Chapter 207 - Dinnertime for Gawain’s Family (2/2)

“I am idle anyway.” Gawain wasn’t used to the kind of life where he would sit at the table, and a row of servants would stand and watch him from behind. In fact, even if there was one person specially waiting on him as he ate, he would have indigestion. Thus, he was always trying hard to change such a tone. Unfortunately, it seemed completely ineffective at present. Seeing that he’d snatched her job of setting the plates, the little maidservant looked so anxious that she was about to burst into tears. He could only put the plates in his hand down. “Let me know if you can’t cope. This house is much bigger than the tent in the past. You’re bound to be short of hands taking care of it.”

Gawain did not plan on having a few dozen or even a few hundred servants in his residence like most aristocrats of this era, extravagantly having two servants at each post for even work like planting flowers or raising dogs. However, he also admitted that such a big residence required more manpower to take care of things; having necessary staff at the necessary posts was still required. Betty was a diligent young girl, but she didn’t have the capabilities of three heads and six arms either. It wasn’t right to have the heavy household duties all weigh down on her.

Betty didn’t think that much. She was originally only a low-ranked maidservant assisting in the kitchen; she’d never thought about what to do if she was the only maidservant by the lord’s side. When she heard Gawain now, she stood dazedly and nodded —— she completely had no idea what this nod meant.

Some time passed again. Heidi, who was busy handling the matters for the transfer of personnel, and Rebecca, who was inextricably obsessed with runes, finally returned home too. And by the time they walked into the dining room, Amber was already 70% full from filling herself up with all kinds of appetizers and cheese.

Gawain reckoned that if dinner was started any later, Amber would have mixed the mustard on the table with butter and finished it up… Did this half-elf die from lack of eating foods of sickeningly strong tastes in her previous life?

After his family members had taken their seats, Gawain shared what he found with Amber in the shadow realm.

“You said you found a kind of ‘enormous void’ in the shadow realm?” Listening to Gawain’s description, Heidi showed great surprise. “And that big void doesn’t correspond with the terrain of the Dark Range in the actual world?”

“That’s right. The scale of the void is such that I’m afraid our entire town at present could fit into it. And it’s very tall. The top has even breached the Dark Range’s peak, such that a part of the sky could be seen. Light inside of the void is exceptionally dim. It’s so dark that it makes one uneasy.” Gawain described the situation in the void. “There is some kind of natural phenomenon inside the void. I saw huge boulders floating in the darkness like they’d lost their gravity.”

“I’ve heard descriptions from you and Amber that the shadow realm is a corresponding projection of the real world. And besides being black and white and deserted, there are no distinct differences in physics…” Heidi frowned. “Could that big void imply some ‘shadow realm rule’ that is unknown to us?”

“I’m more worried that it is caused by some external forces. That some force that exceeds humankind’s imagination had been active in the shadow realm and had ‘dug’ away a big piece of the shadow realm matter and even changed the physics of that area.” Gawain wasn’t without worry. “What is even more worrying is that… the Gondor Master Mages a thousand years ago had clearly realized the existence of this big void. They installed a device that resembled a magic door at the bottom level of the ruin in the mountain. The other side of this magic door should be linked to the big void or some place related to the big void. Unfortunately, that magic door can no longer be enabled.”

Heidi bowed her head in thought, and Rebecca fought the butter on her bread that couldn’t be spread evenly no matter how she did while casually commenting, “Then will you still proceed with the plan that you mentioned previously about moving part of the territory’s facilities into the mountain?”

Gawain watched Rebecca’s act of wielding the butter knife slightly apprehensively —— her imposing manner was as if that slice of bread had killed her whole family. “Easy there, do you need such big movements to spread butter.”

Then, he answered Iron-Headed Girl’s question. “The relocating work still has to continue. At the very least, the workshops manufacturing grenades and all sorts of explosives have to be shifted out of the territory. Then there’s also the production lines in the military factories —— it won’t do for these things to remain right next to the residential areas. How is the training of the craftsmen team for the laying of the Magic Web going?”

“They’re all learning rather well. Once I said that the remuneration for Magic Web technicians was double that for average construction workers, they became very eager. Moreover, the literacy of all those craftsmen is pretty good. The most outstanding ones among them had even already mastered how to arrange the connection of Honeycomb Magic Web units by themselves according to the target environment and blueprint manual. The success rate is just like that of Grade 1 and 2 Runemasters. Now, they can independently complete the task without needing my guidance.”

Gawain nodded in satisfaction. “Very good, send the most outstanding team into the ruin in the mountains. Begin laying the Honeycomb Magic Web with the entrance hall as the starting point, and restructure the magical power supply inside the facility as preparation for the subsequent admission of the machinery.”

Heidi let out a heartfelt sigh after hearing that. “To be honest, who would’ve thought that laymen without spellcasting abilities or even the ability to sense magical power could actually use such means to control magical power… Magic Webs, Magic Powered Engines, heat-ray guns, Rebecca Crystals — these things have arrived at the extent of being produced by laymen craftsmen without any input from Mages or only require minor guidance from Mages…”

“Right now, they’ve only stopped at the stage of following the blueprints to ensure that there are no errors. This is only ‘imitation’.” Gawain smiled. “And when the Rune Research Center led by Jenni obtains their results for the first stage and the center’s first batch of students in rune specialization graduates, you will see some true laymen’s ‘creations’ in the magic domain…”

Heidi could not imagine what kind of picture that would be. In fact, even Rebecca was unable to.

But Gawain could vaguely see that new generation —— it would be an era where even without spellcasters, even without magical talent, laymen could rely on their brains and calculations, rely on strict scientific analysis methods and mathematical tools to grasp magic, and even develop and create all sorts of magical techniques.

At this point, Amber who’d been engrossed in eating suddenly lifted her head and interrupted, “But then again… Where’s that sea demon?”