Chapter 1044: Chapter 1043: North and South

In the clear and cloudless winter night sky, stars twinkled, and the starlight from the distant cosmos shone through the wide floor-to-ceiling glass windows, casting silvery reflections across Gawain’s room. The silvery starlight swept over the room’s furnishings, leaving long shadows on the floor. Draped in his robe, Gawain approached the window and gazed up at the night sky for a long time.

He was fully awake and finally certain that he wasn’t dreaming earlier—the cold night air further sharpened his senses, and at that moment, he recalled the satellite imagery that had been transmitted to him just moments ago.

In that somewhat distorted surveillance footage, he saw several dim figures. One of them, the closest one, seemed to be some sort of flying apparatus; it appeared to be skimming past the satellite at high speed. Perhaps it was a trick of the light, but Gawain couldn’t shake the feeling that the thing had a rather "sneaky" appearance. The other shadows were more distant, a few appearing triangular, while the last one was particularly massive, its outline... prompting many associations in Gawain’s mind.

"What on earth could that be..."

Gawain subconsciously muttered to himself, simultaneously focusing his mind once more, attempting to communicate with the surveillance satellites in space.

The connection was smooth, and with concentrated mental effort, Gawain quickly felt his perspective rise to the satellite’s altitude. He "opened his eyes" and controlled the optical sensors of the surveillance satellite to search around, attempting to locate those uninvited guests. However, within the limited field of view of the surveillance satellite, he ultimately found nothing.

Those things might have already left—after all, it couldn’t be a hallucination, given that the image data existed. Satellite surveillance was not capable of experiencing "hallucinations."

After a brief consideration, Gawain redirected his mental connection. Accompanied by a slight dizziness, he moved to a system located higher up, with a broader view—he entered the Firmament Station’s monitoring system.

The perspective of the Firmament Station differed slightly from that of the surveillance satellites, offering higher control. Gawain hoped it had recorded more content, although he didn’t hold high expectations.

Fortunately, it wasn’t entirely fruitless—while reviewing a segment of recent footage from the Firmament Station, a massive shadow suddenly flashed across the image before his eyes.

Gawain immediately paused the footage, then painstakingly went back frame by frame. After a somewhat arduous operation, he finally captured a clearer silhouette—upon clearly seeing the shape of that massive shadow, he affirmed that his earlier speculations induced by the vague satellite imagery were correct.

That thing... it appeared to be an extraordinarily peculiar dragon, crafted from machinery and covered in an intricately designed alloy that bore biological features, with engine units suspended beneath its wings.

Even someone like Gawain, who prided himself on his imagination, had never envisioned anything quite like it.

After double-checking the surveillance records, Gawain disconnected from the space facilities. He stood at the wide floor-to-ceiling window, thoughts churning within him.

Something had appeared in space... the impact it had on him was no less than hearing the god-killing battle report stored within the Eternal Stone Slate. Since his awakening from the tomb, he had rarely felt such tension and unease, even a trace of confusion and helplessness, and upon confirming that one of those things closely resembled a "mechanical dragon," he found himself overwhelmed with a chaotic flood of ideas. He thought of the suddenly uncontactable Talronde, the uncertain situation of Melita Ponia, the Dragon God Enya, who seemed off before she left, and amidst these wild thoughts, countless speculations and ideas arose...

No matter what happened in Talronde, no matter what transpired in space, at least on this night in Cecil Castle... Gawain experienced an exceptionally rare bout of insomnia.

...

As the first rays of morning light shone upon the lush Ancestral Forests, the glorious and ancient Elven Empire gradually awakened from the nightfall.

Bathed in the morning light, the Elven Royal City, nestled in the heart of the forest, emerged. This beautiful city, with its abundance of pristine high walls and streamlined rooftops, resembled a dazzling gem embedded within the dense forest. Its buildings stood in orderly rows, high and slender bridges of extraordinary strength interconnected various parts of the city, a sparkling river cascading through it, and in the river’s midsection, at the city’s center, the pure white Elven Royal Court was suspended mid-air, supported by a hundred and seventy-seven curved rib-like frames, overlooking the entire city.

