The Sword of Dawn
Chapter 28

New Visitors

1,933 words6 min read3 views
8mo ago

Edmund Moen left with a smile; the negotiation seemed to have been quite satisfactory for him. However, the prince politely declined Gawain's invitation to stay for dinner, stating he needed to return to Silver Castle as soon as possible, as the old king was awaiting his good news.

After Edmund departed, Rebecca spoke up, "He seems like a very kind person—I thought the Crown Prince would be difficult to get along with, with all sorts of court etiquette…"

"That's because he's facing a senior from seven hundred years ago, not a fallen border viscount," Gawain glanced at Rebecca. "Do you think his demeanor here is how he usually acts? Quite the opposite; it's precisely because his performance just now almost perfectly matched my communication style that I'm certain he did his homework before coming."

Rebecca: "Huh?"

Gawain thought for a moment and explained to her, "The skills of negotiation, no matter how many there are, can be summarized as speaking appropriately to the person you're meeting. He started by visiting a 'family elder' of extremely high seniority as a prince, displaying just the right amount of politeness and mature composure. Then, he noticed my way of speaking and my attitude, and he immediately became relaxed and humorous. This makes me more willing to talk with him, which is a great skill."

Rebecca scratched her head, "…Eh?"

Gawain sighed, "…You should focus on the four methods of casting Fireball Spell."

Even with Rebecca's single-mindedness, she could sense Gawain's deep helplessness at this moment. She immediately became a bit nervous, "Ancestor, am I… a little too slow in this area?"

"Everyone has their strengths; your talent isn't here, so don't force it," Gawain patted Rebecca's head (being tall really gave you advantages). "And honestly, I don't really like these kinds of scheming techniques. I prefer the style from back then, where a group of people would put their lives on the line, head down, and forge a path of survival in the wilderness…"

Rebecca nodded as if she understood, then asked curiously, "By the way, Ancestor, is what you just said all true?"

Gawain: "What are you referring to?"

Rebecca asked very seriously, "Did you guys really give a type of red wine over thirty names, and then pair each name with a sonnet?"

Gawain sighed, "Of course, it's true."

"It sounds amazing!"

"But in reality, it was because we were poor. It was because the pioneer team hadn't even reached the Holy Spirit Plain yet, and before finding a food-producing area, everyone struggled just to fill their stomachs. We gave one type of wine over thirty names because we only had one kind of wine at the time, and it was the last barrel. We paired it with sonnets because there was no other entertainment besides that. So, you need to understand that the complicated etiquette and rules of nobles are either because they have too much on their hands or because they are so hungry they're desperate. In essence, they are all incredibly boring things."

Rebecca's eyes sparkled; she felt she had gained a lot of incredible knowledge—Aunt Heti never taught her these things!

Just then, the room's window was suddenly pushed open, and Amber jumped in. She threw herself onto a chair, swinging her legs as she teased Gawain, "You old man are quite interesting! Based on what you just said, my evaluation of you surpasses all nobles!"

"Don't call me old man; I'm in my prime!" Gawain glared at Amber. "And wasn't I supposed to be patrolling outside? Are you sneaking in because you want to slack off?"

Amber swayed on the chair, seemingly unable to stay still. "I was patrolling, and I didn't find anything, so I came in for a drink of water. You can't stop me from resting, can you? Speaking of which, how could you be so sure someone would sneak in? Look at the prince; he came through the main gate…"

"If the prince were climbing over walls, Charles would probably jump out of his coffin like me," Gawain's mouth twitched. "But not everyone who wants to learn something from me will come through the main gate. I'm here today waiting for those people."

"Alright, alright, you're the boss now," Amber waved her hand, poured herself a cup of tea, and gulped it down. Then she got up and walked towards the window. But before jumping out, she turned back and casually grabbed two of the scones Gawain had prepared as snacks. "It's cold outside; I'm eating something to tide me over."

Gawain deeply regretted that the Pioneer's Sword wasn't in his hand.

Then he looked at his N+1 great-granddaughter. "You should go back to your room and rest. You need to face the king tomorrow in the best condition."

Rebecca nodded and then asked, "What about you, Ancestor?"

"I'm a night owl, and I plan to go to the study," Gawain said. "It's somewhat of a return to a familiar place; I need to see how much it has changed."

Rebecca obediently said goodnight to Gawain and left the room. Gawain stood there for a moment before heading towards the study on the second floor.

Gawain Cecil was renowned for his martial prowess, but he wasn't just a warrior who only knew how to wield swords and spears. In fact, he was also a semi-scholar and an herbalist, and he quite enjoyed reading in his spare time. Therefore, in this mansion on Number 4 Crown Street, besides a room for the master to store weapons, armor, and spoils of war, there was also a rather large study.

