Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1072: Chapter 1071: Getting Better

From a personal emotional standpoint, Gawain considers Melita Ponia a friend and has a natural kindness and admiration for the splendid dragon civilization, but he cannot make decisions based solely on personal angles—as a ruler of an Empire, he must ensure that every wealth created by his citizens is used in the right place.

Now that Talronde is facing difficulties, although Melita Ponia and other envoys have not formally requested help, it is only a matter of time. Gawain can certainly provide assistance, but there must also be reciprocal returns behind the aid—political returns, technological returns, economic or resource returns, or even purely humanitarian returns. All these must be considered.

It was after considering all these aspects comprehensively that Gawain ultimately concluded that aiding Talronde at this time would be an investment with potentially incredible returns.

The centipede does not die easily, and even if the once-glorious Talronde civilization on this planet were to fall, it remains a treasure trove. Even without considering the ancient technology buried in that wasteland or the wealth accumulated by the dragons that has not been destroyed in the fires of war, the dragons themselves alone are an undeniable force for the mortal nations on this planet—and the opportunity to lend a helping hand to these formidable creatures...is rare indeed.

Gawain sat on the sofa, thoughtfully pondering the significance behind this matter and the necessary discretion when taking various actions. Rebecca, standing nearby, watched the expression on her ancestor’s face with curiosity. Unable to suppress her curiosity any longer, she asked, ”Ancestor, what are you thinking about?”

Gawain glanced at the young girl, showing a smile: ”Just thinking about providing aid to Talronde...making dragons owe a favor is a rare opportunity.”

Aunt Heidi, standing by, blinked, and her mind began to work: ”Should we let the merchants ’move’ a bit? We could preemptively purchase surplus and even old grain from the Northern countries on a large scale, so that none of them have more surplus to help Talronde before the first harvest of the year. We could become the largest pillar of support for Dragon Kingdom, maybe even offer the only food aid, and this would be a monopolized aid—given the Dragonkin’s adherence to tradition and morals; we would receive the greatest and most enduring support from Talronde. This will probably cost a ton of money, but it would totally be worth it—compared to the support of the Dragonkin, those grains are just a minor cost.”

Heidi’s ingenious idea made Amber and Rebecca both glance at her twice, and even Gawain showed a slightly surprised look. Yet, after a brief reflection, he still shook his head: ”Honestly, your idea is indeed quite...to my liking. In the past, we really could’ve done something like that, but now we can’t.”

Heidi was stunned for a moment, not immediately understanding: ”Huh? Why?”

This time Gawain hadn’t even spoken when Amber interjected: ”Isn’t it simple? Times have changed. In the past, Cecil was doing solitary play, but now we are to establish an alliance and make a set of rules for everyone to follow—when we eat meat, it’s unacceptable not even to leave a bit of soup for others, and moreover, we have to leave a share of that meat too. Otherwise, if we go too far, who in the world would trust in Cecil’s ’common destiny’?”

This half-elf said such a long piece in one breath, leaving both Gawain and Heidi greatly surprised, the latter even widening her eyes: ”This doesn’t sound like something you could say!”

Amber retorted with hands on her hips: ”What’s wrong with that? Is it just gathering allies? I’ve seen a lot of it during my time at the slum...”

The half-elf’s words made some sense, but their self-satisfied look was quite irritating, and Heidi barely resisted casting an ice arrow to explode her head—but mostly because she’d probably miss. Stealing a sidelong glance at Amber, Heidi returned her gaze to Gawain’s face: ”So, ancestor, how do we ensure Cecil’s initiative on this matter?”

”It’s simple,” Gawain smiled as he seized the opportunity to instruct Heidi on how to operate in the future international order, ”although we can’t monopolize aid by purchasing large amounts of food, we can be the first to step up for summons and organization. ”The biggest difference between playing a role in an alliance and being a ’lone hero’ is that your ’voice’ can equate to tangible power and even resources. As long as you adeptly use your prestige and balance capabilities to lead and accomplish something, even if you basically contributed nothing, you can make everyone believe you were the one who gave the most.

