Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 114: Typhon’s Dark Cloud

When Veronica rode on the White Oak and was sailing on the spacious Dolgon River, when the Cecil territory’s first brick-kiln yard was emitting smoke, when St. Soniel City’s influential nobles and the king’s advisers were discussing the southern border’s situation and the conflicts between the warlocks and mages in the north… the Typhon Empire’s strongest knight lord, Duke Ferdinand Wendell, was caught up in deep anxiety.

He was situated in a residence within the empire and was standing in a tall tower while looking down at the majestic imperial capital. Occasionally, he would look at that pitch-black imperial palace that was enveloped in prestige.

This was the capital of the Typhon Empire, Aldernon.

This city’s name originated from the ancient giant language, and it meant ‘City of a Thousand Years’. Even though Typhon was a new empire that had been established for only two centuries, its proud citizens believed without a doubt that they had constructed a grand city that was just like the great dynasties recorded in myths and that had been standing tall in this land for at least a thousand years. Everything in this city seemed to be demonstrating such pride and spirit.

This city had countless spires that stood tall, countless sculptures of heroes that were sculpted from monoliths. They rose steeply from the ground as though they were pointing at the horizon and challenging the sky. In between the rows of gothic structures was the orderly and expansive ‘Imperial Avenue’ that allowed 10 carriages to ride through side by side. This avenue split Aldernon into east and west city districts. There were plenty of straight, leveled, and spacious roads that extended out from Imperial Avenue, delineating orderly regions for the entire city.

The entire city was like a complex geometrical diagram with distinct edges and a structure. Everything was clearly planned and in good order, making it entirely different from other kingdoms that had chaotic, trite, congested, and worn-down capital cities. Because this city was indeed brand new. The old imperial capital had already collapsed and sunk into the ground two centuries ago. The emperor who had prepared prematurely had constructed a new imperial capital on this plain before the disaster and had named it ‘Aldernon’. Due to the empire’s formidable strength and meticulous planning and considerations, when Aldernon was constructed, it had become one of the continent’s most magnificent and grandest cities. From the beginning to now, Duke Ferdinand deeply felt proud to be able to live in such a grand city in such a grand nation.

But today, there was a feeling of crisis that he felt from the bottom of his heart. Even when he looked at this flourishing capital city, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

The emperor who had great skill and strategy, Emperor Rosetta Augustus, had seemingly made the decision to have a war with the Anzu Kingdom. He had rejected all of the anti-war chancellors; he had even chased the peace-advocating Count Winterhold out of the imperial palace. This was a resolute attitude that was unprecedented.

To be honest, Duke Ferdinand wasn’t worried about the direction of this war. He believed in the imperial army just as he believed in his own military skills and in his blade. He knew that the northwest’s Anzu Kingdom was a trite and weak nation. It had the same long history as the Typhon Empire, but the kingdom had been restricted by its own history, turning it into a sluggish old man who only had one breath left. Their army and weapons hadn’t made any progress for centuries and would never be a match for the imperial army. By contrast, the Typhon Empire had multiple successful military reformations and administrative innovations that had made this nation shine with vitality and vigor like never before. Be it the soldiers in the army, all levels of officials, or the citizens, the Typhon Empire had always been superior to its regressing neighboring nation. There wasn’t a need to worry about the outcome of this war.

Ferdinand was only worried about the emperor, worried about Rosetta Augustus’s personal condition.

The emperor had always been an awe-inspiring and decisive person, but he wouldn’t take arbitrary action to this extent. He would listen to each chancellor’s opinion seriously even if those opinions weren’t enough to change his mind; he would still listen patiently and wouldn’t reject opposing voices. He valued each and every nobility and would never publicly humiliate an authoritative Count by chasing him out of the imperial palace. But now… he had done both of those things.

Duke Ferdinand recalled the scene of the last time he met with Emperor Rosetta Augustus. That awe-inspiring emperor was seated in his black iron throne, and his entire body was enveloped by the shadows of the throne’s back and his crown. He might have been patient enough to listen to every word of his most trusted duke, but he gave a sickly reply and didn’t seem like he wished to say an additional word.

When Ferdinand left, he clearly heard the emperor speaking to himself toward a basin at the front. It was as if the basin had a hidden listener and was conversing with the emperor.

Withdrawing his vision from the distant imperial palace, Ferdinand made a deep sigh.

He thought about the curse that was handed down in the Augustus Clan’s bloodline. The curse that only a few individuals knew of and that had only appeared two centuries ago.

