This Tillek woman was tall and slender. She always wore a gray-black travel cloak, the kind that was hard-wearing, suitable for all temperatures, and came with a hood. Her face was perpetually set in an expression of serene abstinence. With a look like that, she seemed like a textbook cold-hearted mystic.
In truth, however, Miss Prophet was blunt and forthright. Her expression and tone barely changed when she spoke, but she always said exactly what she thought.
"Two pieces of good news?" The Great Khan paused, slightly taken aback.
"First, the chip you obtained from that Silver Heart ruin is genuine. This fortress has now accepted our administrative authorization. It belongs to you," Miss Prophet said.
The Great Khan forcibly suppressed her elation and nodded with studied restraint.
"Of course, restoring all its functions will be a massive systems-engineering project. It will require dedicated departments and top ancient scholars to lead the research."
"Top ancient scholars, like you?"
"I'm nowhere near the top. In our organization, only Lady Present might qualify." The Prophet shook her head candidly, then added, "The research could take thousands of years."
The Great Khan nodded with studied restraint again. "And we'll need university programs dedicated to ancient linguistics and reverse engineering, to train tens of thousands of researchers, won't we?"
"That is indeed essential," Miss Prophet replied. "As far as I know, the Empire and the Alliance possess ruins of the Enlighteners on a similar scale. Even a thousand years after their discovery, they still continue to yield new research findings."
"I understand." The Great Khan glanced discreetly at her old chancellor. Seeing the old man nodding repeatedly, she said, "Once military and civil affairs are back on track, we'll rebuild the entire education system to the highest standards in the universe. At that point,