Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1087: Chapter 1086: Closed Loop

Everything that needed to be discussed had already been discussed, the directions that needed to be fixed had also been fixed. As the great sun gradually rose to its zenith in the sky, that resplendent crown with faint wooden grain shone upon the entire Silver Base No. 112. Gawain clinked glasses with Emperor Rosetta Augustus one last time—what came after this would be the field in which the diplomats of the two countries would have to exert their efforts.

Gawain did not know how Typhon’s aristocratic class would view the results of this closed-door meeting, nor did he know how future historians would record and speculate about this round of negotiations. For him personally, the exchanges of interest between the Cecil Clan and Typhon were in fact not the crux of the matter. All of this... was merely one link in his effort to propel and reshape this world.

All of it was for a greater victory—he did not know whether Emperor Rosetta Augustus had already perceived this ambitious goal of his, but judging from his conduct... this far-sighted ruler was perhaps not entirely unaware of it.

Gawain left his seat, but before taking Amber and departing, he finally could not suppress the last small doubt in his mind: "I’m very curious—how exactly did you notice the true function of the Winter?"

This was what he found highly curious: in an era when all human beings of this world stayed away from the sea, in a context where no one possessed a sense of sea power, how had Typhon, from a single warship cruising back and forth on the sea surface, made the association to the concept of near-sea blockade, and even conceived of repairing outposts within the ship’s blind spots of vision in order to protect its maritime sovereignty?

"The first to notice it was not me." To Gawain’s surprise, Emperor Rosetta actually shook his head and pointed to Matilda, who had spoken very little throughout, "It was my daughter. She was the first to realize that your objective might never have been Winterwolf Fortress in the first place."

Only then did Gawain finally set his gaze on Matilda—on this "Empire’s Pearl" who had had very little sense of presence throughout, speaking rarely like a modest junior quietly listening at the side. Matilda calmly raised her head, meeting Gawain’s gaze with a composed look.

"Can you tell me what you were thinking?" Gawain’s expression was gentle; he posed the question as casually as if engaging in small talk.

"In fact, from the very beginning I did not believe you would truly occupy Winterwolf Fortress—indeed, I did not even believe you would make things difficult over the issue of Winterwolf Fortress or set any conditions," Matilda replied with a faint smile, answering like a mild and well-bred junior to an elder’s inquiry. "You were certain to withdraw the soldiers occupying Winterwolf Fortress unconditionally, and you would withdraw them in a high-profile manner, so that every country would know that in this process you did not demand any compensation or conditions in return."

Gawain’s eyes grew serious; he nodded slightly to Matilda. "Go on."

"You would do so because your greatest objective does not lie with Typhon at all. What you seek is the highest voice within the alliance, to become the one who sets the rules of the alliance—Winterwolf Fortress is something you absolutely cannot hold onto, because the whole world is watching the Cecil Clan’s next move, watching what ’alliance leader’ of the future is in fact pursuing as he enforces his own order. Of course, you could have countless reasons for occupying the Winter Wolf region, and those reasons could even be entirely proper: it was Typhon who first ’initiated the war,’ it was Typhon who was at fault in terms of justice and morality. The Cecil Clan’s occupation of the Winter Wolf region would be a legitimate act of counterattack. Yet no matter how well-founded these reasons might be, they would nevertheless damage the cohesion of the future alliance.

"Because for those cautious, watching small countries, they do not care whether the occupation is reasonable—they only care about the outcome. You can use reasonable grounds to occupy Winterwolf Fortress, and naturally you can use even more reasonable grounds to occupy other places in the future. In that case, even if they bow their heads and join the alliance, there will no longer be anyone who can fully believe most of your promises.

"What is more, the truth of this ’war’ is certain to be made public eventually, and that truth will further influence the legitimacy of your occupation of the Winter Wolf region. This is surely something you would take into account."

Gawain listened to Matilda’s analysis with a touch of surprise; a look of appreciation appeared on his face. "Well said. Your ability to judge the situation is very good."

"In fact, it is not truly a matter of judgment, merely a simple comparison of gains and losses," Matilda lowered her head slightly. "Compared to the right to speak over the whole Loren Continent, Winterwolf Fortress is far too small, is it not?"

"...The era of seizing the spoils of war by such primitive and brutal means as occupying land and plundering resources has already passed," Gawain said in a low voice, then abruptly shifted the topic. "But why then did you think my objective lay on those islands? Is occupying islands not still a form of occupation?"

