Lord of Industrialization

Winter Spirit's Day is the happiest day for children every year.

Frederick, who was in bed, was touched by Tarot's nose with the end of his braid. After a while, he reluctantly yawned and got up.

"Wow! The new dress is so beautiful!"

As soon as Frederick got up, he complimented the maid on her new clothes.

Every Winter Spirit Day, you have to wear new clothes even if you only have socks. Frederick also allows servants to wear clothes without uniforms.

Tarot is the daughter of a tax collector, and her family is already rich. Being a maid in Frederick's house pays a good salary, so she naturally wears a new winter skirt in the New Year.

She said proudly: "I bought this lace with great difficulty. It is the latest style from the south."

Frederick complimented the lace on the neckline of her dress and got up to get dressed.

The lace these days is purely handmade, and the beautiful ones are even more expensive than clothes.

Frederick walked to the full-length mirror and Tarot helped him put on his new suit, which had been warming on the stove.

As she was getting dressed, Katie walked in wearing a new fiery red dress, holding a long wooden stick in one hand and a dagger in the other.

"Come..." A kind smile appeared on Katie's face, "Let me see if I have grown taller."

Frederick stood there upright, and Katie stood the wooden stick behind him, determined the height, and then used a dagger to mark a mark on it.

"It's much higher." Katie nodded with satisfaction.

Frederick smiled and said, "That's for sure."

Katie pinched his cheek, wrinkled her nose and said, "It would be better if I went to bed early at night."

Frederick just smiled.

Katie gave the wooden stick that recorded Frederick's height every Winter Spirit Festival to Tarot to put away for future use.

The two came to the restaurant. After Frederick sat down, he saw Psyche was there and said in surprise: "You are back."

Psyche went on a long trip a while ago and didn't know where she was going.

Psyche yawned and replied to him: "Well, I'm back. It's freezing outside."

The maid served today's breakfast, a brand new food that I had never seen before, a large fried bagel with honey on it.

When new food appears on the table, it’s right to look at Katie.

Sure enough, Katie said with a little pride: "Eat it quickly, this is a sunbaked bagel, it won't taste good when it's cold."

Frederick thought about why it was not made into a full circle since it was the sun. He picked up a knife and fork and cut a section, and found that there was stuffing inside.

When I put it in my mouth, I found that the filling was made from roasted walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds, crushed and mixed with flour. The not-very-sweet maltose did not cover up the original taste of these nuts, but instead embellished them with their fragrance.

"It's delicious." Frederick immediately cut another piece and ate it.

Katie's smile grew even more triumphant.

After breakfast, Frederick came to the living room.

The fireplace was lit and the room was warm.

The table was filled with small gift boxes wrapped in colorful cloth and tied with ribbons and bows. They were all the same size, but in different colors, like a hill.

From Ah Fu to the gatekeeper, everyone lined up to the living room to receive the gift from Mr. Wesson.

Frederick himself didn't even remember what was inside. There was lipstick, gold coins, telescopic and tickling stuff, and whatever he got was random.

On this day, in addition to leaders giving gifts to subordinates, elders will give gifts to juniors, and friends will also give gifts to each other.

After Frederick handed out the gifts, it was time to open his own.

Some of the gifts had been delivered yesterday, and the first one he opened was the gift from Maria.

It was a small wooden man with a football next to him. Because of the difficulty in drawing, I couldn’t tell who it was, but judging from his clothes, it was probably Frederick.

Then came Sofia's gift, a purple woolen scarf.

The purple dye here is also precious. When Frederick wore it to attend outdoor activities among nobles, he was definitely the most beautiful boy in the room.

Philip gave him a dip pen with a gold tip and a wooden penholder inlaid with gold patterns.

The Archduke of Mainz sent a practical but flashy war bow, but Frederick could not use it until he was an adult.

What Archbishop Victor gave was a "Sacred Scripture", with scriptures copied in dark golden ink on white-stained parchment, surrounded by silver-white lace that is low-key and gorgeous. The most important thing is the signature on the title page, which is the signature of the current Pope. name.

Scholars from Weissenburg University gave Frederick a box of books, which were carefully selected by Manuel's arrangers.

Finally, there was a gift from King William. It was traditional to give gifts to vassals and subordinates on this day. The gift that Frederick received was a gold toothpick.

After he finished opening it and continued, others went back to the room and brought the gifts over.

Richard Nall gave him a book and said solemnly: "This is a sword manual that has been passed down for a long time. He is older than Psyche. It is said that a swordsman brought it back from a certain secret realm. "

"No one has been able to learn the moves in it for so many years. I will give it to you to see if you can understand it."

Frederick took it with both hands and immediately bowed and thanked: "Thank you, Master."

