Chapter 909: Chapter 908: The Price of Knowledge
The transformation of this city... it’s truly dazzlingly fast.
Melita Ponia stepped out from her temporary lodging, and the bustling "Pioneer Avenue" unfolded before her like a fantastic theatrical scene.
Respectable Cecil citizens and merchants traveling from north to south came and went on this wide street, broad enough for twelve carriages side by side. Employees stood in front of the shops along the street to attract customers. Music came from an unknown source, mingling with various voices, the crisp ringing of double-wheeled carts—all mixed together. Behind the large windows, brightly lit, this year’s fashionable commodities were displayed coldly on the shelves like witnesses to this bustling new world, observing the vibrant human world.
The time was approaching dusk, and the setting sun cast a gentle golden glow over the city from the western woods.
In the past, dusk marked the point at which cities in the human world began to quiet down. However, here, everything was entirely different—this was the time for workers to switch shifts and rest, for students to leave school, for night market shops to prepare and open their doors, and for citizens to start their most leisure time of the day. It was only at this time that comprehensive commercial streets like "Pioneer Avenue" truly came to life.
"I wonder what will happen this time..." Melita elegantly stretched in the sunset, murmuring softly, "Hopefully, this exchange won’t be too unhealthy..."
She walked towards the city center, moving amidst the hustle and bustle of the human world.
A group of young people walked towards her. They wore outfits clearly from foreign lands, chatting and laughing along their way. But as they passed by Melita, they all unconsciously slowed down, looking in her direction somewhat puzzled, sensing someone there but seeing nothing, leading to a sense of unease.
Melita chuckled softly, passing by these suspicious young people, murmuring to herself, "Dragonborn, huh... still retaining some ability for sensing their kin. Anyway, leaving the mountains is always a good thing—this period when the world thrives is always precious..."
The young Dragonborn students hesitated and discussed for a while, feeling the sudden appearance and disappearance of the aura was very peculiar. One young person looked towards the street corner, eyes lighting up suddenly, immediately heading quickly in that direction: "Sheriff, Sheriff! We suspect someone is illegally using an invisibility spell!"
Melita hastened her steps: "Tsk... the first thing learned abroad is to report?"
Cecil Palace stood grandly in the center of the "royal district." This building was, in fact, no longer the tallest and largest in the city, but the Empire’s Flag flying high above gave it an aura of reverence amongst the Cecil citizens.
Fully armed soldiers stood proudly at the entrance, Melita lifted her invisibility effect, confidently approached those soldiers, who adjusted their posture cautiously. However, before the soldiers could inquire, the door nearby opened first and a young woman dressed in a black and white maid outfit with dark gold insignia of high-ranking officials emerged.
"Let her in," the high-ranking officer said to the soldiers, "She is His Majesty’s guest~"
"Miss Betty?" the soldier looked back at Betty with confusion, then turned to Melita, "Alright, I understand. But there’s still a need for registration."
"Of course," Melita nodded, "Melita Ponia, Mithril Vault high-ranking agent, His Majesty Gawain Cecil’s special adviser and friend—this will do for the registration."
After passing the checkpoint, Melita followed Betty into the "palace" expanded and remodeled from the feudal lord’s mansion. She casually asked, "Are the soldiers at the gate new? Previously, the sentry soldiers remembered me, as I dutifully registered last time I visited."
Betty thought for a moment, shook her head confidently, "No idea!"
Looking at the still energetic maidservant supervisor (she was no longer a "young maid"), Melita paused for a moment, but quickly smiled, her mood lightening further.
She originally came here to execute a short to medium-term observation task... but unknowingly, these people and affairs she’s observing have seemingly become quite interesting and important parts of her life.
With a light and good mood, she arrived at Gawain’s study. In the study, furnished with velvet carpets and world maps, she bowed slightly to the emperor sitting behind the desk, smiling and saying her oft-repeated opening line: "Good afternoon, Your Majesty, Melita Ponia, Mithril Vault high-ranking agent, is delighted to serve you."
Gawain raised his head from a pile of documents and books, glanced at the agent for a moment, and, indicating Betty could leave, casually asked, "I mainly have some inquiries today, first of all, I need to know—is there an ancient metal tower near Talronde? Probably to the west or northwest..."
Melita nearly lost her composed smile.
"What’s wrong?" Gawain immediately noticed the agent’s unusual expression, "Is my question hard to answer?"
Then he found something peculiar, couldn’t help but curiously ask, "Hm? You’re not wearing a veil today?"
Melita tried to maintain her calm smile, while adjusting her breath, replied, "I... am a woman, after all. Sometimes I want to change my outfit."
Then she took a deep breath, somewhat bitterly said, "Your question... not exactly crossing taboo lines, but rather close. Instead of starting with such frightening topics, could you first ease into it with something ordinary?"
"Oh," Gawain nodded understandingly, changed the question, "Have you eaten?"
Melita didn’t immediately grasp the peculiar greeting, but reflexively responded, "...I have."
"That’s good," Gawain casually said, "It seems there is indeed a metal tower to the west of Talronde?"
Melita Ponia adjusted her breath, looking curious: "...May I ask first? How did you know about the existence of this tower?"
"I got hold of a travelogue that mentioned many interesting things," Gawain gestured to the "Modir’s Travelogue" placed on the table, "A great adventurer once had the chance to approach the Dragonkin Realm — he bypassed the great storms and reached the Arctic Region. In the travelogue, he not only mentioned the metal tower but also more surprising clues. Would you like to know?"
Melita Ponia immediately noticed something from Gawain’s expression, and her every word became cautious: "A human who has been near the Dragonkin Realm? How could... what else does the travelogue mention?"
