Chapter 65 - Ancient Facility (2/2)
Heidi concentrated her senses for a moment and shook her head, “No, but it is already very near.”
“Note down this place,” Gawain spoke. “This ancient device is already completely nonfunctional. There is no need to consider repairing it… But it can be taken down to provide us at least half a ton of mithril and seven to eight tons of obsidian. There is also a large quantity of adamantine, purple copper, and purple steel.”
“Wait a moment…” Heidi quivered for a moment and looked at Gawain with astonished eyes. “Ancestor… Are you planning to break down this priceless ancient magical device?!”
“Why not?” Gawain looked at Heidi and replied, “This device requires an extremely pure magic to be ‘ignited’. Right now, there isn’t any corresponding technique to increase the purity of magic. Furthermore, even with the appropriate energy source, this thing has been in here for a thousand years, and the composition of the inside is already rotten to the core. Repairing it would be the same as constructing a new one.”
Heidi was startled before she spoke with a queer expression, “Ancestor might not feel a thing since you are from seven hundred years ago, but, to us, this thing is an antique…”
Gawain’s face trembled as he said, “This item was already an antique before I died… We need to view this practically. This thing doesn’t have any value just sitting here. Only by smelting it will it obtain new life.”
After hearing Gawain’s words, Heidi realized that nothing she said was going to be of use. As such, she could only nod with an agonized expression.
There was a saying, ‘The child doesn’t feel any pain when selling the grandfather’s fields.’ But why did it seem like the grandfather didn’t feel any pain when he sold his own fields too…
The magic gathering device being here meant that the research facility was very close. From linking this place with the magical response that Heidi had sensed earlier, the source might be a research device that was still operating.
Gawain calmly activated the knight’s ‘Danger Detection’ skill so as to defend against a possible magic trap or an ancient weapon that might still be operating.
As they continued to advance, he casually asked Heidi, “That’s right. I hear them addressing you as Madam instead of Young Lady or Lady… Are you married? Where is your husband?”
Gawain had been wanting to ask this question for a long time, but he wasn’t able to find a chance to ask.
Heidi paused for a moment. It was normal for the ancestor to be worried about her marriage, so she answered, “I’m not married. But when I reached adulthood, I converted my religion to the Magic Goddess Milmina and forsook my right of inheritance, so the right of inheritance was given to Rebecca’s father. According to clan laws, adult women who had forsaken their right of inheritance due to religious conversion are all viewed as married, which meant that they had devoted themselves to religion. Originally, I still had my nobility and was a baroness without succession rights. But there was a year when the territory was in difficulty and I… I sold my title to a merchant…”
Gawain nodded and responded with an “oh”. At the same time, the information about Magic Goddess Milmina had appeared in his mind.
Magic Goddess Milmina was also known as the Goddess of All Magic or the Mysterious Lady. She was believed to control the power of magic and was also the world’s first giant dragon and first elf master mage… As such, the legendary dragon-language magic and the current elf magic were also created by her.
She didn’t have an official religion or faith as almost all those of the spellcasting professions were her ‘shallow believers’. But less than 1% of the mages officially converted their religion to this goddess. This was probably related to the spellcasters’ general fondness for unraveling mysteries and a lack of divine beings to revere.
Among the 1% of believers, there were plenty like Heidi who simply wanted to show that they had forsaken their right of inheritance.
The Anzu Royal Clan’s Princess Veronica who converted her religion to the God of Holy Light also did it for similar reasons. But that princess wasn’t like the Cecil Clan’s descendants who were so disappointing that they had no choice but to sell their nobility status. As such, she was still addressed as a princess (or her corresponding clerical status).
After Heidi gave her reply, she was rather anxious and frightened. She was mainly afraid of two things. Firstly, it was whether the ancestor would be angry when he found out that the disappointing Cecil Clan’s descendants actually had to survive by selling their nobility titles. Secondly, it was whether the ancestor would be angry when he found out that she was still not married at such an age. Especially the second point… What if Gawain suddenly turned around and said, ‘Why are you still not married? When are you planning to marry? What do you think of that XXX person?’ and then press her to get married?
Oh my god! An ancestor from 700 years ago pressing her to get married would be much worse than her own parents pressing her to get married!
In fact, Heidi wasn’t really worried about getting a beating for selling her nobility title…
However, Gawain merely gave an “oh” reply and didn’t say anything else.
Heidi’s wild imagination didn’t persist for long as she finally sensed that the magical response was in front of her.