Chapter 1217 — The Records of the Great Library

"Something new... another case of the dead rising?" Prince Nash said in a flat, casual tone, though his eyes were more serious than before. After a moment's hesitation, he could not help but look at the figure in the mirror and confirm once more: "Search your archive — did that human mage named Mojin truly visit the Violet? The Cecilians place such weight on this matter; they would hardly be likely to make a casual judgment on it..."

"I already searched while I was 'joking' with you just now, Nash," Bernadette said, shaking her head with some regret. "Unfortunately, that great adventurer truly never came here. You should know that no one can pass my eyes when approaching the Violet heartland. Beneath the gaze of the Eye of Night, everything in Emberfall City and the surrounding region is recorded in the ten thousand volumes of the Great Library."

"No one can slip past the gaze of the Eye of Night..." Prince Nash murmured softly, then strode from the desk to the bow window at the far end of the room. Through the pure crystal glass he looked down over Emberfall City, his gaze passing beyond the ancient, layered districts below, beyond the high walls of Emberfall, to the seemingly endless verdant forest outside the city.

In the heartland of the Kingdom of the Violet there were no roads connecting the cities at all; Emberfall City too was surrounded by dense forest without a single gap. Between the districts lay forests and mists that could not be reached or crossed. For outsiders who had received no invitation, even if they truly possessed some ability to discern a path through forest and mist, they could never pass those barriers to reach Emberfall City.

For the "path" did not exist at all — in the true "sight," the space between those cities was filled with vast hollows that could not be crossed from the mortal world. The so-called forests and mists were merely curtains generated to conceal those hollows, like the scenery and screens upon a theatrical stage, hiding the turning gears and mechanisms beneath.

How could any "human traveling mage" have passed through those forests and mists to become lost inside Emberfall City?

Prince Nash smiled and shook his head, then paced back to the desk. Bernadette in the mirror asked curiously: "What are you going to do?"

"Basic courtesy and respect are necessary. I will first write a reply," Prince Nash said as he reached for the paper and pen beside him. Then he hesitated a moment and added, "Also, I have decided to accept part of that 'Alliance's' invitation — to let the outer cities of the Kingdom of the Violet join the Alliance's circumcontinental shipping route in the form of 'autonomous trading cities.'"

A flicker of surprise appeared on Bernadette's face: "Have you not always had little interest in that circumcontinental shipping route?"

"Who says I have no interest?" Nash raised an eyebrow. "I merely have no interest in the so-called 'trade.' But as for the shifting situation on the Loren Continent... I have always been full of interest. And our Lord has just issued a decree that we maintain our involvement in the Loren Continent; at such a time, letting a portion of the outer cities join the circumcontinental route clearly has ample justification."

...

The light of approaching dusk slanted into the study spread with blue velvet carpet, and the sunlight struck a bright gleam on a metal ornament at the edge of the desk. Gaoyang stopped the hand that had been reviewing documents and looked up at Amber, who stood across from him: "By my reckoning, Victoria should be nearing the Sea of Eternal Storms by now, shouldn't she?"

"More or less — after all, she flew there directly. Much faster than a ship," Amber said offhandedly, her eyes rolling as an impish expression came over her face. "Hey, hey, tell me — what kind of face do you think that ice-block will make when she actually sees her own Mystic Pulse Sect? If that Mojin really is Mojin Wilder from six hundred years ago..."

"I don't know, and I can't be bothered to guess. I only know that Victoria is a steady person; she won't go knocking on an ancient man's coffin the way you would," Gaoyang said, glancing at the half-elf. Then he shifted the subject. "'Gate' project — any new word from there?"

"Everything is proceeding in orderly fashion, and progress is swift," Amber answered at once. "The energy section we are responsible for is already mature technology, and Kamael is overseeing it personally — basically all that remains is to complete the construction of the facilities step by step. As for the Typhons... the 'gate-opening' technology they have on hand also seems quite mature. Many of the portal components are finished products already built within their own country; they need only be shipped to Covenant Castle and installed. According to Kamael, the Typhons are showing great confidence in this matter, and they have brought out full sincerity and enthusiasm for the work..."

"Their technology ought to be mature," Gaoyang said with a smile and a nod. "After all, it is ready-made knowledge the Augustus family took directly from the Eye of the Gods — they likely stole even the blueprints outright. If the basic energy section could truly be skipped, they probably would not even need our help to open the gate themselves."

"True enough — with ready-made..." Amber nodded, but halfway through her sentence she turned to look out the study window with an expression of astonishment. "Ah, why have they come?"

Before her words had fallen, Gaoyang had already sensed the auras appear. He turned his head toward the wide floor-to-ceiling window, and two figures about the size of a dog came wobbling and tumbling through the air toward it — two blue wyrmlings with pretty fine scales and bright eyes. They came flying from the direction of Embassy Street, and after a clumsy process of slowing down, they slammed toward the small platform outside the floor-to-ceiling window with the force of a near-crash landing. Gaoyang had only time for a single "Hey" before he heard two thuds, one after the other: one wyrmling struck the window frame, the other struck the platform.

For an ordinary human, that would have meant at least a second-degree injury.

Yet the two wyrmlings were flustered only a moment before they rapidly recovered from their brief dizziness. They scrambled to their feet, shoving and jostling each other as they crowded up to the glass, first staring wide-eyed at Amber and Gaoyang in the room, then, as if by common accord, tilting up their heads and beginning to pound at the windowpane with their hard snouts — bang, bang, bang.

"Hey, how have these two little things come again... and it has only been a few days, and they can already fly all the way from the embassy?" Gaoyang muttered in surprise. Then he realized that the rather flimsy window would likely not withstand the two wyrmlings' mischief, and he hurried to his feet to open it. "Hey, stop, stop, stop, don't bang on it, don't bang on it — I'll open the window for you..."

Amber stood to one side staring at the scene, then suddenly caught on: "Hey! They both come in through the window too — how come you treat them so differently from me! And didn't you set shields on all the windows before? Why are they gone?"

(End of Chapter)