Chapter 523 Dinner

A grand welcome banquet was held in the lord's mansion, which was the first time a banquet of this scale was held since the completion of this large building.

Gawain is not a person who likes banquets. Although Heidi and Rebecca are from orthodox nobles, they are not very keen on banquets (of course, the main reason is poverty), but even if they are not interested in banquets, they also know that this kind of activity is very common. Necessity in upper-class social interaction - a well-prepared banquet often has multiple political, economic and even military meanings, which can not only show the economic strength of the host, but also complete those things that may be needed elsewhere in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. A deal that can only be "negotiated" by sword negotiation is undoubtedly quite cost-effective.

Gawain still hasn't built a "castle" for himself according to the traditional aristocratic way. He still prefers a house that is comfortable enough to live in, so even if the territory has developed, he has only added a part of the lord's mansion. and expansion, and planned an area for the construction of annexes in the open space around the courtyard - eventually this lord's mansion will probably become a building between a castle and a palace, and this is for women from the north. There is no doubt that it is a very novel thing for His Royal Highnesses the Duke and Princess.

In the main hall where the dinner was held, musicians from the Leslie area were playing comfortable and pleasant music. After a few light and short dance songs, the guests at the banquet began to casually around the huge tables on both sides of the main hall. Taking food, men and women in luxurious dresses—including members of the envoys from the royal capital, the “new nobles” who survived in the south and are eligible to attend the banquet, as well as important officials of the Principality of Cecil and their relatives—at the banquet. Shutting back and forth in the hall, Victoria passed through these people like a light snowflake and came to Gawain.

"How do you feel?" Gawain looked at the Duchess of the North in front of him and raised the glass in his hand, "This place should be very different from the environment you are familiar with."

"There are very few nobles, and there are more officials with real power. This is indeed very different from the noble banquets in the north, and the rules here are much less."

"The red tape is depressing, we weren't so particular back then - in my opinion, those young people who are looking for classical aristocratic etiquette can come and try our Cecil's buffet dinner, the real classic of course comes from me, an ancient person. study."

"...It makes sense," the Duchess froze for a moment, showing a somewhat stiff smile, then she looked around, at the neat and bright hall and the large floor-to-ceiling windows in the distance, she couldn't help sighing, "Compared to this banquet, your 'castle' is even more impressive...I've never seen a castle in this form, and you don't seem to have designed it as a fortress...nor a barracks in the courtyard? "

Gawain smiled: "Barracks? My corps can't fit in the courtyard of the castle, and the old-style castle is damp and cold, and it is necessary to light a fireplace in each room to be able to live in it. In my opinion, it is not as comfortable as such a house-- I'm a seven-hundred-year-old man."

"Then there is probably no healthier 'older' than you in this world,

Victoria reluctantly said, she is not a good joker, but in the face of a humorous elder, she must be flexible, "I noticed that there is no fireplace - this castle is heated by magic? "

"The heat source is a fire elemental array located underground, relying on a set of copper heat exchangers to transfer heat throughout the building, and there are interlayers in those walls, with metal pipes and brick tunnels buried in them," explained Gawain. , "Not only here, most buildings in this city have similar facilities. There will be a large heat source station in the block, and its heat can heat the entire block. I designed it."

Victoria's eyes widened slightly: "You mean...everyone's home in this city is as warm as this one?"

Gawain nodded: "Of course, and in fact, some new buildings are warmer than here - the heat exchanger installed in this house is the first generation, and the piping design is not as good as the later ones. I am preparing to put It's replaced."

Victoria didn't pay attention to Gawain's words behind her, she just showed an unbelievable look: "...Building something like this in the entire territory...I'm afraid it's not an easy task, right?"

"It is indeed a little difficult, but fortunately we have magic technology," Gawain said with a smile, he looked into the eyes of the Duchess and watched every change in each other's expressions, "and if we plan well, we will Under the circumstances, central heating for the entire block will actually consume less things - compared to burning wood and charcoal every household, and freezing people to death every winter, don't you think this is better?"

The Duchess did not speak for a while.

Cecil City, this rapidly rising city in the "barren land", is incredibly advanced.

This city reminded her of the city of a thousand towers where she lived for a long time to learn magic when she was young - the capital of mages in the Violet Kingdom is also equally advanced and ubiquitous with magical power. The entire city continued to perform complex operations as if it were alive, but in comparison, Cecil City and the City of Thousand Towers were so completely different.

This newly-rising city may have less heritage than the City of Thousand Pagodas and some magnificent buildings that have been through the vicissitudes of life, but its advanced features go deeper into every aspect, and have even penetrated into every civilian.

Is this the power of magic technology? What the hell is magic technology?

After a brief silence, she finally spoke: "Since I set foot on this land, I have been thinking about what magic technology is. I thought the walls of the Rock Fortress were magic technology, and I thought those cars were magic. I thought the street lights in this city and the heating in this house were magic technology, I thought it was a kind of magic, some kind of new and convenient spell... But now it seems that it is better than magic. I imagined it was more complex and novel."

Gawain didn't say a word, he just nodded and let the duchess continue.

