Valkyrie's Shadow

Chapter 3

23rd Day, Upper Wind Month, 1 CE

Their ship came out of a narrow canyon with towering walls and intermittent falls into a long highland vale. Though they weren’t as tall as the Azerlisia Mountains, the peaks nearby were still high enough to be laced with snow well into spring. In the distance, a massif crowned in ice dominated the landscape. Nemel gaped at the majestic scenery, as did her friends and the rest of the newcomers to Warden’s Vale.

Though she had asked to be woken when they arrived, Dame Verilyn had already roused from her nap. The Frost Dragon’s turquoise eyes darted back and forth as she scrutinised the cliffs to their east.

“Is something the matter?” Nemel asked.

“There are dangerous fellows in the mountains here,” Dame Verilyn answered.

Dangerous? To someone as powerful as Dame Verilyn? She could only think of a handful of races that could contend with Dragonkind.

“Are there Giant tribes here, too?”

“No,” Dame Verilyn’s gaze didn’t leave the cliffs. “There are sheep.”

“Oh, yes. Terrible, ornery sheep. You had better tell your minions not to mess with them or I’m afraid we’ll all be doomed.”

She didn’t sound like she was joking. Actually, Dame Verilyn didn’t joke much. Be it weird, horrifying, funny or sad, what she said was nearly always serious.

“What do they look like?”

“About a metre long, with white, fluffy wool. They have hooved hind legs, but their front legs have two hooved fingers and a thumb. They have two eyes like sheep and one eye on their forehead that looks up at the sky. The males have antlers like deer. They can fly, too.”

They sounded less and less like sheep the further along the description went. Nemel eyed the cliffs alongside Dame Verilyn.

“Are they aggressive?”

“When they attack people, they do it as a herd. Imagine a swarm of flying sheep chasing you around casting all sorts of spells. I have no idea why, but they don’t seem to like Dragons much.”

Nemel swallowed. How could anyone survive that?

“What do they eat?”

“Lichen and moss.”

“That’s terri–wait, moss? As in the green stuff that grows on rocks and tree trunks?”

“The very same. It’s unfair, really. There’s so much of it in these mountains. That means there are so many of those evil little sheep. They lurk in their high mountain valleys, watching the world. I bet they’re plotting something.”

It sounded like they were just minding their own business to her. Still, it was probably a good idea to warn her Rangers. New migrants getting killed by sheep wouldn’t be good publicity for Nemel’s placement agency in Arwintar.

“Are there any other dangerous things out there?” Nemel asked.

“Not that I know of,” Dame Verilyn answered. “Everything else I’ve seen out here seems reasonably safe.”

The huge mountain in the south loomed closer as the barge sped its way upstream. Less than two hours from the time they left the canyon, they came around a bend in the river with the granite cliffs of an island on its western shore. Nemel couldn’t see what was on top of it. Eventually, they came into a long harbourfront lined with berths that looked much like the locks in Corelyn Harbour.

“Is this it?” Nemel asked, “Baroness Zahradnik’s capital, I mean.”

“It is,” Dame Verilyn rose to her feet and stretched her wings. “You’ll be unloading your things here. Lady Zahradnik has arranged for a dedicated transport between here and my territory.”

A long row of warehouses came into view as the lock raised the barge to harbour level. To Nemel’s surprise, they found Lady Zahradnik waiting for them alongside the berth. With her were two Undead: an Elder Lich and a tiny Skeleton that stood about as tall as her waist.

“Welcome to Warden’s Vale,” Lady Zahradnik smiled. “It’s good to see all of you again.”

Nemel lowered her head in a curtsey.

“Thank you for your welcome, my lady. We’re excited to be here.”

The Baroness introduced them to Nonna, her right-hand Elder Lich. The Skeleton’s name was Jeeves. He served as the harbourmaster of Warden’s Vale.

“Dame Verilyn may have informed you already,” Lady Zahradnik said, “but I’ve arranged for transport between the harbour and your new home.”

