Sword of Dawn

After realizing this, he did not hesitate to throw out this half-elf who spends her days in the territory, messing around with nothing to do, and has a huge appetite, and asked her to do some work as a lord's guard.

In Leslie Territory, another town north of Tanzanite, the "Black Whistle" tavern is brightly lit, and the gangsters, thugs, thieves and crooks in it are starting a new round of all-night booze - cheating in their pockets. Day after day of booze they drank until the silver and coppers they had stolen were spent.

The tavern owner "Scarface Anton" with an ugly scar on his face sat behind the potholed bar counter, carelessly wiping the cup in his hand with a dirty rag, but his eyes were unrelentingly looking at the villains who were drinking and shouting. He doesn't mind people drinking and making trouble in his tavern, and he doesn't even mind that these people smash things here when they fight, but if someone drinks and smashes things and doesn't pay the bill, then He didn't mind much.

The tavern was filled with an unpleasant smell, low-quality and cheap alcohol, moldy wood and corners, and the smell of sweat from not taking a bath for a long time mixed together, making the environment here extremely harsh, but no one wanted to leave this place——here At least it's warm, better than the ice and snow outside.

Two more drunk men started to make a fuss, tearing each other into a ball, Anton gave a signal with his eyes, and immediately two strong men stepped forward and kicked the two drunk men who were making trouble, and then Drag it to the corner and let them make trouble on their own.

That's the routine for these gutter rats.

They are "rich households" in the slums, scum and reptiles in the eyes of nobles, intelligence dealers in the eyes of mercenaries, and "villains" in the eyes of peaceful and honest commoners. For example, the half-bucket of stealth skills, the knack of juggling with one or two hands, the natural strength of one arm, or just being flexible enough to fool people to death with their mouths. The mercenaries or merchants have some connections, relying on deceitful abduction or selling information to survive.

But these people never accumulate money, and although each of their "businesses" earns more coins than half a year's income of the pauper, they always spend it quickly, because they often work with servants. They deal with soldiers and are not liked by the lords. They know one thing very well: life is impermanent, enjoy yourself in time, and you can’t tell when the mercenary who bought your information has suffered a loss outside and will kill you when he comes back. Vent anger—even if your information is true.

The lord will not protect them in this situation.

So they carpe diem, in this cheap, filthy tavern that no one but gutter rats want to patronize, until dawn every time, and if one day they find that there's one less boozer in the tavern Well, when the man wasn't in town, they would laugh loudly and say, "Hush—another poor fellow!"

Scarface Anton threw the cup in his hand under the bar. He counted the people in the tavern, and turned to ask the guy next to him, "Why didn't the old cripple come?"

The guy shook his head: "I don't know, I haven't been here for two days, I heard he was hacked to death."

Anton with the scarred face frowned, and his ugly facial features trembled even more ugly, but before he could speak, a short figure in a cloak approached the bar suddenly, and a few copper coins fell on him in front of him with a tinkling sound. A low female voice came from below: "Rye wine."

When did this person appear? !

Anton with the scarred face trembled in his heart. He clearly knew everyone who would come to this tavern, and he himself was a half-baked "stalker" who knew some shadow skills, but this stranger in front of him appeared quietly in front of him. In front of the bar, he and his buddy had no memory of how this guy appeared!

But astonished astonished, he still calmly filled a glass of low-quality rye wine, and when passing the glass over, he sneaked a look under the hood, only to find that there was only an indissoluble shadow shrouded in it .

Pretend to be a ghost.

Anton raised his vigilance, and calmly motioned the buddy to confirm the movement outside the gate, but just as the buddy took a step, the man in the cloak spit out all the ale he drank. It was big enough, as if she was afraid that people would not notice, she slammed the glass on the bar counter after spitting out the wine: "You used to mix wine with water, now you have started to mix wine with water, right? Believe it or not, I smashed your place!"

The people in the tavern seemed to be drinking and messing around, but everyone had sharp ears and eyes. In an instant, almost everyone noticed the movement next to the bar counter, and those who were familiar with the "rules" immediately realized that someone was coming to make trouble up.

