The sun is high

Time passes quickly and sometimes very slowly.

For those soldiers who had finally come down from the brutal frontline rotation, the peaceful and relaxing rest time passed in the blink of an eye.

And for those who are struggling to survive on the battlefield under bombardment, every minute and every second, every whistle of crystallized bullets, and every breath mixed with the smell of blood and earth may bring about eternal sleep. .

In the two months since the full-scale war broke out, the loss of life has become the second most important topic in people's minds, besides the changes in the form of war.

All participants in the war, whether they were major kingdoms or principalities dependent on the existence of the kingdom, now clearly felt the true intensity of the war.

Just like plant seedlings that have been suffocated under the soil for a long time, people's knowledge of magic, steam, ordnance, and tactics, after being irrigated by blood, broke through the soil with extremely ferocious momentum and headed upward. The dim sky grows away.

As the war progressed, the magic and steam technology relied on by both sides inevitably began to merge and communicate. Of course, these passive changes ultimately brought about more tragic deaths.

The first batch of imitation steam firearms led by the weapons workshop of the Principality of Black River has been put into the battlefield. They will be tested on the front line. At the same time, the imitation work on the Kalfan heavy machine gun is also nearing completion. These are based on steam machinery. Auxiliary, magic firearms that use magic crystals and rituals as the dominant force will soon completely level the gap between weapons on the plateau and the plains.

At the same time, with the continuous advancement of the Votel Kingdom's ground front and the continued progress of the Hain Kingdom's fleet, the Plateau Alliance finally ushered in its advantage in this war.

The successful raid of the Fifth Chasseur Regiment opened an important gap for Votel's army, and the successful control of the Black Forest transportation hub became an important cornerstone for the Votel people to control several large-scale crystal mines in the surrounding area. As the originally scarce crystal mines began to be replenished, a large number of ordnance research and development plans that had been put on hold also began to operate again.

The new anti-air crystal cannon used to deal with the magic airships of the Kingdom of Deland has already emerged on the frontal battlefield, and a large weapon that has been fantasized by Shuge countless times before has also made its debut on the Silver Corridor front.

"The evil Votel war machine is advancing!"

"Smoke-belching metal vehicles are destroying the poor Delan soldiers!"

"Will flexible magic lose to stupid machinery?"

As a member of the Legal Committee stationed near Salem City, Valery felt that every day was very painful.

The changes in the front line near Salem City were equally astonishing. Although both sides of the battle invariably avoided Salem City, a troublesome "rock" standing on the plain, there were continuous shellings around it, and one big battle after another The large-scale battle also had an extremely serious impact on the already very fragile traffic roads.

He anxiously flipped through the newspapers handed out by Merlinle and looked at the shadow of Salem City in the distance from time to time.

He has tried his best to do what Xiuge had previously ordered Valery to do, and he is constantly tracking the relevant changes. However, these days, the form and intensity of the war are still changing, but what he is concerned about Those things have yet to appear.

According to common sense, he does not need to be in such a hurry. However, these days, there have been some "new changes" at another location near Salem City that exceed everyone's expectations.

The place of origin of the great earthquake, or in other words, the place where the magic power that caused the great earthquake erupted, has not been stable in the past few days.

According to the information reported by the Legal Committee Monitoring Station, some kind of "magic tremor" phenomenon that is beyond common sense is occurring at the junction of the rugged hills and plains. According to the description of the monitoring station members, they can feel it through the secret ritual. Slight fluctuations to the level of magic.

"It's like a heart hidden underground beating slightly...on average once every few hours. It's very slow, but also very regular. The depth of its source has exceeded the detection range of the secret device."

"Preparations are being made for a deep investigation into the source of magical changes. It is expected to complete the installation of the secret ritual within five days, and organize a volunteer team to go underground to conduct inspections through surface cracks..."

Valery folded the newspaper in his hand with some irritation. It was cloudy today. Although there was no snow, there was a trace of water vapor in the air, which made people feel even colder.

He walked out of his room and paced back and forth twice in the open space.

Not far away, a batch of materials that had finally been transported by sea were being counted and reloaded. These materials would then be sent to the Movement Monitoring Station to help the Legal Committee detect the source of the magical movement.

Logically speaking, Merlin Lehe is willing to take on such a responsibility, which makes Valery happy. However, he also knows that intelligence and information about these magic changes have been notified to the warring countries in these days.

As a result, except for some responses from the Delan royal family and the Plateau Council, no one else responded to this matter.

The attitude of the Plateau Mage Council on this matter is equally ambiguous. They agreed to temporarily cooperate with Merlin Lehe while ignoring the prerequisites for war. However, they have their own opinions on the overall command authority and the sharing of the final investigation results. Set of ideas.

"If nothing else happens, the two parties will have another meeting to negotiate... I don't know if there will be a result. This kind of thing can't be delayed, right?"

Valery let out a long sigh.

He reached out and pinched the pendant that he had been wearing since he became a mage. The pendant was carved from a blue magic crystal that had no magic power. It was a very classic statue of the goddess Mel, although it was not a It is too delicate, but it can well express the temperament of this goddess who symbolizes wisdom and love.

Probably because it has been worn for too long, it has become somewhat worn, and even the face of the goddess has become a little blurry.

Valery's belief in the goddess Mel has never changed. Whether it was before he became a mage or after he entered the Legal Committee, his belief in the goddess Mel was not just because of his yearning for the miracle called magic, nor because of his longing for the miracle called magic. His identity as a spell caster.

He simply agreed and pursued the ideas under this belief.

He agrees with the "law of magic", and indeed believes that everything in Van En should be interconnected, especially those races, countries and individuals with intelligence.