”Of course, others are not fools. If we contribute nothing, no matter how much prestige and voice we have, it will eventually fall by the wayside. Moreover, the prototype of the alliance has yet to be established, so we can’t talk much about prestige and balance capabilities. Therefore, we still need to invest real money, taking the lead means acting like a leader—that comes at a cost higher than those who ’do one thing, shout two things, pose three things,’ but it is absolutely long-lasting.”

Gawain expounded with patience, while Heidi listened attentively, with just a few words of instruction bringing her considerable insight. These were perspectives she had never considered, but she immediately saw the light once she understood them.

”Alright, talking about this can take days and nights to finish,” finally, Gawain realized it was already late and stopped his storytelling, a hint of complicated self-mockery showing on his face, ”I really am getting old, unconsciously falling into lecturing.”

”Please don’t say that, this ’lecturing’ has really benefited me a lot,” Heidi quickly said, ”Your experience and wisdom are a precious treasure.”

”Alright, alright, there’s no benefit from flattering me,” Gawain waved his hand with a smile, then turned to look at the dragon egg placed not far from the sofa—it was still quietly resting on a grooved pedestal, shimmering with a faint golden glow under the lamplight, its surface magic symbols flickering, and mysterious patterns faintly visible beneath the eggshell. Gawain’s expression slowly became peculiar, ”I’d better ponder how to handle this thing...”

With one sentence, Gawain instantly drew everyone’s attention back to the dragon egg. Amber couldn’t help but circle around the dragon egg, unable to hold back from speaking, ”Speaking of this dragon egg, are you sure it has nothing to do with you? You were called by the dragon goddess late at night and stayed there for who knows what. Shortly after, Talronde sent over a dragon egg specifically for you... That sounds so much like... Oh my Ma!!”

Amber’s latter half of the sentence was cut off by a startled cry as an ice orb, nearly as big as her head, whizzed past her ear, headed into the distance—Heidi had somehow already grabbed a magic wand, glaring at this disgrace of all existence, and Gawain was nearby quietly advising, ”Next time, try to lower the point of spell focus a bit...”

Cold sweat trickled down Amber’s forehead while Rebecca, watching and trembling at the side, dared not utter a word. She then recalled that she herself had mentioned something similar not long ago and vaguely felt that she probably owed someone a beating...

A moment later, Heidi finally put away her magic wand, glared at Rebecca and Amber, then looked at the dragon egg and back at her ancestor: ”Are you really planning to hatch it? We still can’t determine the true intention of that ’God’ in entrusting you with this dragon egg... even if He has no malicious intent, the consequences of its hatching are unpredictably complex.”

”I understand your concern, but we have to try in order to discover how it reacts to external stimuli,” Gawain said, ”and honestly...aren’t you curious about it?”

Heidi stared at the dragon egg, hesitated for a long while, and shyly nodded: ”...Indeed, I too am quite curious to see what it will hatch into.”

”Let’s set up a special room for it,” Gawain said as he thought, ”maintain an appropriate temperature according to the parameters Melita Ponia suggested, and let the technicians set up the magic web and conversion device in the room. Then arrange for people to take shifts watching over it, always keeping an eye out for any unusual changes in this dragon egg.”

...

Under the night sky, Cecil City remained brightly lit, with artificial lights shining upon the land, transforming this area at the foot of the Dark Mountain Range into a magnificent city that never sleeps. In a square near the city’s center, Cassandra curiously observed this human city that was so distinct from the northern port.

Maintaining her sea serpent form, she leisurely crawled along the edge of the square under the streetlights, the light illuminating her shimmering scales with a dreamlike glow. Tiel, yawning constantly, followed her, wobbling left and right as he moved forward—he had been dragged out by Cassandra, after all, the Deep Sea Witch was unfamiliar with this city and needed a guide, and Tiel was the only one of her kind in this city.

Occasionally, curious glances from Cecil Citizens in the vicinity would fall upon the two sea demons walking in the square, but no one rudely interrupted them: the city had a peculiar pride and restraint. While its residents were filled with a strong curiosity and spirit of exploration, they consistently maintained a position of restraint and courtesy in front of outsiders. Cassandra did not know how this civic style came about, but she found it somewhat admirable.

