Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 473 - 472: Typhon’s Development

All along, Daniel was not only Gawain’s eyes set within the Eternal Sleepers but also a spy placed in the Typhon Empire.

Although this old mage lived reclusively in a remote area within Typhon borders, far from the empire’s center for many years, he remained at least a Typhon man, and as a mage, he certainly retained some influence of his own. The neighboring intelligence he could provide was still of great value to Gawain. On the other hand, Typhon is a rapidly developing and fast-changing country. Its remote areas are different from those of Anzu—even with information delays, every inch of Typhon territory is still influenced by Emperor Rosetta Augustus’s decrees, unlike Anzu where the entire southern borders are almost detached from the kingdom’s inland.

From Daniel, Gawain could learn many things about Typhon, not necessarily timely, but at least more reliable than stories fabricated by adventurers and bards.

Daniel at this moment felt somewhat fortunate—fortunate that his female apprentice happened to go to town and brought back a lot of news. He dared not conceal anything and reported all the new information he knew: "... Rosetta Augustus is expanding the army. He previously established a standing army system to replace conscription soldiers, and now more than half of Typhon Empire’s military consists of these standing soldiers, who undergo professional training..."

Gawain listened while nodding slightly, asking the old mage to pause and inquire in detail when encountering unclear places.

Although he had inquired Daniel about many things related to Typhon, what he knew was still insufficient. The main reason wasn’t Daniel’s past concealment, but rather that this old mage himself didn’t understand areas beyond Typhon—for him, everything about Typhon was naturally common knowledge. Without Gawain actively asking, he didn’t know the specific reporting direction, thus the provided information inevitably had omissions.

"... Recently Emperor Rosetta issued an order to set up schools, increased the number of country teachers, and required farmers to learn literacy during their leisure time..."

Gawain immediately furrowed his brows and lightly tapped the table, asking the old mage to halt: "What is the current literacy rate among Typhon commoners?"

Daniel respectfully replied: "About forty percent of farmers can spell common words related to grains and farm tools and can understand the grain receipt lists. Twenty percent of farmers can read simple notices or write a crude letter. This proportion has been increasing."

"How long has literacy education been promoted?"

"Six years ago, the emperor issued a decree abolishing the literacy ban on commoners, but at that time, few people took the initiative to learn. It wasn’t until four years ago when the emperor ordered to set up schools and dispatched teachers, that people began to learn more, but truly willing to learn started after the ’Land Contract Law’ was issued—farmers could rent land from the empire, could apply on their own to receive seed grains. To avoid being deceived, more and more commoners began to proactively learn."

Gawain’s expression was somewhat grim, and the old mage watched his expression change uneasily. But in the end, Gawain still nodded: "Continue."

"Yes... Now various places are increasing the number of Pyrostone Acid Workshops. Since last year, similar acid workshops have been multiplying, possibly intending to set them up in all food production places..."

Gawain interrupted Daniel again: "Stop—what is Pyrostone Acid Workshop? Does Pyrostone refer to the white sedimentary rock mined near the sea?"

Gawain had heard the term "Pyrostone." According to what he knew, this thing is a local specialty along the coast, especially rich in supply within the Typhon Empire. This gray-white loose mineral can ignite, hence called "Pyrostone," but its combustion efficiency is extremely poor and emits large amounts of irritating gas, thus it’s not a suitable heating and lighting material. Could it be... Typhon people have already found a way to utilize Pyrostone?!

"Yes, Pyrostone is the white stone you mentioned," Daniel didn’t know what Gawain was contemplating but still earnestly reported, "Pyrostone acidification was discovered by the chief alchemist of the Typhon Royal Mage Association years ago—by grinding Pyrostone and mixing it with acid stone, enclosed in a container, heated at high temperatures, it produces a black-brown powder and large amounts of semi-transparent crystals. The crystals are called ’Ash Crystal,’ a somewhat valuable magic-conducting material, while the black-brown powder is called ’Fertility Dust’... which can be used to promote crop growth."

As Gawain listened to Daniel’s explanation, he subconsciously tapped his fingers on the table, suddenly halting the action.

"Promote crop growth?"

"Yes, after dissolving and diluting it with large amounts of water, it is used to irrigate farmland, and its effect is much stronger than plant ash or human and animal manure. Moreover, Pyrostone is very, very cheap and not complicated to process. However, ’Fertility Dust’ quickly changes after exposure to moisture in the air, making transportation troublesome. Therefore, Emperor Rosetta has ordered the construction of Pyrostone Acid Workshops in various places to process Pyrostone locally at each grain production site..."

At this point, Daniel added a sentence: "Additionally, to transport Pyrostone, Typhon is massively widening roads..."

Gawain was startled inside but didn’t reveal it, merely continued in a deep voice to ask questions: "How does the workshop operate specifically?"