"It mentions your name," Gawain looked into her eyes, "It clearly records an incident where a dragon inadvertently destroyed the adventurer’s ship and brought him to the ’Steel Island’ where the tower was located, and the dragon introduced herself as Melita Ponia — a member of the Talronde Council..."
With each word Gawain said, Melita Ponia’s eyes seemed to widen further; finally, the Lady Dragon couldn’t help but interrupt him: "Wait a minute! It mentioned my name? Are you saying the adventurer who left the travelogue claims to know me? Met me in the Arctic Region? How could this..."
Gawain nodded: "It seems you have no recollection of this, do you?"
"I... have no recollection," Melita Ponia said, looking perplexed, never expecting to become the confused party in need of answers, a moment that a high-ranking agent responsible for consulting services has never imagined, "I’ve never encountered any human adventurers near Talronde, let alone taken someone near that tower... It’s against the taboo, you know? The taboo..."
"Alright, I roughly understand, we’ll discuss this matter in detail later," Gawain noticed the stress of the agent seemed to be rising sharply. Being well-versed in "inducing sudden demise" (limited to Melita), he immediately paused this topic and directed the conversation further along, "The travelogue also mentions another concept, a strange term... Do you know what ’Voyager’ means?"
When Gawain shifted the topic, Melita Ponia actually breathed a sigh of relief, but she couldn’t release that breath successfully — when the term ’Voyager’ reached her ears, she felt a simultaneous ’boom’ in her mind and soul, and amidst the intolerable roar to the dragon, she heard Gawain’s subsequent words: "...What does the legacy of the Voyager refer to? Is it an intellectual product? Does it relate to some ’secret’ the Dragonkin are preserving..."
For the first time since becoming a high-ranking agent, Melita Ponia tried to shield or refuse to answer such questions from clients. Yet Gawain’s words seemed to possess some kind of magic, directly penetrating her preset safety protocols — proving this human was really peculiar, Melita Ponia found she couldn’t urgently shut down part of her nervous system, couldn’t stop thinking about and "responding impulsively" to related issues. She instinctively began pondering those answers, and the moment an answer surfaced, her "true form" folded between elemental and real world gaps immediately transmitted a signal of unbearable stress—
The agent staggered on the spot, her complexion turning extremely unpleasant, while a shadow resembling dragon wings appeared behind her.
Gawain was startled by this unexpected intense reaction, immediately standing up from behind the desk: "Are you okay?"
Melita Ponia waved her hand in pain, struggled to move to the desk, leaning on it to stabilize herself, and then seemed to inadvertently mutter with a somewhat desolate look: "It blew up... the thirty-eight thousand one blew up..."
"What blew up? What thirty-eight thousand?" Gawain heard the words clearly but was completely clueless about the meaning, "Sorry, I apparently caused this mess..."
"No... you didn’t do it intentionally, and maybe this can be reimbursed..." Melita Ponia waved her hand again, speaking softly with a bitter smile, "Alright, I must fulfill my duties; I can only answer part of your question. The so-called Voyager refers to an ancient civilization that has already left this world, and their legacy is the root cause of the past ’Inversion Tide Turmoil.’ Yes, the ’Ultimate Tome’ you found back then... I mentioned it was used to steal knowledge, what the Inverted Tide Empire stole was the inheritance left by the Voyagers. Those legacies must not be disclosed, and they must not be possessed by lower-level mortal civilizations. That’s all I can tell you."
An ancient civilization that has already left this world... the root cause of the Inversion Tide Turmoil... legacies that must not fall into low-level civilizations...
Melita Ponia said she could only answer a part, but the few key points she answered were already enough to clear most of Gawain’s doubts!
In fact, even when he saw Modir’s Travelogue, he had vaguely guessed the meaning of the so-called "Voyager," guessed what those legacies and the towers referred to, and Melita Ponia’s response completely confirmed his suspicions: the "Voyager" referred to by the Dragonkin signifies the mysterious "Godslayer Fleet," the ancient civilization that left behind numerous satellites and orbital facilities in space!
And in the ancient era, the "Inverted Tide Empire" triggered a massive crisis upon encountering the legacy (knowledge) of the "Deicide Fleet," ultimately leading to the Inversion Tide Turmoil. This matter had also been supported by various clues before, this time being the first definite, affirmative intelligence about the "Deicide Fleet" that Gawain received from Melita Ponia’s mouth.
Overall, Melita Ponia’s answers just verified the matters Gawain had previously speculated or been corroborated on and connected some otherwise independent clues into a whole. To Gawain, this was just the start of a series of questions, but to Melita Ponia... it seems these "small questions" brought unforeseen trouble.
This made Gawain feel a bit guilty.
"I’m sorry my questions were reckless," he apologized to Melita immediately — he didn’t care about the so-called "ruler’s airs," not to mention the other party was his first dragon friend. Sincere apologies are essential in maintaining friendships, "If you feel it’s necessary, we can stop here."
"No problem," Melita Ponia immediately shook her head, breathing steadily again and returning to being the elegant and composed high-ranking agent of the Mithril Vault, "My professional ethics do not allow me to do so — continue consulting, my state is still fine."
"Alright, I will be careful with my forthcoming questions, trying not to involve ’dangerous areas’," Gawain said, organizing in his mind the questions he intended to ask, "It should be okay for me to ask about a name, possibly someone you know."
Melita Ponia was instantly relieved, even showing a relaxed smile again: "Of course, that’s definitely okay."
Gawain nodded: "Do you know a dragon called Enya?"
Melita Ponia’s expression instantly changed.
The forty-two thousand one blew up too.
