Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 511 - 510: Dissemination of Knowledge

The administrative hub of Cecil Castle—the Administrative Office, where Norris arrived with several of his assistants at the office of the News and Propaganda Department.

There was a time when this honest farmer, who had dealt with land and crops for most of his life, could never have imagined standing in such a room—spacious and bright buildings, the place where important people worked, sturdy and beautiful desks and chairs, bookshelves filled with books and files, and magic crystal lamps on the ceiling. In the past, not even in the mansion of the Viscount could there be such a room—yet now, here he was, standing there for real.

And his identity is the head of the Agricultural Department, the person managing agricultural affairs for the leader—what used to be called ”a person of the upper class.”

Having changed into clean and decent clothes, and somewhat accustomed to dealing with the Administrative Officials, Norris subtly exhaled. Now he was no longer nervous standing in such a place, but until last year, he would still stutter when meeting the knights of the territory.

His assistants stood quietly by the side; they were young men personally selected by Norris—they were literate and also knowledgeable about farming. Finding someone who fits both criteria was very difficult, so over the past half year, Norris took every opportunity to bring them along, hoping to quickly groom these young people.

He knew he was old—although his age was still considered middle-aged for a Transcendent, he was not one, and having endured too much hardship and hunger in his youth, his body couldn’t be fully repaired by just eating well and drinking two bottles of alchemical potions over the past two years. Maybe in a few years, he would have to leave this position.

For this, he did not have much regret, because during these years he had already lived a life he never dared to dream of, but he always felt this would betray the leader’s trust—he wanted to at least cultivate the young people in the Agricultural Department to be self-sufficient while he was still energetic, to pass on the pits and mistakes he encountered after being the head of the Agricultural Department, and to transmit all the knowledge and experience he accumulated over half a lifetime...

While the Minister of Agriculture was lost in these thoughts, the sound of footsteps suddenly came from outside the door, and immediately afterward the door was pushed open. Godwin Orlando, with his white beard and wearing a scholar’s robe, exuding a suave and steady demeanor, entered after open the door: ”Ah, Mr. Norris—I’m very sorry to have kept you waiting, I’ve been quite busy lately...”

”Don’t say that,” Norris hastened to greet him—in this land, his status was equal to that of Godwin Orlando, but his life experience in the first half of life had accustomed him to regard ”scholars” as absolute high-class individuals, and even now, when they could interact on equal terms, he still approached him with a sort of respect, ”We’re the ones who arrived ten minutes early—now you’re just on time.”

”Please, take a seat—gentlemen, please take a seat,” Godwin gestured for everyone to sit down, then went straight to the point, ”Let’s not waste time—the leader and Aunt Heidi have a new plan, and it’s very important, extremely important, that’s why I’ve gathered you here, and in the afternoon, I’ll also be calling Mr. Hummel and Miss Jenni, it requires cooperation from many people.”

Norris was a bit puzzled: ”Agriculture, refining, and the Rune Research Center?”

”Take a look at this first, and you’ll soon understand,” Godwin said as he opened the desk drawer and took out a thin pamphlet, ”Mr. Norris, this should have been written by you, right?”

Norris took the pamphlet, noticing that it was printed with easily understood words: ”Cultivation and Harvesting of Sweetwood Roots and Leguminous Crops.”

”Of course, I wrote this. The leader asked me to turn my farming experience into a book to teach other farmers, so I figured out how to write such a... book,” Norris said, but with a hint of shyness in his voice, because sitting in front of him was a renowned scholar, and talking about his ”book” in front of such a prolific scholar was indeed a test of confidence. ”Is there... something wrong with it?”

”Of course, there’s nothing wrong with it, and we need more booklets like this now,” Godwin Orlando said, his face glowing with youthful enthusiasm, ”Let us praise the printing press—and more so those admirable people who invented it—the grand spread of knowledge is beginning. According to the leader’s command, we are to compile a set of books entitled ’Basics of Everything,’ covering seven major categories including agricultural knowledge, magical industry, social knowledge, magical knowledge, natural knowledge, theological knowledge, and geography history, and in the future, it may cover even more. Mr. Norris, your previously compiled booklet is very useful; many farmers in Cecil Castle have achieved a bountiful harvest relying on the knowledge you imparted, but now, your work has to go a step further—”

Norris listened attentively to every word Godwin Orlando said, his body slightly hunched forward, the wrinkles etched by years of hardship and elements on his face resembling furrows in the field, appeared to record his entire past for a moment, he suddenly realized, realized how he should proceed.

He did have something to pass on—

”Mr. Norris, I’m only skilled in literature and know nothing about farming, so I hope to get help from you and your apprentices for this part of the content,” Godwin Orlando sincerely said, in the past, he would never have thought to seek knowledge from a farmer, but now he had no time to contemplate what was wrong with learning from a farmer—his passion had been ignited, and his mind was filled with the words ”the grand spread of knowledge,” ”We need your knowledge.”

...

”We need your knowledge...”

In the break room of the Magic Web Broadcasting Center, Jenni recalled the words Aunt Heidi had said to her a few days ago, and couldn’t help but take a deep breath before she lowered her head and continued to read the manuscript and materials she had sorted out over several nights.

The Mechanical Scholars and Mage Technicians responsible for debugging the machinery and equipment were still busy in the next room, making the break room exceedingly quiet. One could only hear the sound of papers being flipped, but at this moment, Jenni suddenly felt someone touch her arm.

