Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 827 - 826: Revival Month’s Gift

The harsh winter has finally left the northern regions, and the Revival Month arrived on this land with a nationwide rain.

Cecil is like an ever-turning industrial machine; not even the winter could halt its operation. In contrast, the relatively warm spring acts like lubricating oil, quickly bringing this enormous machine back to life, bursting with powerful energy day by day, swiftly returning to full capacity.

On the northern banks of the White River, in the northern development area of Cecil, the still chilly river breeze blew across the damp ground, followed by layers of rippling faint light on the surface. The once solid land suddenly seemed to melt, softening and surging.

A large, black-painted engineering vehicle emitted a low hum, with the mechanical structure at the front raising two parallel metal rails. On the long rails embedded with Magi-metal, runes flickered as the complex mechanical structure adjusted the position of the Rune Trigger, maintaining a constant magical effect and continuously irradiating the softening ground ahead of the vehicle.

A surveyor holding a special Magic Transmission Terminal kept checking data beside the vehicle, the beam in front of the Magic Transmission Terminal sweeping over the ground being converted by the Stone to Mud spell—

"Conversion rate of 0.8, reaching the desired depth—position the pile!"

The lifting equipment roared to life, hoisting the pre-prepared steel-reinforced concrete pillar covered with runes on its base to the designated position, plunging it steadily into the now fluidified ground. Once it was fully submerged to the marked line, the surveyor signaled to the mechanic operating the crane, while the mechanic responsible for the black vehicle casually turned on a comm device and loudly reported:

"Vehicle One ready for polarity reversal, clear the area!""The area is clear, Vehicle One may proceed with polarity reversal."

The mechanical linkage device clicked into motion, the rune combination switched simultaneously, and amid the buzzing hum, the "Irradiated Rail" glowed as the ground began to harden slowly...

The wind blew past the high platform beside the construction site, where Grand Architect Gordon lifted his gaze from the blueprint in his hand. He watched the busy engineering machinery and workers hustling between them with a sense of reflection: "This is the first pillar of the spring... It went down smoothly; hopefully, this is a good omen."

"’Omen’ is a word without much significance," a metallic tremor sounded from the silver-white metal sphere floating next to Gordon, "isolated events with no logical connection cannot predict the future. I prefer precise mathematics and machines—at least they have fewer variables."

"I also like precise numbers and machines; the former makes the drawings more useful, and the latter accelerates project progress," Gordon smiled at the Grand Artificer beside him, "Mr. Nicholas, I’m actually quite curious, what is this facility for? To need a ’Grand Artificer’ like you to personally tweak the equipment... Of course, if it’s classified, I won’t ask."

"I can tell you the name—this is the future Imperial Computing Center, though its public name hasn’t been finalized yet," the Empire’s Grand Artificer Saint Nicholas Egg floated slightly up and down, a voice full of pride emanating from his round body, "It’s filled with high-precision stuff, and though theoretically, the Mechanical Scholars under me could handle it, His Majesty still wanted me to personally assemble its core area to be assured."

"Computing Center?" Gordon frowned, "A place for studying mathematical science? That’s a peculiar name..."

"Sooner or later, you’ll know what it’s for, Mr. Gordon." Saint Nicholas Egg said with a rising tone, slowly elevating his body, the silver-white metal sphere floating high in the air, his perpetually smiling face spinning slowly. On his smooth metallic surface, the entire development area’s scene was reflected, near and far.

Vast construction sites under development, clattering machines in clusters, busy workers traversing between areas, the Cecil Clan is embracing this spring of revival—

...

A low hum of equipment emanated from the upper room of the Nexus Tower, with high-powered Demon Crystal antennas slowly rotating outside the window, one mechanical arm’s tip just sweeping past Cecil Castle’s direction.

The crystal glass blocked out the chilly wind, and inside the tower, the warm air system ran at its lowest power. Tower Guardian Ge Lin, clad in a light linen shirt, stirred the steaming beverage in his coffee cup as he stood by the window.

A flock of birds flew past the distant tower, leaving a sequence of chirps in the clear sky; they circled far away from this powerful Magic Web Nexus Tower, leaving no "annoying mess" on this precise facility’s top.

Guardian Ge Lin nodded in satisfaction: the new device applied for last year produced satisfactory results, proving that the smart folks in the research institute and design bureau have more solutions than an ordinary person like him. With just the lowest level "Animal Fear Charm," they could keep flocks migrating south and north away from the tower—more energy-efficient than barriers and without the extra weight of tangible shields.

No more cleaning the bird droppings piled up under the antenna pivot, and no more removing those hapless birds crashing into the Crystal Array.

Standing in front of the lookout window, Ge Lin took a small sip from his still hot coffee, then turned back to his workbench, ready to routinely check the Nexus Tower’s operational status.

The printer connected to the Magic Web Terminal had already printed out a long sheet of paper, containing noteworthy information logs—not all data would be printed, only details with special annotations, fault receipts at key nodes, and orders from the master hub sent to each Tower Guardian were automatically printed to prevent any oversight.

As the Guardian of the Lu’an Hub, Ge Lin also enjoyed some small "privileged treatment," he could not only receive clear Magic Web broadcasts but also "receive" the latest Cecil Weekly and two other leisure newspapers—also through the printing device connected to the Magic Web Terminal.

For those who enjoy reading, newspapers are a better pastime than broadcast programs.

