"What? Talaya personally led people to test 'blasting for mining' in the copper-mining district of Purple Grass County?"
The daylight fell, and wind rose through the great tent. Xolotl suddenly froze, his heart tightening. Surprise showed on his steady face, with a trace of worry hidden within it. A few breaths later, he tossed aside the feather pen in his hand and slapped the table in anger!
"Damn it! Using gunpowder to mine, and personally testing it on-site? That stupid woman with no fear of death! Who taught her such a dangerous method?!"
Hearing His Highness's question, the guard captain Ekat stiffened, momentarily at a loss for what to say. He lowered his head and said nothing, yet his mind was spinning rapidly.
He had served the High Priest for many years and knew that Talaya, head of the Institute of Divine Inspiration, was the potter girl whom the High Priest had ordered him to bring quietly into the residence seven years ago. But His Highness at the time had seemed to be acting on a passing whim and had not truly had anything happen with her. Only now, from His Highness's tone... Since His Highness could entrust the Institute of Divine Inspiration to her with peace of mind, then the relationship between the two of them had to be anything but ordinary!
Ekat's thoughts drifted far, as if he had realized something. A moment later, Xolotl's expression also froze, embarrassment showing on his face.
Because he suddenly remembered that just over half a year ago, he had received Talaya's report and learned that a new type of Granular Gunpowder had been discovered! After receiving the report, he had been overjoyed for a time, imagining the power of Granular Gunpowder, and had written a long, free-flowing reply. And in that