Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 670 - 669: Gawain’s Speculation

Amber found some clues that were beyond Gawain’s expectations. He had once speculated that Sali Randolph might be a disgraced aristocrat, perhaps stripped of his title due to crimes and forced to live incognito. But he hadn’t expected him to be a fugitive royal shadow guard, having defected during a task to search for Gondor relics... which inevitably sparked curiosity and speculation.

It appears Anzu’s royal family isn’t entirely ignorant of the secrets buried in the Dark Mountain Range. Despite the turmoil during the Fog Month causing the loss of much related lineage, they should still grasp some clues, at least they know something lies within the Dark Mountains.

Of course, this assumption is based on Sali Randolph genuinely seeking the defied Fortress, not another Gondor relic.

"Currently, we haven’t discovered another entrance to the defied Fortress; the entrance we found shows no signs of being opened," Gawain thought aloud. "Even if he entered the defied Fortress, it wouldn’t explain his defection—it’s just an ancient research base. What could be inside to cause a royal shadow guard to betray his king?"

"I can’t figure it out either... Now that I recall, he really was someone who never mentioned his past and lived a messy life," Amber shook her head, sounding a bit downcast. "He constantly had us on the move, changing residences, forging identities, living under the nobles’ noses, stealing and sneaking to survive. Most of our energy was spent on this, which made me hold some resentment against him for a long time... But now I see there was a reason for his actions."

"The royal family wouldn’t easily let a fugitive royal shadow guard go. They surely searched the southern borders for him for a long time, forcing him to hide in places. He couldn’t use his Transcendent skills for respectable jobs—because all things related to Transcendents are monitored by aristocrats—so his options were being a thief or occasionally taking mercenary missions while avoiding extended contact with other mercenaries to prevent those connected to an aristocrat’s dark hand,"

Amber pursed her lips, "That’s probably how it was..."

Gawain began asking about past details, "Was Pittman already with you back then?"

Amber scratched her head, "As long as I can remember, Pittman has been my foster father’s friend, but I’m not clear when they actually met—half-elves have weaker memory in childhood than humans, and it seems worse in me. My memories from that time are fuzzy."

"A fugitive royal shadow guard befriending someone like Pittman while evading capture, don’t you find that strange?" Gawain raised his eyebrows, "Someone avoiding royal pursuit would normally avoid new acquaintances unless necessary—did your foster father ever mention his reason for this?"

Amber frowned, "He never told me, I only heard them boast about becoming the strongest rogue duo in the southern borders—but that reason is certainly unreliable."

"You may not know, but Pittman surely does," Gawain said, "If opportunity arises, perhaps he’ll share."

Pittman, a druid who is both an Eternal Sleeper and Oblivion priest, hides numerous secrets behind his unkempt old man appearance. Gawain knows he must have more, possibly related to Sali Randolph.

Previously, Pittman kept these secrets from others, likely as protection, but now that Amber found clues about her foster father, more importantly, with the Anzu throne ended, and Amber having absorbed all royal shadow guards, things once unspeakable should now be disclosed.

"I’ll ask him," Amber nodded, "It’s been years, he should tell me of the past now."

"Hmm," Gawain pondered, then added, "Can you roughly determine when you were adopted by Sali Randolph? Was it long after he arrived at the southern borders, or did he already have an adopted daughter when he decided to defect?"

"That I know even less," Amber grabbed her head again, her ears twitching, "Why do you ask? Did you think of something?"

"A hypothesis I find quite possible," Gawain fully unleashed his capacity to connect the dots, "Have you considered that Sali Randolph’s defection might be related to you?"

"Me?" Amber stared wide-eyed, pointing at herself as if saying, "Are you kidding me," "What are you saying! I was just a child then!"

"What if the recorded task was false? What if he went to the Dark Mountains not for Gondor relics but for you?" Gawain pointed to scrolls on the table, "Let’s boldly hypothesize, perhaps his real mission was to find a special-bloodline half-elf and deliver them to Anzu’s royal family, or more extremely... a task to kill that half-elf, but he couldn’t do it at the last moment, then everything makes sense."

Amber stared at Gawain, seemingly stunned by his imagination, eventually speaking, "Supposition isn’t guessing, imagination isn’t daydreaming... You’re almost crafting a story here, where’s the evidence—a reputable royal family goes out of their way for a mixed-blood elf, losing a royal shadow guard over it..."

"So I said, perhaps because of your special lineage. Don’t forget, you only know half your lineage is elf, the other half remains a mystery. You know your biological father is an elf, do you know who your mother is?" said Gawain, tapping the table, "And don’t forget one crucial point: the Ring of Shadow Seal."

Amber’s expression froze instantly as she recalled the ring’s origin and properties.

Gawain watched her, speaking slowly, "You could use Francis II’s Ring of Shadow Seal, plus you possess an identical ring devoid of magic power, doesn’t that clue intrigue you?"

