Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 223: The Night That Was Filled With Stars

Rebecca might have the worst talent for magic, the worst noble etiquette training, and a headache-inducing character, but from a young age, she was always the most pampered in the clan. After all, the Cecil Clan had already declined completely at her generation, and the seniors of the clan didn’t have anyone else to nurture or care for.

As such, Rebecca had received plenty of presents from a young age, so many that she couldn’t even count them properly.

However, those presents seldom left a deep impression on her.

Be it beautiful clothes, new magic books, or history books, Rebecca didn’t feel they were interesting. She wasn’t like a normal young noble lady who liked flowers and new clothes, nor was she interested in history or etiquette. However, when her old ancestor lifted his coffin, she finally found someone who recognized her and was always able to bring her a refreshing feeling. As an ancestor from 700 years ago, Rebecca originally thought that Gawain would be the most inflexible and stern senior of the clan. She never expected this Lord Ancestor to be so interesting, and the wonderful ideas in his mind weren’t inferior to hers at all.

Even the presents that he gave to her were very intriguing.

However, when she was holding onto this thing called the “telescope”, Rebecca was rather confused or still peeved with herself. “I don’t like to watch the stars! I haven’t liked them since I was young. What’s so interesting about them?!”

Gawain merely smiled and dragged this foolish young lady to the balcony of the feudal lord residence. In front of the surprised Heidi, he helped Rebecca to fix up the telescope on the frame and adjusted the focal distance on the lenses. He then pressed that stubborn girl’s head and placed her eye on the lens.

Half a minute later…

“It is truly interesting to watch the stars!!” Rebecca let out a voice that was void of all moral backbone.

“Ancestor, this is… Rebecca’s present you mentioned?” Heidi was also drawn to the commotion over here and couldn’t help but put down the star observation plate in her hands and come over. “There aren’t any magic waves… What is this?”

“You can try it.” Gawain smiled and said, “Mm… It might not have the star atlas, and it might not be as professional as the star observation plate, but if it is only used to observe things far away, it might be easier to use than your magic tool.”

Heidi used a great deal of effort before she could squeeze Rebecca’s head to the side. She then took a glance into the lens and instantly revealed a surprised expression.

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In this world, the Eagle Vision spell and the “star observation plate” that was developed with the Eagle Vision spell as a basis had been used mainly to view things remotely and to observe the stars. Even though they were restricted to being used by the spellcasters, these two spells had held back the people from the research of optics. The basic physics of optics in this world wasn’t any different from Gawain’s otherworldly knowledge. However, with the ability to view things remotely with a single spell, who would think of putting a concave and convex lens in a combination to create a telescope?

After all, the “technology” route for spells and optics was simply too different.

Rebecca was at a complete loss as she looked at this amazing metallic device. She walked around it for a few rounds and couldn’t see a single rune or magic material. She couldn’t help but scratch her hair in a bewildered expression and asked, “But why is it like this?”

Heidi had also lifted her head and asked curiously, “Yes, why?”

After hearing their question, Gawain’s mouth made a smirk.

They finally learned how to take the initiative and ask why. They were seeking the principles instead of being satisfied with it being functional. This was the ideology he had been striving to impart to the technical personnel on the territory. All the hard work had finally paid off and could be seen from his two descendants.

“We will need to talk about the physics of light.” Gawain pondered for a moment before deciding to explain in a simple manner. “You should at least know about the magnifying glass, right?”

Gawain explained about the effects of a concave lens and a convex lens, and also the principle of the telescope. However, he didn’t provide an overly in-depth or overly certain explanation. He tried his best to use conjectural answers to describe the effects of the telescope, and this was a necessary caution…

This strange world’s laws of physics were very odd; who could be certain that just because the telescope was working that, therefore, the physics of optics here were the same as Earth’s? Perhaps, in this large world, the laws of light and refraction were only performing in a way that he was familiar with? However, if one day they were to research the very details of this subject, what should Gawain do if they discovered that this world’s “light” was actually fundamentally different?

He knew about the significant influence that he had on Heidi and Rebecca. Even if they had the suspicious nature that made them qualified to be researchers, the words that he said would always leave a deep impression in their hearts. As such, he had avoided speaking about the principle of magic with an excessively firm tone in front of the duo. Unless the knowledge had already obtained practical and adequate proof. This was to avoid himself from influencing their research minds in the future.

Rebecca was at a loss as she listened. She knew about the theory of magic, mathematics, machinery, and even some theoretical knowledge on alchemy, but she had never imagined the physics of this world could be explained from such a perspective. This gave her a great and fresh sensation: “It turns out that the light that is everywhere… can actually be so interesting?”

While speaking, she placed her eye onto the telescope and watched the stars in the sky in high spirits. She imagined those remote stars going through a long journey and passing through the atmosphere that was overflowing with magic before finally entering a set of lenses. Through the lenses, the stars became clearer and larger images. She was able to see more and brighter stars that she had never seen when she was young. She was also able to see the indistinct celestial structures that were originally hidden within the stars.

