Sword of Dawn

Gawain looked at the half-elf with eyebrows twitching slightly. After a few seconds of being speechless, he finally couldn't help laughing.

At this moment, the pressure brought about by all the threats of black traps and gods, the heavy responsibility of ruling an empire, the risks of the future and the difficulties of the current road, all seemed to disappear.

He laughed uncontrollably for half a minute before he took a deep breath and calmed down, but the corners of his eyes still had a smile on his face: "Okay, let's stop this question for the time being, until you can contact your goddess Before, let's not discuss it."

Amber frowned: "Although I said so, I still feel that you were laughing at me just now..."

"No, I just suddenly feel better." Gao Wen shook his head with a smile, then came to the window, and with a wave of his hand, the curtains receded to both sides.

Outside the window, the bright sun shines on Saint-Sunil. Celebrations are being held in the square outside the castle, and evening bonfires and magic shows are also being prepared in the courtyard inside the castle. The ancient city is full of vitality and flags are flying on this day.

No matter what the future holds, today is a good day.

"Go to the garden and get some air."

Chapter 0677 Interval, the Wind Doesn't Stop

The ancient Silver Castle has been completely repaired, the shrubs and flower beds have been properly pruned, the centuries-old classical columns and arcades have been decorated with bright garlands, and the curtains painted with imperial emblems hang from the second floor of the castle. to the ground, and in the large courtyard in front of the main castle, the venue for the evening banquet is ready——

The dinner after the coronation ceremony will be divided into two parts, inside and outside. The main hall of the castle is the place for the internal banquet, with more gorgeous decorations and stricter etiquette regulations. Representatives of nobles, merchants, churches and citizens attended.

Obviously, Rebecca prefers the lively atmosphere in the courtyard.

The girl was forced to change into a court dress for formal occasions, but the graceful and luxurious dress could not stop her beating heart. She ran back and forth between the flower beds and fountains in front of the Silver Castle. Everything about her seemed extremely curious—the last time she came, she was still a down-and-out nobleman in the southern border, and her ancestors were in charge all the way, so she didn't dare to run around in the Silver Fort, and even had to be careful when she looked around , but today... no one can control her anymore.

At least except for the two elders, no one in this castle dared to control her anymore.

"The shrubs in the north are really different from those in the south. They are very rare in our country - they are very difficult to feed," Rebecca squatted in front of the flower bed, holding the branches and leaves of the shrubs around the flower bed while talking to the maid balabala next to her. Non-stop, "Recently, the druids at the college are studying the transplantation of north-south plants. They want to toss out more cold-resistant crops...do you know the agronomy team?"

The maid who was following Rebecca was a blond girl in her twenties. The latter looked helpless at the moment, looked around with a trace of nervousness, bent down and carefully reminded: "Your Highness... please don't leave these plants too close, your skirt..."

"Hey, it's okay, I'll just wear it for today anyway," Rebecca waved her hand, "Compared to this, would you use leaves as a whistle?"

The blond maid froze for a moment, showing a troubled look: "...Your Highness, I'm very sorry, I won't."

"You can't do this, why not Betty... Speaking of which, where's Betty?" Rebecca finally remembered the little maid who came with her, she looked up curiously, and asked casually as she searched, " Hey, did you see Betty?"

The maid tried her best to follow Her Royal Highness's train of thought, and realized after a while that the other party was talking about the little maid who looked a little dazed: "Betty's words... I saw her dazed by the fountain just now."

While answering, the maid couldn't help muttering in her heart. She couldn't understand how the little maid who seemed to be out of her mind was elected as the chief maid of the inner court, and her position was even higher than her own——that dull The little girl doesn't know anything about court etiquette, and her response is worryingly slow. She even seems to be here for the first time when there are so many people, and she doesn't know where to stand. Places like flower beds or fountains in a daze...

But it is really incomprehensible that such an unresponsive little girl should be loved by the new royal family.

She was halfway confused here when she saw Rebecca stretch her neck and glance towards the fountain. Her Royal Highness's next move made the maid almost startled——Rebecca waved her hand, and it was a Bright and dazzling fireballs take to the sky...

"Your Highness! You..."

Amid the blond maid's exclamation, a bright fireball had already exploded over the courtyard, and the magical flames formed a string of clear and neat letters in midair: Betty, come here.

After a while, under the dumbfounded gaze of the maid, the little maid named Betty quickly ran over from a short distance, and bowed vigorously in front of Rebecca: "Miss, did you call me?"

The blond maid wanted to remind the new head maid that Rebecca should be called His Highness instead of "Miss", but the two girls in front of her no longer paid attention to her——Rebecca and Betty squatted together On the ground, the two of them grabbed several leaves from the bushes and folded them into leaf whistles. You blew them one by one, laughing together...

