The vast plains stretch out into the distance, with the early spring vegetation, fearless of the cold wind, revealing layers of green on the endless plains. The wheels of the magic vehicles roll over the hardened road, while the lampposts and signs beside the road continuously move past the car window. Further ahead, the towering walls of Winterhold Castle have already come into view.

Matilda, dressed in a court gown, her black hair falling over her shoulders, gazes at the vast fields outside the car window with a calm expression and deep eyes, seemingly lost in thought.

She and her delegation have completed their visit to the Cecil Clan, and are now traveling in a magic vehicle dispatched by Longwind Fortress heading towards Winterhold Castle, where representatives from Winterwolf Fortress are already waiting to receive them. The majestic castle, built for signing the peace agreement between Anzu and Typhon, continues to serve its purpose today, standing as a landmark at the border between the two Empires, still a symbol of "peace." Though the king who signed the peace agreement has passed away, and a dynasty has fallen amid the flames of war, only the stone-built castle still stands at the frontier, now bearing the new Empire’s flag, declaring the peace of a new era.

How many Chapters of history might this inspire, and how many historical scholars and philosophers would pen its tales?

Matilda withdraws her gaze and turns to the dignified officer sitting opposite her—the commander of Longwind Fortress, General Maryland, personally escorting the delegation, a symbol of the Cecil Empire’s sincerity.

"Princess Matilda, we are almost there," General Maryland notices the gaze from opposite and nods slightly, saying, "I hope this visit to the Cecil Clan has left a good impression on you."

"It was an impressive and enjoyable journey," Matilda smiles slightly, "General Maryland, thank you for escorting us."

The convoy smoothly ascends the slope before Winterhold Castle, with the flags of Typhon and Cecil Clan flying high above the gray-white walls and towers. Matilda’s eyes sweep across the empty field beside the slope, where the ground is held by soldiers, and she sees several black magic vehicles painted with shield and crown emblems.

They are the magic vehicles sent by Winterwolf Fortress, crafted by Typhon itself.

Andresha Wendell, with gray hair cascading over her shoulders, leads her knights in the chilly early spring wind, watching as the Cecil Clan’s convoy arrives at Winterwolf Fortress’s plaza. Emerging from the vehicle are Princess Veronica and the Empire’s scholars and aristocratic representatives, who have successfully completed their mission.

And the commander of Longwind Fortress, General Maryland O’Neal.

Soon, personnel from both sides carry out the handover as agreed, and after necessary documents are signed and exchanged, Maryland finally has time to carefully observe the young "Wolf General" standing before him. He has interacted with this young lady on many occasions along the long border, but it is rare for the two to meet so calmly and face-to-face at close quarters. Looking at Andresha, who could almost be his daughter, he smiles slightly: "General Andresha, my mission is completed—the delegation from your country has safely reached the border."

Andresha’s light gray eyes also stay on Maryland for a long time, then she nods: "Thank you for your escort."

Both extend their hands, clasping them together and separating them after a perfectly timed pause of one second.

The Cecil Clan departs.

Standing on the high ground of Winterwolf Fortress, Andresha’s gaze lingers long on those magic vehicles bearing deep blue emblems, beside her stands Matilda, who only after a long time speaks: "What are you thinking?"

"...Nothing, just thinking about that General Maryland..." Andresha says halfway, shakes her head, and turns to Matilda, "Was everything smooth?"

"We had a decent harvest," Matilda replies with a faint smile, as though speaking casually, "General Bard has been missing for nearly twenty years, hasn’t he? That General Maryland resembles him so much in terms of temperament and age. If not for the disappearance back then, the one guarding this border now should be your father’s generation, and not the young you."

Andresha frowns and with a stern face looks at her friend: "Princess Matilda, this topic isn’t amusing."

"I apologize," Matilda immediately says, then seems to shift the topic casually, "Let’s return to Winterwolf Fortress first—I haven’t set foot on Typhon’s land for many days."

Andresha nods—she knows that a discussion about this visit to the Cecil Clan should now follow.

This "Winterhold Castle," located at the border between the two nations, after all, sits partially under the watchful eyes of the Cecil Clan.

On the road back to Winterwolf Fortress, Matilda and Andresha share a vehicle.

"Tell me about your experiences in the Cecil Clan," Andresha’s attitude visibly relaxes after leaving Winterhold Castle, with no outsiders around, she curiously looks at her friend sitting opposite, with a faint smile on her face.

Matilda also smiles: "The experiences will require slow recounting once we’re back, but before that, I have something to show you."

As she speaks, she takes out a cube, the size of a palm, seemingly composed of identical metal blocks, and presents it to Andresha.

With surprised wide eyes, Andresha senses faint magic waves emanating from the strange cube but cannot discern what magic item it is: "What is... this?"

"A gift from His Majesty Gawain Cecil, a wondrous ’Cecil Cube,’" Matilda says while deftly manipulating the metal blocks engraved with magic symbols with her fingers, "Andresha, if I recall correctly, you don’t have the talent for spellcasting, right?"

"That’s right," Andresha nods, "That’s why I chose to become a knight... hmm?"

Her words trail off in surprise as she sees the surface of the eccentric metal cube suddenly shimmer with light. After magic symbols successively light up, this seemingly innocuous metal creation with subtle magic waves unexpectedly opens up a faint swirl—this is the effect of the Wind Shield!

"Inside it, there’s a small magic web device, and the runes on its surface can be combined in accordance with certain patterns, creating various basic magical effects..."

