Chapter 769 The Beginning of the Year

In a twinkling of an eye, half of the winter has passed, and the stormy and eventful year of Ansu 738 (the first year of Cecil) came to an end in a blizzard of snow in the middle of winter. The time has come to the beginning of the year.

In the past year, too many things have happened in this ancient and young country. The former kingship came to an end, and the once divided country was reunited. It was like a natural disaster, large-scale reconstruction, and the shuffling of the old aristocratic system. The arrival of a new era...

Somewhere, the god who seemed to be in charge of destiny suddenly overturned his table this year, turning the entire kingdom upside down. ,changed.

In the southern part of Rock City, a brand-new magic train was quietly parked beside the platform, waiting for the command to depart.

The cold wind raged and fluttered outside the platform, rolling up loose snowflakes and lighter dead branches and fallen leaves and flying into the air, but a hazy, translucent shield shrouded the edge of the platform, blocking the rolling towards the inside of the station. of cold wind. On the rectangular platform with two rows of long seats, some passengers are sitting on chairs waiting for the arrival of the train, while others are boarding the next train under the guidance of the guide.

Most of these travelers wear closed jackets, straight trousers, and thick soft hats or felt hats, which have only become popular in the southern border in the past two years. Most of them wear "simple long skirts" that take into account both practicality and beauty, and additionally wear cotton clothes with good thermal insulation inside the long skirts. A few women wear coats and trousers specially designed for women to travel by car .

This is an incredible sight for people who are new to this place-before Ansu 736, even in the south, few civilian women would wear clothes that "exceed the rules" like trousers, because the blood Mainstream sects such as God, God of War and God of Light, as well as nobles from all over the world often have strict regulations on this:

Only noble ladies and ladies with higher status have the right to wear breeches, swordsmanship trousers and other costumes to participate in hunting, martial arts, or to wear various dresses, long skirts, palace long skirts and other costumes to participate in banquets, the above-mentioned costumes are regarded as "" Clothes that are in line with the content of aristocratic life and are decent", while commoner women are not allowed to wear "illegal" trousers, shorts, and "bright-colored dresses" other than black, white, brown, and gray under any circumstances (unless They have been registered as prostitutes), otherwise they will be fined by the church or nobles, and the severe ones will be punished or even enslaved in the name of "offending the doctrine" and "exceeding the rules".

It was not until the Frost Moon in Ansu 736 that the White Knight led the people to smash the cathedral of Luan City, and a decree from the Supreme Government Office disarmed all churches in the territory from private arming and religious judgment, and the restrictions in this area were gradually loosened. After more than two years of changing customs, there are finally more bold and liberally educated civilian women wearing trousers to go out.

Outside the southern border, general education has just begun, and the transformation of customs has just begun. Even if the Government Affairs Office encourages the public to accept the new social order, basically no one will challenge those old customs that have not completely receded.

In the second half of the train, in a special compartment, Victoria Wilder, with long silver hair, wearing a long court dress, and a cold and noble temperament, withdrew her gaze from the window, and pointed at the fat aristocrat sitting in the opposite seat. Nodding: "Count Balin, what do you think?"

The Archon of the North has recently completed his phased affairs in Saint-Sunil,

Due to some work needs, she had to go to the imperial capital to report her work. For this reason, she also brought several officials from the Saint-Sunil Administration Office and the Count of Bahrain who assisted her in handling the affairs of Saint-Sunil.

The slightly fat Earl of Balin glanced at the platform outside with a slightly complicated expression: "...Many things are really only seen in my life. I once felt that although I was not erudite, I was still very knowledgeable, but here, I can't even think of a few suitable adjectives."

As he spoke, the aristocrat of the Royal Capital couldn't help shaking his head: "Anyway, this is indeed the place that 'challenged concepts' as rumored. I can't tell which of the people outside are poor. Which is a citizen and which is a noble... Oh, the nobles can still tell, the man who was accompanied by his attendants just now and walked with his head up should be a small noble, but the others are really hard to judge."

Victoria was noncommittal to the Earl of Baring's words, just glanced out the window again, and whispered as if to herself: "Richer and more vibrant than anywhere in the North."

"It's true that commoners wear more sophisticated clothing, and women who wear men's clothes... ah, I shouldn't judge women so vulgarly, but this is the first time I've seen women's breeches, women's swordsman trousers Other than that..." The Earl of Baring said, as if he was suddenly at a loss for words, he had to shrug his shoulders awkwardly, "And look at those dresses, how colorful they are, it seems that every one of them is brand new."