She looked up, slightly surprised, only to find that Rebecca had somehow sat beside her, this young viscountess holding a stack of papers in one hand, while offering several candies to her with the other: ”Nervous? If you’re nervous, have some candy!”

”Ah... thank you,” Jenni thanked her while accepting the candies, then, putting one into her mouth, she curiously looked at the papers Rebecca was holding, ”Are you going to... record a ’program’ too?”

”Yeah, I’m recording after you,” Rebecca waved the manuscript in her hand, then pointed to a pile of machinery models placed in the corner of the wall, ”It’s about the recognition and usage instructions of several common magical-conducting machinery and the demonstration of the original Repulsion Piston Magic Energy Engine.”

Having previously researched Runology together and co-edited the first edition of the ”Low-Level Spell-Rune Array Contrast Table,” Jenni and Rebecca had a good relationship. The runemaster with white hair, who always secluded herself in the research center, didn’t hide her tension: ”I... what if I don’t know what to say later?”

”Then just re-record it,” Rebecca waved her hand, ”Today isn’t a live broadcast—record a few more times, and it’ll surely work. But you should be careful for the first live broadcast in three days’ time.”

Jenni seemingly let out a slight sigh of relief, and then couldn’t help but sigh, ”Truly admire Miss Giply... They say her first time was a live broadcast.”

”Actually, you just need to relax a bit, it’s nothing to be nervous about. It’s just standing in front of the stage and demonstrating a few of the simplest little experiments, manipulating the magic symbol to show everyone how the most basic symbol works. What you teach to apprentices in the research center is much more profound than that—aren’t you able to teach them well?”

”It’s different,” Jenni shook her head with a bitter smile. ”If there are a few apprentices standing by my side, having me lecture to them, I wouldn’t be nervous. But earlier, when I looked at the studio inside... having to stand on an empty stage and do a demonstration in front of a bunch of Magic Web terminals and half a room of expressionless technical personnel makes me really nervous. And the thought that those images will be recorded and broadcasted on the Magic Web...”

Jenni spoke and couldn’t help but touch her own cheek, with her nervousness showing again.

”There’s no choice, it’s to ensure the experimental details can be captured on camera... but you’ve reminded me. Next time, maybe I can have a helper go on stage; it could ease the handling and reduce nervousness...” Rebecca’s thoughts seemed to open up, and she began to chatter merrily, but halfway through, her gaze fell on Jenni’s face.

The Runemaster from the royal capital, the head of the Rune Research Center, one of the founders of Cecil Magic Industry, was unnaturally gathering a few strands of long hair next to her ear.

Jenni had specially styled her head of white long hair today, letting the soft strands cascade down from the side of her face to her chest, almost covering half of her face.

However, even so, between the strands of hair, those obvious burn scars on her exposed neck were still clearly visible.

Despite usually hardly caring about these scars anymore, never deliberately concealing them while working in the research center, in this special moment, Jenni clearly cared.

Jenni noticed Rebecca’s gaze and became more unnatural. She gathered her hair again and asked, a little uneasy, ”Can... can they still be seen?”

”Yes, they can,” Rebecca nodded, ”And no matter what, they’ll be visible.”

Jenni’s hair-gathering movement immediately stiffened, and her expression appeared disheartened and disappointed: ”I actually tried Master Pittman’s blemish-removal ointment, but it’s completely ineffective...”

”Most of Pittman’s ointments sold privately are ineffective,” Rebecca said, pursing her lips, and then looked seriously at Jenni, ”And I think you don’t need to conceal them—in fact, I believe you should display them openly. Of course, that’s just my opinion.”

Jenni looked surprised at this first friend of hers who crossed social boundaries to interact honestly with her: ”Why...”

”Because you are beautiful,” Rebecca said candidly, ”Really—you are beautiful. Although you have these scars, they aren’t as severe as you imagine.”

Jenni hesitated, feeling happy to hear Rebecca’s praise, yet unsure whether these compliments truly belonged to her. Amid her hesitation, a voice suddenly came from beside her: ”Do you feel ashamed because of those scars?”

Jenni raised her head in surprise and saw a tall figure.

She hurriedly stood up, ”Leader...”

Gawain waved his hand, indicating Jenni needed not to be so formal: ”The one who should be ashamed of those scars is your mentor, not you—of course, whether you choose to conceal them or ignore them is your right, but I don’t think those scars make you ugly, nor do I think you need to be ashamed of them.”

The door to the studio opened, and a technician came out, saying to Jenni, ”Miss Jenni—the machine is ready, we can start anytime.”

Jenni hurriedly grabbed the few sheets of paper in her hand, standing up somewhat bewildered.

Gawain quietly looked at her: ”You’re spreading knowledge, you should be proud of your knowledge because behind this knowledge stands that unnamed Wild Mage, there also stands Master Ravencrest—are you sure you want to introduce them with anxiety and shame rather than pride and confidence?”

Rebecca also stood up, she grabbed Jenni’s arm firmly, smiling brightly: ”Go for it!”

Jenni glanced down at the few pages of manuscript that she had almost crumpled, and after a few seconds of silence, she took a deep breath.

Then, she rolled up her hair and walked toward the nearby door.

Watching Jenni’s back, Gawain exhaled slightly: ”One must take the first step.”

”Yeah, I think she should walk out too—clearly beautiful,” Rebecca mumbled, then curiously looked at Gawain, ”But speaking of which, ancestor sir, why did you also come along?”

”Aunt Heidi is really worried about you,” Gawain said with mixed emotions, ”Of course, I’m pretty worried too—I fear you might blow up this place.”

”Wow—”