What happened next happened in an instant: all the people near the bar almost teleported to the distance, everyone picked up their cups and food and found the best place to watch the show, and the scammers began to hide in the nearby Gambling is played on the table, and the thieves are hurrying to find out who can start.

Anton slowly threw the rag and cup aside, moved his strong shoulders slightly, but he was relieved in his heart: it would be much easier if he was just here to mess things up.

Fist will teach such a lifeless guy how to behave.

And the short figure in the cloak in front of him raised his hand and pulled down the hood that originally covered his face, revealing a half-elf face.

Anton looked at this face, raised his arms to make his chest muscles swell, and an ugly smile appeared on his scarred face: "Sister, I will show you a chest crushing boulder, do you want to see it..."

People in the tavern who were about to watch the excitement: "..."

Amber glared at the bald ugly man: "...Damn it, why are you even more shameless than before?!"

"It was only after showing off the muscles that the opponent couldn't beat me how to admit defeat so as not to be so awkward - you told us about this specifically back then," Anton's smile became brighter - or more ugly Get up, "Sister! It's really you! Where have you been all these years?!"

At this time, the people in the tavern seemed to have finally recovered from their stupefaction. Whispering voices began to sound from all directions. Some of them clearly recognized who the person standing in front of the bar was. Some of them were shocked, some Some were surprised, some were in awe, but without exception, they all quickly became excited and excited, while the rest were obviously confused. What happened to the half-elves that popped up—most of these people were newcomers who had only been active here in the past two years.

Amber's pointed ears trembled, and she turned her head and glanced at it with a half-smile: "There are a lot of newcomers, almost half of them don't know me anymore."

Anton whispered beside him: "You have been away from here for several years..."

"Alright, then let the newcomers get to know each other," Amber yawned, raised her hand and snapped her fingers, "I'm sober now! Little bastards!"

Chapter 0233 Amber's Old Friends

At the same time that Amber snapped her fingers, Anton with the scar face reached out and grabbed a wooden post next to him like a conditioned reflex, and some people in the tavern also grabbed the nearest fixed object or just sat down shamelessly. On the ground, this movement is so smooth and proficient, as if it has become their instinct long ago—but other people are different, they just look blankly at the inexplicable changes around them, not knowing what to do to deal with it, and soon , they don't have to do anything to deal with it.

A cloudy and hazy shadow suddenly appeared around Hu Po. Wherever the shadow went, everyone felt dizzy and dizzy. In just a moment, everyone in the entire tavern was forcibly dragged for a "shadow jump" ——Although the duration was less than a second, it caused everyone to lose their balance in an instant. Those who found a fixed object in advance were better off, but those who were standing and sitting stupidly were already stumbling around. I couldn't get up for a long time.

Looking at the spectacular scene in front of her, Amber nodded with satisfaction, and finally regained a bit of pride in being a "master".

Her combat power is indeed weak, but it also depends on who she is comparing with and in what field.As a shadow stalker, it's understandable that Amber couldn't beat Gawain and the people around him head-on, but how many real extraordinary professionals can there be in this tavern?

If there were, they wouldn't be wandering around in this kind of place anymore!

There are only some idle scoundrels and liars here, and their greatest skills are nothing more than a few tricks or a set of deceptions. Even the famous "Scarface Anton" is just a half-baked, even a low-level professional. They are just stalkers who are not qualified enough. They are gutter rats, the bottom of the society.

Amber is at least a super professional, and she is also a master of shadow power - and she calls herself the Chosen of the Night.

The Queen of the Tavern was not her own making.

After a long time, the severe dizziness and neurological symptoms caused by the shadow power shaking the spirit gradually alleviated. Those who were lying on the ground got up one by one, but none of them stood up and took the stab: People living in this social environment are all cautious and intelligent characters. They are good at judging the situation in an instant and finding the safest way for themselves. In just an instant, they knew how to protect themselves.