Gawain guessed whose masterpiece it was when he saw a ball of fire exploded into a string of letters. He took the amber to follow the direction where the fireball flew, and he found the girl who was squatting on the ground with Betty and blowing leaves. Rebecca, beside them stood a bewildered blond girl in maid costume.

"Your Majesty," the maid who was in a daze saw Gao Wen's appearance, and immediately became more at a loss and became nervous, "Your Highness, she..."

Before she finished speaking, Rebecca jumped up in surprise: "Wow! The ancestors are here!"

Betty was half a beat behind, and stood up, "Master...ah, Your Majesty."

The always unresponsive girl remembered the correct address just in time—although she was wrong the first time.

"It's okay, let's relax today." Gawain couldn't help feeling better when he saw Rebecca, who had changed into a court dress in front of him, but her temperament was not restrained by the dress at all. He waved his hand, "Just try your best." Don't throw fireballs, there will be mages floating and patrolling over the castle after nightfall, except for the magical fireworks in specific areas, the fireballs you throw out suddenly like this are easy to blow people down."

"Oh, I see..."

Gao Wen smiled and nodded, then looked at the bewildered, dazed blonde girl next to him: "Are you the original maid in Silver Castle?"

The blonde girl quickly lowered her head: "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Relax and get used to it. If you are willing to continue working for the new royal family, you should get used to a life with fewer rules."

"...Yes, Your Majesty."

Gao Wen grunted and was about to leave here, but just as he was about to take a step, Rebecca stopped him: "That's right, my lord ancestor, I heard that the body of the black-haired maid next to Duchess Victoria is a black dragon, is it true?" Is it?"

"Who did you hear it from?" Gao Wen stopped and looked at Rebecca in surprise, "Although this news is not kept secret...but it should not be made public, right?"

"I heard from Philip, and there are quite a few soldiers talking about it."

"...That's right, there were a lot of witnesses that day," Gawain nodded. "That's right, her name is Maggie and she is a black dragon, but she doesn't intend to spread the word. Why are you suddenly interested in this?"

"Ah, I'm just a little curious. There are dragons living together with humans..." Rebecca blinked her eyes, her face full of curiosity and inquiry. Is language magic?"

"It's hard to say, maybe it will, but it seems to be weaker than normal dragons," Gawain said casually, and then reminded, "It's not good to talk about this behind the scenes, you can ask her in person, but be polite." , there seems to be something 'problematic' about her dragon blood, if she doesn't want to say it, don't be too offensive."

Rebecca nodded vigorously, her face serious: "Don't worry, don't worry, I'm being polite!"

To be honest, Gao Wen really doubted how credible the girl's "polite" was. After all, according to Hetty, the two worst subjects for Rebecca back then were etiquette and history. Nearly one-third of the girl's education expenses were spent on the medical expenses of the teachers of these two classes, but after thinking about it, Rebecca just didn't meet the standard in the etiquette class, and "politeness" should still be fine...

After all, the "ceremony" in the eyes of the nobles and the "politeness" of the public have split to some extent. Rebecca is a girl who bows her head when she sees civilians who are older than herself, but she is so easy-going and friendly. Modesty in the orthodox etiquette code is the expression of "impertinence and dullness"...

The "ritual norms" of the upper class and the life order of the lower class are severely separated. To a certain extent, this is actually an imbalance in the social structure and a harbinger and characteristic of contradictions at all levels of society. From this point of view, Rebecca's " It is a good thing that she failed the Etiquette class, which allowed her to accept many ideas of equality instilled by Gao Wen without adapting...

Perhaps Gawain should be thankful that Rebecca's family had financial difficulties when he was a child, so that Viscount Cecil and Hetty could not hire this girl an etiquette teacher with both civil and military skills, otherwise his education of Rebecca now would be difficult. There is another layer of headaches.

With a slight smile, Gao Wen took Amber across the flower bed in the courtyard. On the way to the open space, he heard a loud whistle coming from beside him.

He turned his head slightly, and saw that Amber was pinching a folded leaf. The latter brought the leaf to his lips, and blew it hard again, making a loud whistle.

"You too?"

"It's not difficult."

"Who taught you this?"

"My adoptive father."

While talking, Amber squeezed the leaf whistle in her hand, flattened her lips, and threw it away casually.

"Kids like to play with this..." she muttered, "It's just that when I suddenly saw Rebecca and Betty playing, I remembered that I could do it myself, so I just folded one."

Gao Wen glanced at Amber silently, and said nothing, but turned his head and looked in the direction of the fountain square ahead.

A group of aristocratic men and ladies in gorgeous costumes gathered in the small square, but the focus of the crowd was a little old man in a gray robe, with messy hair and beard, hunched over with a hippie smile on his face, and the latter was blushing in the crowd He talked eloquently, causing the noble men around him to nod frequently, and the ladies and ladies smiled from time to time.