All of this wasn’t there from the start but gradually perfected after the Nexus Tower was established, and surely, they would continue to refine in the foreseeable future.

Ge Lin sat down beside the workbench, tugging the paper-cutting hook of the printer to remove the long sheet from the machine, then carefully trimmed it according to the content. He picked out several newspapers, folded them neatly, and set them aside—the newspapers were communal items for the Tower Guardians, and he didn’t wish for them to be damaged before his colleagues came to switch shifts.

Resisting the urge to read the newspapers first, Ge Lin meticulously checked the reports from various nodes and confirmed the real-time status of the equipment before finally picking up the newspaper he had set aside, flipping through it casually.

"Winter ends as the Empire’s provinces begin spring production—Cecil will embrace this spring"

"Everything’s starting up... I wonder if the factories in town still hire temporary workers this spring... Storm is old enough now, I should write home and send him to be an apprentice in a factory, maybe he can learn some skills... Supporting five children in school at once is still tough, even with the city’s tuition reductions, but that’s still five mouths to feed... We definitely need another person earning to support the family..."

Various thoughts turned in the Tower Guardian’s mind as he slowly drew a blank sheet of paper over, picked up a steel pen, and started writing a letter to his wife who stayed behind in the city.

Coming from a scribe’s background, he was more accustomed to the sensation of a pen tip gliding over paper; it grounded him more than the "letter palette" of the Magic Web Terminal.

But when it came to writing his child’s name, he suddenly hesitated.

Storm, the eldest child in the family, was old enough to work in the factories. However, he had always been very interested in mathematics and recently developed a liking for runes. The night school teacher constantly praised his talent for becoming a Runemaster... but that went beyond the scope of a general school and required specialized academic training...

The other children were still young, at the best age to learn. They all should attend school, but... Storm truly loved mathematics and runes...

Unconsciously, Ge Lin’s pen slowly came to a halt.

For two years, he had been a Tower Guardian in this tower. He witnessed gradual changes in the Lu’an Area and received news from all over. He had passed on the latest mobilization orders from the Administrative Office and relayed the latest current affairs updates.

In the year 738 of Anzu, on the first day of the Harvest Month of the Empire’s first year, the real-time images of Emperor Gawain Cecil’s coronation and the broadcast announcements were transmitted from this Lu’an Hub across the entire southern borders. He, along with his colleagues, witnessed this nation’s rebirth amidst the flames of war here.

Therefore, he saw more than others, understood more, too—he knew how important schooling was in this era, and understood that true modern knowledge had to be acquired in schools—he could not teach his children about Higher Mathematics or Mechanical Principles the way his father taught him to read and write.

He also knew that Emperor Gawain Cecil had been committed to liberating every commoner from ignorance, ensuring all children had the opportunity to attend school, even establishing numerous free schools so that every family in the southern borders could have at least one child attend school for free, with free room and board.

But he had five children.

The relatively generous salary of a Tower Guardian seemed insufficient when faced with five children, especially when he wanted to send all of them to school.

At some point, the pen’s nib had touched the paper, causing a blot of black ink to spread as it lingered too long in one spot. When Ge Lin noticed this, several letters were already obscured by the ink.

He sighed and was preparing to start over when the nearby printer device suddenly whirred to life, spitting out a small piece of new content.

Ge Lin immediately put his pen down, pulled the printer’s paper cutter, and took the freshly delivered information, reading the content carefully.

He first saw the Sword and Plough Emblem at the top of the page, along with the words "Lu’an City" following the emblem, realizing it was a notification from the City Administrative Office, and was surprised to see his own name appear in the notice:

To Ge Lin, Tower Guardian of the Lu’an Hub:

After evaluation by the City Administrative Office, your "Node Tower Improvement Proposal" submitted in Fire Moon of 737 in Anzu holds significant value and has contributed to subsequent actual improvement plans. In accordance with the "Special Contribution and Reward Regulations for Administrative Office Employees," a reward of 125 Gold Pounds will be issued, to be disbursed along with your salary this month. This serves as a formal notification.

Note: This reward was delayed due to adjustments in the statistics department’s functions and the restructuring of the Imperial Administration Office. We appreciate your understanding.

Best regards.

——Lu’an City Administrative Office, 2nd Revival Month, Year 2 of Cecil

Ge Lin read the content on the paper once more, then again.

Gold Pounds—a substantial amount of money.

A puzzled expression appeared on his face before turning to realization, and finally, he broke into a smile, happily standing to pace around his work room.

He picked up the coffee on the table—it had gone completely cold—and drank it in one gulp, then picked up the notice and read it again before sitting back down.

After taking a new sheet of stationery, he took a deep breath and wrote smoothly:

"Dear Sarah, I have received a bonus.

"I want to send the children to school; they are all at school age now...

"Tell Storm the good news; he can study rune or real Mage technology. He might even go to the Imperial Academy if he can pass the exams there. I hear they have the best..."

After signing it off and carefully checking every letter, Ge Lin nodded, placing the letter on the metal platform beside the Magic Web Terminal.

No mailman or delivery was needed; ordinary letters could be sent directly through the "Magic Web," and soon a copy of the letter would appear in the public Magic Web Center of Lu’an City, reaching his wife’s hands within hours if all went well.

After doing all this, Ge Lin exhaled deeply and went to the window.

In the fields afar, machines were heading to the farmlands, and it seemed like green sprouts were about to break through the earth after the spring rain.