Release that Witch

Simbady was waiting for Rex in the yard.

”How did that go? Is the chief interested in your diving suit?” Simbady asked brightly, who had now pretty much viewed Rex as one of his friends. ”What’s your reward for the discovery? Did you get the title of the honorary explorer?”

Rex shook his head, crestfallen, and replied, ”He isn’t going to purchase my diving suit...”

”Oh...” Simbady said, a little downhearted, but he soon encouraged Rex, ”Graycastle might not need your diving suit, but the Chambers of Commerce at the Fjords will definitely notice your invention. You said the ocean is a huge treasury, didn’t you?”

He did say that. In fact, he had anticipated a huge amount of reward from Roland. Apparently, the King of Graycastle took the diving suit very seriously, and that was why he had requested a meeting. Rex’s original plan was to become an honorary explorer and thereby further advertise his diving suit at the Fjords Islands.

Yet the reality was...

He managed a bitter smile and answered, ”His Majesty just gave me a book.”

Simbady was frozen for a second and then asked, ”What?” He peered down at what Rex was holding and said, ”So this is...”

”That’s it,” Rex said, nodding resignedly. The book was not thick. It only contained dozens of pages, without a single word on its cover. The cover was neither gilded, and nor did it have a floral printing. Even a regular noble would grant him a better prize than this shabby, battered book.

He would definitely not gain exposure from this reward but instead become a laughingstock.

”The chief shouldn’t be that kind of person...” Simbady said as he stomped indignantly. ”Even I received 20 gold royals from him. You, as the organizer of this exploration, deserve more remuneration than me!”

Rex appreciated Simbady’s heartiness. However, he knew there was no point of questioning the king’s decision, because the king had offered to help him realize his dream. He was just being hesitant to take this offer.

Just at that moment, a guard came over to him and said, ”Your Majesty has arranged accommodation for you. Please follow me.”

”Thanks a lot,” Rex said as he bowed and signaled Simbady to follow him. At any rate, he needed to read the book first.

Then he heard a strange buzz when he stepped out of the Castle District.

The buzz sounded like roars of distant thunders except it was little crispier.

Rex looked in the direction of that sound in curiosity.

He spied a barely visible black dot flicker in the distant sky.

”Is that a bird?” Rex wondered but soon denied this thought. How could a bird a few miles away produce such a loud noise?

Simbady also noticed this unusual phenomenon. His manner tightened like a soldier on heightened alert.

”It’s... coming toward us!”

”Is that an enemy?” Rex said in surprise. ”An enemy in the king’s city of Graycastle?”

”I don’t know... but it’s definitely not a bird!”

”Relax,” the guard leading them the way answered placidly. ”That’s just Her Highness playing with her new toy. I couldn’t believe it at first either, but you’ll get used to it.”

”Her Highness’... toy?” The two men echoed, aghasted.

”His Majesty advised Princess Tilly to confine her activities to the testing site, but she thinks the field isn’t large enough for a complete flight test. She can’t fly to the residential area, industrial district or the Swirling Sea, so that leaves her with no choice but to fly in the Castle District,” the guard explained nonchalantly. ”But I have the impression that the princess is just showing off her skills to His Majesty.”

They still did not understand at all.

However, Rex noticed that the guard took pride in what the princess did.

In a few seconds, that black dot drew closer to them with an earsplitting roar, and then Rex saw the most incredible scene in his life.

A winged metal artifact whistled past him, casting a vast shadow much bigger than a seagull’s on the ground. From its enormous size, Rex judged it must be very heavy. However, this heavy iron beast was now soaring the sky. Meanwhile, he also saw a woman sitting on it, though not very clearly, and was positive that the machine was manned.

Fan...”

A name suddenly flashed across Rex’s mind.

The Society of Wondrous Crafts was not an organization that emphasized distinctive properties of hierarchy. Rex had not been particularly close to Fan. He had only seen him fly during that open flight test. If truth be told, he was a little resentful of Fan. Because of Fan’s unrealistic daydream, the reputation of the Society of Wondrous Crafts suffered even more scathing criticism after his test had miserably failed.

However now, another person achieved what Fan had failed, in a more flamboyant way.

Watching the winged iron beast hovering around the castle, Rex felt a molten wave of astonishment rise inside him.

...

The guard took them to a hotel called ”Foreign Affairs Building” and said, ”I’m Sean. You can come to see me at the Castle District once you’ve made your decision.” With these words, he turned around and strode off.

Simbady had still not recovered from the shock as he muttered prays to Three Gods under his breath and peered through windows every now and then, positively terrified, but still half expected to see that incredible flying object once more.

Rex, on the other hand, locked himself up in his bedroom.

He gazed at the book for a good 15 minutes as if hoping to see through Roland’s mind before he opened the book.

During that 15-minute contemplation, he had revolved numerous presumptions in his head, expecting to see some articles introducing Neverwinter’s customs and traditions, a generous job offer in the disguise of a book, or even a blatant threat ordering the members of the Society of Wondrous Crafts to move to Neverwinter.

But he saw none of them.

There was only one line on the first page of the book: physical law of buoyancy.

”Any body completely or partially submerged in a fluid at rest is acted upon by a buoyant force, the magnitude of which is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the body.”

Rex did not grasp the sentence at first. However, after he read it a few times, his eyes gradually widened with comprehension.

Rex quickly flipped to the second page where he saw a full page of arithmetic formulas. Each formula was explained in great detail to help him better understand the concept. Soon, his eyes were glued to the book.

All these concepts, such as volume, density and buoyancy, were quite familiar but also strangely foreign to him at the same time.

They were no longer mere vague descriptions but concrete units and numbers, with which one could easily know via simple calculation whether an object would float or sink in water and how far this object would go.

Almost instantly Rex thought of the steel ships and hydrogen ballons sold to the Fjords, and everything seemed to dawn on him.

The book also introduced a submersible craft capable of independent operation underwater. Although it was just hypothetical at present, according to those formulas, Rex believed he could make it happen.

At the end of the book, Rex saw a huge, very strange-looking ship that could not only float on water like an ordinary ship but could also dive into water like a fish. It could accommodate at least several hundred people. Once it was submerged in water, it would be impervious to even the most furious storm.

Rex was utterly shocked.

He was also, at the same time, discouraged and frustrated.

Like a person who had just caught a glimpse of an unknown realm after an arduous journey and was about to celebrate his recent success, somebody pointed him the entire winding path to the unexplored world lying before him.

Rex was certain there was more than one flying iron beast in Neverwinter.

He now understood what the ”reward” meant.

If he refused the King of Graycastle’s offer, he could further his diving career and take it to the next level with the help of this book. However, in that case, the best he could possibly achieve was the submersible craft, and he would probably never be able to build that submarine described at the end of the book.

If he accepted the offer, this book would then become a powerful marketing tool to bring new wonders to the Society of Wondrous Crafts.