She gestured to the berth next to them, where a wooden sailing vessel awaited them. Like the barge, it appeared to be operated by one of the Undead. It was one of the ‘Death Warriors’ that uncommonly appeared in the Sorcerous Kingdom’s patrols. A row of Skeleton Warriors stood in a row behind it.

“The captain here is probably the most experienced Undead sailor in the Sorcerous Kingdom,” the Baroness told her. “It has been plying the river for over a year now, so you and your people will be in good hands.”

The Death Warrior raised its broad hat in greeting. It directed the Skeletons to help unload their cargo.

“Your people can hold onto their personal belongings,” Lady Zahradnik said. “The captain will load the vessel with your supplies. Once your people are ready, please come with me.”

“We’re not going straight to the territory?” Nemel asked.

“We are,” the Baroness replied, “but the knarr can’t carry all of your cargo and people at once. We’ll be riding wagons south to a point across from Dame Verilyn’s territory. Is there anything you need from here, by the way?”

“I think we have everything, my lady,” Nemel said. “Is there anything we might not have considered?”

Lady Zahradnik turned her head to look up at the snowbound mountain south of the harbour. From a distance, Nemel thought it was just a towering peak far to the south. Now that they were much closer, Nemel realised that its wintry slopes were strangely out of place.

“It’s still chilly in the highlands at this time of year,” the Baroness said. “Dame Verilyn’s territory is even more so. Well, you can always come back for more supplies here if you need them.”

They were led south to where several Soul Eaters awaited with their wagons. Once everyone boarded their respective vehicles, they headed further west into the island. Dame Verilyn flew off ahead of them.

“So,” Lady Zahradnik said, “how was the rest of your trip around the Empire?”

“It was…eventful?” Nemel replied, “Things were going well until everyone got kidnapped by Ninjas. Then Lady Shalltear came and kidnapped the Ninjas. We eventually arrived in Arwintar and my parents were very supportive of my move.”

“I’m not sure what that whole Ninja part is about,” Lady Zahradnik said, “but we did get some a while ago. I’m happy to hear that your family is behind your decision.”

“Oh, they are, my lady,” Nemel nodded. “As you can see, they even helped me get some people together. They’re all spares from Gran Barony.”

The Baroness glanced over her shoulder at the wagons trailing behind them.

“I was wondering where they came from. Getting people out here is probably the hardest part of territorial development.”

“My parents came up with a clever scheme,” Nemel said. “They’ve opened an office to bring spares from the Empire to Dame Verilyn’s territory.”

“Really, now?” Lady Zahradnik turned to regard her with interest.

“Yes, my lady. This group here is only about a third of what I’ve secured so far. Once enough land is cleared, we’ll bring in people to build homes. Then we’ll bring in Farmers and other professions that will support the new industries in the territory.”

“Was it hard to convince them to come?”

“My house has a good reputation and our subjects like us, so it didn’t take much convincing. We’ve even lined up apprentices in training to come here once they’ve become journeymen.”

Lady Zahradnik crossed her arms, cradling her chin between her thumb and forefinger.

“Now I’m getting jealous. I’ve been relying on the temples to send what few people were willing to come all this time. Do you plan on making this ‘office’ a permanent thing?”

“We’re still working out the details, my lady,” Nemel replied. “It’s easy to get spares from tenants working in primary industries, but trying to draw magic casters and the like from the Empire is next to impossible.”

“Tell her about the thing,” Fendros whispered from behind her.

“The thing?” Lady Zahradnik asked.

“Fendros has a talent,” Nemel answered. “An eye talent. She can detect the magic power in people.”

The Baroness looked past Nemel to Fendros.

“…did the Empire know about this before your house was attainted?”

“Yes, my lady,” Fendros said. “But once a house is attainted, it’s hard to become anything of note in the Empire. Not that my talent is very reliable…”

“Don’t let that fool you, my lady,” Elise piped up. “It’s true that Rei’s talent is pretty random, but it doesn’t lie! Once she spots someone with magic power, it’s a sure thing. If you stick her in a plaza and have her look around all day, she’ll be bound to find a few people.”