After a brief pondering, Victoria Wilder spoke again: "Magic technology—is it for ordinary people?"

"Ordinary people can really take control of it and benefit from it."

Victoria took a deep breath.

She didn't ask Gawain the principle of this technique. This naive question would only make her appear abrupt and shallow, and she didn't ask Gawain if he knew what it meant to put the power of magic in the hands of ordinary people. She didn't believe it. The promoters of this technology would not have thought of this, she just thought for a moment in silence, and then seemed to turn the topic to another direction: "You rely on it to arm your army, and then defeat the coalition army composed of more than forty nobles in the south. ?"

Gawain smiled, and Rebecca's voice came from the side: "They called me on their own initiative!"

Victoria turned her head and saw that Cecil's heir was standing beside her with a cake, her eyes were wide open, there was a little cream on the corners of her mouth, and her face was full of vigor, but the next moment. In seconds, the girl exclaimed: "Wow - aunt said that I won't let me interrupt today..."

"It's okay, we're just chatting," Victoria nodded to Rebecca, "You are beautiful today, Marquise Rebecca."

Rebecca suddenly reacted when she heard the other party say hello to her. This girl, who has never passed the etiquette class because she defeated all etiquette teachers, hurriedly put the cake aside, and tried to raise her skirt and salute according to the little things she learned from memory: "Hello, Duchess Wilder, you are also very... eh?"

She finally realized what the other party called her just now.

However, Gawain just stood aside with a smile on his face, watching quietly like an outsider who had mastered everything in advance.

"The Marquis?" Rebecca asked the Duchess while pointing at her nose, "Are you talking about me?"

"Isn't it? According to Ansu's law, the first heir to the aristocracy will automatically inherit the title lower than his father's title before he officially inherits the title," Victoria said, looking at Rebecca, but this was obviously not just for Rebecca listened, "Duke Gawain Cecil has already opened up land in the southern border that fits his title, so according to the agreement in the Silver Castle that day, the power that the Cecil family should enjoy will also be restored. ."

Her gaze finally fell on Gawain, who just nodded lightly, indicating that he already knew about it.

The expression on the Duchess' face did not change, but she sighed slightly in her heart.

As Welsh Moen said on that day—what has already fallen into the hands of the other party is not a gift. For such an ancestral figure who does not need to care about the attitude of the Second Dynasty, the "recognition" from Saint-Sunil is worthless.

And Rebecca was a little bit confused - she knew the "promise in the Silver Castle" that Victoria mentioned, because she followed it when the agreement was concluded, and her ancestors took back seven from Francis II. The permanent development right a hundred years ago, the Second Dynasty also announced to recognize the duke title of the ancestors, but added restrictions on top of this: Gawain Cecil's duke title will only be used as his personal permanent honor, temporarily It cannot be hereditary, unless he can use the right to open up the minimum land suitable for the title of duke in his lifetime, the title of duke and related powers of the Cecil family can be restored...

At that time, the big figures in Silver Castle seemed to think that it was impossible for the ancestors to open up a duchy from the wasteland in their lifetime.

In fact, the old ancestor did not develop a duchy from the wasteland - he killed all the nobles in the southern border, which is completely different from what he said...

Rebecca—the new Marquis Cecil—blinks her cute eyes as she draws formulas in her brain, which is good at dealing with machines and fireballs, trying to figure out "kill people and take them down." What's the difference between "The Borderlands" and "The Real Borderlands in the Wasteland", but before she could figure it out, she saw that her ancestors had continued to chat with the Duchess naturally. : Ancestors don't seem to be surprised at all, and the Duchess didn't mention the details of the covenant that day...

Rebecca thought for a while, and suddenly felt that politics is really powerful. It turns out that everyone can be shameless...

In front of Gawain, Victoria was raising her glass slightly: "Now the situation in the kingdom is turbulent, and there is a powerful guardian duke guarding the southern border, and everyone in Silver Castle is much more at ease."

Gao Wen also raised the wine glass in his hand with a smile on his face: "That's really good - it looks like I'm quite popular as an outdated old man."

The two guardian dukes greeted each other, clinking glasses in a friendly manner, and saying polite words, with completely opposite thoughts in their hearts, leaving a picture of the most perfect angle for the reporters carrying the magic net terminal on the side of the hall.

Then Gawain was about to leave—as the host of this dinner, he had more than one guest to entertain.

He and Victoria Wilder still had a lot to talk about, but he wasn't in a hurry. The really important things were to be discussed after this banquet.

Looking at her ancestor who turned and left, Rebecca waved her hand: "Master Ancestor - can I eat more cakes today?"

Gawain didn't look back: "Just stop eating."

"Hey! I know!"

After a while, Rebecca had another plate of cake in her hand, and the new marquise smiled and showed off to Victoria: "You should try this - Mr. Ball Seid's cake and the one he baked It's as good as meat."

Really carefree.

Victoria Wilder looked at Rebecca, looked at this girl who had already rubbed cream on her face and did not behave like a marquise at all, and couldn't help shaking her head.

"Aren't you going to eat?"

"No, I'm just a little envious of you."