Ambassador Franz Koch recalled something he had heard recently: either a Dragon or a Legendary Mage had tried to withdraw someone else's money from the Gold Depository with a forged Deposit Certificate.
They had discovered that the tiny fragment was no ordinary plant and could not be replicated.
Everyone had assumed Free City had thawed relations with the Elven Royal Court and gained access to an Elven secret.
Instead, the truth was even more astonishing than a reconciliation with the Elven Royal Court.
"Revealing it wasn't a wise decision," Ambassador Franz Koch said gravely.
"We wouldn't have been able to hide it much longer anyway."
Annan could hardly halt development out of fear of the Elves. Besides, what had happened at the start of the year had already driven a wedge between them. All he could do was put off the inevitable for as long as possible.
And perhaps he could put it off for a long time.
After all, the Elves revered the old ways and rejected anything foreign, new, or unnatural. Newspapers were all three, so they were bound to reject them. Yet after two years of development, newspapers had become almost the only way people on the Allen Continent got their news.
Without reading newspapers, the Elves would have an even harder time learning what was happening outside. By the time they caught on, who knew how far Free City would have developed?
Speaking of newspapers, Ambassador Franz Koch suggested visiting the Newspaper Office.
When Annan brought him there, Barr was training the newly recruited reporters.
They were dressed alike, with feathered, broad-brimmed hats, dark green clothes covered in pockets, and Lutes slung over their backs.
During the Year of Turmoil, Bards had first stopped hearing stories carried on the wind, then lost their work to newspapers.