Listening to Gwen's description of the current situation, Heti's frown finally relaxed a little. In fact, as the Great Governor of the Empire, she also knew about this. But perhaps due to the life experience of her family during the decline of her family, or perhaps due to her innate personality, she could not be as optimistic as her ancestor most of the time. But there was one thing she still understood: the situation of the world itself would not change a little because of her optimism. The only thing that could change these situations was the efforts of people.
"You don't have to worry too much about Project 115," Gwen looked at Heti and comforted his "descendant" with a smile. "Rebecca and her team of assistants will be in charge of the technical and overall planning matters. That girl may be a little jumpy in other aspects, but she is only better than others in her field of expertise. You and I can't do better than her. Give her sufficient support, people, and money. Although the investment in this project is huge, now we have the huge income brought by the route around the continent and the trade railway network, which is enough to support us to complete these plans. "
"I understand, ancestor." Heti nodded solemnly. "I will make the arrangements on my side."
"Okay," Gwen responded. Then, as if he suddenly remembered something, he asked, "By the way, I asked you to investigate the matter related to the Violet Kingdom last time. Do you have any progress?"
"To find out all the influence of the Violet Kingdom on the magic system of human countries in the past 600 years is a huge and complicated systematic work," Heti said, looking a little embarrassed. "Especially to find all the information about the spells originated from the Violet Kingdom from the messy and obscure magic books of the old era. I'm afraid it will take a long time. Sorry, ancestor, the progress in this regard is still relatively slow."
She paused for a moment and then said, "But although the overall progress is not much, when I was compiling the early information, I found something that should be regarded as suspicious."
"Something that should be regarded as suspicious?" Gwen frowned. "What did you find?"
"Message Spell, Violet Magic Circle Drawing Law, Gravity Manipulation, three types of arcane evocation spells … These are the few spells that originated from the Violet system that the Royal Magic Consultants submitted at the beginning," Heti said as she took out a sorted report from the file cabinet under the table and pushed it in front of Gwen. "These spells have one thing in common: they have a black box structure, or they are a complete 'black box spell' as a whole."
Before Gawain could read the document, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows when he heard Heidi's words.
"Black box …" He stood in front of Heti's desk and quickly flipped through the document in his hand. He saw several relatively common traditional spells mentioned in the document, including the approximate time when they came from the Violet system to the Loren system and the evolution of the spell model. The specific tracing work was still in the early stages, so most of the information in the document was vague descriptions such as "estimation, speculation, and tentative." However, from this brief information, Gwen could still see some relatively clear clues.
These spells were introduced to the Loren Continent at different times, but all of them were widely used and spread. Their spell models were complex, and there was no clear theoretical explanation for them for a long time. Therefore, the sorcerers of the Loren Continent could only "copy" the spells to achieve their effects. As a result, the basic model of these spells was almost unchanged for several centuries. Only a few details were modified and optimized. There was not a single way that these spells were introduced to the Loren Continent. Some of them were from the sorcerers who traveled south from the Violet Continent, and some of them were from the "apprentices" who came back from studying in the City of Thousand Pagodas.
Sure enough, when these spells were distributed in society and everyone was used to them, they seemed to be no problem at all. But when people consciously collected them and tried to find "suspicious points," some clues began to emerge.
"The spell model cannot be analyzed, and the architect does not know the principle. He can only inject magic into the spell to achieve the effect, but he can't do any transformation or disassembly of the rune structure, medium material, or energy flow. This kind of spell is collectively known as' black box magic. 'Before rune logic was widely used, our magic system was almost full of these' black boxes'," Heti said while Gwen was lost in thought. "Of course, some of these black boxes were originally in the human magic system, especially those related to the lost ancient Gondor magic system. But the other part …"
"The other part is all from the Violet system, right?" Gwen looked up from the document and looked at Heti with a serious expression. "Are there any exceptions to the ancient magic that has been confirmed to be from the Violet Kingdom?"
