Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 596 - 595: The Wheel of History

The leader temporarily left his loyal capital, but this land continues to thrive in ironclad order.

No social upheaval occurred, no disorder ensued, the soldiers are still executing orders, the sheriffs are still maintaining order, the market remains prosperous, and the night is still safe. People once worried that Cecil might experience some turmoil after the leader’s temporary departure, but the truth proved that the Administrative Office and strict laws established by Gawain Cecil played their roles - the leader may be absent, but the law remains.

Meanwhile, in the ever-thriving and vibrant Cecil Castle, new developments continue to emerge as they always have.

In the eastern part of the city, at the border of the factory district, at the end of "Mechanical Square," thousands of citizens who heard the news are gathering on elevated platforms and open spaces, and more crowds are arriving from the factory district, dock area, and other parts of the city by car or on foot, making the already expansive open space increasingly crowded with people.

The season has already turned to winter, and although the first snow has yet to fall, a rain a few days ago brought a significant drop in temperature. Moreover, a moderate north wind is blowing from across the White River, reminding people of the winter’s chill. However, this cold doesn’t dampen the citizens’ enthusiasm; they’re still gathering in greater numbers on the open ground, gathering on the few elevated terraces, peering toward the eastern area that is cordoned off by security teams and soldiers. In their sightline, a peculiar structure with glowing magic symbols, flanked by intriguing "pillars," is extending straight into the distance, stretching to the horizon.

The citizens speculate about what the "Magic Train" mentioned in yesterday’s broadcast might be or passionately discuss how many new jobs and extra income this novel creation could bring. More observant individuals notice that journalists from the Cecil Weekly, Gossip Journal, and Curious Memoir Weekly have already arrived at the top of the easternmost platform and are setting up magic web photography equipment, clearly eager to capture big news.

- Cecil Weekly is the oldest and largest-circulated newspaper in the duchy, while the Gossip Journal and Curious Memoir Weekly are two newspapers that have gradually emerged in popularity over the past few months. The former was founded by several scholars from the northern parts of the mountain range, and the latter by a local enterprising merchant and some craftsmen keen on modern technology. With more literate people in the territory and varying reading interests, the audience for these new publications is steadily growing.

As people cluster, speculate, and discuss the impending new development, it doesn’t keep them waiting for long - as advertised in the newspapers, "Honoring the sense of time is a quality that dignified members of the Cecil Clan should possess." Along with the loud chime from the large mechanical clock on "Gear Square," a resonant whistle sound reaches the people’s ears.

The whistle sound inevitably brings to mind that of the increasingly frequent magic machinery ships on the White River, but it’s sharper and higher pitched. As the whistle grows clearer, the crowd on the forefront platform and open spaces becomes increasingly restless, interspersed with more and more exclamations and praises.

A large, awe-inspiring creation of engineering and magic-conducting machinery made of steel slowly emerges from a distant large building, advancing majestically and continuously accelerating.

It’s a vehicle, yet unlike any other car one could imagine - if previous magic-guided vehicles somewhat resembled "carriages not pulled by horses," this object transcends that concept entirely.

It consists of one steel carriage after another, each carriage exceeding the dimensions of the largest magic vehicle, connected to form a train over ten sections long, resembling a steel serpent sprawled over the ground.

At the very front and back of this "steel serpent," several carriages have a closed structure, with a white box-body roughly rectangular, fitted with neatly lined windows on both sides. Glowing with magic symbols, pillars are embedded on steel boards between windows, with fixtures visible on the roof such as metal frames, magic crystals, and lamps;

The middle section of the "steel serpent" comprises open-style carriages, also made of steel and adorned with a calm, dark-gray paint, open at the top as if they were giant "boxes." The style is clearly more rugged than the front and rear carriages, yet they convey a sense of mechanical and industrial power. The lower half and sides feature robust mechanical constructs, painted with numbers larger than a person. Those quick to understand realized their purpose: they are evidently meant for transporting vast quantities of goods.

This is the "Magic Train" mentioned in the magic web broadcast... capable of simultaneously transporting thousands of people or tens of thousands of tons of cargo to distant places, a "man-made beast" racing across the plains and hills.

The train whistles again, its mechanical structures on both sides operating in unison, adjusting the angle of the shining magic symbol-bearing pillars. The drone of magic power flowing and the groan of mechanical structures bearing immense forces resound together as this "man-made beast" solemnly advances, accelerating further, accelerating further...

Already carrying some technicians and workers, its freight carriages also hold a certain amount of materials, the train will partially load and head to the end of its journey - the Mining Town on the eastern part of the city, where it will undergo mechanical structure checks and adjustments, then return fully loaded with iron ore from Mining Town to Cecil Castle.

Dressed in a red dress, the mature and elegant Grand Governor Heidi Cecil stands on a nearby platform, observing that steel behemoth gradually moving towards the horizon, along with technicians and Administrative Office officials. Her expression is solemn, yet a faint trace of relief and relaxation glimmers in her eyes.

It’s finally set off, a massive project that embodies the efforts and energies of countless people has finally borne fruit, and at last, she can breathe a slight sigh of relief.

The rotund Saint Nicholas Egg hovers beside her, the large metallic sphere emitting a humming sound: "It’s not far from here to the Mining Town, it will reach soon - then it will stay for half a day, mostly checking the mechanical devices and magic symbol structures, checking all sensors and controllers, afterward returning fully loaded."

