Chapter 756 — Daniel's Investigation

Daniel felt a surge of relief.

Thank goodness he had followed his master's instructions to the letter, keeping the scope of his investigation firmly in check and carefully managing every detail of his movements. Though he was looking into matters concerning psychic fluctuations, he had not behaved in any way that stood out as abnormal; rather, he came across as a loyal follower concerned with the workings of the mind, one who had proactively set about troubleshooting the moment he detected an anomaly.

An excellent, ardent, diligent security chief.

Apart from a slight overstepping of his authority, his loyalty was simply beyond words.

……

In the Obsidian Palace, Royan Augustus sat behind his broad desk, with Duke Pei Yi Wendel seated diagonally across from him.

Watching the Emperor, who was bowed over a letter, Pei Yi suddenly found himself somewhat moved.

It seemed that ever since Cecil's rise, ever since the situation had turned in a direction no one could have foreseen, this Tyrant ruler, long plagued by a mental curse, had abruptly shaken off his family's affliction and become energized and full of fight—and he himself was being summoned by His Majesty more frequently than ever, coming to the Obsidian Palace more and more often.

Nearly every time matters touching on the Cecil Empire or the nation's magitek industry came up, His Majesty would summon him. It made Duke Pei Yi want to petition outright for a room of his own in the Obsidian Palace—he might as well just live here.

"Cecil has already agreed to our proposal to send exchange students, and has expressed a willingness to deepen ties with us and shape an international relationship better suited to this new era." Royan Augustus's voice came suddenly from beside him, cutting short Duke Pei Yi's thoughts.

Pei Yi looked up, his expression somewhat complicated. "So that Gao Yang Cecil really agreed just like that……"

"Indeed. He has more boldness than we gave him credit for……" Royan Augustus said, shaking his head slightly. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the letter bearing the Cecil Empire's royal seal before Duke Pei Yi. "Have a look."

Duke Pei Yi took the letter and read it carefully, his brow knitting slightly. "……Stationing long-term liaison envoys in each other's capitals, and building 'embassies'?"

"Precisely. It suits the way things are developing," Royan said with a nod. "We cannot forever rely on letters like this and wave after wave of couriers to keep up communication."

Pei Yi read on. "……Opening more commercial channels, increasing the scale of the various existing orders and adding new categories—more magitek components, synthetic crystals, handicrafts—and permitting private merchants to make lawful, limited investments within both realms……"

"There is a great deal in this section worth discussing and analyzing. Have a copy made and sent to the Parliament and the Royal Advisory Council; complete the risk assessment and deliberation as soon as possible."

"I understand."

Pei Yi said, lowering his head. After finishing the last of the letter, he looked at Royan. "Your Majesty, regarding the exchange students—how are the candidates to be decided?"

"There is no hurry on that. We should first send a special envoy to Cecil. Just as when we decided to import the magitek trains, someone ought to go and see the situation there with his own eyes. This is also the necessary courtesy and solemnity when one empire deals with another."

"A special envoy……" Pei Yi studied Royan's face, which seldom showed any change of expression. "You already have someone in mind, don't you?"

"Let Matilda lead the delegation," Royan said mildly. "Her eye is always keen."

"Princess Matilda…… She is indeed the most suitable choice."

……

In the far north of the continent, beyond the mountains and wilds of the Cecil Empire's northern frontier, there stood another nation amid the ice and snow, resting quietly atop the peaks.

Grand, towering structures rose among the mountains; day after day the cold wind howled past cliff faces, city walls, and mountain ravines. Against a palette dominated by ice and snow, the gray-white stone buildings seemed to melt into the mountains themselves, facing north and radiating a heavy air of aloofness, antiquity, and desolation.

The people who called themselves the Dragonkin had dwelled in this land of ten thousand leagues of frozen waste for more years than anyone could count.

It was a closed nation. The Dragonkin—proud, yet carrying a sense of their own sin—kept their mountains and wilds sealed off and had all but never paid heed to the shifting tides of the continent. But even a closed nation is not eternal and unchanging, forever cut off from the outside world.

Private merchants could still visit this mysterious "Holy Dragon Duchy," and the Duchy did not turn away human traders and adventurers—so long as they could endure the brutal climate of the far north.

The Dragonkin, for their part, were glad enough to deal with those "brave souls" who could brave the far northern winter.

Yet for most of the years past, those who could withstand the extreme cold of the northern frontier had been few indeed. Those qualified to visit the Holy Dragon Duchy were, by and large, only awe-inspiring transcendents; ordinary commoner merchants…… could never have managed to travel the far north.

But recently, this had begun to change.

A newborn "Cecil Empire" had replaced the old Kingdom of Anzu, and many bold, well-equipped Cecil merchants had begun appearing frequently along the borders of the Holy Dragon Duchy. The frigid climate that once deterred most ordinary folk—that deterred even the mountain folk of Anzu's northern frontier—could no longer hold back those Cecil merchants. Wrapped in thick cold-weather clothing, driving magitek vehicles proof against wind, snow, and chill, gulping down frost-resistance potions with every meal, they brought countless novelties said to hail from the "Age of Magitek."

Change was spreading quietly, with the Cecil Empire at its center, out toward those lands that had once been sealed off……