Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 524 - 523: The Banquet

A grand welcoming banquet was held within the feudal lord’s mansion, marking the first event of such scale since the completion of this large building.

Gawain was not a person fond of banquets, and despite Aunt Heidi and Rebecca being of noble descent, they were not particularly enthusiastic about such events either (primarily due to their poverty). Nonetheless, they understood the necessity of such occasions in upper-class social circles—carefully planned banquets often hold multiple meanings in political, economic, and even military realms. They could showcase the host’s economic strength and facilitate transactions under a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere that might otherwise require negotiations through swords elsewhere, making them quite a bargain.

Gawain had yet to construct a "castle" in the traditional noble sense. He preferred residing in comfortably styled houses, so even though the territory had expanded, he merely extended and expanded parts of the feudal lord’s mansion, planning a section for building auxiliary structures on the vacant lands around the courtyard—eventually, this mansion might evolve into architecture between a castle and a palace, which undoubtedly was a novelty for the duchess from the north and the Princess Veronica.

Within the banquet’s main hall, musicians from the Leslie Region were performing soothing and delightful music. Following several short dance tunes, guests began to freely pick food from the enormous tables on either side of the hall. Men and women in elegant attire—including members of the envoy from the royal capital, the remaining "New Aristocracy" of the southern borders, and important officials of the Cecil Principality and their relatives—were mingling through the banquet hall, while Victoria passed among them like a gentle snowflake, arriving before Gawain.

"How does it feel?" Gawain asked the northern duchess, raising his wine glass, "This place should be very different from the environment you’re familiar with."

"There are fewer nobles, but more influential officials, which indeed differs greatly from northern noble banquets, and there are far fewer formalities here."

"Excessive protocols can be stifling. Back in my day, we weren’t so particular—those eager to pursue classical noble etiquette should certainly try Cecil’s buffet-style banquet, true classical lessons must come from an elder like me."

"...That makes sense," the duchess paused, her smile slightly stiff, then looked around at the neat and bright hall and the distant large glass windows, unable to help but exclaim, "Compared to this banquet, your ’castle’ is far more impressive... I’ve never seen such a style of the castle, yet during its design, it seems you didn’t treat it as a fortress... nor did you install barracks within the courtyard?"

Gawain chuckled: "Barracks? My corps couldn’t fit in a castle yard, and the old-style castles are damp and cold, requiring fireplaces in every room just to barely live in, which I believe is far less comfortable than this type of house—I’m a seven-hundred-year-old elder."

"Then there might be no healthier ’elder’ than you," Victoria remarked helplessly. Not adept at humor, she had to respond flexibly to a humorous elder, "I noticed there are no fireplaces here—is this castle heated by magic?"

"The heat source comes from a fire elemental magic circle underground, utilizing a copper heat exchanger to distribute warmth throughout the building, with layers inside those walls housing metal pipes and ducts," Gawain explained, "Not just here, most buildings in this city have similar facilities, a large heat source station within districts provides heating to the entire block, all designed by me."

Victoria’s eyes widened slightly: "Are you saying... every home in this city is as warm as here?"

Gawain nodded: "Certainly, and some new buildings are even warmer—the heat exchanger installed here is the first generation, and the pipe design is inferior to later versions, I’m planning to replace it next year."

Victoria ignored Gawain’s last words, only showing a trace of disbelief: "...Creating something like this throughout the entire territory... must not be easy, right?"

"Indeed, it’s somewhat challenging, but fortunately, we have Mage Guide Technology," Gawain replied with a smile, observing the duchess’s eyes and subtle shifts in expression, "Besides, proper planning and unified heating across districts actually consume fewer resources—better than burning wood and coal in every household, and freezing to death each winter, don’t you agree this approach is better?"

For a moment, the duchess said nothing.

Cecil Castle, rapidly emerging from the "barren lands," was astonishingly advanced.

This city couldn’t help but remind her of the City of Thousand Towers where she lived for a long time while studying magic as a youth—the Mage capital of Violet Kingdom was equally advanced, with pervasive magic power making the city seem alive, constantly performing complex operations, yet comparing strictly, Cecil Castle and the City of Thousand Towers are so distinctly different.

This newly risen city might lack some historical grandeur compared to the City of Thousand Towers, but its advancement permeates every aspect, reaching even the commoners.

Is this the power of Mage Guide Technology? What exactly is Mage Guide Technology?

After a brief silence, she finally spoke: "Upon setting foot on this land, I’ve been contemplating, pondering what Mage Guide Technology is exactly. I thought the rocky ridges Fortress walls were Mage Guide Technology, that those vehicles were Mage Guide Technology, that the streetlights in this city and the heating fixtures of this mansion were Mage Guide Technology, I assumed it was a form of magic, a new and convenient spell... but now it appears more complex and novel than I’d imagined."

Gawain uttered no word, merely nodding, encouraging the duchess to continue.