Richard Nall patted him on the shoulder and said: "Work hard."

Next came Katie, who gave Frederick a book of poems equally old.

"This collection of poems is more than five hundred years old," she said. "It contains poems from all over the ancient empire."

After taking it, Frederick said obediently: "Thank you, sister."

Psyche came over carrying a long bag, first took out a sword from it and handed it to Frederick.

Frederick took it with both hands and pulled the sword out of the wooden scabbard. The sword was shining with silver, but it looked ordinary. There was a thumb-sized golden goddess statue inlaid on the sword above the guard.

The goddess wears a robe, a laurel wreath on her head, her hands raised high, and a pair of wings behind her back.

There was a heavy breathing sound immediately in the living room. Frederick looked over and saw that Richard Nall's eyes were wide open, his beard was trembling, and his hands were subconsciously stretched out.

"Let me touch it!" Lord Sword Master said excitedly, "Just touch it!!"

Frederick immediately understood that it was a sword and handed it to his master with both hands.

Richard Nall carefully stretched out his hand to take the sword, but his body suddenly stiffened, leaving behind a sentence of "I'm going to wash my hands first" and then disappeared, leaving a gust of wind that made Psyche and Katie's skirts flutter slightly.

As soon as Frederick blinked, Richard Nall came back, took the sword very solemnly, and admired it carefully.

"Mythril sword body, golden goddess of victory..." Richard Narr was so excited that his body was shaking a little, "It is indeed Master San Nascimento's Remit sword. I never thought that I would be able to touch the real thing in my life..."

At this point, he was suddenly startled, raised his head and asked Psyche: "Wasn't this sword stolen many years ago? Where did you find it?"

Psyche shrugged and said: "His descendants sold it to dissatisfaction. To save face, they said it was stolen. They changed hands a few times and then it ended up with me."

Richard Nar sighed deeply, shook his head and said: "Master San Nascimento is the greatest sword master so far, and his descendants are also talented, but now... alas... so is the halo. Obstacle."

With that, he returned the sword to Frederick.

Frederick bowed to Psyche and said: "Thank you very much for this precious gift. I will cherish it."

Psyche replied: "It's just a sword. It wouldn't be a good place to keep it here, so I'll give it to you."

"But don't worry, even if you hold it, any one of us here can knock you with a table leg."

After saying that, she took something out of her bag and gave it to Richard Nall.

Frederick's mouth twitched when he saw the gift.

"Here," Psyche said, "The rebar fishing rod is 12 meters long when connected. You can go fishing for dolphins."

Richard Nall's face immediately showed a bright smile and thanked him hurriedly.

Finally Psyche took out a pair of daggers with belt sheaths and gave them to Katie.

Katie immediately tied the sword sheath around her waist, pulled out the dagger from her waist with both hands and shook a few sword flowers, like black roses blooming in the air.

The blades of these two swords were black, and Frederick couldn't see the way out, but when he saw Katie holding Psyche in his arms, he knew they were good things.

Then Frederick was pulled outside by Katie to try the sword.

Lunch on this day was later than usual, and tea time began.

"The fish is delicious!" Richard Nall said proudly, "I caught it!"

Frederick kept smiling. This kind of yellow-belly fish has been cultured in Wesson for hundreds of years, and the supply exceeds the demand every Winter Spirit Festival.

Today, yellow belly fish and other large and small fish are breaded and fried. Many people buy them ready-made and add sauce according to their preferences.

After lunch, Frederick took a carriage back to the castle on the top of the mountain to prepare for the torchlight procession tonight.

It was getting dark, and many people were already prepared. They brought their belongings for tonight and were waiting on both sides of the road up the mountain from the castle and in front of their homes.

The sun dips below the horizon, leaving only a sliver of light at the edge of the sky, and the longest night is approaching.

The last ray of light disappeared, the sky darkened completely, the world fell into darkness, and the north wind howled by.

The gate of the castle opened with a rumble, and Baron Friedrich von Wesson walked out slowly, holding a torch in his right hand and shaking a diamond-encrusted bell in his left hand.

The light was so weak that it seemed to be non-existent from a distance. It was swaying in the winter night wind and seemed to be extinguished in the next moment.

The old knight Franz lit his own torch on the torch held by Baron Wesson and followed him forward.

The second, the third, the fourth...

A fire dragon set off from the castle on the top of the mountain and walked slowly but firmly towards Weissenburg City.

In the dark and idle city, the ringing of bells informed everyone of the arrival of light. People held torches and drew flames from the fire dragon, lit a branch and gave it to their family members to light the ever-lasting lanterns at home. Then they turned around and joined the team to become part of the fire dragon.

In this longest night, countless originally dim firelights gathered together to drive away the endless darkness.