“If she teaches classes as you’ve asked her to, my lady,” Ida added, “she’ll be exposed to the same children every day. Her talent is bound to detect anyone with magical capability over a few months.”

Fendros turned her gaze downward and twiddled her thumbs.

“I-I don’t want to get your hopes up, my lady,” she said. “I haven’t had a chance to use it as they’ve described, so I don’t know how well things will work out.”

“I’ll be more than happy to give it a thorough assessment,” Lady Zahradnik said. “I understand that the Empire tends to focus on what they consider ‘geniuses’, but my goal is to raise a large population of magic casters. The vast majority of civilian applications for magic do not require heroes and legends. Even if they can only grasp Third-tier spells, they are more than welcome here.”

She made it sound as if Third-tier casters were common. Those who achieved it early were hailed as the so-called geniuses Lady Zahradnik referred to, while anyone else who managed to reach the Third Tier of magic only did so in the prime of their long careers.

Their wagon turned south at an empty intersection and headed towards a large hill with several buildings at its base. On their right was a complex that looked like a small army base. Nemel caught glimpses of Death-series servitors drilling and sparring in the fields between the buildings.

“This is the headquarters for the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Southwest Army Group,” the Baroness told them. “It’s also known as the Second Army Group.”

“I didn’t know Warden’s Vale was also a military base,” Nemel said. “But I suppose you don’t receive many economic benefits for a base filled with Undead…”

Lady Zahradnik snorted and smirked.

“Well, we do get funding for the construction of military facilities and their maintenance, but you’re right about the usual economic benefits. A living army would require an extensive framework of industries to support it and the population working in those industries. There will be living members of the army stationed here at some point, but the vast majority of industries supporting this base will revolve around the production of consumables and magic items.”

The wagon turned left at the next intersection. They passed another complex: this one was just as grey and ubiquitous as the army base, but it had a sense of being lived in.

“This is the Faculty of Alchemy,” Lady Zahradnik said. “Well, it’s also the Faculty of Artifice for now.”

“You have a University here?”

“It’s part business, part educational institution. Since my goal is to have a high percentage of magic casters in my population, I also need the educational infrastructure for that population and the industries to employ those educated magic casters. In a few generations, I hope that the city here will become known as a thriving centre for both arcane and divine magic.”

Now that the Baroness mentioned it, Nemel hadn’t noticed any institutions for arcane casters in the Sorcerous Kingdom at all. There were plenty of Elder Liches going about, but the Duchy of E-Rantel was as one would expect of a former territory of the magically-illiterate Re-Estize.

They turned at another intersection in front of a forge complex, heading south along a rocky stretch of land that ran parallel to a huge stone dam. A giant mill rested atop the outlet pipe. Nemel could only imagine how much work could be done with all that water.

“I believe that you’ll be exporting timber for most of your first year here,” Lady Zahradnik said. “The people that purchase it from you will process it into lumber at that mill you see there. The lumber is then seasoned at the yards in the harbour.”

“How do trade taxes work?” Nemel asked.

“Elder Liches work as tax officials, but we do eventually plan on having Humans also working for the department as you’ve probably seen in E-Rantel. You can see Jeeves at the harbourmaster’s office to settle everything related to harbour operations.”

They entered the canyon at the southern end of Warden’s Vale, speeding along a paved highway one wouldn’t expect to find in the wilderness. After following the river for the better part of an hour, the wagons slowed and stopped at a wide bend where a tributary joined the Katze River from the east. Several islands dotted the water. The far shore was covered in snow.

Nemel looked to the ground at her feet. The knee-high grass had long turned green.

“I haven’t gone crazy, have I?”

“No,” Lady Zahradnik told her. “The territory that Dame Verilyn has tasked you to manage is across the river.”

Dame Verilyn settled on the ground nearby. Nemel ran over in a panic.

“Your land is frozen!” She cried.

“It is,” Dame Verilyn agreed, her tail sinuously moving about in content, “isn’t it wonderful?”

“It’s not! The villages won’t work like this!”

The Frost Dragon’s tail froze. Her toothy maw loomed close.

