Chapter 875: Chapter 874: The Sea Demons’ Response

The summer atmosphere grows stronger by the day.

Even in this northern kingdom, areas close to the Dark Mountain Range are gradually feeling the approach of the summer heat.

The windows of the study are open, with birdsong and insect chirping coming from the direction of the courtyard. A gentle breeze blows across the sunlit desk, causing a few pages on the desk to flutter slightly, but a hand promptly picks up the documents and begins to carefully browse through them.

A rhythmic knocking sound comes from the direction of the door, and Gawain, while browsing the documents in front of him, doesn’t lift his head: "Come in."

The study door opens gently, and Tiel yawns and squeezes in—first her upper body comes through, then she skillfully retracts her several-meter-long tail, coiling it into a large pile on the floor, making the originally spacious study feel a bit cramped after the sea demon lady fully enters the room.

"It’s rare to see you awake at this hour," Gawain looks up at this deep-sea lazy one and says with a smile, "Is there a situation?"

"There’s news from Antawen," Tiel yawns again, trying to perk up her spirits and says, "The signal you captured earlier wasn’t sent by sea demons—the Queen has already started investigating the source of the signal."

"...So, it wasn’t from the sea demons after all..." Gawain completely stops his actions, frowning slightly before shaking his head, "Anything else?"

"The Queen asked me to pass on her thanks to you," Tiel tries to look more serious and formal, "She’s very pleased that humans are willing to share the principles of Magic Web Communication with sea demons. It will help us repair Antawen’s main antenna in this world’s magic-pervasive environment. Moreover, our technical personnel indicated, if the repair of the main antenna goes well, communication between Antawen and Cecil might become more convenient, even possibly establishing direct communication—though whether this can be realized depends on the technical personnel."

Listening to Tiel’s report, Gawain can’t help but raise his eyebrows: "Ah, that’s truly good news..."

Tiel expresses her mutual joy rather perfunctorily, then stretches into a long, five-and-a-half-meter, coiled lazy stretch, sleepily saying while wagging the tip of her tail, "If there’s nothing else then..."

"There is," Gawain quickly speaks before this deep-sea lazy one falls asleep, "Wait a moment, I need your help with something else."

"Ah?" Tiel’s face immediately shows a regrettable expression but nods nonetheless, "Then go ahead."

"You should know, we are building Northport on the Empire’s Northern Border, preparing to restart the sea route," Gawain says unhurriedly, "Now the basic infrastructure there is already past halfway..."

"...I think I understand what you mean," Tiel looks at Gawain and immediately realizes what he wants to say, "Further technical exchange... This is indeed something we agreed upon. Now that you have given more Magic Guide Technology to the sea demons as promised, we sea demons should respond."

"We need to return to the ocean, which requires higher-level ship technology—as well as ways to evade danger and find safe routes at sea," Gawain nods frankly, speaking seriously, "You should know, the Typhon Empire has already made strides in that area."

Tiel looks at Gawain, shrugging after a brief pause: "Don’t worry, we will provide assistance as promised. Your Magic Guide Technology showed its value in Antawen’s repair project; the Queen is very satisfied. She has agreed to allow more sea demons to come to Cecil as ’consultants’, including professional deep water technicians. They are much more professional in technical fields than me—after all, my expertise is actually in creating storms at sea."

More sea demon consultants—Gawain looks at Tiel, finally revealing a satisfied smile on his face.

He had waited for this day for a long time.

The technical exchange between Cecil and the sea demons has lasted for years, but establishing enough trust between two completely different races is not as simple as just needing time. In addition, the long spatial distance and the inherently laid-back time perception of the sea demon race meant that the technical exchanges between the two kingdoms had been limited. Even during these long years, Cecil’s "sea demon technical consultant" had actually only been Tiel alone, and Tiel wasn’t even a technician among the sea demons—according to her, she was actually a combat professional in sea demon society...

It’s equivalent to the sea demons sending a security team leader to Cecil to be a technical consultant, and doing so for years.

The key is that that security team leader’s elementary knowledge was quite sufficient in the "backward human world"—although it met the technical needs of Gawain, the situation itself was undeniably awkward and constraining.

Especially when humans decided to venture into the sea, wanting to challenge ocean voyages, this security team leader’s elementary knowledge finally became inadequate. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

But now, everything has finally changed—Cecil’s Magic Guide Technology proved valuable in the sea demon society, and the recent technical exchanges in the communication field further impressed those deep-sea creatures. The overall level of technology in land-based civilizations might not be advanced enough, but at least they have unique advantages in specific areas. This distinct advantage finally convinced the sea demons to decide to send more consultants over.

"I should express my gratitude to Her Majesty Petia," Gawain says with a smile, "Then when can we expect more consultants? In what way will they arrive? Is it the same route as you?"

"The sisters departed with the ocean current, traveling along the sea floor the whole way—I know you probably were hoping for the ’jump technology’ we used when hunting that deer, but Antawen is at a crucial stage of restarting a few critical facilities, so there isn’t extra energy to open the jump channels, and sea demons are always lacking motivation for activities other than hunting. But you need not worry, we move quickly in the deep sea, and we have fast deep-water shuttles that can get us there within a few days. As for the route..." Tiel thought for a moment, then spread her hands, "You don’t have to worry about reception—my sisters will go straight to Northport."

