Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 931 - 930: Reminder

After listening to the report of Maid Chief Diana, Rosetta’s expression, already stern and gloomy, seemed to become even more so, but he said nothing, merely replying indifferently, ”Understood—thank you, you may go.”

Diana nodded, stepping back gracefully, her figure gradually disappearing into a distortion Field.

”Father,” Matilda couldn’t help but look at her father, ”the information Diana mentioned... is it reliable?”

”Diana wouldn’t make mistakes on such matters, unless the Sect of the God of War has woven a web large enough to blind all the royal eyes,” Rosetta said with a calm tone.

”...So the Sect of the God of War indeed has serious problems, and Malm Dunite is deliberately hiding it from us...” Matilda said with a complex expression, her tone revealing a hint of melancholy, ”The entire Sage Hall is hiding it from us...”

”Before being your elder and my friend, Malm is first the Pope of the War God. Therefore, before loyalty to the royal family and to friends, he is loyal to his god,” Rosetta said calmly, as if he had foreseen all this, ”Any devout believer would do so... When theocracy and royal authority coexist and diverge, this is inevitable.”

Matilda sensed a deeper meaning in her father’s words, but before she could ask, he suddenly changed the subject: ”You haven’t made an appearance at the council yet, have you?”

”Not yet,” Matilda recalled her schedule for the day, remembering the several proposals she needed to listen to at the council, and nodded, ”I was just about to go.”

”Go earlier—dignity is the royal grace, but being late is not.”

Matilda glanced at her father, said nothing, and only bowed as she retreated: ”...Yes, Father.”

The garden fell silent once more as Matilda’s presence faded away, leaving only Rosetta Augustus standing quietly under the pine foliage. The Typhon Ruler lowered his head, looking at the flower bed in front of him—a flower bed that wasn’t thriving despite the precious plants doing their best to stretch their branches, yet signs of poor growth were still evident on the foliage.

”Diana,” Rosetta suddenly spoke to the air beside him, ”what do you think of Matilda?”

In a subtle ripple of Magic Power, the figure of the black-haired maid Diana silently appeared. She hadn’t left at all; her advanced aura control made it seem like she had vacated the garden, even deceiving the keen-eyed Matilda.

The maid chief slightly bowed her head with a respectful demeanor and said, ”I should not comment on your offspring, Your Majesty.”

”When did you learn the human’s art of pretense?” Rosetta raised an eyebrow, with a slight hint of a smile. ”This isn’t a public forum, and Matilda grew up under your watch.”

The black-haired maid was silent for nearly two seconds before she finally spoke: ”...As a human being, Matilda is extraordinarily gifted with an outstanding intellect, an exceptionally sharp perception beyond her years, and she readily embraces newly emerged concepts. Despite this, she hasn’t effectively managed the Conservatives; in this respect, she’s clearly not as adept as you.”

”A common issue among young people—she’s not skilled in hiding her inclinations,” Rosetta nodded, ”I’m also to blame. I’ve focused too much on the country’s governance and my order’s framework, neglecting to nurture Matilda and Hadrian into being exceptional enough. If not for those children’s diligence, their precious talents would be wasted.”

”’Cultivation’ cannot fully mature humanity; fields related to experience require personal reflection and enlightenment,” Diana stated bluntly, ”You didn’t receive enough training before becoming emperor, yet you proved far more exceptional than those meticulously ’crafted’ successors.”

Rosetta was silent for a bit, then chuckled and shook his head, ”There are things only you dare to say directly.”

”It’s the most factual and beneficial answer for the country,” Diana responded with a soft voice but little emotional fluctuation, ”I also don’t understand the choices of Prince Malik and Dukes Fabbro and Colemanrony back then.”

”Because humans aren’t machines; we are full of uncertainties. Expecting humans to always be rational is a luxury,” Rosetta gently shook his head, then suddenly turned to the black-haired maid beside him, with a solemn expression, ”Will you continue to serve the next king of Typhon?”

”As long as I can continue providing my service,” Diana replied meticulously, ”That was the pact settled after the Augustus Clan ancestors took me in and provided necessary maintenance.”

”I trust this pact; in this aspect, you are far more reliable than humans.” Rosetta gave a faint smile and then waved his hand, ”Let’s not discuss this further. Tell me about the recent rumors in the city. Is there anything worth paying attention to?”

”Nothing significant has changed among the populace, but some unusual news has emerged from the Royal Mage Association over the past two days,” the black-haired maid said, ”Mages reported abnormalities during prayers to the Goddess of Magic. Their prayers lost their responses, indicating that the Goddess’s last shred of attention towards the mortal world has vanished.”

”The Goddess of Magic?” Rosetta frowned, ”Even the Goddess of Magic is experiencing issues...”

He glanced at Diana, ”What is Lady Windsor Maple doing?”

”She’s collecting feedback from the Mages and organizing teams for testing—because the Mages haven’t formed a religious group, it’s hard to determine who should inquire into the Goddess of Magic’s anomaly, so she’ll likely report to you.”

Rosetta’s expression remained grim and serious, and as Diana finished speaking, he was already deep in thought. At that moment, a new presence entered the royal garden.

Diana looked in the direction of the biological response, and shortly thereafter, a high-ranking attendant in a dark blue tunic appeared at the end of the cobblestone path.

”Your Majesty,” the high-ranking attendant bowed to Rosetta Augustus, ”a ’direct line missive’ from the Cecil Empire, bearing the royal seal.”

”A direct line missive?” Rosetta immediately put on a solemn expression, ”Bring it here.”

