Chapter 37
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
After listening to what Gawain said, Victoria nodded slightly whereas Grand Duke Baldwin raised his brows and said, “Do I have to excuse myself?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Gawain took a glass of red wine from the tray the chamberlain was holding and turned around to look at Victoria. “It’s about dragons.”
“That’s indeed a rumour.” Victoria said emotionlessly, her tone was as cold as the wind in the north. People who did not know her might even find her unapproachable. “I’ve sent people to investigate about it, other than a drunkard, no one saw any trace of the so-called gigantic dragon on that day.”
“I’m not talking about that time but for these centuries in the north.” Gawain looked at the female Grand Duke’s eyes and continued, “From my death till today, how many rumours have there been about the gigantic dragon in the north?”
Victoria’s brows raised slightly and Grand Duke Baldwin looked at her with curiosity and said, “If you put it that way.. it seems like the stories about ‘gigantic dragons’ are ‘specialties’ from the north?”
“It is true that there are occasional stories about dragons in the north and there are even small groups worshipping dragons but those are basically just superstitious beliefs.” Victoria shook her head. “The north is mountainous and there are often snowstorms in the valleys and mountains. The people living on the mountains view those snowstorms as the roar of the dragons. The north lies next to the Sacred Dragon Kingdom where people call themselves the descendents of the gigantic dragons and worship dragons openly. The people living in the mountains are influenced by them and it is natural for weird stories to spread. In fact, the Wilder Clan hasn’t seen a real dragon after living in the north for 700 years, those stories are fictitious.”
“However, a real dragon has appeared now and it flew past my eyes.” Gawain said dryly.historical
“I will inform you if there’s really a dragon.” Victoria said emotionlessly and she seemed to smile. “I thought you were going to invite me for a dance just now.”
“I better not because I’m not good at this. It has been 700 years and I don’t know how modern dance is like.” Gawain shook his head with a smile and waved his hands. “Please go ahead and enjoy yourselves, talking to a 700 year old living fossil like me is boring, I can look around on my own.”
The two Grand Dukes kept a straight face at the same time (Victoria kept a straight face the whole time) because they usually said that to the juniors or young nobles during banquets. It had been so many years since someone said that to them and they seemed to go back to their childhood days..
Yet they could not rebut..
Gawain sighed with relief in his heart when he saw the two Grand Dukes leaving.
It was indeed not so simple. When he heard the Grand Duke of the North talking about the appearance of the gigantic dragon during the meeting, he thought that it was an important clue.
The dragons had left this land for too long, it had been a few thousand years and there were no clear records about the appearance of dragons. It had been so long that those powerful creatures were becoming mythical creatures to most people. However, for Gawain who had been hanging in the sky for years, dragons were familiar to him.
After witnessing a gigantic dragon, he organised his memory and counted the number of times the dragons had appeared. After filtering once, he realised that most dragons were from the north.
No matter how long the time interval was, be it a thousand or more than ten thousand years, regardless of whether it was one dragon or a group of dragons, they all came across the mountain range in the north before entering the earth. Every time gigantic dragons appeared, they seemed to have a clear destination and headed straight towards the deepest part of the earth. They would leave immediately after their mission was done and wasted no time at all.
It was a pity that Gawain had a limited view in the sky and he could only see part of the land and a bit of the coastline in the south. He was unsure of where the north extended to, hence he could not conclude whether the dragons appeared behind the mountain range in the north or from further places in the faraway seas.
However, he had a feeling that the gigantic dragons would appear again.
Gawain and his people did not stay in the capital for too long and they departed on the third day.
The help which the King had promised them would arrive on a later date: the rations could not be transported on land because half of it would be consumed by the people and horses. If the rations were to be transported by the river, they had to wait for half a month for the water level in the Duoergong river in the Plains of the Holy Spirits to rise. It took time to gather a hundred-men team of craftsmen and apprentices and it was mainly about waiting for different associations to send out those anti-social and unlucky people with no backgrounds. Then select the 100 most unlucky people to form the team and this process was rather time consuming. Ensuring that these people could embark on the journey before the rations were loaded onto the ship was considered incredibly efficient.
Gawain could not wait for all this because he had finally gotten the right to pioneer which he wanted. There were many plans in his mind awaiting to be implemented and he could not wait to leave the capital after receiving the big pile of documents from the King.