Amber considered this, suddenly nervously pressing her chest, drawing a sharp breath, "Oh my... Am I really the remnants of a former dynasty?"

Gawain almost failed to maintain his serious demeanor, "Remnants of a previous dynasty isn’t used like that!"

"This isn’t the time to correct my phrasing," Amber waved her hand, "Your guess actually makes me doubt myself, though it’s just baseless speculation... Well, there is some evidence now, but is it possible?"

"I’m only sharing my thoughts, specifics likely no one but Sali Randolph himself knows," Gawain shook his head, "Yet regardless of past truths, even if my guess is accurate, it matters little now—Anzu’s throne ended, whatever intentions the old king had for your foster father are gone with the dynasty’s end. You’re free, so don’t overthink."

After silently pondering, Amber finally exhaled sharply, smiling again, "You’re right... The old royal family is gone, why worry about so much."

She seemed to shed burdens, quickly reverting to her usual carefree self, and after this topic ended, she asked Gawain about the next move, "Order has largely stabilized in St. Soniel, power transfers and new management structures completed, is it time for your next step?"

"Indeed..." Gawain leaned back, tapping the chair’s armrest, "We’ve lingered in this city long enough."

After tapping a few times on the armrest, he turned to Amber, "How’s the eastern parts?"

"Grand Duchess Victoria’s personnel have joined General Maryland, and local nobles in the eastern parts generally cooperate in amalgamation, they even assembled a reserve army to consolidate Longwind Fortress defenses alongside the Cecil Legion."

"Expected," Gawain nodded, "The nobles of the Duke of the East should be the most salvageable among the many decadent nobles of the Old Anzu Kingdom. Although they have the full suite of problems of the old nobility, they are often threatened by the Typhon Empire and effectively managed by the Loland Clan. The local aristocrats are still very clear-headed when facing wartime situations. However, the provisional forces they’ve cobbled together might not be of much use... the true elite of the Duke of the East have been completely annihilated on the Plains of the Holy Spirits; only the troop stationed at Longwind Fortress are reliable in combat. The provisional forces and leading nobles from other places won’t be much stronger than ordinary aristocratic private soldiers. What else?"

Organizing the intelligence she has mastered, Amber continued, "There’s seemingly no movement on the Typhon border, but Maryland is concerned that the other side might be secretly amassing strength. He is now trying to gather intelligence, staying vigilant for any Typhon invasion.

"The White Sand Mining Company has resumed control of the mines and has started repairing the railway that was damaged by that Giant Stag. Following your orders, the engineering teams are continuing to extend the previous eastern railway line, aiming to have the iron throne reach near Longwind Fortress by autumn. With armored trains, we don’t have to worry as much about the Typhon.

"Regarding the maintenance of the iron throne... it will probably take another half month. It has lost two sections of the arsenal carriage, and both the power spine and barrier group of the train body have suffered overload damage; the situation is quite serious. The two heavy factories located in Gran City and Cecil Castle are working overtime, hoping to compress the cycle as much as possible."

"In any case, the iron throne must be restored to combat strength as soon as possible, even if only half of the train reaches the border," Gawain said in a deep voice, "After the war, our troops are insufficient; even with advanced weapons, the current garrison at Longwind Fortress might not be able to stop the Empire Corps of the Typhon Empire."

Amber frowned, "Do you think the Typhon Empire will really wage war during this window?"

"They’ve been waiting for this opportunity for a long time, but errors and delays in intelligence might cause them to miss it," Gawain said, "Emperor Rosetta Augustus must be watching the war on the Plains of the Holy Spirits, but it’s difficult for him to precisely gauge how much we’ve lost in the war — whether we’ve secured a narrow victory or a grand victory directly impacts whether he orders an attack."

The Typhon Empire has awaited Anzu to bleed dry; Gawain had realized this early on, and indeed Emperor Rosetta Augustus’s plan has succeeded mostly — although the emergence of the Cecil Clan was a variable. From an overall perspective, except for the southern borders, Anzu suffered severe losses in this war; vast grain-producing areas turned to scorched earth, large quantities of stored grain contaminated or burnt, and much of the youthful strength depleted. Under such circumstances, even the most elite southern borders spread across this vast land will find it stretched thin.

The Typhon Emperor has indeed awaited the great decline of Anzu; if he strikes now, it will be once and for all — but given the inefficient and error-prone intelligence transmission of this era, he himself may not have realized this yet.

Gawain knew that he was a ruler with an iron-fist decisiveness and enough caution and cunning. His iron-fist decisiveness ensured that as long as the emperor’s orders were issued, all the war machines of the Typhon Empire would immediately start operating, all-out attacking Longwind Fortress. But his caution, if properly utilized, might secure Cecil a vital breathing space.