Seeing such a situation, Amber curled her lips slightly: "This year's class is still meaningless."

"Big sister, why are you back?" Anton with the scar face resisted the dizziness that lingered in his head, squeezed out a smiling face and asked, "You said you found clues to your biological parents two years ago, but suddenly It disappeared...you found it?"

"No, my parents may be dead, I'm afraid I won't find them in this life," Amber waved her hand, "But I found something more interesting."

"What's more interesting?" Anton was taken aback. He knew that the gangster in front of him, who used to rule the sewers and ruled the black streets, would often look for "interesting things", but that usually refers to treasures and treasures that can be stolen. But the unlucky one who can entrap, she always has a mocking expression on her face when she mentions those things, but her expression in front of her is obviously full of interest, and there is no joke at all, "What did you find?"

Amber just smiled: "Have you heard of the resurrection of the Founding Grand Duke?"

"I've heard of it," Anton shrugged, and said while letting his staff deal with the order in the tavern, "It has been spread for a long time—we helped spread some news. A few months ago, a servant Soldiers pass here and hire a lot of people to spread the news."

"Damn it, you guys even secretly made money from me..." Huber glared at Anton, but before she could say anything, she changed the subject, "Is everyone here?"

"If you're talking about people in this town, they're all there." Anton raised his hand and swiped to cover the entire tavern, "It's winter now, and these bastards are nesting in the tavern every day, wishing to drink to death in the tavern." Here."

Amber took out a small dagger and scratched it on the pitted wooden bar, looking for the traces that she had carved in those years, but unfortunately most of them could not be found - fights and bad drinks always wiped out the traces on the bar Soon: "Ask the big guy if you want to do something serious."

At this time, many "old acquaintances" had already gathered near the bar, and a woman with dark skin and dressed like a witch was taken aback when she heard what Amber said: "Serious business? Big sister, can you still have serious business? "

As soon as Amber raised her hand, the small dagger in her hand circled around this "witch"'s neck, and cut off a few threads of the other's neckline precisely: "'Witch' Jibri, why didn't I cut you off back then?" tongue?"

"I can make a lot of money by wagging my tongue," the woman dressed as a witch took half a step back, with a flattering smile on her face, "You should talk about your 'serious business', we all listen... ..."

"It's very simple. I'm working for the revived founding hero right now—don't show that expression of disbelief. I'm his bodyguard now. Do the bodyguards understand? I don't even need to knock on the door to enter his room. Tell me. All in all, I am rich now, but I haven’t forgotten you guys who are not worthy of expectations. Now you have a chance. As long as you are willing to change your stinking problems, you can also live like me. A decent man's life. Don't get it yet? The Duke wants to hire you!"

The scene was suddenly quiet, and this reaction was beyond Amber's expectations.

"Why didn't you make any movement?" Amber looked at these guys curiously, "Don't want to?"

"I don't believe it," Anton with the scarred face showed an expression of crying or laughing, "We know about the founding grand duke in the south, but how can someone like him deal with people like us. Big sister, you Have you drank the Shadow Potion as water recently?"

"I know you guys are so promising," Hu Po curled her lips, and casually threw a cloth bag on the bar, and there was a series of clattering sounds inside the cloth bag. Silver coins rolled out from inside—they were all newly minted coins, with beautifully perfect symmetrical outlines and smooth arcs, and the emblem of Cecil's territory was printed on the front, "You don't have to believe it, anyway, money it is true."

The eyes of the people in front of the bar suddenly stared straight.

They rarely have the opportunity to come into contact with gold coins, but silver coins can still be obtained occasionally, and Cecil silver coins are a new currency that has become more and more popular in the southern border recently. No matter what casting method, every coin is minted to the point of perfection, exquisite and flawless, such coins are naturally favored by businessmen, and then circulated in the southern region.

Anton was lucky enough to get three Ansu silver coins—but they were obviously not as brand-new as the coins brought by Amber. The gold and silver coins rolled out of the money bag had no scratches or dirt on them. Like it just came out of the mint.

