Chapter 806 - 805: The Day of Action

"The Fundamentals of Everything?"

"Newborn Check-up and Basic Nutrition Assurance Plan?"

"Village Apothecary Quickstart Manual?"

Listening to Matilda’s detailed account of her experiences in the Cecil Empire, Emperor Rosetta Augustus furrowed his brows unconsciously, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Some of these I saw during the facility tours, others I inferred through interactions and conversations with local people, and some were written in local newspaper articles or posted on public bulletin boards," Matilda said. "It seems none of these are secrets, as His Majesty Gawain openly shares them with everyone."

"These indeed are not classified, and can’t be kept as secrets, openly..." Rosetta’s brows did not relax at all, and he immediately asked, "Have these plans already been implemented? Is their Administrative Office capable of carrying out these bold schemes?"

"As far as I know, most are still in the advancing stage, and some are even in the planning phase. Even the ones already implemented only cover certain areas, like the Newborn Check-up and Basic Nutrition Assurance Plan—it seems to be one of Gawain Cecil’s earliest reforms and is currently only widespread in the southern borders."

Pausing here, Matilda pondered her words before speaking, "But I suspect that these bold initiatives will eventually be realized—their Administrative Office is confident, with a large number of specialized talents entering the later stages of education and training, and within the Cecil territory, no one questions Emperor Gawain’s commands."

Rosetta remained silent for a moment.

The success of these plans is not all that matters; just their existence alone deeply struck this far-sighted Typhon emperor, leading to a series of conjectures as he speculated on Gawain Cecil’s possible insights and contemplated the potential significance of these measures.

"Father," Matilda noticed Rosetta’s expression and couldn’t help but speak, "The things the Cecil people are doing—will they all have significant impacts?"

"Not just significant impacts. What Gawain Cecil is doing is laying the foundation for a far-reaching future..." Rosetta said gravely, "He seems to strongly believe in the power of ordinary people coming together, exerting every effort to enhance their overall role in society’s operations. I’m not yet certain if what he’s doing is right or wrong, but his line of thought... I have indeed not considered before."

"Do you think there’s something we could learn?" Matilda asked curiously.

"...That requires further observation," Rosetta mused, "The key is, Gawain Cecil’s plans are excessively bold. Bold plans entail substantial investments and unknown impacts. Without fully understanding the mechanisms behind his actions, we cannot blindly influence the Empire’s operations."

Matilda lowered her head, "I understand, I’ll try to gather more information."

"Hmm," Rosetta nodded simply, then asked, "In your view, what kind of person is Gawain Cecil himself?"

"That legendary hero..." Matilda appeared thoughtful, "I’ve heard many stories about him, but the real person differs from the mythologized hero in the tales. He is gentler than I imagined; forgetting our respective statuses, he seems like a generous and kind elder to me. While I am sure many of his gestures during our interactions had political calculations behind them, his demeanor remains undoubtedly graceful.

"Moreover, he doesn’t carry the ’ancient’ vibe, there’s no sense of disconnect across eras, but considering he has been revived for five years now, it is understandable—apart from bringing ancient wisdom and experience, he is utterly a man of modern times."

Rosetta appeared to have a slight smile, "It seems you have a favorable impression of him."

"Just like your earlier assessment, he bears a similar temperament to you."

"About the study abroad program inspection..." Rosetta further inquired, "What are your current thoughts?"

"This matter itself must be promoted; we must better understand cutting-edge magic guide technology, and enhance economic and technological exchanges with Cecil," Matilda evidently had also been contemplating these issues, answering without hesitation. "However... just as you feared, we will inevitably face the issue of dispatched students being influenced and assimilated."

"Oh?"

"Cecil’s imperial capital is a city so prosperous it’s mesmerizing, filled with bizarre and new things. There are unimaginably rich entertainment activities, not just the monotonous hunting and parties; they have more newspapers and magazines, a fascinating magical entertainment called ’Magic Web Broadcasting,’ and supposedly a captivating ’Magic Shadow Drama.’ Gawain Cecil himself is an expert in controlling the public mindset. We’ve received intelligence on the ’Lu’an Grand Trial,’ and now, I have personally witnessed published materials documenting the shifts in Lu’an city’s situation back then—that material’s control over ordinary people’s psyche and its prediction of group behavior is chilling, pinpointing the psychological weaknesses of top aristocrats and priests as well as all possible negative propaganda speeches and actions...

"These methods may not be directly applied to exchange students meant to represent friendly exchanges, but the underlying tactics they reveal... are worth vigilance.

"I have reasons to believe that students we send to Cecil will inevitably be influenced, most likely not through direct wooing or persuasion, but through a subtle influence of lifestyle.

"The lifestyle and cultural atmosphere of Cecil Castle is simply too... irresistible for young people."

Rosetta listened to Matilda’s words in silence, his expression unchanged, as if he had anticipated this all along.

Only when Matilda’s voice fell did this Typhon ruler slowly ask, "How many can come back?"

"...I don’t have high hopes for this batch of aristocratic children," Matilda said candidly, "Thirty percent, optimistically."

Rosetta nodded, calmly stating, "Alright, that’s not little."

The father and daughter fell into a mutual silence for a moment.

After a brief silence, Rosetta suddenly said, "Recently, the power of the curse is on the rise; I believe you have felt it."

Matilda nodded, "Yes, it was my second ’dream dive’ since arriving at Cecil."