"Northport?" Gawain was momentarily surprised, "Does this mean going straight to work?"

"I know according to human customs there should be a formal handover ceremony and welcome activities, preferably letting my sisters show face in this imperial capital, but we sea demons don’t like that, I know you don’t like it either, so everyone will go directly to Northport to find Byron, you just need to arrange the reception there," Tiel said casually, "Also, among the advisors we’re sending this time... it’s not just sea demons."

Gawain frowned: "Not just sea demons? What do you mean?"

"Naga," Tiel said, "Some nagas will come along too. Of course, this is just the plan from the Queen’s side for now, if you have concerns about this, Antawen can adjust the composition of the advisory group."

"I want to confirm something first," Gawain interrupted Tiel, looking into her eyes with a serious expression and tone, "When you say ’Naga’, you mean those transformed Sons of the Storm..."

"There is no more Sons of the Storm church," Tiel shook her head, speaking unhurriedly, "Three days ago, the last Son of the Storm also transformed into a Naga... It’s quite poignant, the human footprints in the far sea that have continued for seven hundred years have ended in this form."

"...Fully transformed," Gawain took a deep breath, calming his mood after hearing this shocking news, "Her Majesty Petia will send some nagas over, in other words, those who transformed into nagas are no longer dangerous Dark Cultists? What are they considered now? A completely new deep-sea species? New members of the sea demons Kingdom? Or humans with mutated bodies and minds?"

"Probably all three—our scholars are also studying this question," Tiel said slowly, "But one thing is certain, the Sons of the Storm who transformed into nagas have lost their previous fanatical aggression, and this seems to be due to multiple factors. The mutation changed their personalities, and it also gave them some knowledge about the deep sea, knowledge that was passed onto them by the sea demons. Though the specifics of how this worked are unclear, this knowledge seemed to calm them down, and hormones resulting from the transformation of life forms played a part as well. These factors have together ended the centuries of senseless struggle between sea demons and the Sons of the Storm.

"Of course, not all nagas have become completely harmless, there are still some transformed individuals whose minds are not clear, and a few nagas still seem extremely irritable after the transformation—we had to establish many ’abnormal human containment centers’ to temporarily control them. I hope this doesn’t unsettle you, I know you’re human, but my compatriots likely had no other choice either."

"Uh... I understand," Gawain touched the tip of his nose, speaking with an odd tone, "It seems like you plan to send over the most clear-headed and harmless nagas. I think I can guess your Queen’s intentions."

He paused, speaking slowly with an understanding tone: "After all, those nagas were once humans, she’s probably using this approach to show goodwill, and also trying to dispel any misunderstanding I might have about sea demons regarding ’nagas’; additionally, the Sons of the Storm were originally the oceanic experts of human society, sea demons might possess more advanced technology, but the Sons of the Storm know how humans should build ships, they can play a significant role at Northport; finally, she likely hopes to appease the nagas by letting those who just transformed into another race undertake important tasks, which is a good way to reassure them by showing they are valued."

Gawain clearly analyzed the intent behind the sea demons Queen’s arrangement, his coherent insights even prompted Tiel, who was feeling sleepy, to open her eyes wide in disbelief: "Why do I feel like our Queen isn’t thinking that far ahead?"

Gawain looked at her with a mixture of amusement and helplessness: "Do you think a Queen would spend all day doing nothing but sleep explosively, obsessing over salt and water like you?"

"Every sea demon’s head is full of salt and water!" Tiel immediately responded with racial pride to Gawain’s jest, then she waved her hand, "Anyway, regardless of what the Queen thinks, do you have any objections to the aforementioned arrangement? If you don’t trust those nagas and prefer they don’t appear in Northport, I’ll inform the Queen next time I contact her..."

"That won’t be necessary," Gawain shook his head, "Let’s not waste the painstaking thought your Queen put into it.

"I believe Byron will maintain order in Northport well, and I don’t mind having some... nagas appear on the Empire’s land.

"After all, Cecil has always been an inclusive kingdom."

Watching Gawain with a smile, Tiel could only yawn silently: "Ha—I understand, I’ll convey it to the Queen."

Nearly about to nod off on the spot, the sea demon lady sluggishly made her way out of the room.

Gawain stood for a while at his desk, then shook his head, softly muttering to himself: "Wasn’t it a signal sent by the sea demons..."

After a few seconds of contemplation and hesitation, he raised his right hand, gently stroking the Mithril Ring on his finger.

In familiar mild warmth and magical waves, he heard a gentle and elegant but somewhat unfamiliar voice from the ring: "Hello, the Mithril Vault is pleased to serve you, esteemed customer His Majesty Gawain Cecil."

Gawain was about to habitually greet, but on hearing the voice from the ring, he subconsciously frowned: "You’re not Melita... Where is Melita?"

"I’m sorry, Melita is on an unexpected collection mission, and I’m serving you in her stead until she returns," the elegant, gentle voice from the ring continued, "You may call me ’Nuoletta’."