Chapter 1261: A City Beyond Understanding

“Such a brilliant battle,” Sylvie said, and could not help saying it.

“Yes.” Tilly smiled and cut a sideways glance at Camilla — who had finally stopped pretending not to watch, her eyes fixed on the two biplanes with undisguised attention.

When Plane No. 2 caught the upwind and shook its opponent, Tilly already knew who would win. But the result no longer mattered. She had seen what she came for.

A plane outnumbered and cornered. The dominant party controlling the airspace, dictating pace. And yet — the outcome always suspended on the wire between the two parties; a shift in formation, a change in tactic, and the cornered one could still pull through. Against Devilbeasts far more cunning than student pilots, teamwork would be everything.

She had also observed something else: the higher plane almost always won. So the ideal opening — one unit holding the Devilbeasts level while another fired from above. She needed to draft unit sizes, formation doctrine, the bones of something that might eventually become a proper Flight Manual.

But doctrine written in peacetime was one thing. She still needed a real battle before she’d trust any of it.

The students were faster than she’d expected. At this rate, the aerial knights would be battle-ready before “Fire of Heaven” reached production — and she had every intention of being there when it did.

The Unicorn was a trainer. Roland was building her something better. She should stop by the castle and remind him, before he buried himself in some other project.

The last plane touched down. The airfield erupted — cheers, applause, a few hats thrown.

“Now I understand why you divided the groups the way you did,” Sylvie said quietly.

“I didn’t expect it to work this fast. I thought I’d need another half month.” Tilly waved Eagle Face over and pressed the list into his hand. “Tell the next group to get ready.”

She looked north.

Soon.

The ship’s horn sounded — one long, deep note that meant another vessel was passing. Manfeld had heard that sound every half hour since the fleet entered Graycastle waters, and the intervals kept shrinking.

He had not known Graycastle had such traffic.

Among Wolfheart nobles, the common wisdom held that Graycastle was vast and barren — thin soil, thin resources, nothing to compare with the Kingdom of Dawn’s wealth. Apparently the common wisdom was wrong. Stories shed accuracy like dead skin as they passed from village to village, let alone between kingdoms. The one fact Manfeld could verify was that Graycastle had defeated the church. That alone was enough to make him reconsider everything else.

He yawned and rolled back on his bunk.

The voyage had been easier than expected. After reaching northern Dawn the ship had paused — cleared the worst of the seasick passengers, aired out the cabin — and the Dawn people’s cooperation with the Graycastle men had been so seamless Manfeld would have missed the national flags if he hadn’t been looking. Some agreement between the two crowns. Whatever Roland Wimbledon had paid for it, he’d gotten value.

His injuries had healed a week ago. He hadn’t touched the strange pill the two women had given him. His hand found his pocket now without his permission, the pill still there — and the women with it, a brief imagined glimpse: straggly hair, exhaustion in every line of them, and beneath all of that, the suggestion of something else. He hoped they’d made it. He hoped they were somewhere getting clean clothes and a real bed.

Then the buzzing reached him.

Not bees. Not wind through rigging. Something mechanical, insistent — and above him, upper-deck footsteps tracking its direction like a compass needle swings north.

“Quiet up there!”

“Some of us are trying to sleep!”

Manfeld slid from his bunk and pressed his eye to the porthole.

Blue sky. Broad ocean. A few large birds looping in the distance.

He frowned. Wrong wings. Too sharp, too swept — nothing like any bird. He rubbed his eyes and the shapes resolved: triangular wings, rigid tails, the sun catching something metallic. Not birds at all. Machines. Manned machines, hurtling through the air as though the sky owed them nothing.

His mouth opened. No words came out.

He had told himself, somewhere between the steam-powered boats and the discipline of the First Army, that he’d been revising his expectations of Neverwinter. He had been wrong about the scale of the revision. This was not an adjustment. This was a different world — a country that had not merely pulled ahead of Wolfheart but had apparently been building a separate future while nobody was looking.

Since when had the rest of them fallen so far behind?

The ship’s horn sounded again — long and different, the docking note.

Neverwinter.