They would normally hear voices that no one else could hear; they would see things that no one else could see; they would be able to understand forbidden knowledge that no one else could understand. They would be able to obtain extraordinary wisdom and insight from the knowledge and would be able to make advanced considerations and planning, but ultimately…

Their minds would be dragged into that unseen and unheard world, leaving behind a body that had fallen into madness.

Before the last meeting with Emperor Rosetta, he was still sober and could talk normally. However, Ferdinand was deeply concerned that… the signs of madness had already started to appear on that sovereign.

He turned around and pulled a rope by the side, causing a bell to jingle that was meant to call a servant. The balcony door opened as an attendant in a blue smock appeared in front of Ferdinand.

“Master.” The attendant lowered his head and asked, “Do you have any instructions?”

“Get my coat and prepare the carriage. I wish to meet with Count Winterhold.”

……

At the northern foot of the Dark Range, in the new Cecil lands.

Gawain was patrolling the newly constructed brick-kiln yard, and with him was Nicholas Egg who had been ‘replenishing itself with native knowledge’.

Brick kilns with magic catalysts and rune triggers were arranged in rows on the spacious land. With the assistance of the buried ‘Magic Web 2’, they started the first ‘test burn’.

As Gawain still didn’t have precise temperature control or a reliable conveyor device, coupled with the construction limitation of the territory, Gawain decided not to reveal the ‘magic-tunnel kiln’ in his mind. Instead, he was preparing to use the rather traditional furnace kiln and then carry out simple modifications to settle the ‘intangible problems’.

Although the furnace kiln adopted a rather primitive form, with future expansion and reformation considerations in mind, the magic web buried under this brick-kiln yard was constructed to very strict and high standards. Its power output was even higher than the magic web at the steelworks. Due to the lack of direction for the quantification of magic, Gawain was still unable to determine the exact power output of these two magic webs.

Feeling the orderly flow of magic in the air, the bright and shiny Nicholas Egg who was suspended in midair had transmitted a metallic voice from within the ball. “I have to admit… Everything might be primitive, but this world is truly interesting. These flows of energy and the tools and usage methods are things that I would never think of.”

“This is the difference in laws of physics.” Gawain acknowledged and lamented. “Actually, you should rejoice. A ‘transmigrator’ like you who came from a foreign world with different laws of physics was actually able to land in this world and survive unscathed. It is already a great blessing that you didn’t disintegrate due to the different laws of physics.”

“Transmigrator? That is a great term.” Nicholas Egg buzzed as it said, “You are truly my soulmate. You aren’t only able to understand me, but you are also able to recognize my experiences and would always be able to think of the same things I do. To be honest, when I realized that the laws of physics here were different from my old world, I was most worried about this too. Back then, I was afraid that my body would suddenly go ‘boom’ and break down. After all, the matter composition of both sides was different. But afterward, I understood that if I was really going to break down, it would have already happened when I landed in this place. Since I’m fine, it would mean I am blessed. What was there to be worried about…?”

“Then do you wish to understand the reason you are able to survive peacefully?” Gawain asked while laughing.

“Who cares?” The metallic ball swayed and said, “I have already forgotten about my name. Do you think I have time to think about such things?”

“Honestly, how severe is your ‘amnesia?” Gawain frowned and asked a question he was curious about for a long time. “You are able to remember general knowledge of your old world, like the environment, laws of physics, and history, but you forgot everything else?”

The metallic ball considered for a long time before replying, “Tsk, the facts are like this. What else can I do? The most terrifying thing about memory loss would be that you wouldn’t even know what you have forgotten. I’m only able to remember some general knowledge, but all that general knowledge belongs to the other word. I still remember a language, but it is similarly useless in this place…”

As Nicholas Egg spoke, it seemingly sank into a great disappointment and gradually turned silent. Half a minute later, it sighed in an extremely human manner and said, “Sigh… I am actually working hard too. Working hard to find out who I am, what I’m supposed to do, what I knew, what I specialized in… However, in this place, everything is utterly unfamiliar to me, and I cannot find any trace of things that could aid me in the recollection of my past. I have been wandering around the camp just to see all of your people’s production and way of life, hoping to find out what I can do. As a result? Nothing… It seems like I cannot do anything, and there isn’t a single task I can get involved in as… I don’t have hands!”

Gawain rubbed his chin and asked, “Are you able to guess what you did in the past?”

“Where do I start guessing from?” The metallic ball seemingly wanted to extend its hands but it didn’t have hands and could only hover around. “I don’t have any impression of any work or specialty? Could it be that I didn’t have to work, learn, or even exit the house in my previous life?”

Gawain couldn’t help but size up the metallic ball while shivering in his heart: After listening to this ball’s description, could he be a damned stay-at-home fatty before transmigrating?

The reason he stayed at home? Just take a look at his size!