Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Tangen was astonished.
Tangen knew that the lady was someone from Neverwinter, based on what she wore or how she acted. If clothes could be considered a knock off, then only the Administrative Office was possible of creating the public transportation system, something that was possible in one's wildest dreams.
Having been on the job for almost two years, he had seen all sorts of customers from the Fjords to the Kingdom of Dawn, but in Neverwinter, they were always like country b.u.mpkins. This was also the source of laughter for him and his fellow colleagues. Thus, the instant the lady opened the door, he had already recognized her as a Neverwinter citizen that had stayed abroad for a long time, but strangely enough, she didn't seem familiar with the city…
"You must be joking… who would dare demolish the kingdom's castle." Tangen laughed and steered out of the pick-up point. "On the contrary, the Administrative Office has mentioned multiple times that they plan to extend the castle to be as large as King's City, but Her Majesty turned it down instantly. This was even on the news, to which the land ultimately became a war memorial garden. You're… not local?"
"I stayed here for awhile, in the past." The lady leaned against the window and surveyed her surroundings. "Seems like Her Majesty knows how to empathize with the people."
"Of course! Although many people questioned Her Majesty Wendy's capabilities when she succeeded the throne, the truth remains that despite being young and female, a Wimbledon is still a Wimbledon." Tangen praised. Everything he said were his heartfelt words! If not for her issuing out the post-war rewards, how could he ever have the opportunity to move from the north to the luxurious city.
"Heh…" The lady smiled. "Tell me more about her."
Wait a minute… why is her att.i.tude towards Her Majesty so strange? A hint of doubt appeared in Tangen's heart. Her att.i.tude was not one of reverence, or a bitterness that of the old n.o.bles had, but as though she was talking about an old acquaintance. Could she be some sort of intelligence spy?
It was not a groundless suspicion, Tangen had heard from the grapevine—despite the end of the Battle of Divine Will, the abdication of the Kingdom of Dawn and Graycastle's influence had covered the entire continent, it did not mean that the entire continent was in agreement. At least on the surface, many n.o.bles from the Kingdom of Dawn had already expressed their dissatisfaction to the Quinn family. And the Duke of Longsong that had been pardoned had left the Fjords. If anyone wanted to overthrow the Wimbledon Family, he would definitely be one of them.
And there was the illegitimate child of the previous King, obviously he would eventually become a focal point of influence. Although he was currently a child, who knew what thoughts he would have in a few years?
Who knew if those conspiring to do harm had already taken action!
The more Tangen thought, the more queer he found the situation. He carefully picked a few insignificant topics to engage with the lady while sizing her up— if she is truly a spy, I should take note of her features and make a report after.
But… she already has such unique features, would those underhanded men really pick such a person as a spy?
Ignoring the fact that her physical appearance was striking enough with her pitch-black smooth, long hair and her impressive height, her arrogant tone of speech was something no one would ever forget. Furthermore, Tangen was able to see her golden eyes hidden behind the shades through the rear view mirror.
While staring at those sharp eyes, he became momentarily absent-minded.
While pondering on all these, the vehicle arrived at the castle's outskirts.
"Er… we're here." Tangen coughed twice. "120 for the ride."
The lady promptly handed over a few paper notes, took her briefcase out, and walked towards Graycastle.
Are all spies that direct now? He continued to watch her until she disappeared from his view… Forget it, don't think about it. Tangen shook his head. Since she went straight to Graycastle, there wasn't a need for him to inform authorities. After all, staying in the castle were witches who were far more resourceful and powerful than the police. If she truly harbored ill intent, she would never be let in.
For some reason, if that truly happened, Tangen felt somewhat a pity.
He bit his lips and drove off.
"Are we not able to settle the issue as to how to apply magic power more extensively in one go?"
Amongst the bustling crowd at the entrance of the castle, Isabella chased after Agatha and asked.
The intense debate that had just ended within the Administrative Office was mainly on how to establish more relations between the Awakened and the commoners, to allow everyone to benefit from magic power.