"Real-world events might occur, relating to the curse’s origins. You need to pay attention to any abnormal changes around you, and note if anything unusual appears in your normal dreams," Rosetta, still stern, yet advised as any ordinary father would, "If you come across a difficult trouble... pray to the War God.

"Bowing to a rational deity is always better than yielding to Mad Gods."

Matilda looked complexly at her father, who still maintained a valiant and dignified demeanor, yet was already on a downward trajectory internally. After a long silence, she slowly lowered her head, "Yes, I will remember your advice, Father."

...

The visitors from Typhon were receiving proper and thoughtful hospitality at Cecil Castle, and all the scheduled tours and negotiation matters were proceeding in an orderly manner.

Gawain and Matilda had completed the initial contacts and discussions, after which the main affairs were handed over to the Administrative Office and other diplomatic personnel of the mission.

Matilda and her entourage had their own arrangements, and as for Gawain... he could finally focus his attention on the more pressing matters at hand.

The appointed date for the Eternal Sleepers’ actions had arrived.

In Gawain’s chamber, Aunt Heidi, Rebecca, Kamel, and others received a special summons to prepare for the upcoming events.

"The auxiliary magic symbols are ready," Kamel floated in front of Gawain, while the magic symbols on the walls and floor behind him glowed and pulsed as if breathing, "These symbols will provide you with some mental protection and an extra connection to the real world. While you may not necessarily need the former, the latter will ensure a sharper perception of the real world so as to prevent ’excessive immersion’. This is a technological achievement from the second phase of the Immersion Capsule project."

Gawain nodded and looked at Aunt Heidi, who stood by: "I might be out for an extended period this time. Although the Eternal Sleepers will slightly accelerate the time flow in Sandbox One once the operation begins, allowing us to act longer in relative time there, the time acceleration there is limited for safety reasons, and I might need to ’sleep’ in the real world for a couple of days—I’ll leave the Administrative Office and handling of the Typhon mission to you."

"Don’t worry," Aunt Heidi nodded vigorously, "I won’t let you down..."

Saying this, the Crown Princess, who had been following Gawain since the beginning, experiencing all challenges from the nonexistent to the existence of the Cecil Empire, couldn’t help but show a hint of concern: "You must also be very careful, after all, what you are about to face is..."

Heidi opened her mouth a few times but still didn’t utter any words of dissuasion—reason told her that was neither mature nor realistic.

But reason couldn’t allay her worry. Watching the ancestor about to head to a special battlefield and face unimaginable challenges alone, the unease in her heart showed no sign of easing.

It wasn’t that she had no confidence in the ancestor, but the enemy to be faced this time was truly beyond the ordinary: how would the ancestor deal with a monster in a nightmare? And if something happened to the ancestor... how would this everything still in reconstruction continue?

Gawain understood Heidi’s concern, he smiled slightly: "Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing."

"I know it’s a bit dangerous, but just like when you and Rebecca chose to stay in the castle to fight those aberrations, some things... someone always has to do them."

Saying this, he looked past Heidi at a certain "intercontinental friend" who was absentmindedly hugging her tail.

"Tiel."

Tiel snapped back from her trance: "Huh? Oh, I’m here."

"This time, I can’t determine exactly where your ’little biscuits’ will pop out from," Gawain said, "Although the control center of Sandbox One in the real world is certain, the Supreme Narrator is a product of dreams; when it enters the real world, it could jump through dreams and transfer to any place with humans gathered and dreaming, which might cause you significant trouble."

"Don’t worry, I’ve already informed the queen about this, my sisters will be prepared," Tiel immediately flicked her tail, "It’s just a matter of going from fixed meal points to having to actively forage, no trouble at all."

Amber couldn’t help but widen her eyes: "Is that how ’forage’ is used?"

Meanwhile, no matter how serious the potential crisis was, upon hearing a certain bizarre statement from the deep-sea salted fish channel, Gawain couldn’t help but laugh: "It’s best that you think that way. Speaking of which, this ’Supreme Narrator’ will probably be quite different from the ’little biscuits’ you’ve dealt with before. It’s more like ’spiritual food’..."

Amber widened her eyes again and looked at Gawain: "Is that how ’spiritual food’ is used?!"

Tiel waved her hand, slowly curling up her tail, and quietly coiled herself into an elegant lump in the corner of the room, lazily saying: "Whether it’s ’spiritual food’ or not, it’s actually best if we sea demons don’t have to make an appearance. That means the situation hasn’t spiraled out of control, and it means many people can survive, doesn’t it?"

Gawain quietly glanced at the sea demon who was now coiled up in the corner, even starting to doze off, then withdrew his gaze, seeming to answer her, or perhaps speaking to himself: "That’s exactly my aim."

He then moved to the large bed, preparing to establish a connection with the psychic network.

Aunt Heidi and the others stood nearby with a hint of concern.

However, a moment later, Gawain suddenly opened his eyes again.

Rebecca curiously leaned in: "Ancestor, did you forget something?"

Gawain glanced around at the people near his bed, his expression somewhat strange: "You all... step back a little."

Heidi was momentarily confused: "Huh? Why?"

Gawain gestured to himself and then to Heidi and the others: "When I was in... the scene should be not much different..."

Rebecca suddenly realized: "Oh, it looks like a funeral..."

She hadn’t finished her sentence when Heidi firmly covered her mouth.

Gawain: "... You all better leave, Amber and Tiel can stay here to look after things."

Heidi, holding down Rebecca who was still flailing and struggling, making "mmm" sounds, bowed deeply: "Yes, ancestor!"

Gawain: "..."

(Oh dear!)

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