After Daniel answered, he continued to ask a string of questions: "How many literate farmers choose to work in workshops? How many merchants have been involved in constructing those workshops in Typhon over the past two years? How many aristocrats have participated in workshop construction? After Rosetta Augustus reformed his aristocrats, is he encouraging them to go into business? How are Typhon roads being built? What are the specifications? How many people can one liter of fertile land support? How many people can one liter of ordinary land support? Approximately how many people are in Typhon’s population?"

Gawain’s questions came one after another, and while Daniel answered diligently, sweat dotted his forehead—he didn’t understand the specific profundity behind these questions, but he could faintly sense the hidden connections between them. However, he couldn’t answer all the questions perfectly.

Although he indeed retained some connections from his time in the royal capital, he was after all just a Mage obsessed with research. If Gawain asked him about the current magical achievements of Typhon, he could answer fluently, but if asked about agricultural yields, the scale of workshops, or even population issues...

Being able to answer a third of it would already be considered knowledgeable.

Unknowingly, Gawain’s expression had become especially somber. Although Daniel did not understand the true intentions of this "Wanderer from Outer Realm," he could feel a powerful pressure channeling through his nerves into his mind. After answering all the questions he could, the old Mage nervously shut his mouth, waiting for new orders.

Gawain ignored Daniel’s reaction; his mind was now entirely focused on calculating the development trajectory of Typhon.

From the beginning, he knew that Typhon was a more developed country than Anzu and was aware that Emperor Rosetta Augustus was implementing a series of effective new policies. As productivity increased, Typhon’s society was bound to undergo earth-shattering changes.

However, Typhon’s development still exceeded his expectations.

The Typhon Empire had not found a way to industrially produce alchemical potions, but they had found some cheap substitutes. The Pyrostone Acid Workshop would significantly boost Typhon’s grain production and free up a large amount of agricultural labor; Emperor Rosetta’s professional army was gradually taking shape. With ample food supply, it could maintain a larger army, and these professional soldiers would receive more thorough training; due to labor liberation, the emerging Pyrostone Acid Workshop would have ample workers, and the road construction process within Typhon would have enough manpower...

More importantly, Emperor Rosetta Augustus realized that literate civilians could bring greater value—from the timeline analysis, the Typhon Emperor seems to have started promoting education almost immediately after the discovery of the Pyrostone acid reaction. This indicates that the visionary emperor quickly understood at least two things:

First, although the Pyrostone acid reaction is a result of alchemy, it does not require magical energy, which means that many civilians without magical talent can also engage in production work, and the Fertility Dust they produce will be enough to significantly increase the nation’s grain output in a short time.

Second, literate civilians can better operate reaction kettles than illiterate ones.

Gawain took a deep breath.

These events did not occur recently; they began several years ago, but due to the lag in information dissemination and productivity constraints, the outskirts of Typhon only now started building Pyrostone Acid Workshops, while Anzu...

Anzu knows nothing about all this.

Daniel watched Gawain not speak for a long time and finally couldn’t resist breaking the silence: "My lord, do you need me to gather information on Typhon’s population changes in recent years? I can contact old friends I know in the imperial capital..."

Gawain was finally startled from his thoughts. He glanced at Daniel, quickly organizing and clarifying his scattered and chaotic thoughts.

Typhon’s development is an established fact, and for such a vast empire, it is difficult for external forces to interfere with or halt its already begun pace of development. Moreover, given the current situation, the Cecil Principality has no opportunity to hinder Typhon’s development.

Amber once said: When an opponent is too powerful, a poisoned dagger is more useful than any sword.

Although Amber added afterward, "but sliding away stealthily is even better than a dagger," Gawain felt that the first part was enough.

"No hurry for other things; take the Magic Web materials I gave you and respond to Rosetta Augustus’s recruitment," Gawain said very seriously, looking at the old Mage in front of him. "Remember, don’t reveal anything at first—see what stage their research is at, what they have on hand, and then gradually reveal your research findings. When necessary, share some credit with your apprentice. You need to establish a firm foothold in the Typhon Royal Mage Association, similar to when you were promoted in the Eternal Sleepers, and be careful not to expose yourself."

Daniel bowed his head deeply: "Yes, my lord, I will not disappoint you!"

"Hmm. After entering Emperor Rosetta’s Mage team, you should have more opportunities to access their technical intelligence. You must report to me promptly, and I will also give you new commands as needed," Gawain nodded, then changed his tone, "But this will increase your risk of exposure—your Eternal Sleeper characteristics are too obvious. Although few people know about the mental network, your frequent network access is already an abnormal phenomenon."

"My lord, do you mean..."

"It’s time for you to increase the number of hands," Gawain said slowly, "I previously asked you to research non-implantable neural cords and more efficient brainwave amplification devices; have you made any progress?"