”I say, can’t you just clear your head?” Cassandra finally spoke up after Tiel nearly fell asleep for the third time while walking. ”When I looked for you in the evening, you said you were catching up on sleep. When I looked for you at night, you were still catching up on sleep, and now it’s almost ten o’clock, and you’re saying you need to catch up on more sleep. Don’t you think something’s not right?”

Tiel forcefully lifted his eyelids and lazily, yet understandably, responded to his long unseen kin: ”Nonsense, it’s already night; of course, I have to sleep—going to bed at ten o’clock sharp. Isn’t my schedule healthy?”

Back in Antawen, Cassandra was aware of ”Sleeper Tiel’s” reputation, but hearing the other party’s bold logic still made her cover her forehead helplessly: ”There’s nothing wrong with sleeping at night, but you should be awake during the day... I’m just curious, are you ever truly awake in a day?”

Tiel raised his head: ”How can there not be? I’m awake in my dreams!”

Cassandra: ”...”

The Deep Sea Witch shook her head helplessly, her serpentine tail slithering as she headed towards a nearby nighttime shop. Along the way, several city residents going to work at night glanced curiously in her direction, their eyes falling on Cassandra’s tail—though they quickly gave a polite smile and looked away, Cassandra still noticed these glances, and simultaneously recalled the odd gazes she had frequently encountered since arriving in this city. She furrowed her brow and couldn’t help but look at her kin by her side: ”Tiel, I find it a bit odd...”

Tiel, bleary-eyed, looked up and asked: ”What’s odd?”

”Aren’t the Cecil people not unfamiliar with sea demons?” Cassandra pointed at her own tail, ”But today, it seems like many humans were surprised when they saw me and were very curious about my tail...”

”How would I know why,” Tiel shrugged nonchalantly, his long tail bending as he shuffled forward, ”Why don’t they stare at my tail? So it must be your issue. Alright, let’s go quickly—let me show you around the nearby commercial street, then I’ll go back to sleep...”

Is it my issue?

Cassandra pondered thoughtfully, then shook her head, raised her body intending to catch up to Tiel who had shuffled further away, and after crawling a couple of steps, she finally noticed Tiel’s shuffling tail.

In an instant, the Deep Sea Witch realized the problem.

”Tiel!! You still haven’t learned how to crawl properly?!” Cassandra shouted, ”By the endless sea— in the name of the queen, if you really can’t do it, just transform your legs and walk upright, can’t you?”

”No, using legs to walk makes it impossible to curl up and sleep at any time.”

Not far away, Tiel waved his hand, dismissing Cassandra’s request with his own set of justifications. The Deep Sea Witch grew angry, shouting in frustration from afar—while by their side, this sleepless city grew increasingly lively and prosperous under the lights.

Human scholars from the northwestern City-State Kingdoms leisurely strolled through the streets, discussing Magic Guide Technology and the rumble of factory machines;

Short gray elves traversed the night market stalls and crowds, alongside tall Western Orcs and dark-red-skinned Red Valley People, they strolled the streets with humans;

Not far from the Magic Web Broadcast Device above, a holographic projection displayed a documentary on elf culture, a few long-eared, golden-haired silver elves paused beneath the projection, watching curiously as they observed how humans understood those customs rooted in the tropical forests;

Further away in the direction of the port, northern ships navigating at night had just docked, and a group of young people from the Old Capital had just set foot on this land, carrying the passion for the future, their hearts seeing the legendary Magic Shadow Tycoon Philem as their hero.

Sounds of wings flapping and buzzing came from the sky, a huge shadow swept over the city’s sky, and amidst the navigation lights and flashing beacons, one could faintly see the outline of dragon wings—those were exchange students from the Sacred Dragon Kingdom. They were training in night flight under the guidance of their instructor, equipped with training-use Wings of Steel devices. They took off from the Imperial Academy, flew across the city, heading towards the training camp in the western forest, there completing a two-week spring boot camp along with the cadets.

The top Dragonborn student in each class would receive a brand new, permanently owned set of Wings of Steel, with Princess Rebecca’s personal signature on the device.

Atop the tall Autumn Palace Tower, Melita Ponia withdrew her gaze from the sky. She watched as the excited Dragonborn exchange students soared through the sky, and finally, a smile appeared on her face.

”Things are getting better...”