Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 346 - 345: A Wise Choice

Things we’ll surely be dealing with in the future?

The Kant Knights couldn’t help but ponder after hearing Gawain’s words, and soon linked it to something similar.

What would knights deal with? Besides the ceremonies that every aristocrat has to encounter, it would surely be swords, armor, and warhorses.

Though the noble hierarchy of Anzu is on a decline, many traditional warrior nobles have been corrupted by a life of luxury, starting to rely on magic rituals, potions, and other easy methods to catalyze their extraordinary power. But this is, after all, a world where extraordinary power exists, and personal strength largely determines social status. Especially in the poorly managed southern borders, the grassroots warrior aristocrats still emphasize "strength". These knights from Kant territory are no exception—as protectors of higher aristocrats and the martial standard-bearers of their territory, they always prioritize enhancing their personal power. When it comes to what knights must deal with... that’s undoubtedly weaponry.

At most, add some retinues as "ornaments".

The knights exchanged glances in silence, understanding that the new leader was probably about to show them his military strength. It’s heard that Cecil’s original forces suffered greatly from the previous disaster, surviving extraordinary knights counted only two, and the rest were merely soldiers and militias. However, Gawain later recruited a large number from the refugees and trained them, barely making up the quantity needed to defend the territory...

They didn’t know much about this new army, only heard that it possessed some peculiar weaponry, its combat power significantly surpassing ordinary soldiers. Probably, what the new leader wanted to demonstrate was related to this.

The knights had their own thoughts, but they unanimously felt that the leader didn’t actually need to show his army—being a powerful knight lord with legendary strength himself, Gawain Cecil was already the best deterrence. His combat capability was enough; what else did he need to show?

Regardless of their thoughts, the team soon reached the weapon testing ground outside the city. After passing through several soldier checkpoints, the Kant Knights arrived at a tall, wooden viewing stand and saw a row of peculiar large objects neatly arranged on the ground below.

"I want to show you the Justice-I type Magic Crystal Railgun newly equipped in the Cecil Combat Corps," Gawain said with a slight smile to the curious Kant Knights looking around, "If you intend to become part of Cecil, you need to understand your own combat style thoroughly."

Justice-I type Magic Crystal Railgun? What’s that? Are they those large iron lumps and columns on the field? Their shapes seem quite regular, and who knows how the craftsmen made them all identical...

The knights were puzzled, then saw soldiers spring into action: those trained from ordinary people ran around each railgun, loading metal objects between the steel, adjusting the "tracks’ angles, checking something, and continuously shouting bizarre commands...

This was indeed a fresh scene; these soldiers barely emitted any extraordinary aura, indicating they were all commoners, illiterate tillers. Yet Duke Gawain Cecil could train such people to obey so well, act swiftly, and cooperate seamlessly. That’s no simple feat. But what are they doing?

While the knights were puzzled, a soldier holding a small flag suddenly ran below the observation stand and shouted loudly: "Report! Railguns ready, requesting instructions!"

Gawain nodded slightly: "Rapid fire, open fire."

The soldier turned around and waved his flag in a peculiar rhythm.

Before the knights realized what was happening, they saw movement from all soldiers behind the "railguns": they pressed something on the base, a hum of magical energy charging emanated from the strange large devices, and bright magic symbols appeared on the surface. Then, soldiers standing at the rear sides of the base pulled down a red lever.

A series of explosions followed, and from each railgun’s front, dazzling halos erupted suddenly: these were the flashes from activated aerodynamic symbols. Then, masses of indistinct objects shot into the sky, flying off into the distance.

Even with their supernatural vision, the knights could barely capture the flight paths of these objects.

Moments later, thunderous roars exploded, and from the distant hillside rose huge blasts of light, soil, and rocks leaping into the air, forming small mushroom clouds in the shockwave.

The knights jumped at the thundering noise, many mistaking it for a mighty mage attacking the territory, with some even instinctively activating their protective aura, but they saw no mage. Instead, those soldiers below continued to work calmly amidst the noise, loading new metal objects into the steel, followed by another volley, another thunderous roar...

They finally realized what they thought was dozens of high-level spells going off was this terrifying barrage.

After several rounds of firing, the deafening roar finally subsided. The knights exchanged glances; Gawain, meanwhile, walked past them with a smile towards the viewing platform exit: "Gentlemen, we should head to the next place now. No need to keep staring; after today, you’ll inevitably deal with these things anyway."

Now, they finally understood what "dealing with these things" meant.

