Chapter 207: Dinner Time at the Gao Family Residence

After returning to the real world, both Gawain and Amber looked a little pale.

Byron, the knight who had been waiting outside for a long time, immediately approached. “My lord, are you alright?”

“I’ve witnessed nature’s handiwork,” Gawain exhaled deeply, trying to shake off the unease caused by confronting that vast void. He shook his head helplessly. “Let’s hope it really is nature’s handiwork.”

Byron looked puzzled. Even with his seasoned experience, he couldn’t guess what Gawain had seen in the Shadow Realm. But wisely, he didn’t press—if Gawain hadn’t volunteered the information, it probably wasn’t something to be shared openly yet, especially with so many ordinary soldiers around. He decided not to pry.

After calming himself, Gawain turned to Byron. “Besides this new area, any other exploration reports?”

“Yes, we’ve made good progress recently and uncovered quite a few things,” Byron nodded and began summarizing the intelligence gathered so far. “We’re currently at what should be the lowest level of this ruin complex. If no more ramps or staircases appear, then this hall is likely the ‘foundation’ of the entire facility. Overall, the ruins can be divided into three main layers: upper, middle, and lower. The middle layer connects to the entrance hall we first discovered. It’s spacious, with straight, symmetrical corridors—probably the main area for personnel activity back then. The upper layer leads to the ridge line at the peak of the Dark Mountains. There are many hidden ventilation shafts and what seem to be emergency exits, but most are blocked by rockfalls from mountain weathering and can’t be cleared yet. The lower layer, where we are now, is the smallest but structurally the most complex. It contains many rooms filled with abandoned equipment and mysterious mezzanines, including this hall we found. These three layers are connected by a large central ramp and various vertical shafts and narrow staircases scattered throughout. I’ve carefully mapped the floor plans of the different levels within each area.”

Byron paused, then continued, “Next, we plan to explore the southern and eastern parts of the middle layer. We found additional connecting passages there. Though cluttered with debris, they haven’t collapsed. Once we have enough personnel, we’ll clear the obstacles and push further. I suspect there are still large unexplored sections in this ancient ruin.”

Gawain frowned, mentally sketching a comparison between the ruins and the overall layout of the Dark Mountains. Slowly, he said, “The southern area… if the middle layer is symmetrical, then the south might lead to the southern foothills of the Dark Mountains. You must be especially careful. If you find any part of the structure piercing through the mountain, immediately seal off the passage and report back. Under no circumstances should you enter the dark forest on the mountain’s southern side. As for the east…”

Amber, drawing on her limited knowledge of the continent’s geography, suddenly blurted out, “Could it lead to the Typhon Empire?”

Byron was startled. “Is that even possible?”

“Nothing’s impossible,” Gawain replied calmly. “We’re in the southeast corner of Ansu, and the Dark Mountains stretch all the way into Typhon territory. If this ancient facility was truly hollowed out from the mountain itself… then it’s possible its far end extends into Typhon. After all, a thousand years ago during the Starfire Era, there were no clear borders between Ansu and Typhon.”

He looked Byron in the eye, his expression grave. “If that’s the case, you must be even more cautious. Understand?”

Byron, being a knight—even if a latecomer—had some military sense. He immediately grasped the implications of a passage leading into Typhon territory and stood at attention. “Yes! Understood!”

After finishing the briefing, Gawain decided to return to his estate first. Before leaving, he patted Byron on the shoulder. “Your work exploring the mountains is important, but you still need some rest. After this mission, take a few days off at home.”

Byron chuckled. “I’m used to it. Back when I was a mercenary, I’d spend weeks at a time crawling through ruins and underground chambers…”

“But you didn’t have a daughter then,” Gawain shot him a glance. “Pea misses you.”

Byron’s smile froze, replaced by a hint of awkwardness. “Oh… right… I’ll spend more time with her when I get back.”

Gawain and Amber returned to the lord’s manor. After a long day, it was already late afternoon, close to dinner time.

Besides two temporary servants recently hired, only Betty, a young maid, was on duty. She handled all the meals and some chores. Although the household was small—just five people counting Amber and the newly arrived sea witch, Tyr—and Gawain himself was frugal with simple meals, managing food and daily tasks was still a heavy load.

Watching Betty dart around the dining room like a whirlwind, setting plates and distributing bread, Gawain couldn’t help but pull Amber over to help. As he arranged plates, he asked Betty, “Are you managing alright with all this?”

“I’m fine!” the young maid replied briskly, carrying a large bottle of wine. “Ah, my lord, you don’t have to set the table yourself!”