Gawain guessed that Pittman must be selling his deceit again—either the fake medicine that can’t kill people, or the useless amulet. Few people will take his deceitful things seriously, but he insisted The titles of the empire's chief druid and master researcher are always accompanied by people here.

Gao Wen turned to look at Amber: "You haven't talked to Pittman yet, have you?"

"...not yet," Amber paused for a moment, with a hint of nervousness and hesitation, "I...was busy arranging security before, so I didn't have time..."

"We all have time now, and Pittman looks like he has time," Gawain said. "Let's talk."

Amber raised her head: "Are you going with me?"

Gao Wen smiled, did not answer, and walked straight forward with Amber.

The crowd near the fountain noticed Gawain's figure, bowed and retreated to both sides, leaving only Pittman standing there. The old druid raised his head, clapped his hands, and opened his hands to Gawain with a smile: "When you come, my business is gone."

"Let's talk about your business later," Gao Wen said, pushing Amber half a step forward, "Don't you have something to give to her?"

"Leave it to me?" Amber froze for a moment, then turned to look at Gao Wen with wide eyes.

"Your Majesty sent me a letter a few days ago, talking about your adoptive father and your background." Pittman looked at Amber, with a smile on his wrinkled face, "He told me that some secrets are better not Put it in the coffin, and I told him that I have something to hand over to you..."

Amber's eyes moved between Gao Wen and Pittman, and finally landed on Pittman: "It is... what?"

Pittman sighed softly, and the wrinkles on his face twitched. He seemed to want to maintain his smiling face that he had maintained for decades, but this expression turned a little funny in the end. He fumbled in his inner pocket and took out a dilapidated notebook.

"That guy Surrey Randolph left it to you, and he said he could give it to you if he didn't have to worry about royal killers and pursuers any more," Pittman said slowly, "but I once I have hesitated whether to do this, because the content on it may not be acceptable to you. I once wanted to take it into the coffin...but His Majesty told me that you have the right to know your own life experience."

When Amber took the notebook, her expression showed a hint of hesitation. It seemed that the secret that had been concealed for decades was suddenly presented in front of her eyes, which made the half-elf's mind blank for a moment. She forgot to ask , Forgot to question, just subconsciously took what Pittman handed over, and before she opened it, Pittman's voice came again.

"After reading it, I'll tell you how I met your adoptive father back then."

Chapter 0678 Amber

Hearing Pittman's words, Amber subconsciously glanced at Gao Wen, who then took the initiative to say, "I can avoid it—if you don't want others to hear it."

"No, I don't care," Amber shook her head. "You have a good brain, and you will always have unexpected insights. I want you to be there, and this notebook...you can also read it."

Gao Wen silently glanced at Amber, without evading it, just nodded slightly.

The fountain was not suitable for excavating these hidden memories. The three of them left the overly busy courtyard. In a lounge on the first floor of Silver Castle, Amber solemnly placed the notebook on the table, and in front of Gao Wen And Pittman's face, carefully opened its worn and fragile cover.

There are no patterns and coats of arms on the inner pages, and there are no various patterns that are common in most aristocratic handwritten books in this era. On the yellowed paper, there is only a simple sentence:

"To my daughter - hope that by the time you see it, you've grown up happily and safely."

"There's still so much nonsense..." Amber pursed her lips, but her hands were more careful than before, and she slowly turned the first page.

Here is a diary, a diary written under special circumstances:

"...the third day of entering the Shadow Fortress.

"As a royal shadow guard, I shouldn't leave any textual information in the process of performing a confidential mission. This is a violation of the confidentiality rules, but the current situation is special, and I may not be able to leave here safely. Leaving warnings and experiences, I have decided to document a portion of my trip.

"My name is Sally Randolph, a royal shadow guard, and I was ordered to come to the dark mountains in the south to search for ancient heritage in this land abandoned by both men and gods.

"I'm unfortunately trapped in this place called 'Shadow Keep', which I believe is where the ancient legacy is buried...

"...According to the information obtained in advance, the Shadow Fortress is not located in the real world as we know it. It is a territory opened up in the Shadow Realm by the ancient Gondor Empire through superb lost technology. It floats outside the world, but There is no stable connection with the Shadow Realm. It is a free space, which can only be entered through specific gates and rituals...

"Part of my information is correct. There is indeed a space node leading to the Shadow Fortress in the Dark Mountains. I started the ceremony at this node and successfully entered here, but the error in the information is that the 'Shadow Seal' used to open the gate Ring' is disposable - or rather, I can't find a way to recharge it.

"His Majesty the King gave me one of the two rings in his hand. Obviously, he didn't expect that this ring can only be used once when opening the Shadow Fortress."

