Chapter 938: Preparations for Departure and the Listening Project

To be honest, when Gawain saw the words appear on the desk, he wasn’t as calm inside as he pretended to be. Although just minutes ago he had joked that the Goddess of Magic should be thanking him, he truly hadn’t expected her to actually do so—at least, in her own way.

Is this really the “personality” of the Goddess of Magic? It felt very different from Amorn or Nariel Duvalet…

Still, despite the flood of chaotic thoughts swirling in his mind, Gawain managed to keep his expression steady. After all, there were several people in the room, and in such a setting, he had to maintain his dignified emperor persona.

“Ancestor,” Hetty noticed Gawain’s movements over the desk and couldn’t help but ask curiously, “What’s going on…? Ah? What happened to the desk?”

Gawain glanced down at the surface. The relatively new desk had first been inscribed with a “Thank you” by the Goddess of Magic, then he had casually wiped away a layer, leaving a sizable gouge in the wood. As the emperor’s official desk, this was definitely unacceptable—and he couldn’t help but feel a bit regretful. “Just now… there was a mosquito.”

The three Grant Chancellors stared at him in disbelief.

That explanation was obviously hard to believe, but since the Ancestor—the Emperor himself—said there was a mosquito, then it must be true.

“Ahem, later we’ll have to…” Gawain coughed twice, eager to end the awkward topic quickly. “Yes, replace the desk surface.”

“Understood… Ancestor,” Hetty nodded, then quickly and somewhat awkwardly changed the subject, “Regarding your plan to travel to Talrond…”

“That’s exactly what I wanted to discuss,” Gawain nodded immediately, picking up where Hetty left off. “According to the agreement made with the ‘representatives’ of Talrond, after the Goddess of Magic’s ‘Divine Funeral’ concludes, I should set out—though not immediately. We still have time to prepare, but since it’s a promise already made, I don’t intend to delay.”

“Are you really determined to go to that… mysterious Talrond?” Bertram asked, though he knew the decision was final.

“No need to be so tense—Talrond is neither a divine realm nor a hellscape. It’s simply another kingdom on this same planet,” Gawain said calmly. “The dragons are indeed a mysterious race, but they are a civilization we can communicate with. We can establish formal diplomatic relations with the Holy Dragon Principality, so it’s best to think of Talrond as just another country.”

Standing nearby, Victoria broke the silence with an expressionless face: “In the Northern Territories, there have long been many legends about dragons. Most are nonsense, but legends often reflect some truth—dragons are a mysterious race that has always been active on the continent of Loren, just beyond the edge of human civilization. They have secretive motives, and we know nothing of them… Your journey to Talrond may help humanity understand what the dragons truly want, but you must also be prepared for the risks.”

“Of course,” Gawain nodded slightly, then looked into Victoria’s icy, detached eyes. “The empire’s internal affairs have been basically arranged. I trust you all to handle daily governance while I’m away. Beyond that… I have a special task for you.”

Victoria immediately straightened up, her face serious. “Please command.”

“No need to be so formal,” Gawain waved his hand. “I just want you to ensure all the magical network relay towers in the Northern Territories are operating at peak condition, and to adjust the crystal arrays along the northern coast to their highest sensitivity, so they can detect signals coming from the Arctic direction. Meanwhile, I’ll bring along the most advanced magical network terminal we have to maintain contact with the northern coast.”

“You intend to maintain communication with the empire this way?” Victoria furrowed her brow slightly. “Forgive me for being blunt, but that’s unlikely to work. It far exceeds the communication range of existing relay towers, and the vast ocean introduces strong interference—not to mention the storm in between…”

“I’m well aware,” Gawain interrupted. “I want to use this opportunity to collect data on the magical network relays and the magical interference over the ocean—especially the latter. That data is very valuable and currently in short supply. The near-sea route from North Harbor to Talrond has begun trial operation, but deep-sea data collection is progressing slowly. Our current technology struggles to capture magical parameters beyond the Violet Strait. Fortunately, the dragons have offered us a ‘ride’ this time.”

“I see… understood,” Victoria lowered her head. “I will follow your instructions.”

“Good. As for communication with the homeland, you needn’t worry,” Gawain nodded and continued, “The dragons have technology capable of maintaining communication across the endless sea. I will leave behind a ‘Mithril Ring’ to be kept by Hetty. If there’s an emergency, use it to contact me.”

He then discussed some final details of the preparations with Hetty and the others, essentially confirming the domestic arrangements before departure. When the discussion ended, Hetty sighed softly and shook her head helplessly. “No matter how much we prepare, it still feels like you’re setting off on a rushed journey…”

Gawain smiled. “It is rushed, but the world rarely unfolds according to our expectations.”

Hetty nodded resignedly, then, like an overanxious housekeeper, asked, “And the traveling party… are you really sure you’re only taking Amber and Veronica?”

“Do you want me to bring the entire royal guard as guests?” Gawain gave her a helpless look at her obvious nervousness. “I’m going to Talrond as a guest, not invading the dragon kingdom or exploring dragon lairs. Too many attendants won’t help. Amber is clever and good at investigation; Veronica understands divine matters well. They’re just right for this.”

Hetty thought for a moment, then lowered her head. “If that’s your decision…”

“Let’s not dwell on this,” Gawain waved his hand, then his expression turned serious. “A report just came in from Solinfort. I want to discuss it with you.”