In the distant sky, more than a dozen prototype magic airships painted with patterns of giant plateau eagles were slowly advancing. Valery knew without thinking that these transport vehicles, which were recently transformed by the Votel people, must be equipped with A light crystal cannon, equipped with that terrifying repeating firearm.

"Whether it's magic or machinery... they shouldn't be used only in these places, right?"

Valery sighed with great sadness.

"Master Valery! Here is your letter, from St. Steele!"

An apprentice hurriedly ran over. He put a thick letter that had just been taken out of the Mystery of the Eye of Mel into Valery's hands, and then hurried away. Today was a private letter delivered. Today, he still has many letters to send.

Valery held the letter in front of his eyes. Under the light, a very beautiful and regular snowflake pattern was vaguely revealed on the envelope. On the corner of the snowflake, there was a small ice field bear's paw print.

Valery pressed his face to the envelope, trying to feel the familiar coldness from his distant hometown.

However, after this long-distance delivery, of course there will no longer be any snowflakes or cold winter temperature left on the letter.

So, he opened the envelope and read it with trepidation.

…

"Dear brother,"

"We received your letter. Mom was very happy. On the day the letter arrived, she had an extra meal to celebrate. We also drank a little rum, really only a little."

"Before that, the family was scared. We all thought you would be sent to the front line to fight with our own army. That would be too cruel... No one wants to see the St. Steele people killing each other, Goddess of Life You shouldn’t do this kind of thing with a believer of the Goddess of Magic!”

"Many people in our neighborhood have received obituaries... including Uncle Ivan. His youngest son Sasha, your former poker mate, has died in the war. It is said that he and a dozen of his comrades were killed. A boosted crystal shell hit directly, and nothing that could symbolize identity was recovered."

"Sasha wrote a will before going to the battlefield. He said that all the Dragon Teeth cards he collected will eventually belong to you...Uncle Ivan sent them all over, saying that he did not want to see these pieces of paper again in the future. Mom thinks Things belonging to those who died in the war will bring you bad luck. Dad thinks that they are the last blessings left by your friends, so he helps you collect them and organize them, saying that you can use them when you come back. Play two games and maybe you can win some money back.”

In the cold wind, Valery licked his lips silently, and at the same time wiped away a trace of the salty and bitter smell that slipped from the corner of his mouth.

Everyone is not optimistic about the war... because our attack is too radical, as if the lives of soldiers are not important at all... General Sonoski has been constantly trying to advance, so our people have suffered heavy losses, and our supplies have also followed. If he can’t get on, his father complained, if this continues, even an old man like him will be taken to the front line. "

"This is already the third wave of conscription, and we don't know when it will end."

"I thought about going to the front line to work as a medical worker, but my mother refused. I had a fight with her and I gave up."

…

…

"Brother, you must not know that just yesterday, there was a riot in the royal mine very close to our home. The overseers sent by the royal family were beaten to death... It is said that the cause was that the overseers forced the miners to dig deeper. But they were not given corresponding magical protection at all - the mage who was originally responsible for this matter had gone to the front line, so the mine collapsed and dozens of people were trapped and died below."

"I won't go into the specific details. Dad said that the letter would be easily stopped and would not be sent out... Anyway, we still have a lot of canned food, water and food in reserve at home, and we even have several weapons. Don't worry. .”

Valery silently engraved the chattering words written by his sister on the letter paper bit by bit into his eyes. At this moment, he got a rare peace, even the sounds from the distance came from time to time. The sporadic sound of artillery fire also became much more pleasant to the ear.

However, the letter was indeed a bit thick. After taking out all the letter paper, Valery discovered that there was a new newspaper inside the envelope. Although the newspaper was written in lingua franca, the printed fonts were But they all have a very classic St. Steele style, and the brushstrokes are sharp, like the skates used when walking on the ice field.

He turned the letter to the end in confusion, and saw at the bottom corner of the letter paper, a paragraph of text that was obviously made up temporarily.

"By the way, on the way to send the mail, some people were giving away newspapers everywhere... Dad flipped through it and said that you will definitely like the article on it, so he sent it together. Remember to read it!"

The moisture in the air became heavier and heavier. In order to protect the letters, Valery returned to the house. He activated the magic ritual in the room and toasted the letters for a while, then put them away and prepared to read them later. Read it twice slowly.

Then, he unfolded the folded newspaper under the light.

The newspapers were very new, and the smell of the magic ink on them was slightly pungent. It was obvious that they were not of high quality, which was a common problem for small newspapers.

The content in the newspaper was relatively limited, but when Valery took a closer look, he was extremely surprised to find that on the front page of the newspaper was a very exquisite magic painting. In the picture, he saw a ruined city. It stands alone on the plain, its walls riddled with holes, casting an unsettling black shadow.

On the plain next to the city is the battlefield that Valery is extremely familiar with.

There is a magic airship hanging in the sky, artillery fire falls on the position and the crowd, and strings of bullets continue to penetrate those tiny human bodies...

The name of the painting is written on it.

"A place of oblivion."

Valery whispered its name, and then continued to move his gaze downwards, trying to find the name of the creator.

Finally, he discovered that there were two names in the lower right corner of the painting.

"George Markham."

"Mikhail Gerasimov."

He was familiar with both names. Needless to say, the former was a very prestigious and respected magic scholar, while the latter was very famous throughout St. Steele. His paintings were once hung in In the gallery of the St. Steele royal family, until someone reported that the painter was involved in the assassination of the St. Steele royal family, Gerasimov was forced to leave his hometown and went into exile in other countries.

Valery felt his heartbeat speed up.