"Trade with the Typhon Empire brought cheap textiles, and with our own textile and garment factories, 'clothes' were no longer a luxury for commoners," Victoria said lightly, "only in the South , it is not just the 'price' of clothes that is broken, but the 'customs' wrapped around these daily necessities..."

The Earl of Bahrain was quite emotional: "The 'customs and regulations' in the southern border seem to be extraordinarily loose. I can't believe that so many churches and nobles have so quickly accepted the new decree formulated by the Government Affairs Office and accepted various changes in etiquette regulations... Here At one point, they seem to be much smarter than the stubborn churches and nobles in the north."

"'Smart'?" Victoria's eyes that seemed to contain ice and snow quietly glanced at Earl Balin, "Count Balin, the priests and nobles in the south suddenly changed after the artillery bombardment of Stone Ridge and the Grand Judgment of Luan City. Enlightened, the logic in this is the same as the fact that the northern barbarians suddenly changed from being brave and good at fighting to being able to sing and dance after the mountain corps formed an army."

In the sudden expression of the Earl of Baling, who didn't know how to react, the "Duke of Ice and Snow" from the north seemed to slightly tilt his mouth and said to himself: "What I saw here may have given me a hint... …”

The Earl of Baring suddenly felt a little chill, but it was very common for Duchess Victoria to feel chills. He quickly got used to it, then twisted his neck, looked around, and looked not far away. car entrance.

The accompanying attendants, guards, maids and officials are all the passengers of this car. Behind this car, there are two special cars with rest rooms, which have also been packed by the Grand Consul and his party - but Bahrain The Count knew that, in addition to this, there were many other "ordinary" passengers on this train, and even the few carriages they occupied belonged to them only during the journey. After the journey, These carriages will also welcome new travelers.

Because it all belongs to the "public".

This made Mr. Earl, who was used to riding in his own carriage and private griffin, a little uncomfortable.

"Your Majesty the Duchess, why did you choose to take the 'train'?" He couldn't help asking, "A private magic car or a gryphon is more in line with your identity..."

"Have you ever experienced a 'train'?" Victoria asked indifferently as she glanced at the Earl of Baling.

"I... no," Earl Baling shook his head. "You know, there is no such thing in the north."

"I don't have either, so I want to experience it," Victoria said indifferently. "Every time I come here, there are a lot of things worth having...experience."

As she spoke, she turned her head to the side and looked at the scenery on the platform outside through the transparent crystal glass beside the train compartment.

A huge mechanical clock stood in the middle of the platform. On the mechanical clock, the long iron-black hands were jumping one by one.

Seeing Victoria's actions, the Earl of Baring couldn't help but be a little curious: "What are you looking at?"

On the platform, some passengers waiting for the next train and several staff members had arrived near the mechanical clock at some point. These people invariably looked up at the beating hands, and watched the rotation below the dial and behind the transparent glass pane. gears, with a look of anticipation and pleasure on his face.

"Something that's about to be rolled out to the entire empire."

The second hand of the mechanical clock is advancing towards the top one by one. On both sides of the platform, the holographic projections representing stop boarding have risen, and a faint tremor is coming from the bottom of the train compartment.

"Something that extends to the entire empire?" The Earl of Balin was a little confused. "Are clocks? There are also things in the north - although most of them are only in churches and noble houses..."

Before Mr. Count finished speaking, the long pointer had already overlapped with the top of the dial, and almost at the same time, a melodious and loud flute suddenly came from the top of the carriage, resounding through the entire platform, and also let the inside of the carriage. The Earl of Baring was startled.

The repulsion mechanisms on both sides of the entire train turned synchronously, and the runes lit up one after another. With a loud roar, the huge steel machine began to accelerate slowly and began to drive towards the wilderness.

"It's punctuality, Earl of Barings," Victoria retracted her gaze out of the window, "and the pursuit of 'punctuality.' It's part of the new order."

On the platform that was gradually moving away, the passengers and staff who were staring at the mechanical clock and waiting for the train to start clapped happily, and some even cheered a little.

This is a little pastime when you are bored, and it is also a "southern feature" on train platforms in various places. It is a "waiting entertainment" that has gradually become popular among train passengers and station staff in recent times.