"...Because in the minds of most people, ’territory’ is limited to the interior of the continent. The distribution of interests upon the seas is a blind spot in the vision of various countries, to the point that it is not even regarded as the land of any particular nation," Matilda answered at once. "They have their eyes fixed on Winterwolf Fortress, and will not pay attention to whether you have occupied several islands far from the mainland—only a country that has already begun to step toward the sea can realize that gold and silver flow just as richly beyond the coastline, and according to our reconnaissance, the Winter’s sailing route has always lingered near those islands."

Gawain showed a faint smile. "Child, you seem to think rather ill of me."

"No, I admire you—my admiration for you is second only to that for my own father. I merely think that you are very powerful, powerful to the point of being a little frightening, so that I must at every moment carefully observe whether you are displaying any offensive posture," Matilda raised her head, her clear yet deep eyes fixed upon Gawain’s face. "You are a hero, but a hero is not necessarily a saint—a qualified ruler must inevitably be greedy. Even if it is for the sake of the countless subjects under his rule, he will inevitably calculate gains and losses at every moment. Unfortunately... in this war of accidents and missteps, Typhon lost the initiative."

"A hero is not necessarily a saint..." Gawain nodded lightly after several seconds of silence. "I’ll remember that assessment. Well spoken, Matilda."

He withdrew his gaze from her, turned, and prepared to leave. But just then, Matilda suddenly called out to him from behind: "Please wait a moment."

Gawain halted his steps and turned back to look at this black-haired Princess Typhon. "Is there something else?"

"If—only as a hypothesis—if we had not established outposts on those islands, what would you have done? If you had more than one Winter, what would you have done?"

Gawain thought briefly, then frankly gave his answer: "If I had more warships, I would have seized all the islands at the first possible moment. If you had made no response, then not only would I occupy them, I would also demand from you a hundred years of free and unrestricted navigation rights along your entire East Coast—from Dragon Summoning Gulf all the way to Mobius, and from Mobius all the way to the southeastern coastline of the Highmountain Kingdom."

Matilda’s eyes opened slightly wider; she looked at Gawain with a hint of surprise. Then she lowered her head and answered softly, "...I understand."

Gawain left the room with Amber. In the sun-drenched reception chamber, only Emperor Rosetta Augustus and Matilda remained.

After this, the silence in the room lasted for a long time, until several minutes later Emperor Rosetta Augustus suddenly spoke, breaking the silence: "No—that is not what he would do."

Matilda raised her head with some surprise. "Father Emperor, what did you say?"

"He will not occupy those islands, nor will he demand any kind of gratuitous, unrestricted navigation rights." Emperor Rosetta’s expression had at some point become extremely grave. He furrowed his brow in thought, falling into a long silence, but in the end he smoothed his brow, and the stern look on his face turned into a faint, complicated smile. "I originally thought that when he made his second ’concession’ I had already pinned down his intentions..."

"...We have only signed an internal memorandum so far; the real negotiations have not yet begun," Matilda said at once. "We still have some room to maneuver for now..."

"No." Emperor Rosetta interrupted Matilda, and the smile on his face seemed even more intricate than before. "If he hadn’t mentioned Talronde and the theocracy Authority Council, I wouldn’t mind losing a bit of face—but now... he has already shown me a future that is much harder to refuse. The price he has put on the table is high, yet worthy of the challenge."

Then he gradually withdrew that complicated smile from his face, turned to Matilda, and spoke with unusual severity and speed: "Contact the ambassadors of the Highmountain Kingdom and the Silver Empire at once, and finalize those trade and port-opening proposals. If necessary, we can lower our conditions. No matter what, before the ring-shaped continental route agreement takes effect, we must preserve as much of our market and our discourse power in the southern end of the continent as possible."

"Will we still have time? The Cecil Clan have probably already begun preparing these matters. Gawain Cecil even met with the Silver Empress yesterday afternoon... They have a personal relationship."

"A friendship that dates back seven hundred years..." Emperor Rosetta’s expression grew complicated for a moment. He instinctively glanced at those red fruits on the tea table not far away, once again deeply tasting the sense of powerlessness that came with dealing with a man who had stepped out of history itself. But he quickly shook his head, and said in a low voice, "We do all we can and keep whatever we can keep—though the Cecil Clan are ahead of us, they are ultimately far away from the southern continent. With such a large feast, they cannot possibly eat it all."