Sitting at the desk, which had been restored to resemble its past appearance, Gawain tapped his fingers lightly on the tabletop as he pondered. His gaze shifted between the ancient bookshelves and the paintings on the walls, finally landing back on the desktop.

Memories that did not belong to him surged in his mind, giving him a strange sense of familiarity with the things before him. He marveled at the dedication of future generations—they had not only restored the furniture here but even placed the magic ink, quill, and paper on the desk in Gawain Cecil's most familiar positions. This almost obsessive restoration even instilled a faint sense of dread in him.

It was as if someone had known he would return and had prepared this place specifically for him.

However, although the memories were vivid, they were ultimately not his own, making it difficult to resonate emotionally. Gawain quickly withdrew his gaze and left his seat, crouching down on the floor to search beneath the table.

A hidden compartment was opened, and his fingers touched a piece of cold metal. Feeling for a pull ring on the metal surface, he pulled it out of the compartment.

It was an exquisite small box, emitting a cool silver light, still like new after seven hundred years.

Seeing this small box, Gawain immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

It was still here.

Perhaps more than half of the items in this mansion were no longer the originals, but some things could be preserved for over seven hundred years, such as a small safe made of mithril.

The box was engraved with complex magical patterns, but besides these patterns, a crest of a sword and shield was cast with orichalcum and star iron. Next to the crest were exquisite characters, along with the joint seal of Charles I and Gawain Cecil.

These markings and characters, along with the secret orders passed down through generations within the Moen Family (Ansu Royal Family), could ensure that even if someone rebuilt the main structure of the house and found this small box, they would seal it away in its original place again.

But this was also because Gawain's "resurrection" wasn't too late. The effectiveness of ancient secret orders and the deterrence of former rulers would diminish over time, especially now that it was the Second Dynasty and the influence of the First Dynasty was at its lowest ebb. If he had come any later, and this mansion underwent another complete renovation, then no one could guarantee the whereabouts of this small box.

Gawain solemnly placed the small box on the table. If the most important objective of this trip to the capital was that "Permanent Pioneer Right," then the mithril safe before him was the second most important objective.

He didn't bring Rebecca to find this box, not because he didn't trust his theoretical descendant, but because he wasn't sure if the box was still there. If he had mysteriously brought the young lady here with a "Your ancestor is showing you something good" expression, only to find nothing after crawling on the floor, it would have been too embarrassing.

Gawain channeled magic into the patterns on the box's surface according to his memory, then smeared a drop of his blood onto the crest in the center of the lid. The small magic item immediately emitted a crisp mechanical whirring sound, and its lid popped open slightly.

There were very few items inside. Besides a few crystals that had lost their magical power and could only serve as decorations, there was only a platinum disc about the size of his palm. Gawain set the crystals aside for now and picked up the disc to examine it.

Its surface was also engraved with complex magical patterns, but besides the magical patterns, there were also some characters that seemed to float on the disk's surface, constantly trembling slightly. These were seals used for communicating with elements.

"Good, now the key is in hand…"

Gawain muttered softly, stuffing the crystals and the disc into his huai, but just as he stood up, a gentle breeze suddenly brushed past his ear.

He immediately picked up a short sword kept on the table as a backup, tensing all his muscles and preparing for combat.

"Such keen senses and reaction speed, it seems you are indeed yourself," a young woman's voice came from outside the window. Gawain then noticed that the study window had been opened at some point, and a veiled woman in a purple long dress had materialized out of thin air, walking towards the window in mid-air. "Please relax, for people like you and me, if we were to exchange blows, half the city's population would be…"

Before the woman could finish speaking, a swift black shadow suddenly darted down from the roof, accompanied by Amber's loud shouts: "Thief! I finally caught you—Oof!"

Amber, a Master-level affinity for shadows, a ghost-level talent with maxed-out stealth and shadow steps, was casually sent flying by the mysterious woman due to her meager frontal combat power of only 1.5 geese.

The mysterious woman also seemed startled. After sending Amber flying, she hadn't quite registered what happened. "What... what was that just now?"

Gawain gripped his short sword, not letting his guard down. "If I'm not mistaken, that was my guardian."

"Ah, apologies," the mysterious woman quickly apologized, her demeanor surprisingly polite. She glanced in the direction Amber had fallen, then turned back to explain, "She suddenly rushed out, and I reacted instinctively. But don't worry, she's fine, just a little dazed at most."

Gawain relaxed slightly, but his attitude remained guarded. "Who exactly are you?"

"My apologies, it seems my entrance was rather ill-considered," the mysterious woman said, standing on the windowsill. She bowed courteously. "Greetings from the Mithril Treasury. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am your VIP representative, Melita Pernia. I am responsible for all your savings in the Holy Silver Treasury."

Gawain frowned. "My Little Pony?"

End of Chapter
Novel
How was this translation?

Explore the wiki