He said to Amber, "We need to make sure the Typhon Empire is unable to figure out Cecil’s true situation, finding ways to have Rosetta Augustus overestimate the defense of Longwind Fortress and our retained strength after the war."

Amber pondered for a while, "I’ll help General Maryland devise a plan to showcase ’Cecil’s grand victory’ information, trying to make Longwind Fortress appear to be in a state of military abundance..."

"That’s not enough; Rosetta Augustus is a very formidable opponent; he won’t just focus on Longwind Fortress," Gawain said in a deep voice, "Domestic propaganda must quickly unify the message; the war on the Plains of the Holy Spirits must be portrayed as a slightly damaging grand victory. Our reserve grain is abundant, and young men, inspired by the victory, are enthusiastically joining the military, and the fall of Anzu’s royal family must be portrayed more gracefully. No content should be included that suggests the Order of Knights suffered near annihilation, or the northern parts of the Dark Mountain Range lost nine out of ten troops.

"So far, our propaganda personnel have done well in these areas, but the propaganda in the Duke of the East region is far weaker than the southern borders.... This must be immediately rectified.

"Additionally, trade with the Typhon must be maintained, and not only maintained, but expanded — Cecil has taken over this vast land, and our demand and output can only increase, not decrease, and must greatly increase... Only then can we prevent Rosetta Augustus from speculating on our population losses.

"Don’t worry about Cecil being unable to handle such a large trade scale; the throughput capacity of magical industry is astonishing, and I’ve already arranged for Grand Duke Baldwin Franklin to negotiate with the tribal country of Augari. The gray elves and dwarves over there are very interested in our alchemical potions and textiles. Through trade with them, we can transfer a lot of pressure..."

Gawain spoke his thoughts one by one; his goal was very clear — to mislead the rulers of Typhon.

As long as we grasp the information transmission rules of this era, identify their backwardness and various breaches, achieving this goal is possible.

Of course, Rosetta Augustus will not lack wisdom, and Typhon has its own intelligence agencies. Even if the misleading succeeds, it shouldn’t last too long. But Gawain only wanted short-term misleading — what he needed now was only post-war "huge breath recovery" time. As long as the iron throne restores combat power and reaches the border, this year’s grain harvest is bountiful, and Cecil’s next batch of new soldiers completes the training and is equipped, then he will have the confidence to repel Typhon’s offense, and if he can mislead for a little longer, even getting through this winter, making Emperor Rosetta react only in the next spring... he would be more reassured then.

Amber recorded each thing Gawain conveyed in her heart, simultaneously starting to select trustworthy subordinates in her mind — she was not only the head of the intelligence agency but also a participant and executor in many confidential plans, especially this thing Gawain was going to do will certainly involve a large number of intelligence agency personnel, so she must start preparations now.

After noting down everything one by one, she raised her head, her ears gently twitching, "Apart from all these, there’s one more thing that should be scheduled, right?"

Gawain raised his eyebrows, "Hmm?"

"A grand coronation," Amber gestured with her hand like drawing a big circle to emphasize the word "grand," "The situation is stable, the power transition complete, management structures formed — shouldn’t the ruler of the Cecil Empire declare the arrival of a new era? Moreover, this is also a window to send signals to Typhon..."

Being beside Gawain for so long, this half-elf has learned many novel and useful terms. Even as she spoke these logical words seriously, even Gawain couldn’t help but nod: "Indeed, this matter should also be scheduled."

Previously he didn’t care about the so-called "coronation ceremony," because the top priority was stabilizing the situation and resuming production, but now "coronation ceremony" has a special function, and as a person who tightly grasps value, he must pay more attention to this matter.

"When do you plan to be crowned?" Amber blinked, said with expectations.

Wondering what this guy is so eager for.

"Wait until a certain special ’cargo’ from the White Sand Dunes is transported to St. Soniel," Gawain said, "But before that, the preparations can already start."

"Special cargo?" Amber reflected for a moment, vaguely guessing Gawain’s intention, "...Ah, that will indeed be a suitable adornment for the new emperor’s coronation... But were you initially planning to be crowned in St. Soniel?"

"Actually, I was initially considering Cecil Castle, but Aunt Heidi’s suggestion made me change my mind," Gawain’s mouth lifted into an arc, his gaze falling on the wall at the side of the study room — once Anzu’s sword and shield crest hung there, but now it has been replaced by a banner of sword and ploughshare, "Let Anzu’s royal authority end here, and let the new Empire begin here."

The coronation ceremony, to put it bluntly, is for others to see; since that’s the case, it should present the best effect —

Gawain wants the old nobles of St. Soniel to see clearly, wants the local church, soldiers, and members of the old royal household to see clearly, wants them to witness the transition from old to new times with their own eyes, and develop a sufficiently deep impression of this process. Only then can the follow-up stability of reform processes be further ensured.

This ancient yet young country truly can no longer endure any chaos and hesitation.