...

In the town rich with elf style, a lively atmosphere permeated every corner. Magic-guided Vehicles bearing the emblem of the Cecil Clan were traveling down the main avenue. Members of various national envoys, or elf Affairs Officers responsible for maintaining order and receiving guests, could be seen at any time along the road. Gawain and Amber sat in the rear of one such Magic-guided Vehicle, relaxing their somewhat taut nerves as they took in the foreign architecture and scenery.

In the corners of the carriage’s inner wall, some inconspicuous magic symbols glimmered. A small soundproof barrier neatly screened out the noise from outside, making the interior of the carriage especially quiet and comfortable.

After an unknown length of quiet, Amber suddenly broke the silence: "You never intended to take those islands from the beginning, did you?"

"...Not exactly." Gawain smiled. "If they were truly being given away for free, I would hardly refuse—if Typhon cannot grasp the value of footholds on the sea, why should I help them plan for their future?"

Amber scratched the back of her head. Though she was outstanding in the field of intelligence, she was evidently not so professional in other domains: "...Does a ring-shaped continental route truly have such high value?"

Gawain glanced at this half-elf who was struggling to think it through: "At the very least, it is more valuable than those few islands. A ring-shaped continental route in itself is merely a ’route’, but once you add a certain premise, the situation is no longer so simple—at the present stage, the Cecil Clan are the only country capable of forming large trade fleets and blue-water combat fleets."

Amber subconsciously repeated Gawain’s wording: "The only one..."

"If our fleets can circle the continent, and every country along the route has to rely on us to maintain their maritime trade lines—and even their modern trade systems themselves are established with our assistance—then all coastal regions of the Loren Continent will in effect become our shores. Those countries that rely on the ring-shaped continental route, and draw enormous profits from the sea lanes, will even actively help us maintain that route, because we are both their provider of livelihood and their naval bodyguard. The logic within this is not difficult to understand."

Amber finally reacted: "...Whoever is the first to stand up and shake Cecil’s maritime authority will be the one threatening the economic lifeline of all coastal countries."

Gawain nodded slightly, yet there was one thing he did not voice.

Although his ring-shaped continental route plan was devised with long-term reach, on the Loren Continent there remained one country that was difficult for him to exert influence upon—that was the Silver Empire, located at the extreme south of the continent, most of whose territory already lay upon a colossal island. Though the elves had been in decline for many years, the legacy of their ancestors remained formidable and their deep national strength was equally hard to shake. With such profound capital at their disposal, the silver elves naturally held more discourse power in the face of this route.

However, he did not worry much about this—the heritage of the silver elves was also their fetter. Their powerful ancestral legacy endowed them with great national strength, but like the Well of Deep Blue of old, it bound them tightly within the "fortress" woven from the Sacred Stars Temple and countless ancient factories. This fetter had shaped the Silver Empire’s "non-expansion" character. At the very least, within the horizon Gawain could foresee, this "non-expansion" trait would not be easily changed.

This meant that the Silver Empire would fully enjoy the benefits brought by the ring-shaped continental route, and would also maintain the operation of this route to a certain degree. For Gawain, this already met his objective.

Of course, the Violet Kingdom in the northern part of the continent was also a concern... But regarding this "reclusive nation" shrouded in layers of fog, he did not have many ideas for now. In any case, in their limited previous contacts, those Mages had already recognized the existence of Northport and opened the strait between the Violet Kingdom and the northern coast—that was enough.

Gawain rubbed his somewhat tense forehead, letting his mind, which had been running at high speed for so long, slowly cool down.

Just then, a figure appeared by the roadside, and the Magic-guided Vehicle suddenly slowed.

Amber casually opened the window a slit. The roadside figure passed in a slip of paper, then vanished at once into the surrounding pedestrians. Amber unfolded the slip and swiftly scanned it.

"Two groups have left the residence of the Typhon envoy mission. One group went to the Highmountain Kingdom’s envoy quarters, and the other headed east in the city."

"They’re going to find the Silver Empress," Gawain said offhandedly.

"Looks like they are reacting quickly." Amber blinked. "Do we need to do something?"

"Do what? Assassinate foreign ambassadors?" Gawain gave the half-elf a look, then closed his eyes slightly and leaned back against the seat to rest with his eyes shut. "Let them go. This is the ’acceptable margin’. As we said before—we eat the meat, but we must leave others at least some soup, and even a bite or two of the meat."