Rebecca, as the highest director of the Magical Technology Department, is undoubtedly present on the scene. Her face is filled with a proud smile, standing with hands on hips, clearly expressing an "I achieved something great today" demeanor: "If everything runs fine - which I’m sure it will, given that I’ve tested it over eighty times at the Origin Laboratory - then we can continue laying the tracks from the Mining Town eastwards, all the way connecting to Gran City. The station at Gran’s has already started construction, and once they receive the order, they will begin laying the roads simultaneously, aligning the tracks westward with the Cecil Line and eastward through to the White Sand Mine Area..."

Rebecca’s conduct and speech remained devoid of aristocratic poise, yet Heidi’s mood was excellent at the moment and she didn’t latch onto it. She simply nodded slightly: "Everything will go smoothly."

The journey from Cecil Castle to the Mining Town is not a long one. Currently, the Magic Train runs on a trial line, partly to test the train itself and partly to test the track’s power supply system. Only after this test is successful can the train move into the operational phase.

Once operational, the first line to open will be from Cecil to the Mining Town to Gran to White Sand, primarily for freight trains. It will continuously deliver ore from the White Sand Mine back home to supplement the recent metal shortage caused by manufacturing war vehicles, adding factories, and expanding cities. Meanwhile, the main lines leading to the Northern Rock Fortress and the Western Region will commence construction as soon as possible.

Aunt Heidi watched as the train silhouette in her view became smaller and smaller, and she couldn’t help but recall a previous dispute with her ancestor, and the subsequent changes to the train’s design.

She rejected the train plan that her ancestor had already approved, and eventually... reinstalled "wheels" on the Magic Train.

Yes, the finalized production model of the Magic Train actually has wheels underneath. To fit the V-shaped track, it has three rows of wheels. The wheel on the central axis, embedded in the deepest part of the V-shaped track, serves as the "main wheel" or "support wheel" to provide necessary support when the train is stationary or under a high load. Meanwhile, the wheels on the sides of the train have a certain tilt angle, perpendicular to the two inclined surfaces of the V-shaped track, known as "side wheels." They provide extra support to the body and enhance stability during vehicle turns or lateral sways, ensuring safety.

These wheels are not powered; the motion of the train still relies on the repulsion mechanisms on both sides of the vehicle.

She knew that the original design she and Rebecca settled on with her ancestor was for a completely hovering train. Although she admitted that such a train holds more of a "magical beauty"—flying low across mountains and plains, swift, elegant, and a demonstration of magic’s power...

But it required a lot of money and had a very limited load capacity.

As a knowledgeable leader in both technology and domestic affairs, Aunt Heidi not only understood the challenges faced during the development of the Magic Train and the principles of the final solution, but also knew how to calculate costs. She knew that the idea of using repulsion mechanisms to propel the train was correct, as it solved the power problem. However, in her view, as long as the repulsion units at the bottom of the track lifted the train slightly upward, allowing the side repulsion mechanisms to generate enough force to move the vehicle forward, it was unnecessary for the entire vehicle to float. High-quality wheels could make up for insufficient levitation force, reduce friction, and ensure the train moved smoothly, making the structure more secure and increasing its load capacity.

More importantly, steel wheels are much cheaper than filling the entire track with repulsion magic symbols.

Of course, this introduced additional mechanical structures and wheel wear (as repulsion units practically do not have wear issues), but compared to the reduced repulsion magic symbols on the track and the increased train load capacity, this cost was very worthwhile.

Fortunate yet unsurprisingly, her ancestor eventually agreed to her modification plan.

After careful calculations and repeated testing, the finalized Magic Train struck a balance between "wheels" and "track raising." It still retained about one-third of the track’s repulsion magic symbols to reduce wheel pressure, allowing the repulsion mechanisms on both sides to accelerate the vehicle smoothly. Even when the vehicle is unloaded, it can slightly levitate for easy inspection, assembly, and transport, while the wheels provide higher load and stability, ensuring no need to worry about grounding accidents even when transporting large cargo or during track energy interruptions.

As for the "repulsion pillars" on both sides of the train that provide power and the "relay piles" on the sides of the track, they remain unchanged, still serving as the train’s power source...

All considered, the overall cost of the train and track decreased by about one-third, yet the load capacity increased significantly.

As Aunt Heidi reflected on the balance of cost and benefits of the Magic Train, pondering its future development, Rebecca quietly started to think as well.

In her view, the finalized train essentially resembles a Magic-Powered Engine of a particular structure and massive scale. Fundamentally, it is still driven by repulsion mechanisms, just that its "rotor" is a train running on a track, moving along a line rather than rotating in place...

This could also be seen as a "piston" relying on relayed propulsion, traveling over great distances.

This specially designed "giant engine" cleverly solved the traditional engine’s issue of insufficient power density because it no longer needed to concentrate the vehicle’s entire power in a single carriage. Instead, the whole train and even the entire track became part of the engine.

Perhaps this device should be called a "Linear Mana Engine"? The third type of magic engine following piston-type engines and rotor-type engines?

On this day when the train set off, with the wheels of history rumbling forward, the Marchioness’s thoughts began to unfold...