In brief reflection, Victoria Wilder spoke once more: "Mage Guide Technology—it’s intended for the ordinary people, isn’t it?"

"Ordinary people certainly can manage it and benefit from it."

Victoria took a deep breath.

She refrained from asking Gawain the principle of this technology, such a naive question would seem abrupt and shallow, nor did she inquire why ordinary people wield magic, she lacked faith that the pioneers of this technology overlooked such implications, she merely contemplated quietly then seemed to shift the topic: "You’ve armed your military using it and overcame the Allied Army formed by over forty southern aristocrats?"

Gawain displayed a smile, while Rebecca’s voice echoed aside: "They were the ones who attacked!"

Victoria turned, spotting the Cecil inheritor holding a slice of cake, with large eyes and cream-dappled lips, her face full of pride, yet the next moment, this girl’s exclaim erupted: "Whoa—Aunt said not to interrupt conversations today..."

"It doesn’t matter, we’re just having a casual chat," Victoria nodded to Rebecca, "You look very pretty today, Marquise Rebecca."

Rebecca suddenly realized she was being spoken to. This girl, who always failed etiquette classes due to defeating all her etiquette teachers, clumsily set aside the cake, and, trying hard to recall what little she learned, curtsied, "Hello, Duchess Wilder, you look very... huh?"

She finally realized what the other person called her.

However, Gawain stood by with a smile, observing quietly as though he had foreseen everything as an outsider.

"Marquise?" Rebecca stared wide-eyed, pointing at her own nose and asking the Duchess, "Are you talking about me?"

"Isn’t that right? According to the laws of Anzu, the first noble heir who has come of age automatically inherits a title one rank lower than their parent’s before officially inheriting the title," Victoria looked at Rebecca as she spoke, but it was clear her words were meant for more than just Rebecca, "Duke Gawain Cecil has already developed land in the southern borders suitable for his title, so according to the agreement in Silver Castle, the powers due to the Cecil Clan have been restored."

Her gaze finally fell on Gawain, who nodded faintly, indicating he was already aware of this matter.

The Duchess’s expression remained unchanged, but she sighed slightly in her heart.

Just as Wales Moen said that day – anything already in the other’s hands isn’t considered a gift. For such an ancestral figure who simply doesn’t care about the Second Dynasty’s attitude, recognition from St. Soniel is worthless.

Rebecca was a bit puzzled — she knew about the "agreement in Silver Castle" Victoria mentioned, because she was there when it was made. Her ancestor reclaimed the right to permanent development from Francis II, and the Second Dynasty recognized the ancestral duke title, but added restrictions: the title of Duke Gawain Cecil would remain purely personal lifetime honor and not hereditary unless he developed land meeting the minimum requirements for a ducal territory in his lifetime, only then could the title and related powers of the Cecil Clan be restored...

At the time, the big shots in Silver Castle seemed to all think it impossible for the ancestor to develop a ducal territory from the wastelands within his lifetime.

In fact, the ancestor didn’t develop a ducal territory from the wastelands either — he eliminated the southern nobles, completely different from what was originally said...

Rebecca — the newly appointed Marquise of the Cecil Clan — blinked with her puzzled eyes. She was trying to figure out, in her mind that excelled in dealing with machinery and the Fireball Technique, the difference between an "unclaimed land taken after eliminating people" and "real unclaimed land within the wasteland," but before she figured it out, she saw her ancestor naturally chatting with the Duchess: Ancestor seemed entirely unsurprised, and the Duchess didn’t mention any details from the agreement...

Rebecca thought for a moment, suddenly feeling that politics is really fascinating, everyone seems to have no shame...

In front of Gawain, Victoria was raising her glass slightly, "Now with the kingdoms in turmoil, having a formidable Guardian Duke overseeing the southern borders reassures everyone in Silver Castle a great deal."

Gawain also raised his glass with a smile, "That’s wonderful — it seems this outdated old man is quite popular."

The two Guardian Dukes toasted each other cordially, exchanging pleasantries with thoughts entirely opposing their words, and providing the journalists hauling Magic Web Terminals at the side of the hall with the perfect angle for a photo.

Gawain then prepared to leave — as the host of this banquet, he had more than one guest to entertain.

He and Victoria Wilder still had a lot left to discuss, but he wasn’t in a hurry. The truly important matters were to be discussed after the banquet.

Watching her ancestor turn away, Rebecca waved her hand, "Ancestor — can I eat a few more cakes today?"

Gawain didn’t look back, "Just don’t overeat."

"Oh! I know!"

A moment later, Rebecca had another plate of cake in her hand, smiling brightly as she showed it off to Victoria, "You really should try it — Mr. Bob Sid’s cakes are just as delicious as his roasts."

Truly carefree.

Victoria Wilder looked at Rebecca, at this girl who already had cream smeared on her face and behaved nothing like a Marquise, and shook her head.

"Not eating?"

"No, I’m just a bit envious of you."