Sword of Dawnbreaker

”At the current stage, we don’t have the capability to investigate anything, but at the very least, maintaining good relations with the Dragonborn can’t hurt us—one day in the future, this might have unexpected benefits.

”Of course, there are other reasons that compel me to take the Sacred Dragon Kingdom seriously.”

Aunt Heidi blinked, quickly catching on. ”Are you saying... they rejected a lot of your initial proposals and then restructured many of the business cooperation agreements?”

Gawain nodded slightly.

”The things Rosetta Augustus couldn’t see, they noticed,” he said in a deep voice. ”It’s clearly not because the Emperor of Typhon is foolish—but because the Dragonborn exceeded my expectations.

”The so-called ’closed and xenophobic, secluded in the deep mountains and glaciers’ is all false.

”Dragonborn have long lifespans, and it seems the closer the bloodline is to the Primal Dragon Tribe, the longer the lifespan. For such a long-lived species, their civilization may be slow, but certainly not ignorant or isolated—no matter how rarely they gaze outward, their long years give them ample time to accumulate enough wisdom and experience.

”The shifts of human dynasties happen as quickly as a play on stage in the eyes of such long-lived species. An era passes, a dynasty is gone. And if they possess the secret cards to resist the chaotic wave, the ’plays’ they’ve witnessed would surely outnumber what you and I could imagine.

”Our Magic Guide Technology and market strategies might be novel to them, but many of our concepts probably aren’t fresh in their eyes.

”When dealing with such a species, we can’t use the same approaches we have with Typhon or the tribal country of Augari...”

Listening to Gawain’s calm words, Aunt Heidi pondered briefly and caught the drift. ”Because we can’t simply... exploit them?”

Gawain: ”That’s not your usual style of speaking, where did you pick that up?”

Aunt Heidi quickly lowered her head. ”Amber said she compiled a set of terms you created for occasions involving new matters...”

Gawain’s eye twitched. ”Don’t learn from her; eventually, I’ll find her hidden little notebook and burn it.”

He then cleared his throat, easing the momentary awkwardness. ”In any case, the Dragonborn are a group worth paying attention to—though they call themselves a ’principality,’ few in this world would truly underestimate such a ’principality.’ They would be formidable foes, but if we can bring them to our side, they’d be highly valuable allies.

”Such allies merit sincerity and investment on our part to maintain the relationship.”

”Yes,” Aunt Heidi replied seriously. ”I’ll keep that firmly in mind.”

Gawain nodded in satisfaction, then glanced at the mechanical clock on the nearby wall, and said thoughtfully, ”According to the schedule, we should be inspecting the computing center today...”

”Yes, it’s half an hour before departure,” Aunt Heidi replied. ”Yuri has already made preparations.”

Gawain acknowledged with a hum, turned his head, and glanced at a map on the desk not far away, then casually remarked, ”Go make the arrangements; let’s prepare to depart.”

Gawain and Aunt Heidi left the study.

On the large wooden desk, a map depicting the entire Cecil Empire lay open quietly.

On the map, the southern borders, northern parts of the Dark Mountain Range, Duke of the East, West, and Plains of the Holy Spirits, key locations were illustrated with tower-like symbols, with smaller icons surrounding those towers, connected by red lines resembling spider Silk connecting the nodes.

Sorin Nexus, northern parts of the Dark Mountain Range Nexus... Imperial Control Center... Sorin Nexus, St. Soniel Nexus...

At the bottom of the map, a line of handwritten letters glimmered in the sunlight:

Empire’s Magic Network Connection Plan.