Anton's heart tightened suddenly, and when he looked at Amber, he had a nervous expression on his face: "Sister, stealing money from a noble's mint will be hanged!"

Amber immediately gave the scar-faced, bald-headed man a fierce look: "Tell—do you really want to smash a boulder in your chest?! It's like throwing you up to smash a stone!"

Anton immediately shrank his neck and dared not say anything.

Obviously, nine out of ten what Amber said was true.

The boss who had been "missing" for several years, unexpectedly mingled with the founding hero and became a personal guard of a great nobleman. This kind of fantasy thing actually happened.

"Go ahead and discuss it," Amber waved her hand, and calmly pushed the money on the bar to a more conspicuous place, "But I want to explain that money is a good thing, but it's not so easy to earn. The Duke doesn't want to hire A group of hooligans and rascals are going to ruin his reputation, so the person who takes the money has to follow me to Cecilland first, where he learns the rules and laws, and then it is his turn to do things seriously. If he can't learn the rules... ..."

Amber didn't continue, but glanced around in a threatening manner, making everyone's necks shrink back.

In fact, there will be no terrible punishment. According to Gao Wen, those simple rules and regulations can be learned by a fool as long as they are trained for a few months. But Amber knows that in front of her is a group of scumbags who can't be cooked in boiling water. Perhaps one day they will be able to learn to abide by the law and morality on the right path, but before that, they must be punished with the two whips of grace and punishment. Drive to the right path.

While this implicit threat made the people in the tavern shudder, it also gave them a more real feeling:

There is no good thing that falls from the sky. Only when this thing has certain risks at the same time can it be true.

Dealing with nobles is very dangerous, everyone who lives in the dark street knows this, but my boss seems to be able to cover himself...

The reputation of the founding hero seems to be very good...

I just don't know what a big nobleman hired a group of ruffians, thieves and liars to do, but how bad could it be?You wouldn't drive such a group of idiots to fight on the battlefield, or drive away monsters, would you?

While the tavern was getting lively again, Anton quietly approached Amber. The scar-faced strong man lowered his voice and asked curiously, "Sister, how on earth did you get to be around such a big man?" ?”

"Actually, it's nothing." Amber waved her hand nonchalantly, "I pried his coffin and woke him up."

Anton: "...Huh?!"

Amber picked up the low-quality ale that was still half a glass in front of her, brought it to her lips and sighed: "Oh, so when you steal something, don't be caught by the person involved, and you will get caught by accident... I Bah - you better pour me a glass of water, you might as well mix wine in the water, what are you mixing with it?"

"Actually, this is the ratio of water you gave back then..." Anton didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Forget it, I'll pour you a glass of water."

"Forget it, let's make do with it," Amber shook her head, looking down at the frothy low-quality wine, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, "Whether it's a human or an elf, it really is a kind of creature that is prone to indulge in pleasure..."

Chapter 0234 Tyr's Curiosity

People living in Cecil often warn newcomers to this land in this way: This territory was established by ancient heroes, so there are many strange and even unimaginable things in this territory. When challenging things in the Three Views, it’s best not to make a fuss, because those things are basically harmless to humans and animals. If you really can’t understand them, just treat them as ancient magic techniques and ancient relics.

The citizens of Cecil are used to seeing the rumbling machines turning in the factory, they are used to seeing a shiny silver-white metal ball floating around in the territory, and recently, they are going to start Learn to get used to a new sight: get used to seeing a strange woman with a human upper body and a snake lower body walking up and down the streets, or strictly speaking, "arching around"...

In the fourth week after winter, the weather was fine, with no wind and few clouds. Gao Wen was going to inspect the production line of the newly completed "Rune Substrate Foundry". The Siren Tyr who appeared outdoors.

This sea monster seems to have finally temporarily adjusted her routine as if she was going to sleep. Since the last time the day of the stars passed, she has entered a strange "excited state", in short, she can't sleep , could not lie down stably, stayed uncomfortable and wanted to make trouble, so she had to climb out of her beloved salt water tank and started wandering around Cecil's territory. Gawain had no reason to put her under house arrest in the lord's mansion, but In order to prevent this strange guy from causing any trouble in the territory, he thought of a compromise method, which was to let Tire move around him.