After integrating all the various race technologies together, the Quest Society drew out two preliminary paths. One was to move towards installations that imitated how magic power worked, and the other was to consult the demons—which had been hailed as the Cargarde Family's magic stone synthesis. The former barely had any side effects, but would never be able to work independently without witches, as the rate at which Awakened came around and the talent to utilize such magic was extremely limited, clearly indicating the restrictions and limitations imposed on the former route.
Once the number of installations surpa.s.sed the amount supplied by witches, they would easily turn into beneficial tools for the higher-ups, but this was not in line with what the new Quest Society wanted. But unfortunately, the majority of the people agreed to it—in the foreseeable future, those who were able to enter the castle and members of the Administrative Office were considered as upper echelons of the kingdom. They would be the first to benefit from any breakthrough in magic power installations, but that might not be so for the ordinary citizens.
The second choice had its risks; its breakthrough came from Eleanor's research. As a Mother of Soul, Eleanor was grooming a kind of Cargarde people which fused with the human body, be it the hands, legs, nose, ears… Even the horns on the foreheads were embedded with magic stones.
At present, there had been two successful cases. Volunteers would replace their limbs and turn into bodies capable of holding magic—although their abilities were not worth mentioning compared to witches and were incapable of completely driving low grade magic stones, they were able to utilize magic-powered installations independently. This could be considered a research breakthrough.
But based on the fundamental principles as to how magic power and magic wielders influenced each other, no one knew how and what would happen if an ordinary person were to be artificially merged with magic stones; thus, the committee opposed the notion, so much so that even Barov requested intensely for it to be treated as forbidden technology.
But Agatha knew that Isabella's hopes of settling things at one go did not lie in the two paths, but a third path that only the Quest Society knew—transforming humanity. From information gathered through the Battle of Divine Wills, life could evolve endlessly and obtain even more magic power, in which magic power itself had a certain set of rules; thus, the research's highest aim was obviously for humanity to gain magic power as a whole. Without relying on awakening and no differentiation, every single human being born would immediately be a magic wielder. If successful, it would usher in a new era for humans!
But this study was only in its nascent stage, much less requiring countless of clinical trials. Throwing the idea out would incite an uproar. Even if they conducted protected research, it would easily be leaked; therefore, Agatha never even began building up a relevant research team, nipping the idea in the bud.
"I understand your indignation, but you saw it too, humans receptivity towards magic power has not reached the ideal level yet," Agatha replied gently. "The new Quest Society has just been established, so we need to bring out more results to allow them to realize what magic power can bring them. We cannot repeat Lady Alice's mistake."
"But all of those old and stubborn people opposed the second path as well," Isabella replied sulkily. "Without the support of magic users, it will be hard to popularize magic-powered installations out of Neverwinter."
"That's right. But it is not as if we are out of options." Agatha opened her clenched fist and revealed a piece of paper in her hand—something given to her by Edith after the meeting.
'Seven tonight, Gold Jade White Horse Banquet, I hope you two can do us the honor of an appearance.'
At any time, revolution implied the reorganization of benefits and redistribution. With regards to how ordinary humans treated the profundity of magic power, it was no longer a simple technical problem, but a new battle.
She missed the days when King Roland was around. During that time, so long as the King made a decision, no one disagreed, regardless of how inconceivable it was. Everyone would work towards the same goal.
But after being depressed for a moment, Agatha roused herself up.
That's right, she could not continue relying on him—he had led humanity out of despair, all the following issues that came along were theirs to inherit and to bear such unyielding determination.
Right at this time, a lady walked past her.
Agatha was startled.
And immediately turned around—
"What's wrong?" Isabella asked. "Did you drop something?"
Agatha then realized they were already a few meters apart. Isabella looked at her in bewilderment, seemingly confused as to why Agatha had stopped.
"No… I thought I saw someone familiar."
She blinked a few times and did one more sweep of the crowd, but was unable to find the familiar figure.
"Someone familiar?"
"Yeah, maybe I mistook her." Agathe took two quick steps forward. "Let's head back to the Spellcaster Tower, there are many more studies to do."
She wanted to succeed in the "battle" of revolutionizing magic power.
She had already made preparations.