Due to the limited craftsmanship of the first telescope, the magnification rate wasn’t very high, and it wasn’t possible for her to see the secrets within the stars. Despite the case, the stars that were much more dazzling than she imagined were enough for her to be amazed.

“In the past, I had always wanted to throw Large Fireballs into the sky to blast those stars down.” Rebecca lifted her head and blinked her eyes while saying, “But they are so far away…”

“Do you know that all the stars in the sky are also burning fireballs,” Gawain smiled and said. But he quickly supplemented, “Of course, this is just my conjecture.”

“The stars are also burning fireballs?” Rebecca looked at Gawain with shock and asked, “Then what are they using as fuel? How can they burn for so many years?”

Back on Earth, it was called hydrogen, but only heaven knew what the stars were burning on here…

Gawain didn’t reply immediately and could only laugh awkwardly. “I don’t know either.”

“Lord Ancestor, you aren’t bluffing me, right?” Rebecca looked at Gawain with suspicious eyes and said, “How can the stars in the sky be large fireballs?!”

“You cannot speak like that to our Ancestor!” Heidi glared at Rebecca sternly in response. Just as Gawain was feeling touched, Heidi spoke the second half of her statement, “Ancestor was suspended in the sky back then. He must have personally seen how those stars were burning… Right, Ancestor?”

Gawain: “…Mm… Right, right…”

“Ohh? That’s incredible!” Rebecca let out an exaggerated response before quickly touching her chin and going into contemplation. “What if I am able to accumulate an extremely large Fireball and then throw it very, very far away. Will it become a star?”

“…That is probably impossible.” Gawain didn’t know to laugh or cry as he shook his hand and said, “Real stars are much bigger than you can imagine. Of course, this is also my conjecture.”

Heidi revealed a pensive expression and asked, “Ancestor, do you think ‘Ao’ is also a burning fireball?”

“Ao…? Probably.”

Gawain wrapped his arms around his chest and lifted his head to look at the brightest star in the sky.

He naturally knew what it was, or more likely, he could guess what it was.

That was this solar system’s “sun” that this planet was revolving around.

This planet that he was standing on (assuming it was a planet) wasn’t a standard planet. It was highly possible that it was just a satellite planet revolving around a gas giant, and this gas giant would be what the people normally addressed as the “sun”. However, this gas giant should also be revolving around another celestial body, and according to the information Gawain had now, the celestial body was probably “Ao”. It was the brightest star in the night sky and also the mysterious lone star that could occasionally be seen during the day. It was also the “ultimate star of mystery” that had a special status in the hearts of mages and astrologists.

The Beyonders had all sorts of explanations for Ao, but no matter who it was, they had unanimously determined that it had a special impact in the study of some mysteries. Ao was the base point of all astrology observations, and it was frequently used as the “spiritual focal point” when mages were meditating. In fact, some of the religions said that Ao and the gods’ residence were related and that it was a lighthouse that guided the way to the god realm.

Rebecca looked at the sky and had a sudden discovery. “Say… Today’s Ao seems to be much brighter than usual.”

“During winter, Ao’s brightness would increase, don’t you know? This is the common sense of astrology study!” Heidi looked at Rebecca helplessly and said, “I really don’t know what happened to all the things you learned when you were young.”

Rebecca touched her neck and said, “I know that! But Ao during this year’s Days of Stars seems to be brighter than the previous years!”

“Is that so…?” Heidi looked at the sky suspiciously. She wasn’t able to detect the changes with the naked eye, but she knew that Rebecca was shockingly sensitive to such inexplicable details. As such, she said skeptically, “Perhaps there is something different… I remember reading from some of the neglected magic books that when the positions of the stars are ‘corrected’, the ultimate star of mystery, Ao, will have a strong connection with the world. The doors between the god realm and the human world would be loosened, and the predicted year seems to be within these few years.”

After hearing the strange and mysterious words from Heidi, Gawain felt a trace of an indescribable feeling.

When the positions of the stars are corrected… Why does it sound so inauspicious?

Just as he was pondering about if the statement “when the positions of the stars are corrected” was some kind of magic phenomenon or just a rumor, the doors of the balcony were suddenly opened. The sea-demon lady exclaimed while she was coming out, “Aiya, it is done for, it is done for, it is done for!!”

“What is done for?!” Gawain had never seen Tiel acting so frantically and making such a ruckus. This seafood that was frequently in a winter hibernation would always do things lazily, but she was rather spooked right now. “Does someone wish to stew you?”

“The positions of the stars! The positions of the stars!” Tiel used her tail to hop towards Gawain before gesturing. “Today is the day the stars will return to their positions! Once the stars reach their corrected positions, the giant squid in the deep sea… the giant squid…”

Gawain was just thinking about the connection between the stars and the evil god in the deep sea. When he heard Tiel mention the thing that was a suspected ancient god with such a panicked tone, cold sweat instantly oozed out from Gawain. “Speak clearly! What will happen to the ‘giant squid’ when the positions of the stars are corrected?”

“The giant squid will regenerate without limits.” Tiel was so anxious that tears were about to flow down. “I have missed out on the ultimate mealtime!”

Gawain: “…Ha?!”