On the highest bridge of the Elven Royal Court, Belsetia Morningstar strolled along the Royal Path adorned with delicate long crystals, her high-ranking maidservant and trusted court officials following closely behind her.

A gentle breeze blew in from the direction of the forest, while a deep humming sound echoed from the sky. Bergezetia looked up to see a massive shadow slowly drifting across the western sky—the Sacred Stars Temple cruising over the royal city in low-speed mode. From this perspective, the bottom of that ancient temple was visible. She saw the high-strength alloy armor bands arrayed with one anti-gravity engine after another. Some engines were shut off, while others were emitting a constant soft blue or pale white halo, streams of magic power coursing through the temple’s base like blood flow in arteries.

"Is the routine maintenance of the Sacred Stars Temple finally over..." the Silver Empress softly mused to herself, "It’s taken quite a while this time... winter is almost over."

The High-ranked Star Artisan Vilyana Silverstar immediately responded, "Yes, because this time we attempted to enhance the core power of the Sacred Stars Temple using the Magic Web power devices and arcane convergence devices shared by the Cecil Clan. This involved dismantling and modifying the deep power compartments of the temple—the project was larger and took more time than in previous years."

"A bold modification with many objections, but luckily, everything went smoothly in the end," Belsetia nodded, "Now those opposing voices have finally vanished."

"I can understand those who opposed opening the deep power compartments," the High-ranked Star Artisan remarked with some sentiment, "They, like me, are seasoned scholars, though they are more cautious—they recognize the magic-guided technology humans have developed, but they are concerned about the significant risks associated with rashly modifying the core structure of the Sacred Stars Temple. They worry the risks may spiral out of control."

"Rest assured, I won’t blame those individuals; their intentions are to safeguard the empire’s treasures," Belsetia smiled, her gaze following the Sacred Stars Temple as it passed over the city’s skyline, "For the past two years, I’ve spent nearly half my time on the ’Sovereignty Chair,’ and those ancient machines’ painful groans kept me sleepless. Now, knowing their suffering can be somewhat alleviated is truly gratifying—Star Artisan, those modifications were indeed effective, weren’t they?"

"Not enough to restore the Sacred Stars Temple to its former glory, but they did curb the core power system’s decline. As you can see, the additional energy units have relieved almost all the system’s stress, especially giving some heavily-aged anti-gravity engines a chance to breathe—this means we have an opportunity for more thorough repairs," Vilyana smiled slightly, her mood evidently good, "I can’t guarantee we will completely fix it, but it’s certainly a good start."

"Thus, initiating a technical collaboration with the Cecil Clan is a wise decision—humans are more creative than us, and they indeed found a path no predecessors have tread," Belsetia said, pausing her steps, "In that case, we should respond to the other invitation they sent a few days ago, as well."

Standing slightly behind Queen Belsetia, Valendian Gold Valley, the Prime Minister of the Empire, spoke softly, "Is it about the invitation to witness the signing of the peace agreement between Cecil and the Typhon at Sentinel Outpost No. 112 in the northeast..."

"And the invitation to join the ’Alliance of Civilizations,’" the Silver Empress glanced at her Prime Minister, "This is the more important matter."

"...The council has been discussing it, and there are still some differing voices," the Prime Minister chose his words carefully, "The main concern is whether this unprecedented ’alliance,’ comprising various races and countries, is stable and reliable, whether what Gawain Cecil promises is feasible, and whether the profits and risks and responsibilities we need to undertake after joining this alliance are balanced. Especially the last point, the councilors are discussing it quite..."

"Arrogantly," Belsetia said flatly.

The Prime Minister was a little surprised, "...Your Majesty?"

"Just arrogance," Belsetia said, "For seven hundred years, the Silver Empire has become the most powerful country on this continent, assuming the role once held by the Gondor Empire, dominating many matters — this mindset has already imprinted in many people’s minds, making it hard for them to accept that control of a matter falls into others’ hands."

"...Your assessment, while fair, is also rather sharp," the Prime Minister said somewhat helplessly, "Most councilors’ starting point is still based on the Empire’s interests."