Wald Peric walked in the middle of the group, overhearing a young knight beside him mumbling: "The new regulations... seem acceptable..."

Wald slightly turned his head, recognizing the knight who had previously vowed to "show an attitude."

Next, Gawain took these people for a visit to the shell assembly factory.

He didn’t let these Kant Knights observe the rune structures inside the shells (although he believed that these knights probably couldn’t understand the runes, as not everyone is adept in both magic and combat like him), he merely showed them how many of those powerful shells can be made here in a day.

After returning to the feudal lord’s mansion, Gawain looked at the reactions of these old knights with satisfaction, but he believed that his intimidation was sufficient and it was time to offer these people some comfort.

"Gentlemen, I know you have resentment towards the deprivation of land governance rights—no need to argue or hide, I have enough insight to see that, but what I want to say is that this is the foundation upon which the Cecil territory can thrive, and it is also the foundation for a brighter future for you.

"I guess you cannot yet understand the concept of liberating productive forces, unleashing population, concentrating authority, but I can promise you that once you relinquish your old privileges, you will gain more in the new order—not just wealth, but also personal glory and achievement.

"A new management department, similar to a Grade 2 Bureau of Affairs, will be established in Kant territory, Sir Philip and Mr. Patrick will oversee this work, and I hope Knight Wald Peric will be the pillar of strength in this process, just as you maintained order in Kant territory months ago, I hope you will also be the maintainer of the new order.

"I also want to take this opportunity to remind everyone present to find your place in the new order, rather than mourn the privileges that are destined to be lost; this is the wise choice.

"Now, you may take your oaths or leave."

Cecil territory, White River bank, a new merchant ship is docking at the pier with the help of a harbor guide.

In the north of the kingdoms, major rivers are still severely in low-water period, water sources in the mountains remain frozen, and northern parts of the river surfaces are still covered with floating ice, but in the southern borders of the kingdom, near the Gondor wasteland, the river-blocking ice has melted. Although the rainy season is still far away, at least on the White River, lighter and faster merchant ships have become active again.

With the newly rising water levels, merchants who have anxiously waited all winter cannot wait to resume their trade. Revival Month is not only the revival of the farmland, but also the revival of these merchants who travel far and wide, relying on the trading of goods for living. At this time, all territories are in urgent need of goods from afar—of course, most self-sufficient farmers would not deal with these merchants; they mainly deal with wealthy families and aristocrats in the territories, bringing the wine, sugar, new carpets and fabrics, as well as spices and furs that the wealthy urgently need.

These goods can all be sold for higher prices at this time.

Because the White River’s water level is still shallow and there are many dangerous floating ice chunks on the river’s surface, the first batch of departing merchant ships must bear greater risks, and the sooner they depart, the greater the risks. Yet, driven by profits, there are always brave ones willing to be the first to set sail.

The goods demanded by each territory vary greatly, and Cecil territory might be the "most unique" among them. Here, the demand for wine and spices is not high, while there is a large demand for various magic minerals and raw metal ores. These goods are quite heavy and costly to transport by land, so they are mostly shipped by water. And due to the flourishing alchemical potions business, any merchant with common sense knows that Cecil territory has money; therefore, as soon as the river opens, ships loaded with magic minerals have arrived at Cecil’s docks.

Along with the minerals, the first batch of new immigrants has arrived in this developing new region with the advent of Revival Month.

The clerk responsible for registering immigrants sits in the office on the west side of the dock. He has been doing this job since last year and is well-accustomed to the work. Knowing that today’s merchant ship also brought along some immigrants, he organized the registration forms and began recording those illiterate, unable to clearly state their names, outsiders.

One shabby clothed registrant after another came in and went out, the clerk adeptly yet numbly sorted the forms and filled out the details, but suddenly, he noticed an unusual coat in his sight.

It was a wool overcoat, albeit old, but clean and tidy—certainly not an attire a homeless wanderer would have.

The clerk raised his head, following the seams of that wool coat upwards with his gaze, seeing a man who was down-and-out but still looked decent.

"Registering here?" the man cautiously asked.

"Yes," the clerk instinctively handed over a form, "Name, age, work skills or previous profession?"

"Joseph, thirty years old, pharmacist."

"Pharmacist?" The clerk’s fingers paused while recording, this was the most decent profession he had ever documented since taking this job. He hesitantly raised his head to confirm again, "You mean pharmacist?"

"Yes, pharmacist, there are still a dozen more queuing outside... including pharmacists, herbalists, alchemists..."