"A grand plan... you know," the City of Machinery " in the "chanical Book"?"
Belvan nodded. He had heard of it. Within the "chanical Book," there were several pages depicting a colossal city crafted from gears, steam, and steel.
"I am striving towards this direction, and our kingdom is also moving in this direction, growing increasingly robust under the auspices of Hiris.
For this, we need a powerful national strength, equipnt far surpassing that of humans, abundant resources, and... vast territories.
I will generously fund you and those artisans studying steam technology until we achieve this goal. Therefore, if you wish to make your research public, I am sorry to say, you will have to wait a bit longer."
King Kafu the Sixth made his point very clear; the king did not wish to publicize Belvan’s research on the Path of God’s Creation to maintain an advantage over other kingdoms and races.
Belvan took a deep breath. He had anticipated this answer:
"Your Majesty, if you insist on this, then there is nothing more I can say.
Just... I only discovered the existence of the Path of God’s Creation; I did not invent it. And it is only a matter of ti before others discover it too; such matters are often beyond your control.
Right now, I need the assistance of others. I am limited on my own and fear I cannot make further progress in this field. If I cannot continue to delve deeper into my research, then with our current level, it would take re minutes for other races well-versed in the Ancient Language to surpass us."
King Kafu the Sixth furrowed his brow; Belvan’s words made a lot of sense.
Dwarves were not among the races that understood and actively utilized the Ancient Language. In this aspect, they were only slightly better off than the Beastn, and far less so than humans and the Three-eyed Ape People, let alone the Elves.
And it was entirely possible for other races to independently discover the Path of God’s Creation. Given those races’ understanding of the Ancient Language, surpassing Belvan’s achievents would not be difficult.
After weighing the pros and cons, King Kafu the Sixth slowly made his decision,
"Very well then, I will summon renowned scholars from the various clans and send people to invite so professors and doctors from Danschel’s academy to assist you with your research.
Of course, I will thoroughly assess them beforehand, and you must also be careful not to reveal the entire results."
Receiving King Kafu the Sixth’s response, Belvan breathed a sigh of relief.
As a scholar, he longed to make the Path of God’s Creation known to the world, but as before, speaking directly like this would certainly not make King Kafu the Sixth agree.
Thus, Belvan provided a reason that King Kafu the Sixth couldn’t help but agree with.
Now, once those scholars arrived, research on the Path of God’s Creation would not only accelerate significantly but would also visibly spread to various nations.
And the Dwarf Kingdom of Kaelonde would certainly benefit from this developnt. Belvan felt that, barring any mishaps, Kaelonde would beco one of the academic centers for the study of the Path of God’s Creation.
Thinking this, Belvan, as a scholar, couldn’t help but clench his fists with excitent.
.........
.........
"Hey, did you hear? His Majesty the King seems to be promoting sothing called a Steam Train nationwide."
"Another steam contraption, by Hiris, stop that self-righteous king!"
"There are just too many steam things, really too many, it’s just not sothing we can master!"
...
Inside a splendid flower garden, several Dwarf Craftsn gathered, cloaked in togas, enjoying fine wine while discussing the current King Kafu the Sixth.
Splendid flower gardens, togas, wine... in Dwarf terms, these were all human things.
Because of the influence of human culture, the noble customs from the Human Kingdom also spread to the Dwarf Kingdom. Among the upper echelons of the Gold Silver Clan in Kaelonde, all sorts of human things were considered the epito of elegance.
And these Dwarf Craftsn hailed from the Gold Silver Clan among the Dwarves, specifically the Blue Gold, Olive Crystal, and Grey Silver clans.
These three clans held positions in the kingdom second only to the reigning Royal Family, the Gold clan.
Without a doubt, they were the nobility among Dwarves.
"Change has co too fast, this steam technology is spreading like a plague!"
A dwarf craftsman stood up, stroking his beard as he said,
"We can’t let the King continue his reckless ways anymore, you don’t know how terrified and unstable our people are."
Those present nodded in agreent; they were all aware that the fear and unrest were not limited to the Gold Silver Clan.
Throughout the entire Kingdom, with the implentation of steam technology like the Steam Hydraulic Forging Hamr, all the clans and social strata of the Kingdom began to stir with undercurrents.
Countless clans, because of the appearance of steam technology, saw their traditional living spaces ruthlessly compressed.
So of them lived off mining, steam technology either led to a significant redundancy in manpower due to generations of dependence on certain mines, or to the rapid depletion of mines because of over-mining, forcing them to vie for the territories of other clans; others who lived by forging steel found their workmassively eliminated by steam technology, forcing their entire clan into exile...
Beneath the facade of Kafu the Sixth’s grand designs utilizing steam technology, lay the foundations of a gradually destabilizing Kingdom.
And all of this was due to the ergence of the chanical Book and Kafu the Sixth’s strong endorsent of it.
Almost no one doubted that the chanical Book was a holy artifact given by Hiris, but that didn’t an everyone agreed with the use of the various technologies within it.
"That Wood Stone Clan, they’ve beco too arrogant, it’s said that just a few days ago, the son of their clan leader brazenly expressed his love to one of our clanspeople in public."
Another dwarf craftsman said angrily from his seat.
The chanical Book, as a holy artifact from Hiris, is undisputed, but... the Wood Stone Clan that presented the chanical Book is not beyond question.
Even though at first, everyone treated the clan that brought the chanical Book with great respect, as steam technology developed, people’s fears began surfacing, and under the logic of associative bla, the Wood Stone Clan beca the target of people’s dissatisfaction.
Moreover, ever since the Wood Stone Clan ascended to the upper echelons, they had beco more and more domineering every day, riding on the King’s protection, to the point that even His Majesty had his reservations.
While the dwarf craftsn were gathering to discuss these issues, at the edge of the Flower Garden, the host of the gathering was walking over slowly and leisurely, followed by a human Priest.
"It looks like everyone has pretty much voiced their grievances."
The middle-aged dwarf spoke out loud, nad Aler Grey Silver, he was an elder of the Grey Silver Clan.
"Aler, who is this distinguished guest you’ve brought?"
A dwarf stood up and bowed.
"Allow to introduce him, this is a priest who serves the Dream God, nad Nelson Fu’er. He has co all the way from Rochelle, solely because he has heard the decree of the Dream God."
As Aler finished speaking, all the dwarven nobles present turned their gaze towards the priest.
To have heard the decree of the Divine...
What a solemn statent that was.
There are countless priests in the world, but who had truly heard the decree of the Divine?
"Please forgive my skepticism, but has he really heard it? How can this be proven?"
A dwarf craftsman couldn’t help but ask.
Hearing this, Aler gestured towards Nelson with a welcoming hand signal.
Nelson stepped forward gracefully, then raised the Priest’s Staff in his hand high.
With his deep prayer, the tip of the Priest’s Staff imdiately burst into a bright purple light; in an instant, a light purple mist appeared out of thin air all around.
Inside the Flower Garden, the dwarves who ca into contact with the light purple mist hadn’t even had ti to marvel before they suddenly felt drowsy, as if on the verge of sinking into slumber.
And then, Nelson slowly lowered the Priest’s Staff, taming the radiance within it, and the mystic grace of the dream bestowed by the Dream God Laren.
"Does this suffice to prove Elder Aler’s words?"
Nelson revealed a faint smile.
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