Matilda gazed into Andresha’s eyes, speaking slowly, while the Wolf General sitting opposite her, after initial surprise and curiosity, quickly wore a thoughtful expression. Her light gray eyes turned deep and profound, remaining silent for a long time.

Matilda gently rotated the cube, cutting off the magic effect of the Wind Shield, and said with a tone of sighing, "It seems you’ve also realized the... significance this thing presents."

"To form an array by combining runes, stably displaying magical effects, while inscribing these runes on over twenty cubes, and ensuring none of the runes’ interference exceeds these cubes’ tolerance limits..." Andresha’s tone was deep, even with a hint of solemnity, "Though I have no talent for casting spells, I’ve learned the basic principles of magic, Matilda, how many types does this cube..."

"The types of combinations these small cubes can present is a number that would astonish both you and me," Matilda spoke softly, "Anyone with a sharp mind, upon encountering it, would quickly realize that relying on ’luck’ to exhaustively list these rune sequences is impossible—to make them combine into a specific spell effect requires strict adherence to mathematical rules."

"Mathematical rules..." Andresha instinctively closed her eyes, "So... have you deciphered this rule?"

"Not yet, but I’ve understood part of it," Matilda sighed lightly, "Andresha, mathematical rules are just one part. There’s so much the cube reveals; from a certain perspective, this ’Rune Cube’ even symbolizes part of the essence of magic guide technology. And just this part alone has stumped almost everyone in the delegation..."

Andresha fixed her gaze on the magic cube in Matilda’s hand, breaking the silence after a moment: "So the Cecil Clan made this cube to..."

"A toy."

Matilda answered proactively before Andresha could finish, smiling only after noticing the latter’s stiff expression: "Andresha, this cube is very cheap and structurally much simpler than you imagine. Its value lies in the ’knowledge’ behind it, while these cubes themselves... in Cecil, they’re given to children to play with, to inspire their interest in runes and thinking ability, serving as a kind of educational toy."

"This is just a toy..." Andresha muttered in a tone difficult to accept, "This thing is just a..."

Matilda’s tone was much more casual than Andresha’s: "Gawain Cecil gave it to me as a gift, perhaps as a form of display and intimidation, but on the other hand, it’s also a genuinely valuable, precious ’gift.’"

She once thought Gawain might show her the powerful magical mechanized legion or let her visit a mobile mechanical fortress intimidating enough for powerful Order Supernaturals, but instead, he gave her a small ’Rune Cube,’ and this unremarkable cube soon displayed its ’power.’ Matilda had been fiddling with this cube for several days, each day bringing more shock and inspiration, but by today, she could calmly look at it, even gaining some benefit from this ’intimidation.’ 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Demonstrating one’s national strength is something every normal ruler would do, but Gawain Cecil is not merely a ruler," Matilda said as she manipulated the cube in her hand, "He is also showcasing valuable knowledge in this way. Andresha, you should see that this cube can be easily replicated, and if placed in the hands of scholars proficient in mathematics, deciphering its mathematical rules wouldn’t be difficult—though I haven’t fully summarized the hidden rules within these cubes, I can sense that the Cecil Clan has already mastered some ’truth’ in the field of runes. The greatest significance of this cube is revealing this fact to us."

"Will you bring this ’Cecil Cube’ back to the Imperial Construction Association?" Andresha, now calm, asked curiously, "The people there should be better at handling such ’new gadgets’ beyond the traditional magical field."

"Of course, Lady Windsor Maple and Master Daniel will certainly be interested," Matilda said without hesitation, "Beyond research, I’m also prepared to mass-produce it in factories and let it flow among the populace..."

"Just like the Cecil Clan is doing?" Andresha pondered out loud, "To treat it as... some kind of educational toy?"

"At least, compared to hunting and banquets, these cubes are entertainment more accessible for the civilian class. The development of magic guide technology taught me one thing: the ’classical knowledge era’ has passed; in this era, if a form of knowledge cannot connect with society at large, its development will undoubtedly be greatly affected, even coming to a halt at any time..."

"You always think further ahead than I do," Andresha said with a smile, "But no matter what, I think you make a lot of sense, and I support your decision."

Matilda nodded without speaking further, focusing on the rune cube rotating in her hand, letting the scenery outside the vehicle swiftly recede as she fell into long contemplation.

...

Cecil Empire, northern region.

When the glorious giant sun rose to the mountaintop, the hazy disk with a faint wood grain rim was set like a crown at the pinnacle of the northern mountain range, and the visitors from the Sacred Dragon Kingdom finally arrived at the northern border.

At the northeastern checkpoint of Bitter Winter Castle, the heavy and solid magical door of the "Wind Shield Fortress" slowly opened with squeaking sounds, causing tiny ripples in the energy field screen covering the entire fortress. For the first time in hundreds of years, the mysterious Dragonborn officially dispatched a delegation, stepping into the human kingdom.

Byron Kirk and Duchess Victoria Wilder led the welcoming officials, watching as the Dragonborn entered the fortress from behind the gate.

They inevitably held a slight curiosity about each other.

Sir Golosh, riding atop a mighty Earth Dragon Beast, entered the human fortress with an expression of solemnity and composure. Behind him, the Dragonborn maintained an equally solemn order, while Lady Asharena, the Dragonbranded Witch acting as the "Human Affairs Advisor" for this mission, walked alongside him.

Suddenly, he sensed something unusual from the Dragonbranded Witch beside him.

Curious, Sir Golosh turned his head to see the proud red-haired lady with wide eyes, a peculiar expression as she gazed ahead.