“Solinfort?” Hetty’s eyes showed confusion, but she quickly caught on, a faint suspicion forming. “Is it about that mysterious signal we intercepted earlier?”

“Exactly—that mysterious signal,” Gawain said solemnly, pulling a prepared file from nearby. “Many cryptographers and linguists have studied those indecipherable tremors for a long time without finding clues. But Beltira took a different approach—she seems to have found a pattern within those tremors…”

As soon as he said this, the three Grant Chancellors leaned in. Even the usually impassive Victoria showed a flicker of curiosity. Clearly, the mysterious signal had caught the attention of more than just the experts.

Gawain didn’t tease them. He unfolded the file and pulled out the most important page, turning it around and placing it on the desk in front of Hetty and the others.

“What… is this?” Bertram Franklin stared at the strange image on the paper in confusion. It looked like a square made up of a series of small dots, with a short diagonal line beside it that seemed unfinished—also composed of dots. Nearby, blank space contained waveforms representing tremor patterns, labeled with cycle and type.

Not only Bertram, but Hetty and Victoria also looked equally puzzled.

“This is what Beltira ‘reconstructed’ from the signals—an incomplete image,” Gawain explained briefly, outlining the “technical approach” mentioned in the file. “She converted the tremors directly into a picture, using a decoding method no one had thought of before. She treated the tremors and white noise as dots and blanks, then sketched them out in the order of the signal’s clock…”

Beltira’s method wasn’t complicated, and the people present were all sharp minds skilled in math and technical deduction (except for Amber, who was daydreaming by the window). So after a brief explanation, the three Grant Chancellors fully understood the connection between the image and the mysterious signal.

Hetty’s eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at the image. “Just… that simple? The signal’s essence is actually a picture?!”

“Unbelievable, but that’s probably the truth,” Bertram said thoughtfully. “Random tests wouldn’t produce such a neat image. The perfect square shape proves Beltira’s approach is correct—the signal contains a picture. This is… fascinating.”

“But what does the picture mean?” Hetty frowned. “And who would do such a thing?”

“It’s clearly incomplete, with unfinished lines beside it. Beltira believes we only received a small segment of the full signal, and that the signals we’ve intercepted are different ‘sections.’ Unfortunately, the previous two signals were either unclear or not recorded in time, so the only sample she could analyze was the one received on the 32nd of this month,” Gawain said casually. “Based on the current records and analysis, Beltira suspects the complete image might be some kind of blueprint… though that’s just a hypothesis with a lot of guesswork.”

“A blueprint… subjective as it is, that’s quite an appealing theory,” Bertram shook his head. “Whatever this is, it’s clearly from an intelligent being. Whoever sent this signal must have a purpose—they want to convey some message to us… or to any capable recipient who can receive and decode it.”

“That’s my view as well,” Gawain said. “I believe this signal is likely being broadcast continuously, always transmitting this ‘blueprint.’ We only catch fragments by chance because our magical network crystal arrays aren’t designed to receive it—everything is coincidence.”

“What I want to tell you is this: we need to find a way to reliably reproduce this ‘coincidence.’

“These signals are unusual—I’m sure you feel it too. Whether for academic research or to rule out risks to the magical network communication system, we must investigate the secrets behind these signals. To that end, I plan to make the capture, tracking, and study of these signals a formal, long-term project, with systematic and continuous monitoring wherever the magical network can reach.

“This project will be called the ‘Listening Project.’”

“So far, we still don’t know where to begin. That’s why I had Beltira gather all the operational data from the moment the Thorin main hub picked up the signal—everything from the weather conditions, magnetic fields, to the magical environment at that time. There could be many ‘coincidental factors’ that caused the Thorin hub to receive the signal. It might be related to the orientation or configuration of the crystal array, the operational status of the magic network in the Thorin region, or even the weather and wind direction back then. Since we don’t know which data is relevant, we have no choice but to record everything and test every possibility.

“As long as it doesn’t interfere with the Empire’s magic network’s daily operations, we’ll have hubs and nodes with spare capacity across the realm adjust their settings to match the ‘Thorin standard parameters’ as closely as possible. We’ll see if we can pick up anything. Even if we find nothing, at least we’ll have run a thorough operational test of the entire network.”

Gawain spoke as he glanced at Victoria, who was listening intently.

“Victoria, the North is our key testing area—after all, the first abnormal signal was detected at Winterhold. Although you only received it once, and the signal was very weak, we still have reason to suspect that Winterhold’s environment might be uniquely suited to intercepting this anomaly. So I want you to keep a close eye on it.”

Victoria immediately acknowledged, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Gawain nodded, exhaled slowly, and let his gaze sweep over the three seated before his desk. Then he reached down and pulled out three identical copies of a document from the drawer, placing them in front of Heddy and the others.

“These are copies of the Thorin Fortress report. They also include more details about the ‘Listening Plan’ and the ‘Standard Parameters’ that Beltira compiled. When you return, gather your technical teams and study them carefully. While I’m away for the time being, begin preparations for this plan.

“That’s all for today. If there’s nothing else, you may all return to your duties.

“The main procedures of the ‘Divine Burial’ have concluded, but there’s still a lot of cleanup to do before sunset. I’ll leave that in Heddy’s hands.”

The three Grand Regents acknowledged and turned to leave. Just as Victoria was about to step out the door, Gawain suddenly called her back.

“Victoria, wait a moment.”

(End of chapter)