"No, at least for the spells that can be accurately traced, there are no exceptions. Either the whole thing is a black box, or the key structure is a black box," Heti said, shaking her head. "But …"
"But what?"
"But a considerable number of these 'black boxes' are a thing of the past," Heti said with a strange expression. Hao Ren did not know if she was relieved or emotional. "Although the traditional mage system can't solve these black boxes, the emergence of rune logic has unlocked many of the 'black boxes' of the old era, including the classic spells mentioned in the report in your hand — messaging, anti-gravity magic, and most of the spells in the field of arcane evoking. These things have become things that can be calculated with formulas and explained with the 'section division method' in Jenny's Rune Research Institute. Some of them have even become the 'basic knowledge' in the elementary education class."
Gawain was stunned for a moment. He did not know what to think, but he quickly collected his thoughts and focused his attention on the Violet Kingdom. "These black boxes … Do you think that the Violet mages deliberately spread them?"
"You suspect that the Violet Kingdom has been deliberately creating this' hidden danger 'in the human magic system of the Lolun Continent for the past 600 years?" Heti frowned again, and her expression became serious. "Actually … I had the same idea when I first got the information. After all, there are so many spells from the Violet Kingdom, and all of them are black boxes. This is really suspicious. Besides, they also have those weird 'apprentice inheritance rules', those mysterious traveling wizards, especially that foggy city of a thousand towers … "
Heti said in a low voice, but in the end, she shook her head. "But these are not conclusive evidence, especially when put in the context of the 'classical magic rules.'"
"Classical magic rules … Core blockade, actively setting up knowledge barriers, taking pride in forming and maintaining the 'secret inheritance' isolated from the outside world, despising and even suppressing the analysis of classical magic." Although Gwen was a Knight, he was no stranger to the common sense of magic. At this time, he could not help but sigh. "Indeed. The black box in the field of magic is not necessarily malicious. It is more likely to maintain the monopoly of the traditional mages on knowledge. What's more, the Violet Kingdom is a 'country.' It is very reasonable for them to block some core technologies when they impart magic knowledge to the Lolun Continent. The arcanotech devices we sell to other countries more or less have this' patent confidentiality 'in this regard. "
"The biggest suspicion of the Violet Kingdom is that they have done this too much. Not only have they done it for 600 years, but they have always been secretive about it. This inevitably makes people think too much." Heti nodded. "After all, although the arcanotech devices we sell to the outside world have 'core secrets,' we have always admitted this openly. The Patent Protection Act is not a secret."
Gwen nodded and lowered his head for a moment. He thought about the possible hidden dangers behind these 'black boxes' and the possible purpose of the Violet Kingdom. After a while, he looked up and said thoughtfully, "Anyway … we are now gradually uncovering the technical principles behind these black boxes. This is the right direction. No matter what the Violet Kingdom's purpose is to create these black boxes, we can't go wrong holding the knowledge in our own hands.
"Now there are still many black boxes in the traditional magic system. Since these things have come into our sight again and arouse our vigilance, it is necessary to do something targeted. Heti, continue to count and trace the traditional spell models related to the Violet Kingdom. Trace and locate them as soon as possible. At the same time, send them to the Rune Research Institute and let Jenny organize people to do targeted deciphering. This may be a long-term project. If necessary, set up a permanent office in the corresponding technical department. "
Heti immediately bowed her head. "Yes, Ancestor."
"Deciphering is one thing," Gwen continued. "At present, traditional magic is still a very important part of social production activities. Among the mages who use traditional spells in remote areas where the magical technology is not yet developed, the old spell models are still dominant. From a practical point of view, we can't ban these things at once. So let the propaganda follow.
"To explain the existence of the 'technical black boxes,' organize reputable experts and scholars to publicize the limitations and inefficiency of the black box spells in the media. Publicize the advantages of the new spell models optimized by the Rune Research Institute of the Empire in terms of energy efficiency, learning difficulty, and so on. Let the mages hesitate when using these 'outdated spells,' so that they can accept the new things faster.
