Chapter 100

From how the dark elf refused to reveal Joshua’s connection with the demons, Madam Schroder was able to make guesses of Joshua’s identity. Then, she asked the dark elf some more questions.

From the answers that were given, Madam Schoder could sense that the dark elf was extremely worried about Joshua’s identity. It was as if she would lose her head should she reveal the slightest bit of information regarding Joshua’s identity.

This was an extremely strange behavior for an organization that specializes in selling information. It could be said that it was a behavior that could affect future relationships with their employers.

“Are you not planning to stay and finish watching the final performance?”

The great majority of the information Madam Schroder sought was information that this dark elf was unwilling to speak of. She swore that this intelligence dealer possessed the worst attitude of all intelligence dealers she had encountered in her life.

That said, while her attitude might be bad, Madam Schroder knew that this dark elf was very capable.

The House of Blackwood has already created a close relationship with the forest elves. Madam Schroder did not mind enlisting this dark elf too.

“My apologies, Grand Duchess of Blackwood, I am not interested in those childish performances.”

The dark elf accepted a portion of the reward and was not planning to stay any longer. Her answer once again lit the flames of rage in Madam Schroder’s heart.

“Childish performances? May I know what sort of performance would not be childish for you dark elves?”

Even though Madam Schroder was already able to foresee the end of the era of stage play, the impact of the Black Swan Theatrical Troupe was still second to none in this world.

Unfortunately, that was only limited to human audiences. The other races were not too interested in human drama re-enactments.

“My words were not aimed at your theatrical troupe. Madam Schroder, to me, that ‘Beauty and the Demon’ is also childish. The reason for that is because I know fully that the real world is much crueler than those screenplays. I’m already past the age for children’s fairy tales.”

After the dark elf made an unknown sort of expression of courtesy, she pushed open the door to the room and left Farucci’s exhibition hall.

“Madam.”

The guard standing beside Madam Schroder the entire time stood forth. Madam Schroder’s current expression was not at all as amiable and approachable as before.

That dark elf’s hostile response had enraged her.

“Don’t bother chasing. You all wouldn’t be able to catch her.”

Madam Schroder soon controlled her anger. What the dark elf said was true. Madam Schroder knew that very well.

The performances of stageplays would always be overly romantic. Even though there would be a lot of audiences in Farucci, their performances have never been able to capture the attention of those ‘uncultured barbarians’ and those from foreign races.

The most well-known among those people would be the Nation of Steel’s Iron Chancellor. That Iron Chancellor had once publicly spoken of their stageplays to be things deceiving little girls.

Originally, Madam Schroder thought that ‘Beauty and the Demon’ would be able to reach a greater amount of audience than stage plays. But, it would appear that in the eyes of certain individuals, even ‘Beauty and the Demon’ was a children’s fairy tale that should be quickly forgotten.

Right now, Madam Schroder could only hope that a scriptwriter would be able to write a script that could conquer even those ‘barbarians.’

.........

Joshua hiccupped.

The World Expo was a gathering of all the elites from the various nations. The foodstuff placed on the tables were all first-rated delicacies. Moreover, it was a self-service buffet. The only regretful thing was that the self-service buffet was located a bit far from the center stage.

After Hearthstone’s demonstration ended, Joshua ran over to the buffet to have lunch. The cautious and conscientious female knight and his lady assistance Ciri naturally followed him over to the buffet too.

“One could learn your so-called... programming with this chat box?”

Ciri was sitting across from Joshua. She pointed at the chat box window Joshua just sent her. According to Joshua, the chat box was open-source.

The reward Norland’s Patent Office’s Gray Mage received from defeating Archbishop Desireless on Hearthstone was the open-source sequence.

As Ciri was a practical mage, she had no idea what the sequences, the pile of runes, were for.

“You don’t have to understand what they do. You merely need to use it.”

While Joshua was eating his lunch, the Patent Office’s Chairman, Gray Mage, finished his appraisal work for the final arcanotech device being exhibited. Then, he passed through the crowd and came to Joshua.

“I’ve finally escaped those annoying and stubborn old codgers.”

Gray Mage walked over to Joshua. The owl standing on his shoulder rocked its head.

A few feathers fell from the owl. The Gray Mage grabbed a falling feather and took out a blank sheepskin scroll from his sleeve.

“Now then, it’s your turn to fulfill your end of the agreement.”

Gray Mage seemed to be planning to record what Joshua says onto the sheepskin scroll.

The remnants of the ancient civilization’s knowledge are rarely conserved in written works. Most mages believed that those mysterious knowledges were spread through some sort of special method.

“Don’t be in such a rush, Chairman Lursk. What you wanted is here.”

A white originium crystal appeared from Joshua’s hand. That was the installation file for the open-source chat box.

The exhibition for the World Expo was in charge by the Gray Mage Lursk and a white robed mage. Even without investigating into his identity and status in Norland, one could guess it easily.

“This is...”

“A small gift,” Joshua tossed the magic crystal to the Gray Mage. The magic crystal disappeared into his forehead.

When Gray Mage Lursk opened his eyes again, he discovered there was a white window before his eyes.

Like the white mages, Gray Mage Lursk was also a mage specialized in the Runes of Order. But, when he began to attempt to understand the composition of this programming window, a series of complicated rune sequences appeared before his eyes.

The quantity of rune sequences was simply astonishing. In his memory, not even the most complicated magic would require this many runes.

If those runes were dismantled, Gray Mage was able to understand every one of them. But, when they’re in a sequence, Gray Mage had no idea what they meant.

“Do not think of them as the runes mages use to perform magic. Instead, consider them as the most basic english letters.”

Joshua gave the Gray Mage a tip.

The old man nearly a hundred years old rubbed his forehead. He calmed himself and began to continue observing the rune sequences. By thinking them as the most basic english letters, Gray Mage soon discovered some pattern to the runes...

“Unbelievable! This knowledge, I need some time to research it! No, I need a lot of time!”

Having received a whole new way to utilize runes, Gray Mage ignored Joshua completely. He quickly walked toward the exit of the Crystal Palace with his owl still on his shoulder. He was muttering things as he walked out.

Seeing the manner how the gray robed old man left this place, Ciri turned to Joshua and whispered, “He... could he have gone insane?”

“His reaction is understandable. After all, that’s knowledge crossing multiple eras...”

Right after Joshua’s words left his mouth, a wave of exclamations sounded from the direction of the stage.

The reason for that was because an arcanotech device called the ‘magic-induced perpetual motion machine’ appeared on the stage. Standing where he was at, Joshua could barely see the stage and the arcanotech device being exhibited.

The so-called ‘perpetual motion machine’ was nothing more than a joke. To Joshua, that arcanotech device was nothing more than an improved steam engine. It had only changed steam-induced motion to magic.

But, today, that machine became the division point that would allow this world to enter the industrial age.

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