Chapter 1261 - A City Beyond

Understanding Translator: Transn Editor: Transn “Such a brilliant battle,” Sylvie commented involuntarily. U.p.dated. by boxnovel.com “Yes,” Tilly agreed smilingly and cast an airy look at Camilla. In the end, even Camilla was fascinated by the battle and started to watch the two biplanes attentively. When Plane No. 2 successfully shook off its opponent with the help of the upwind, Tilly knew there would soon be a winner. However, the result was not important anymore. She saw what she wanted. For example, when a plane was outnumbered and cornered, the dominant party took control of the air space and the pace of the battle. Nevertheless, this was not an inflexible rule. The outcome of the battle was always subject to change depending on the dynamics between the two parties. By changing formations and tactics, the party in disadvantage could also defeat the party taking control. Given that, teamwork seemed to be extremely important when fighting even more cunning Devilbeasts. Another thing she had noticed was that the plane above had a better chance to win. Therefore, the best way to start a battle would be that one unit held the Devil beasts back while the other fired from above. What she needed to work on now was the air force formations and how many planes that should be included in one unit. But Tilly understood that training was different from a real battle. She still had to experience a real battle before she decided what to write in the Flight Manual. Tilly was pleased that the students learned even faster than she had expected. Based on the current rate, the aerial knights could probably fight in the Kingdom of Wolfheart and the Kingdom of Everwinter by the time the “Fire of Heaven” went into production. She would definitely not miss such a perfect opportunity to seek revenge. The “Unicorn” was simply a trainer aircraft. She believed that Roland was now making a brand new fighter aircraft for her. She should visit the castle and remind him once more after the training. At this moment, the last plane finally landed on the airport. The students and the spectators all burst into cheers and applauded. “Now I know why you divided the group in this way,” Sylvie said quietly. “I didn’t expect it would work so well. I thought I’d have to wait for another half a month,” Tilly said with a smile as she waved at Eagle Face and handed him a list. “Well, let the next group get ready.” Tilly looked toward the north. Soon, she would have the demons to pay for what they had done. … The ship produced a long, deep whistle. It indicated there was another ship coming in this way. Manfeld heard this kind of whistle every hour, and it became increasingly frequent after he entered the territory of Graycastle. Now, he could hear them pretty much every half an hour, and the interval between each whistle was getting increasingly shorter. He had never known that Graycastle had such developed marine technologies. It was commonly believed among the nobles in the Kingdom of Wolfheart that Graycastle was a country vast in territory with few resources. Its land was as infertile and thin as that in the Kingdom of Wolfheart. The Kingdom of Dawn was the wealthiest country on this continent. However, it seemed that this was not true. Stories could go awry in the retellings from one village to another, let alone that these rumors were circulated between two kingdoms. One thing that Manfeld could ascertain was that Graycastle had indeed defeated the church. This fact alone was sufficient to prove that the King of Graycastle did know how to play political games. But he did not know exactly when he would arrive at Neverwinter, this mysterious city. Manfeld yawned languidly at this thought. The long voyage was more relaxing than he had thought. The ship did not immediately head to the next port after it reached the north of the Kingdom of Dawn. Instead, the crew cleaned the crowded cabin a little bit and asked passengers who suffered severe seasick to get off the ship and travel by land. The rest of the passengers thus had plenty of time to take a rest. The residents in the Kingdom of Dawn had even built many temporary buildings at the dock area as if they had prepared for the arrival of the refugees. Their services in collaboration with the Graycastle men were seamless. Had Manfeld not seen the flags of the Kingdom of Dawn upon the city, he would have thought this was a part of Graycastle. Apparently, the two kingdoms had reached a sort of agreement. Manfeld was not sure at what cost King Roland Wimbledon had persuaded them to help him. It had only taken him a week to recover from his injuries, and he had not used the strange pill given by the two ladies ever since. Manfeld wondered how they were doing now. His hand reached for the pill in his pocket when he thought about the two women. Although they were emaciated and dirty, there was a hint of hidden beauty underneath their straggly hair. If they had put themselves together and dressed themselves up, they should have looked pretty stunning. Manfeld hoped that the two women could reach the destination and become freemen. In that way, they could cut ties with their dismal past and live a brand new life. Suddenly, Manfeld heard a strange buzz, as though something was flying above him. Then, running footsteps came from the cabin on the upper level. “Be quiet!” “What are those guys doing? I can’t sleep!” Someone complained at once. Manfeld slid off his bed and peeped out of the porthole. If he was right, those footsteps came in the same direction of the buzzing sound. Nothing was changed. The sky was as blue as ever, and the vast ocean stretched away before him. A few big birds were chasing each other in the sky. “Hang on. What kind of birds are they?” Manfeld rubbed his eyes and could not believe what he saw. When the “birds” were perpendicular to the horizon, he could see their unusually sharp wings and tails, which made them look not remotely like real birds! When they brushed past the ship, Manfeld could finally ascertain that this was not his imagination. They were not real but artifacts made of metal. What was more incredible was that the machines were manned! For a moment, a phrase tried to take shape in Manfeld’s mouth and his lips parted like a dumb man’s. How could that be possible? He had gradually accepted the existence of the First Army and the steam-powered boats and had also somewhat foreseen what a prosperous city the king’s city of Graycastle would be, but this was beyond the scope of his understanding. Suddenly, he had a strong feeling that Graycastle belonged to a different world from the one that the Kingdom of Wolfheart was situated at. It was actually different than all other three kingdoms. Otherwise, he should have heard about these extraordinary inventions. Since when had the other three kingdoms fallen so behind? When Manfeld was aghasted and confused, the ship whistled again. This time, it was a much longer whistle that indicated that the ship was about to dock. He had arrived at Neverwinter.