As it turned out, the siren lady had no problem with that: she was content just to be able to roam around.

Walking on the road leading to the factory area, Gawain couldn't help turning his head and glanced curiously at Tyre, who was leaning forward beside him: "Speaking of which, what's going on with you? Why are you suddenly willing to come out for activities?" ?”

"No way, who made the stars return to their positions a while ago," Tire was obviously also very depressed. Her heart obviously still hoped to go back and find a saltwater pool to sleep in one breath until she died, but her current state is completely silent. If it doesn’t come down, “The magic power surges, and the elements will also become active—our sea monsters are elemental creatures.”

Gawain raised his eyebrows in a little surprise: "You are...elemental creatures?"

"What? Isn't it?" Tyre put his hands on his hips and patted the ground with the tip of his tail to strengthen his persuasion, "We are elemental creatures!"

"The elemental creatures in my impression look different from yours..." Gawain explained dumbfoundingly, "The elemental creatures in my impression are chaotic, unstable in shape, relying on spells or magic cores to get rid of them." The guy who can exist in the real world for a long time can only be maintained, otherwise he can only use elemental media as 'fuel' to appear in the world for a short time..."

Tire looked disdainful: "They are all low-level goods, but our sea monsters are elemental creatures that can exist stably in the real world, and they are high-level."

Gao Wen had no time to argue with this sea monster. Anyway, these deep sea gods dared to eat even the ancient gods as seafood. What else is there to surprise them?He was just curious about how long Till's willingness to come out and move around could last: "By the way, how long can you last in this...active state?"

Tyre thought for a while, and said uncertainly: "It's hard to say, about a month?"

When Gawain heard this, he couldn't help frowning and looked at the long tail behind Tyre: "Then if you really plan to be active for a month, you'd better get used to walking upright. , it's too eye-catching for you to dangle around the territory with your tail all day long..."

While talking, he glanced around a little bit, and as expected, he found some curious and cautious sights, those sights were naturally from the civilians and soldiers on the territory—if it was in other places, a sea monster would attract them I'm afraid it's directly hostility and panic, but here, due to Gawain's protection and the "increased public immunity" caused by strange things often appearing on the territory itself, people are more concerned about Tyr's wonderful form. Just curious and cautious.Of course, there were probably people who secretly panicked, but Gao Wen was standing here, who would dare to speak out?

Tire, however, didn't take Gawain's warning very seriously, she swayed like a seaweed: "Anyway, I didn't cause panic when I came out like this, didn't I? And I see that the people under you are quite receptive, I dangled in front of their eyes twice more, and they got used to it—aren’t they also used to a big metal ball flying around in the territory?”

Gao Wen really can't refute this: In terms of the degree of curiosity of the image alone, Nicholas Dan, who is naked and has no personal appearance, is obviously more incredible than Tyre, at least Miss Kraken still has half of her body as a human Well, Mr. Dan even painted Rebecca's face on it with paint... In such a comparison, it's really nothing to see Tyr wandering around.

"You have to thank Mr. Dan for laying the foundation for you. He has directly increased the ability of everyone in the entire territory to accept strange things countless times," Gao Wen said dumbfounded, "Well, since you are willing to do this, then I will But it’s too much interference, but I still hope you can pay attention-human beings’ ability to accept new things is limited, and it’s hard for them to adapt to a “foreign visitor” who walks with a snake tail or a fish tail. You mentioned it to me last time Try not to use the octopus form and sea crab form..."

Till pouted regretfully: she was thinking about whether the octopus form would be more stable on land, but she was killed before she could implement it, which made Miss Siren very dissatisfied.

However, she soon forgot about this little discomfort, because she finally saw what the "factory using machines to produce things" that everyone in the territory was talking about and everyone was proud of looked like.