"Of course, that is their foundational prerequisite, and I have confidence in them for that," Belsetia nodded, "So I also believe they will soon come to a conclusion on this matter. I will not rush them on this. Rather, you... Valendian, I want to hear your thoughts on this matter."

The Prime Minister thought for a moment, then looked up, "I am inclined to accept the invitation from the Cecil. Not only accept it but also actively and proactively align with this new alliance, demonstrating the influence and magnanimity of the Silver Empire as much as possible in its formation, to ensure our significant position within this new alliance in the future."

"Oh?" Belsetia looked at Valendian with some surprise, "I did not expect you to take this matter so seriously."

The Prime Minister remained silent for a moment, then organized his words, "Over the past two years, the Highmountain Kingdom has established a trade route with the Typhon Empire, and all commerce regions have shown incredible development speed. Meanwhile, we have also been engaged in economic and technological exchanges with both the Typhon and Cecil, whose feedback you have witnessed yourself — all signs indicate that the order of the entire Loren Continent is being reorganized. The once fragmented human kingdoms are re-establishing close relationships, and this time, even the dwarves, beastmen in the west and the Dragonborn in the north are being drawn into this new order...

"This new order has taken shape, and its trend is irreversible, especially now that even Cecil and Typhon have chosen peaceful coexistence after the war. This indicates that the last barriers to integration of the north-south and east-west of the Loren Continent have been eliminated. For the Silver Empire, we cannot harm this trend without reason, nor is it easy to remain unaffected. Since the old tradition of isolation needs change, we might as well join it—with the Empire’s influence, we can secure our crucial position within this new alliance, thereby continuing to maintain the Silver Empire’s stable status in the southern regions of the continent..."

Belsetia listened intently to Valendian’s ideas — he did not speak very deeply, as it was just the promenade outside the Elven Royal Court, not the royal conference hall where the Silver Empress handled state affairs. Nevertheless, he clearly elucidated the distribution of interests behind the entire matter.

The Empress finally smiled.

"Very good, Valendian," she nodded in approval, "You have spoken well."

"Just some immature opinions," Valendian lowered his head, "In addition, quite a few councilors in the parliament share views similar to mine."

"This shows there are still many smart people in our parliament," Belsetia said with a smile, then shifted her tone, "In any case, whatever their discussion results in, one thing is certain — the peace agreement between Cecil and Typhon requires an elf to witness, much like how we served as witnesses for a similar occasion seven hundred years ago, and there is no reason to refuse it this time either."

"Yes," Valendian said, "Everyone has reached a consensus on this point."

"Then let’s start preparing from now," Belsetia nodded, "I will personally go to Outpost No. 112 to witness this."

As her voice fell, Vilyana Silverstar, standing beside her, instinctively showed a surprised expression. Yet, Prime Minister Valendian did not react much—as if this minister, who had followed the Silver Empress for many years, had predicted Belsetia’s decision from the start and had long prepared contingency plans. He simply nodded, "Understood, I will arrange this matter."

"Very well," Belsetia expressed satisfaction. Then, she glanced at the sky at the city’s end — the radiant sun had fully risen above the forest, with the corona gently illuminating the royal city, "The walk is over—head to the conference hall first, and I’ll follow shortly."

The Prime Minister, the High-ranked Star Artisan, and several other officials immediately took their leave, stepping back half a pace, and spoke in unison, "Yes, Your Majesty."

After the subordinates left, only the Silver Empress and her two powerful maids remained on the elevated path.

"Let us leave too," Belsetia said to the maid beside her, "Let’s not keep the court officials waiting too long."

The two maids followed her steps, and after a short walk, one of them could no longer hold back and spoke, "Your Majesty, are you really going to personally go north?"

Belsetia slowed her pace; she glanced at the maid, who had been by her side since childhood and was closely related to her, and displayed a slight smile, "Are you not looking forward to seeing Uncle Gawain?"

"Well... it’s not that, just a bit surprised, the northern outpost is much farther than the one for the Sacred Alliance concluded seven hundred years ago."

"The fragmented humanity is coming together again—worthy of a long journey," Belsetia slowly said, a contemplative expression gradually emerging on her face, "Moreover...there are some things I wish to see for myself."

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