Special line communication, this is a new phenomenon that emerged after Matilda completed her diplomatic mission to the Cecil Clan, leading to further diplomatic relations between the two countries, based on modern communication technology. Unlike the old days when ”national letters” had to be passed between rulers through tortuous procedures that sometimes took months, special line communication is a rapidly transmitted ”letter” that relies on the Magic Web Communication of the Cecil Empire and the Typhon Empire’s communication Tower network.

Such a ”letter” is sent from the source via layers of Magic Web nodes or communication Tower nodes with minimal human intervention and quickly reaches its destination, taking into account essential human forwarding and final transcription, delivery time, the entire process takes less than an hour—almost a conceptual level of improvement compared to the old communication efficiency.

Emperor Rosetta received the letter handed over by the attendant, a ”copy” printed at the communication Tower of the Obsidian Palace less than half an hour ago. The paper still emanated the scent of ink, with Typhon royal shield at the top and the Cecil royal emblem at the bottom.

The Typhon Ruler recalled the discussion with Windsor and Daniel about the new communication technology—the communication efficiency between Typhon and Cecil could be improved further from a technical perspective. By simplifying unnecessary human intermediary roles and completely upgrading the technology at communication Tower, direct, delay-free communication between rulers could become a miraculous reality. Yet the only obstacle was the conservative aristocratic faction and traditional Mages who still derived benefits from the current system.

The main agenda of today’s parliament is the communication technology upgrade—similar to yesterday’s meeting, the discussion today probably won’t yield any results.

Mild discussions and voting cannot solve the allocation of interests between old and new factions—the best method to shut the old forces’ mouths is usually only two: either wait for them to die off, or let the wheels of new developments crush them—without hesitation.

Let’s hope the young Matilda can realize this point after facing a chaotic parliament.

Rosetta shook his head, temporarily tossing irrelevant thoughts aside, and focused his gaze on the letter’s text. After reading just two lines, his brow furrowed instinctively.

The letter was issued in the name of Gawain Cecil himself, and the content was straightforward—

”To my neighbor and friend, recently I have come to know some extremely disturbing information that might even affect Typhon, far away—a report from my Mages suggests the Goddess of Magic’s divine status has disappeared...”

Rosetta inhaled slowly, glanced at the attendant standing by, who immediately understood and quietly retreated from the garden; then he resumed reading:

”...this might be a precursor to a widespread event, and as neighbors with closely connected lands, I believe we have a responsibility to share intelligence on such matters, not only for the friendly relations between our two countries but for humanity’s collective future...

”...Cecil’s Mages have conducted a series of attempts, using technical means in the ’investigation,’ and my advisor now has a frightening suspicion that the Goddess of Magic might have fallen for some unknown reasons—this sounds inconceivable, yet we all know that similar things occurred three thousand years ago, when the Druids lost their ’Gods’ during the White Starfall...

”...Mages would continue their investigations, and I also hope that Typhon would take this matter seriously, as the faith in gods is not confined to any single country or location, it spans over the heads of all mortals, affecting the entire mortal world’s order...”

Rosetta’s gaze moved further down, and the subsequent contents made his eyes narrow sharply:

”...Furthermore, alongside the anomaly concerning the Goddess of Magic, the priests and priests of the War God also reported unusual phenomena—from a certain perspective, I believe their reports are more disturbing than the disappearance of the Goddess of Magic...

”...Many Priests serving the War God have shown symptoms of mental intrusion, tortured repeatedly by violent illusions and sounds, and the more they pray to the War God for sanctuary, the more severe the mental intrusion becomes—like it originates from the War God himself...

”...These are originally internal matters of the church, yet the successive anomalies concerning the Goddess of Magic and the War God have inevitably caught my attention...

”We all know that during the ’Anzu Civil War,’ the insane Dark Cultists once created an uncontrolled deity. I do not wish to speak blasphemy, but that incident proved ’divine power’ is not as purely benevolent as mortals imagine, it can also become terrifyingly violent. And now, I’m worried that certain forces are brewing similar events... The ’divine disaster’ on the Plains of the Holy Spirits might recur, and more dangerous than the Evil God created by those dark Druids is the Goddess of Magic and the War God—especially the latter—who hold great faith influence in the present age...

”My friend, as you read this letter, I am also preparing to alert surrounding countries, but I think Typhon should be the nation most vigilant for reasons that are obvious...

”...If you agree, I am willing to share with Typhon some experiences and effective protective technologies from the Cecil Clan’s confrontation against the ’divine disaster’ on the Plains of the Holy Spirits. Of course, no one wishes for a divine disaster to truly recur, all actions are just in anticipation...

”...Your neighbor, Gawain Cecil.”

Rosetta’s gaze scanned through the final sign-off, deeply exhaling after a few seconds of silence.

Diana stood quietly beside him, showing no curiosity about the contents of the letter.

”...A truly timely reminder,” Rosetta seemed to speak to himself, ”A ’divine disaster’... what an apt word.”

Diana’s voice came from the side: ”Your Majesty, should Duke Ferdinand Wendell be summoned for discussion?”

Rosetta nodded: ”Yes, have Duke Ferdinand come immediately, I’ll see him in the study.”

As he spoke, he turned to leave the garden, but before taking a step, he suddenly stopped, his gaze sweeping over the pine tree beside the flowerbed.

This tree has been ill for many years, and the incurable illness has even begun to affect the growth of surrounding plants.

”Additionally, inform the nursery officer, have this tree cut down.”