After just reading these few paragraphs, Amber couldn't help but raised her head, and looked at Gao Wen who also looked up.

"The Signet of Shadow..." Amber subconsciously grasped a thin chain hanging around her neck. There were two quaint rings hanging on the necklace, one of which still had magical brilliance, while the other was bleak. Light.

The ring with magical brilliance was obtained from Francis II, and the dull ring was carried by Amber since childhood. Now, the origin of these two rings has finally been explained.

She lowered her head and continued to look at the subsequent content of the diary:

"...Despite being trapped in it, I still have to admire the superb technology of the ancient Gondor Empire. The Shadowkeep is an unimaginable place - including the process of entering the fortress. I stand on the right magic of the Dark Mountain At the intersection, you only need to inject magic power into the ring to open a door to the shadow world in normal time and space. I suspect that the ring is only a signal in this process. Done, but I haven't found a clue yet...

"...This magnificent building is cast from some kind of man-made material, stronger than rock, floating in nothingness, without any land connection around it. There are no luminous celestial bodies in the sky here, which is similar to the Shadow Realm The scene described in the monograph of the ...

"My current location should be in the vestibule of this ancient facility. I can see a gate, but outside the gate is pure nothingness and darkness. It is inevitable to doubt the meaning of this gate—but I am at the gate Some strange uprights have been found on the limited frontal platform, and I suspect they were used to secure some kind of vehicle, or some kind of mount capable of traveling through the Shadowlands. The ancient Gondors might have been able to Explore deeply in the void and darkness, after all, they are omnipotent Gondorians...

"At the other end of the courtyard is the main body of the building, a vast palace or fortress. I have explored a small area of ​​its entrance, and I am struck by its size, with its countless corridors and rooms, and empty halls And the warehouse... I can't imagine how many people worked and lived in this facility in another dimension... Its scale is so large that I doubt that many people can live here for a lifetime, if a new baby is born In it, as long as no one instills the correct knowledge in him, he may not even know the existence of the outside world...

"Ah, my rich associative ability can only be used to relieve boredom, not to get me out of this damn place."

Amber flipped the pages, and for a while in the quiet lounge, only the sound of flipping papers and the gentle breathing of the three people remained.

"...the fourth day of being trapped.

"In the past three days, I have been thinking about whether I should go deeper into the fortress, which may mean additional risks: the defense mechanism in the ancient facilities may still be working, and it is more likely that the sleeping relic guards will be awakened by me.

"It is said that the puppet guards of the Violet Kingdom can continue to operate for 600 years after the death of their masters, and those legendary Gondor iron soldiers may last longer...

"But maybe I should take some risks—I've been searching for three days in the courtyard and the outer corridor, and there is no device that can open the space door, and my food and drinking water have reached a very dangerous situation, dying of thirst and hunger. Between death and being beheaded by ancient guards, the latter may be more merciful.

"I'm going into the inner corridor.

"...On the sixth day, still trapped.

"This damn fortress, why is it so big!! How many corridors, rooms, and halls does it have! Did the people of Gondor throw all the people in a city into the shadow world?

"How superb the technology of the Gondor Empire is, they can build such a fortress in the shadow world, they can allow thousands of people to live in this different space for a long time, and I, a person from thousands of years later The Royal Shadow Guard can only dig around in this ancient facility, but can't find any clues. This is really ironic.

"By the way, I'm out of water and out of food.

"On the seventh day, I found an empty room. It may have been some kind of research facility before. I saw some platforms with runes and pipes and containers that didn't work. Unfortunately, all the There is no water in the pipes or containers.

"I have to start thinking about my future.

"Day eight, today's key word is moss.

"Yes, moss! In this fortress that has been isolated from the world for thousands of years, there are mosses! In places like the Shadow Realm, there are mosses!

"They grow in a room like a laboratory, where there are many large tubular containers fixed to the ground, all of which are empty, but the outer wall of one of the containers and the nearby walls and ground are covered with this lovely Like everything else in the Shadowlands, these mosses were gray-black in color, so much so that I almost confused them with normal smudges at first, thank goodness I stayed in this room for an extra hour meeting……

"The presence of moss means dampness, and dampness means water.

"The moss tastes a little bit bitter and has a weird, gelatinous taste. They probably don't do me much good for my health, but I don't care that much. Without the moss, I'm afraid I'll never care in a few days. own health problems.

"The mosses gave me back some strength, and they contained enough water to lift my spirits, but obviously not enough water for long-term survival. I collected all the moss from a nearby pipe, squeezed out the juice and put it in After picking up the kettle, I will take this small supply and start exploring the surrounding rooms with this room as the center.

"On the ninth day, I didn't find any water, but I... saw a figure!