Trains are not always on time, and the word "delay" is a frequent visitor to the railway system, but even so, His Majesty the Emperor ordered that a mechanical clock of the same time be set at every station and on every The magic net communication in the southern border is uniformly calibrated, and at the same time, the process of vehicle dispatching in various places is optimized and adjusted again and again.

Since the factories in Cecil City began to operate, the Supreme Council has been working hard to introduce the "concept of time" into people's lives, and these mechanical clocks on the station are obviously part of this effort.

Efforts have finally paid off - at least, people are already pursuing punctuality, and the train that leaves on time is something to be proud of in the eyes of southerners.

...

Archon Victoria Wilder from the North will come to the South to report in the near future.

Cecil City, Mage District, in a house in the southern block, Fendil Wilder with short silver-white hair and a tall stature is standing in front of the window facing the street, holding the newspaper he just bought this morning, his eyes Landed on a headline on the front page of a newspaper.

Newspapers are heavy, headlines are heavy, and hearts are heavy.

The knock on the door came suddenly, and Fendil raised his heavy head, adjusted his expression, and politely said, "Please come in."

The door opened, and Elaine Franklin appeared outside the door. The heir of the West Territory also held a newspaper in his hand and waved as soon as he entered the room: "Fendil, Duchess Victoria seems to be coming to the South Territory soon. !"

Fendil weakly raised the newspaper in his hand: "I already know."

"Oh... yes, you also have the habit of reading newspapers," Elaine nodded suddenly, then looked at Fendil's face curiously, "What's wrong, my friend, you don't seem to be in a good mood?"

Fendil couldn't help but glared at the other party: "It's probably the same as your mood when you suddenly learned that your father is coming to see you tomorrow."

"Ah, then I should be very happy," Elaine said happily, "after all, I just passed all the first-level tests of the four colleges, and Mr. Santis said that I was the only one in this batch of students who passed the four at one time. A college exam - it turns out that I stayed up late every day reading books and asking questions from my tutors a few days ago."

Fendil couldn't help covering his forehead.

He actually forgot that this guy Elaine's talent in "reading and learning" is so amazing.

And he himself is better at frost spells and other combat skills.

So he only passed the first-level test of the military branch, and ... seriously partial.

The knowledge of the aristocracy, heraldry, etiquette and art that he knows in addition is not useless in the academy, but...all are electives.

Thinking of his always strict aunt, the optimistic and cheerful Fendil could not help feeling heavy again, as if filled with snow and frozen soil from the north.

Knowing this, he should really know what the detailed subjects taught in the "Imperial College" are before departure. Although this will not help him quickly improve the corresponding grades, it can at least make him mentally prepared. enough.

Looking at the change in Fendil's expression, Elaine can't guess what the other party is thinking. He patted the other party's shoulder - this is a bit laborious, because he is more than a head shorter than Fendil: " Relax, my friend, didn't you say it before? Coming to the south, the academy is only part of 'studying', and the 'phantom drama' we made with Philm has been completed, isn't that just as proud? "

"Magic drama..."

Hearing this word, the irritability in Fendil's heart really faded a lot.

Yes, after so long of hard work, many people have put in a lot of effort and energy, the world's first "Magic Drama" has finally been completed.

He couldn't help but turn his head and looked out the window.

A large-scale notice to promote the magic shadow drama (His Majesty the emperor called it a "poster") has been posted on the roadside, and the last two days of magic net radio programs are also doing advance introduction and promotion for this brand-new thing, and now he You can vaguely see the contents of the poster on the wall across the street——

A mechanical ship full of passengers is traveling on the wide Gorgon River. Several main characters with distinctive features appear in the background of the picture. Below the whole picture, is the finalized name of the ghost drama——

"migrant"

Simple and straightforward.

"Indeed... this incident has brought me a sense of 'pride' that I have never felt in my life in the past ten years," Fendil laughed and said with a sigh, "I never thought that I would leave behind After all the identities and traditions, it's such a joy to work with so many people from all walks of life and from all circumstances to accomplish something."

Elaine also smiled: "I am also very fortunate that I listened to your advice and participated in this meaningful thing..."

Fendil turned his head and glanced at his friend, with a smile, stretched out his hand and patted the other's shoulder.

"So, my friend, lend me a copy of the answers from the second set of geometry papers."

"...?"