Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 571 - 570: In-Depth Conversation

Compared to dealing with those Anzu aristocrats in St. Soniel, Sonia clearly appreciated Gawain’s way of handling things more.

She spoke of her experiences in Anzu during this period, her tone inevitably tinged with some complaints: "We were delayed in the north for a whole month... out of sixty days, more than forty were spent listening to those nobles shirk responsibilities and discuss meaningless issues. By comparison, the East, labeled as ’rebels,’ is more efficient than the capital’s nobles, but still wasted quite a bit of time."

"The kingdoms belong to the King, but one’s land belongs to oneself. Enfeoffed nobles must protect their own interests, so once faced with matters concerning the entire kingdom, their efficiency appears remarkably low," Gawain shook his head helplessly, "I had expected this."

"It’s truly incomparable to back in the day..." Sonia sighed softly, "Fortunately, the lady named Victoria somewhat retains the shadow of her ancestors."

"Victoria Wilder, huh..." Gawain said quietly, turning to look at Sonia, "What impression do you have of her?"

Sonia pondered briefly: "Very hardworking, but also very tired. She hides it well, but not from my eyes. She has good talent, not much worse than Snow, but still insufficient to cope with the current situation—I can see she’s overwhelmed by this chaotic kingdom, her real abilities completely buried by the endless shirking and internal depletion."

"Straight to the point."

"As an envoy of the Silver Empire, I’m not supposed to comment too much on Anzu, but as a comrade from seven hundred years ago, I have nothing to hide from you," Sonia said candidly, "We’ve interacted with the Prince from the East who claims he will rejuvenate Anzu, as well as the aristocrats and Protectorate Duke in St. Soniel loyal to the traditional royal family. To be honest, among them are some capable leaders—but I highly doubt these leaders, who are already deeply mired themselves, can truly steer this country back onto the right path. You are the one who personally laid the foundational order of this kingdom, are you content to just settle at the southern borders and watch this unfold?"

This statement was extremely sharp; a normal human politician would not ask such a question, but Gawain understood the elf’s style—they were always direct, and for Sonia to preface such a blunt remark by emphasizing that it was a private conversation was already her greatest politeness.

The atmosphere tensed for two seconds before Gawain smiled, gently shaking his head: "You know there’s a tree near Ancestral Peak called the Resurrection Tree."

"...After a hundred years, it rapidly withers, becoming extremely dry and flammable, just waiting for a mountain fire, and massive areas of Resurrection Trees turn to ashes, allowing new shoots to germinate and grow among the ashes," Sonia said softly, "That involves considerable risk."

"Survival, in itself, is about taking risks."

Gawain spoke calmly, raising his head to look at the holographic projection from the scroll-shaped magical device on the table.

In the holographic image, the structure of part of the great walls in the southern parts of Anzu was clearly displayed, and in the semi-transparent diagram, two sentinel towers were blinking conspicuously in blue light.

"Do the two sentinel towers need to be constructed simultaneously?"

"Yes," Sonia nodded, "One is near the southeastern part of Anzu, just south of the Dark Mountain Range; we hope you will handle it. The other is in the southwest of Anzu; Duke Baldwin Franklin has confirmed that he will send a team to handle that tower—led personally by his nephew. Of course, officially, both teams are led and commanded by you."

"The personnel and materials will be in place before the Frost Moon arrives?"

"St. Soniel and the East have both promised to share the material pressure, and Duke Baldwin Franklin will provide the manpower needed to repair the southwestern tower," Sonia affirmed, "while the manpower needed for the southeastern tower... we hope it will be handled by the southern borders."

"Of course, that’s no problem at all," Gawain agreed readily, "Handling it entirely with our own people will also save me a lot of trouble."

The plan Sonia relayed was undoubtedly a result of negotiations and compromises between the East and the royal family. In this plan, the East and the royal family bore the material pressure, but only the Duke of the West sent people—the intention was evident.

They wanted to maintain the standoff size on the Plains of the Holy Spirits’ front line, maintaining the number of reserve troops.

The West was far from the front line of the standoff and wasn’t a source of military manpower for this civil war. Additionally, its geographical proximity to the southwestern tower naturally made it able to send people.

"We hope to complete this project within two years—at most two years," Sonia said, "Ideally, it would be done in a year. According to our records, the magic energy surges in the wastelands have major fluctuations every two to three years, and the last overload was caused by a surge. To ensure safety, we must complete the reinforcements before the next surge arrives."

Gawain spoke solemnly: "I believe everyone will do their utmost; after all, this concerns their own lives and deaths."

"Let’s hope so."

Having roughly finished talking about the great walls, Sonia put away the magical device storing technical data and handed it casually to Soldrin beside her: "Leave this information with you. Your mages can study it first before the materials and personnel are in place. One of the people I brought this time is a Master Mage who participated in designing the ’Sub-Tower’ and ’Pressure Relief Point’. You can consult him for any issues."

Gawain nodded at Soldrin, then exhaled as he glanced at Sonia. In a casual tone, he asked, "By the way, it’s been over seven hundred years since Beltira was crowned... she must have grown into a qualified queen, right?"

"Her Majesty is an excellent queen; you’ll be surprised when you see her again."

Gawain laughed: "I still remember her dragging me around the camp... now she’s seated on the Sovereignty Chair?"