"In addition, take this opportunity to solicit help from all walks of life. Ask the spellcasters to actively gather and report the 'black box spells' they know. Issue a reward to the scholars who are interested in mathematics and rune logic all over the country to encourage the deciphering of the black box spells. Those who make outstanding contributions will not only be rewarded with money but also with medals issued by the empire. Their names can even be permanently engraved on the memorial wall in the imperial capital. For many mages and scholars, this kind of honor is even more attractive than money.
"In the past, we have been trying to reverse the views of the traditional spellcasters and turn 'analyzing classical spells' from a despicable act to a feat full of glory and contribution to the country. This effort has been quite effective in the past two years. Now, we have to go one step further. Not only do we have to encourage and praise those who actively break the tradition and analyze the old magic, but we also have to push the stubborn groups who cling to the outdated black box spells into the side of 'ignorance' — because that is the truth."
Heti nodded while listening. After Gwen finished, she could not help but ask again, "Then, about the Violet Kingdom, what about the publicity …"
Gwen immediately shook his head. "Don't publicize the conflict with the Violet Kingdom at this stage, because first of all, we don't have any evidence, and secondly, we are not sure about the purpose of the Violet Kingdom at all. Especially when the alliance has just been established, we are still trying to establish further communication with the Violet Kingdom. At this time, it is even more unnecessary to publicize the conflict."
Speaking of this, he smiled and spread out his hands. "Besides, there is nothing to gain. So, we only need to strengthen the publicity in the field of magic. After all, black boxes are not just in the magic knowledge passed on by the Violet Kingdom. There are a lot of ancestral black boxes in the magic system of human beings."
Heti thought for a while and nodded slowly. "I understand."
"However, although we do not intend to take any action against the Violet Kingdom at this stage, we still have to be cautious and continue the investigation," Gwen said again. "The Hermit Kingdom in the north … Whether they are really a 'hidden danger' or not, their way of doing things and their influence on the Lorien Continent in the past 600 years are too alarming. I will ask Amber to continue to find a way to investigate the internal situation of the Violet Kingdom. You continue to summarize and organize the historical files. Also, tell Victoria to focus on monitoring the north. The main area of activity of the Violet Kingdom's mages is still in the north … Since they are under our nose, they should at least follow Cecil's rules. "
Heti carefully noted down everything that Gwen told her. Then she noticed that her ancestor still had a thoughtful look on his face. She could not help but ask, "Do you have anything else to tell me?"
Gwen looked up from his contemplation and said meaningfully, "… I'm thinking, who else knows the mysterious' Kingdom of Mages' better than us."
Heti guessed something. "You mean …"
"Who knows the mages better than the mages' gods?" Gwen crossed his arms and said in a deep voice, "Even if it's a goddess who has insisted on not caring about anything for thousands of years …"
Heti's eyes widened slightly. After a moment of shock, she took a breath and said, "The Goddess of Magic, Mirmina … This is indeed a bold breakthrough, but it's not a small risk, right? After all, the Goddess of Magic is different from the Dragon God, Enya. The latter has completely 'disconnected' and can communicate with us a lot of things, while the Goddess of Magic has adopted a more gentle way to escape. Her divinity and connection with the mortal world have not been completely removed yet. If we ask her to talk about the Violet Kingdom … will it lead to her reestablishing contact with the mortal world? "
"We can try." Gwen was very open-minded. "If it's something that she can't answer, she can just keep silent. Of course, when it comes to questions about divinity, the mere process of 'questioning' carries a certain degree of risk. That is why we need to set up anti-divinity barriers at the scene, and we also need to control the specific techniques of questioning. Fortunately, I am more experienced in this aspect. "
As he spoke, he thought of Melita Pânia, who had discussed those taboo topics with him. So he became more confident.
He was indeed quite experienced in this aspect.
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