Chapter 935 — The Signal Appears Again

"You've already accepted Tarrond's invitation?!"

In Gawain's study, Hetty, who had only just learned of this, stared with wide eyes, looking at the smiling Ancestor before her with a face full of astonishment and bewilderment.

"That's right," Gawain had known Hetty would react this way; he nodded with a smile. "Of course we're not setting out now — at the very least we wait until the matter of the Goddess of Magic is completely settled and all domestic affairs are in order."

The astonishment on Hetty's face had not entirely faded, but looking at the Ancestor's smiling expression and hearing his calm reply, she already understood that this was no whim. The Ancestor had perhaps made the decision after long deliberation — only this decision was... far too unexpected, far too unsettling.

"Come to think of it, I really should have discussed it with you first," Gawain said, looking at Hetty, then suddenly patted his forehead lightly, a little apologetically. "This is no longer a matter concerning only myself. My decision was somewhat hasty."

"No, that's not what I meant," Hetty hurriedly shook her head. "I was only too surprised. Since you've already decided, you must have your reasons."

"There are many reasons. The dragons are a powerful and mysterious force, and for a mortal kingdom, the chance to make contact with such a power is rare. Tarrond holds too many mysteries and unknowns; I suspect their level of civilization may far exceed that of the Loren Continent, and that is something worth observing and understanding. The dragons are a civilization that has survived repeated magic tides, and intelligence of that kind is invaluable to us." Gawain laid it out clearly, then shook his head. "But for me personally, none of these is the main reason. The main reason is... they have a god who has descended into the mortal world, and that god seems to have something to say to me."

"You mean that 'Dragon God'..." Hetty frowned slightly. "You've mentioned this to us before. So do you think this god is friendly?"

"Uncertain, but at least we can be sure that He is rational and capable of communication," Gawain said. "To date, we have never directly encountered any 'normal' god who is rational and able to communicate. Those we have met are either false gods manufactured by cultists, or 'new gods' like Naritel — special beings vastly different from the gods of this world — or 'gods of old' like Amorn, who have already fallen from their divine station and whose divinity has largely decayed... They are of course also of great value for reference and exchange, but the Dragon God's value for communication is clearly more special and irreplaceable."

Hetty nodded gently. She plainly had to concede Gawain's point, yet the worry between her brows had not faded. "...You are quite right, but there is still great risk, especially now... If you go to Tarrond in person, you will face far too many unpredictable variables. We still cannot be sure what that 'Dragon God' actually wants, but the danger is very real."

As she spoke, she could not help shaking her head. "If only we could first conduct exchanges with Tarrond at the ambassadorial level, following normal diplomatic procedure..."

"Unfortunately this is not a normal 'diplomatic act,'" Gawain said. "From their point of view, this is merely an invitation extended to me personally — it is we who unilaterally wish to extract more benefit from this invitation. Forget about exchanging ambassadors; at least for now, don't count on it. To that 'god,' it means nothing, and He has no interest in it."

Then, looking at Hetty, who seemed to have fallen into tangled thought (this grand steward of Cecil always seemed to sink into worry and indecision for one reason or another), he smiled and offered reassurance. "I have considered all manner of contingencies — including the possibility of malice on Tarrond's side, and of the Dragon God setting a trap. I accepted this invitation with considerable confidence and after weighing the pros and cons."

"You have confidence?" Hetty said instinctively. Looking at the family Ancestor before her, who seemed forever to have everything in hand, forever to give others a sense of dependability, she wanted for a moment to ask how he, in a mortal body, could be so confident about facing a god of unknown attitude at close range — but the words reached her lips and she swallowed them again.

She suddenly thought of the many "ways in which he differed from a human" that this Ancestor of hers had displayed since his resurrection from the dead; of the powerful resistance, even suppression, he had shown when confronted with a god's knowledge or even a god's remains; of his far-sighted plans and his incredible knowledge... The Ancestor had once explained that some of that knowledge came from the Gondor era, and some from fragments of history he had seen while in a soul state. Yet she had searched every ancient text and could not find, anywhere in human history, even the faintest thread corresponding to that knowledge.

"I understand," she lowered her head. "I will arrange everything as soon as possible. During the days you are away, things here will continue to run in good order."

This Ancestor who had returned from death might no longer be merely "human" — she had vaguely sensed that long ago. But no matter how many secrets he held, these past several years had at least proven one thing: to this land and the people upon it, Gawain Cecil was indeed a mountain worth leaning on and trusting.

As for Hetty herself, she too knew only this Ancestor who had risen again seven hundred years later — and that was enough.

"I won't be gone long. This will be a brief 'visit,'" Gawain nodded. He could not see Hetty's expression after she lowered her head, but years of acquaintance had taught him to sense the shifts in her mood in such moments. He could not help smiling, his tone gentle. "Rest assured, I will return safely — and as soon as possible."

Then he waved a hand, setting the topic aside for the moment, and asked casually, "Let's leave that for now. You came so early — is there something you need to report?"

"Yes," Hetty quickly gathered her thoughts, recalling the original purpose of her early-morning visit. "I've brought the latest monitoring report from the Sorin Prime Hub... That mysterious signal that appeared before — it appeared again in the early hours of this morning!"

Gawain was taken aback, and then immediately recalled what the "mysterious signal" Hetty referred to was. He was startled. "It's appeared again?!"

"Yes... and the circumstances are very similar to before. It played continuously for several cycles, interspersed with brief high-frequency oscillations and repeating waveforms, and then vanished as mysteriously as it had appeared — we still have not captured the signal source, and there has been no progress at all in decoding it."

Gawain's brows knitted tightly. He said in a low voice, "So... this signal has nothing to do with the Goddess of Magic..."

What they were discussing was precisely that mysterious signal which both the Sorin Prime Hub and the Winter Hub in the north had once received. Its origin was unknown, its meaning unknown; like a ghost it appeared abruptly at the monitoring boundary of the Magic Web terminals, brought a period of noise and ripples, and then vanished mysteriously. The signal had left every technician baffled. To investigate its nature, Gawain had even contacted the dragons, the Sirens, and the elves, yet still had not been able to determine its source.

This mysterious signal had plucked at many people's nerves.

And after the incident in which the Goddess of Magic invaded and escaped through the Magic Web, many of the Empire's technicians — even Gawain himself — had instinctively linked the two matters together.