"That is the queen’s duty," Sonia said seriously, "Her Majesty passed the tests six hundred years ago to become the new owner of the Sovereignty Chair. She’s doing well—the Sacred Stars Temple still sails above the skies of the Silver Empire today."

"That Sky Holy Temple that never touches the ground..." Gawain showed a reminiscing expression, "I once had the fortune to go up there during the treaties of various nations; it was when the temple sailed near Ancestral Peak... that must have been the first time the Sacred Stars Temple left the southern part of the continent?"

"Yes, and also the only time," Sonia said, her eyes revealing an involuntary sense of nostalgia, "Since then, the temple’s activities have been mostly confined to the area around the Silver Empire and the Highmountain Kingdom... and recently, the overseas cruising range has shrunk further to the eastern part of the Highmountain Kingdom."

"You still haven’t solved the problem of aging power?"

Seven hundred years ago, Gawain Cecil had close ties with the elves. Many details surrounding the Sacred Stars Temple were not secrets here, so when Gawain inquired, Sonia merely sighed, "We once tried to repair it... but it was almost ineffective."

"...That ancient system is said to be the creation of primordial elves from ancient times. However, as the various elf clans diverged, the civilization of the primordial elves scattered and disappeared into history. The heritage of the silver elves is the most complete among all elves, yet they still cannot understand all the mysteries of the Sacred Stars Temple..." Gawain said with a tinge of reflection, "I still remember how Belsetia looked when she first told me about these matters."

Back then, Belsetia had just been crowned. Although she claimed the title of Silver Queen, her nature was still almost that of a carefree girl. Only when mentioning the mysteries of the Sacred Stars Temple and those scattered cultural legacies of the primordial elves did she reveal an expression of seriousness and sadness.

Gawain and Sonia talked about many things.

From that brief collaboration seven hundred years ago to the construction of the great walls, from the rise and fall of the human kingdoms over the centuries to the developments and changes in the Silver Empire over these seven hundred years, even the long-lived elves could not help but marvel at the length of this period—so many things are different from back then.

At the end, Gawain concluded this conversation. He stood up and extended his hand to Sonia, "You’ve had a long journey, so rest early today. Tomorrow, I’ll arrange for you to tour this city. Cecil Castle should surprise you quite a bit."

Sonia gracefully held Gawain’s hand to stand up, a smile on her face, "This city has already surprised us quite a lot. Even this land has widened our horizons—we saw many interesting things from the sky."

"You’ll have time to understand it slowly," Gawain said, glancing at Soldrin beside him, "but before that, I’ll leave the time to you and your son—after all, it’s been seven hundred years since you last saw each other, you probably have a lot to talk about."

In this relatively private setting, Sonia couldn’t help but glance at Soldrin, "A son who hasn’t been home in seven hundred years, I really don’t know what to say to him."

Soldrin was full of embarrassment, "Mother dear, I... have official duties here..."

Sonia glared at the embarrassed High-Ranked Ranger, "Have you had official duties for the past seven hundred years?"

Soldrin: "..."

The High-Ranked Ranger looked rather awkwardly at Gawain, his eyes full of pleading. Gawain immediately grasped the meaning in his old friend’s eyes and said to Sonia, "Then I won’t disturb you to nurture your feelings—Lady Sonia, see you tomorrow."

After saying this, Gawain led the others towards the door.

As he walked out of the reception room and the door closed behind him, Gawain kept his ears turned to listen for sounds from the room. Sonia Frostleaf’s faint admonishing voice could be heard, "...It’s bad enough not to come home for seven hundred years, even communications were so rare, and now, even the sentinel towers communication chain is broken...

"...Isn’t it just about that hair issue, whose stubborn temper did you inherit...

"Do you have a girl you like... still none?! Do you know XXX of Wind Valley City already has children!!

"What’s this about building a career with Duke Cecil! Duke Cecil may not be married, but look, his descendants have reached dozens of generations already!!"

Gawain on the hallway silently withdrew his focus from the room, while beside him, Rebecca couldn’t help but come closer, "Ancestor, Ancestor! How did you get to know Lady Sonia? Is she really Mister Soldrin’s mother? She looks so young!!"

This girl had held back all the way, now finally had the chance to blurt everything out.

"An elf’s age can never be judged by appearance, their growth and aging cycles are different from humans," Gawain said casually, "As for how I met Sonia... she was then the envoy of the Silver Empire, responsible for liaising between the Silver Empire and various pioneering forces. Due to the turbulent situation, we also once fought side by side."

On another note, Aunt Heidi couldn’t help but feel sentimental, "The camaraderie of comrades..."

To be honest, at that moment, the Great Steward of Cecil accidentally thought of her cherished book, ’The Romance of Gawain Cecil—Stories of Heroes and Princesses,’ and countless associations sprang to mind.

To be honest, Gawain guessed what extraneous associations were sparking in his granddaughter’s mind the moment he saw Aunt Heidi’s change in expression.

He pondered for a moment and decided to do something to divert Aunt Heidi’s attention—

"Heidi, ah..."

Aunt Heidi was startled, "Ah? Ancestor, please speak!"

"Have you thought about marriage?"

"Ah?!"

"Actually, converting to a god and giving up inheritance rights isn’t all that important, you’re not young anymore at this age..."

"Ancestor, wait! I..."

"There’s no need to be nervous, I’m just asking, but if you have any thoughts..."

Gawain’s method of diverting attention was remarkably effective.