The Cecil Rune Foundry, a new factory that was "released" from the Machinery Manufacturing Institute not long ago, is a part of Gawain's "industrial systemization" plan.

According to Gao Wen's plan, the Machinery Manufacturing Institute should not be a pure production department, but an "upstream" unit that integrates research and development, testing, and manufacturing of initial prototypes. Its role is to produce the first machine , rather than continuous and repetitive mass production.

In the Machinery Manufacturing Institute, a new industrial chain or link will go through the process from zero to some, craftsmen, apprentices and eggs will always complete the construction of the prototype and the trial production work based on this prototype, and once the chain or link matures It can become a part of the industrial system, it should be independent from the machinery manufacturing plant in an appropriate way, become a separate factory or a production line in a certain factory, and embark on the road of independent development and industrialization.

This is what Gawain came up with, a method to construct the magic industry system he was thinking of as soon as possible. Maybe it is not the best, but it is the most suitable choice for the current territory.

Only by shaping every link in the industrial chain, allowing them to start operating in their respective positions, and thoroughly establishing the system of division of labor and assembly line production, can the territory get rid of the traditional workshop-artisan production mode. And get rid of the inefficient and wasteful hodgepodge of production.

In the rune foundry, Tire looked at the neatly arranged machines with amazed eyes, watching the hexagonal general-purpose substrates being sent to the imprinting machine one by one, and with a loud noise, the heavy steel hammer was Driven by the heavy wheel, it hits the surface of the substrate, and the complex rune dents are directly printed on the softer substrate material, and then these substrates are immersed in a mixed solution of quartz sand and thermal resin to complete the magic guide material for the rune grooves. Filling, and the excess solution on the surface of the substrate will be scraped off and recycled in the next step.After the magic guide material in the groove is solidified, the base plate will be machine-polished to ensure that no guide material that will affect the effect of the spell remains on the position outside the rune groove—if it is a relatively simple rune base plate , At this step, the processing is completed, and if it is more complicated, then some manual processes are required, such as inlaying crystals in the reserved grooves.

This was completely different from the way Tire had heard about land people making items, but it reminded her of the restored processing factories in Antavien.

While Tire was curiously looking at the production scene of the Rune Foundry, Gawain was also carefully looking at the reaction of the sea monster.

There was a curious expression on the other party's face, which made Gao Wen feel a little more at ease - things were developing in the direction he hoped.

He didn't mind letting Tire see the so-called "technical secrets" in his territory at all. In fact, if this usually lazy sea monster wanted to, he would have no objection even if she wanted to see the original design of the magic net.

Because this sea monster came from a society that was obviously much more advanced than human civilization, and the place where she lived was even more developed than the silver empire of elves.

He wasn't worried at all that Tyre would steal any technology—or, if she was really interested in a certain technology from Cecil, Gawain would be even happier.

Only by arousing the curiosity and attention of this siren, can he start a conversation with the other party in the technical field.Although I really don't want to admit it, human civilization is obviously a "low-level civilization" in Tyre's eyes. Even though Miss Kraken didn't mean to discriminate or contempt at all, the gap in technology level between the two is a given. In fact, this needs no verbal embellishment.

Under such circumstances, Gao Wen needs to make some attempts to see if the "magic industry" that Cecil is developing can arouse Tire's interest. If the other party is interested, then the topic of technology will be easy to start up.

When the timing was about right, he came to Tire's side: "How do you feel?"

"Very..." Tier opened her mouth. She wanted to use "advanced" as a compliment, but she soon realized that Gao Wen probably didn't need such a compliment, and the situation of the factory was not yet ready for it. "Advanced" is used to describe it, so I changed it to "very interesting production method. So you humans have already started to use this method to mass-produce magic items? I thought you were still in workshops and magic experiments. Magic items are made in the chamber... that's what we said after our last 'traveling sister' came back."

"In fact... other places on this continent are still like that," Gawain shook his head with a wry smile. "This should be the only place in front of you that can use machines to mass-produce magic circles."