They took their own sweet time on their way here but rushed on the way back and Gawain could not wait to fly straight back. At this moment, Gawain genuinely envied the “teleportation magic” in those fantasy novels, only if he could teleport and he could reach home immediately by opening a door without all the hassle.
Unfortunately, although such magic existed in the continent of Loren, it was not as advanced as those described in stories. The magics used by different communities were basically about hitting someone with a fireball or throwing compressed Ao energy in someone’s face. There were records of teleportation and space storage magic but they were generally myths. For instance, those first legendary elves who had disappeared long ago were able to teleport. Some people said that the dragon language magic, which was the origin of many magics in the world had records about the magic of space..
It was a pity that no one had ever seen it.
On the other end, the Grand Duke of the North, Victoria Wilder had returned to her castle in the north, the Bitter Winter Castle.
The Grand Dukes safeguarding the four parts of the kingdom could not leave their territory for a long period of time. Although the situation in the north was stable, someone had to take control. Therefore, Victoria Wilder left the Silver Castle and returned to her territory by riding the fastest gryphon after her first meeting with Gawain.
She casually threw her thick and warm robe to her servant and walked quickly into the castle.
She sat down in her office and a typical looking woman with black hair and eyes walked up to her and placed a cup of warm tea on her table. After that, the woman massaged her with consummate skills.
“You look really tired.” That woman finally opened her mouth, her voice was deep and reassuring.
“The pioneer of the country has been revived, that legendary Gawain Cecil.” Victoria said with a low voice and she continued, “He looks exactly the same, his Sword of Pioneers is also the same, I used the lie detection magic boldly and it turns out that the things he said were all true.”
The woman who seemed like a maidservant rebutted Victoria. “Highly skilled liars can hide from lie detection and even if the magic was effective, it may not work all the time. There are exceptions for magics and you can’t be over reliant on it.”
Victoria shook her head. “Maji, I still have my intuition.”
“Intuition..” The woman who was called Maji murmured. “What do you intend to do?”
“That hero who revived didn’t seem like he wants to interfere with the current political system and he only came for the permanent right to develop regions.” Victoria talked about her experience in the capital emotionlessly. “What I’m concerned about is his attitude towards the King, initially I thought that this pioneer would take the legitimacy of the lineage of the Moen Clan seriously and confront the royal family about it. However, he openly acknowledged Francis II as the descendent of the founding king.. I didn’t expect this.”
“They probably discussed about it in private.” Maji stopped her massaging motion for a while and said, “You’re too careless.”
“Indeed.” Victoria frowned. “For now, I’m afraid that it will be even harder to control the king..”
“Don’t tell me that you’re going to..”
“No.” Victoria shook her head. “The Wilder Clan does not want power but wants Anzu to prosper forever.”
“So you’re not going to take any action?” Maji continued massaging her. “You are too gentle.”
“I don’t like what my father’s generation did and it is no longer suitable in today’s world.” Victoria looked up subconsciously at the wall as she said that.
On that wall was the emblem of the Wilder Clan and five portraits. One of it was the founding king, Charlie I and the other four were the pioneer knights. Those portraits were the standard portraits in every noble family.
Next to the portrait of the ancestor of the Wilder Clan was the portrait of Gawain Cecil. That mighty man wore armour, held the Sword of Pioneers and looked afar as if those sorrowful eyes could transcend time and space and see the future. This made Victoria think about how he revived after 700 years and she shuddered.
“Danger?” Maji’s voice came from the back.
“Take down the portrait of Grand Duke Cecil.” Victoria said drily. “It wouldn’t be appropriate to hang it here anymore.”
“Take it down? May I?”
“..He told me that himself, he said that he is not used to being hung onto the wall when he is still alive.” Victoria sounded tired. “He is our senior and our ancestor’s close friend, I have to listen to him.”
“Okay then.” Maji nodded because she had no other alternative and walked towards the portrait to take it down.
At that moment, Victoria spoke again. “Oh, Maji, you are from the mountains right?”
“Yes.”
“Then do you know about the.. dragons? What do you think of them?”
The woman with black hair and eyes stood with her back facing Victoria, she remained silent for a while and shook her head. “Those are just ridiculous myths.”
“But there really was a dragon which appeared in the south at the Cecil territory.”
“Did it?” Maji took Gawain Cecil’s portrait down and continued, “Then it probably isn’t something good.”