“Better than sitting idle,” Gawain said. He wasn’t used to the aristocratic lifestyle of sitting down while a line of servants stood at attention behind him. In fact, even having someone serve him made him feel uneasy, so he always tried to change that atmosphere. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to work. Betty looked almost on the verge of tears as he took over her task. He had to put down the plates and said, “If it gets too much, just tell me. This house is much bigger than the old tent, so it’s natural to need more help.”

Gawain had no intention of following the era’s typical nobles who kept dozens or even hundreds of servants, or assigning two people to every trivial task like gardening or dog care. But he acknowledged that such a large residence did require enough staff to handle necessary duties. Betty was diligent but not superhuman; it wasn’t fair to burden her with everything.

Betty hadn’t thought that far. She was just a low-level kitchen helper and hadn’t considered what to do if she were the only maid. Hearing Gawain’s words, she nodded absentmindedly—completely unsure what she was agreeing to.

A while later, Hetty, busy with personnel matters, and Rebecca, absorbed in rune studies, finally returned home. By the time they entered the dining room, Amber had already filled herself up to about seventy percent with various appetizers and cheeses…

Gawain guessed that if dinner was delayed any longer, Amber might end up eating all the mustard mixed with butter on the table. This half-elf must have starved in her past life.

As the family settled, Gawain brought up his and Amber’s discoveries in the Shadow Realm.

“You said you found a ‘great void’ in the Shadow Realm?” Hetty was visibly shocked. “And that void doesn’t correspond to the terrain of the Dark Mountains in the real world?”

“Exactly. The void is so large it could fit our entire town inside. It’s very tall—its upper reaches even break through the mountain peaks, allowing a glimpse of the sky. The interior is unnervingly dark,” Gawain described in detail. “There’s an unnatural phenomenon inside. I saw huge stones floating in the darkness, as if gravity had vanished.”

“I remember you and Amber said the Shadow Realm mirrors the real world, except it’s black-and-white and desolate, with no major physical differences…” Hetty frowned. “Could this void indicate some unknown ‘Shadow Realm law’?”

“I’m more worried it’s caused by an external force—some unimaginable power that has been active in the Shadow Realm, ‘excavating’ a large chunk of its matter and altering the physical laws within that area,” Gawain said with concern. “What’s more troubling is that the Gondor mages from a thousand years ago clearly knew about this void. They set up a magical gate at the bottom of the mountain ruins, which should connect to the void or somewhere related. Unfortunately, that gate no longer works.”

Hetty pondered silently, while Rebecca struggled to spread butter evenly on her bread and casually asked, “Are you still planning to move some of the estate’s facilities into the mountains?”

Gawain eyed Rebecca warily as she wielded the butter knife like a weapon. “Could you be a little gentler? It’s just butter, not a family massacre.”

Then he answered her question. “The relocation will continue. At least the workshops for making grenades and explosives need to move out of the estate, along with the munitions factory production lines. Those can’t be near residential areas. By the way, how’s the training of the craftsmen for laying the magic network coming along?”

“They’re doing well. Once I told them magic network technicians earn twice as much as regular construction workers, their enthusiasm skyrocketed. Plus, most of them can read and write. The best among them have even learned to arrange the hive units’ connections on their own, following the environment and blueprints. Their connection success rate is on par with first- or second-level runemasters. Now they can complete tasks independently without my guidance.”

Gawain nodded with satisfaction. “Good. Send the best teams to the mountain ruins. Start laying the hive magic network from the entrance hall, rebuilding the facility’s mana supply to prepare for the machinery’s arrival.”

Hetty sighed sincerely. “Honestly, who would have thought that ordinary people without spellcasting ability—or even the ability to sense mana—could control magic this way? The magic network, mana engines, thermal ray guns, Rebecca’s crystals… all these have reached a point where they can be produced entirely by ordinary craftsmen with minimal mage supervision.”

“That’s just the ‘copying’ stage,” Gawain smiled. “Once Jenny’s rune research institute achieves its first milestone and the first batch of rune specialists graduate, you’ll see ordinary people ‘creating’ magic.”

Neither Hetty nor Rebecca could imagine what that would look like.

But Gawain could vaguely envision that new era—one where even without spellcasters or innate mana talent, ordinary people could master magic through intellect, calculation, rigorous scientific methods, and mathematics, developing and inventing magical technologies.

At that moment, Amber, who had been quietly eating, suddenly looked up and interrupted, “By the way… what about that sea witch?”

(End of chapter)