ," Godwin hurriedly said, "’Docunt Conservation’ is the grandest, most magnificent, and most exciting work I’ve ever witnessed in my lifeti. Countless people are striving to protect these precious knowledge heritages, to prevent them from being lost in the dust of history. Many departnts are involved in this work, both cultural and technical, with each area controlled by professionals from corresponding fields. I happen to have a knack for summarizing information and a few years of negligible qualifications, so I was lucky to beco one of the project leaders... All I feel is honor and gratitude, no complaint whatsoever."
Gawain looked into the eyes of this old gentleman and slowly revealed a slight smile, nodding: "That is good."
Then he lowered his head again, looking at the report’s last part.
A few seconds later, his brow suddenly furrowed, and then gradually relaxed, a sowhat thoughtful expression appearing on his face.
"Ancestor?" Aunt Heidi noticed the change in Gawain’s expression and couldn’t help but ask, "Is there sothing wrong?"
"...In the church archives of Lu’an City, Archbishop Sevin found an ancient book..." Gawain slowly said, "It’s highly suspected to be the lost ’Modir’s Travelogue’ of the northern Wilder Family."
"Modir’s Travelogue?" Aunt Heidi was montarily taken aback, then quickly reacted, "The Grand Duke of the Wilder Clan from six hundred years ago who was passionate about travel and adventure? The one who forged the ’Cold Disaster’ talisman?"
"That’s him," Gawain nodded and laid the report on the table, "He once left behind a travelogue, but it was lost many years ago. Now it’s found hidden in the great cathedral of Lu’an City. But that’s not the key point. The key point is... this travelogue might also be related to Amber."
Aunt Heidi was shocked: "Amber? How could a travelogue left by the Northern Duke six hundred years ago be related to her?"
Gawain did not imdiately answer Aunt Heidi’s question but first looked at Godwin: "Has that travelogue been sent over?"
"Yes, after doing urgent restoration on-site, it was imdiately sent to the imperial capital," Godwin Orlando promptly replied, "It has now been copied and archived. Do you need the original?"
Gawain nodded: "Bring it here, as soon as possible."
Then he looked at Aunt Heidi: "What is Amber doing now?"
"She should be over at Office Number Twenty-Five, she has to preside over a eting today..."
"Tell her to co see directly after the eting," Gawain said sternly, "Just say... I have sothing to show her."
"Yes, ancestor."
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