“Does that mean I won’t get my taxes?” Her voice grew distraught, “Have you been stringing me along with lies this entire time? To think that I trusted you!”

“I didn’t lie to you,” Nemel replied. “I just thought the climate would be like every other place in the region. We can’t grow potatoes like this…”

“Grow this, grow that,” Dame Verilyn’s voice turned sour. “You Humans are needlessly bound by your silly conventions. Can you not just hunt potatoes instead?”

Hunt potatoes…

Nemel tried to imagine what that would be like. What tools would they need? Would the potatoes fight back? The mental imagery grew more terrifying by the second.

“Potatoes are harvested from plants,” Lady Zahradnik said.

“Plants can be Heteromorphs,” Dame Verilyn said back.

The Baroness rolled her eyes.

“As I mentioned the last time we met,” she told Nemel, “Dame Verilyn will be relying on you for many things. Don’t be afraid to speak your mind and help her understand what needs to be done.”

“We’ll do our best, my lady,” Nemel lowered her head, “but I don’t think we can do anything about that snow.”

Lady Zahradnik gave Dame Verilyn a look.

“Stop snowing,” she said.

“What?! It wouldn’t be a proper Frost Dragon domain without snow!”

“You’re overdoing it. I know you’re proud of your new domain, but even the Azerlisia Mountains are only frozen year-round above a certain altitude. You’ve frozen things all the way down to the river.”

Dame Verilyn looked up at her mountain, a low rumble issuing from her throat. Nemel’s migrants scurried away.

“Two-thirds,” the Frost Dragon said.

“The treeline,” Lady Zahradnik replied.

“The tree–” Dame Verilyn spluttered, “but that’s only the top fifth!”

“You said that there will be glaciers, so those will flow down further than that. As it is, you’re going to block the river and flood the Upper Reaches.”

“If that’s your concern, then I’ll adjust things seasonally. It will melt up to the top fifth by the height of summer and snow down to the river by the middle of winter.”

Lady Zahradnik crossed her arms, twisting her lip.

“I’m fine with that, but keep in mind that your incomes will be affected by this.”

“Urgh…what do I do, Miss Gran?”

“I think you should do what you think is acceptable to you, Dame Verilyn. It’s your demesne, after all. As Lady Zahradnik mentioned, however, the shorter the growing season on your mountain, the fewer animals, plants and trees we’ll be able to harvest each year. Your taxes will go down accordingly. They may drop to nothing very quickly since you’ve emphasised that you wish to maintain the natural balance in your territory.”

“Fine,” Dame Verilyn sighed, “we’ll go with what Lady Zahradnik said. It won’t all melt right away, though.”

“Now that that’s settled,” the Baroness said, “I need to return to the Draconic Kingdom.”

Nemel frowned at the odd tangent. Minor Nobles usually didn’t leave their territories, though she was under no illusion that the Baroness was an everyday minor Noble.

“What are you doing in the Draconic Kingdom, my lady?” Nemel asked.

“Helping with their Beastman problem,” Lady Zahradnik answered. “I came back to make sure everything was in order with Dame Verilyn, but then I received orders from the Prime Minister to expand the Sorcerous Kingdom west into the Abelion Wilderness.”

“So you’re running a huge territory, fighting in the Draconic Kingdom and expanding into the Abelion Wilderness at the same time?”

The woman was beyond Human. If she had a legend, it wouldn’t be some well-worn tale of adventure. She’d be a famous conqueror carving a vast empire out of exotic lands.

“It’s not as difficult as you probably think,” the Baroness smiled slightly. “The Elder Liches of the administration are excellent, our soldiers here are accustomed to patrolling this wilderness, and expansion will only proceed as quickly as we can lay down new roads. Nearly all of my attention is focused on the Draconic Kingdom, aside from some paperwork.”

“New roads…if you’re building a road west, does that mean the Sorcerous Kingdom is creating a new trade route with the Holy Kingdom of Roble?”

“And everything in between. His Majesty recently resolved a crisis in the Holy Kingdom and we’ve forged favourable diplomatic ties as a result. The next step will be to establish regular trade. For the time being, our goods will have to go through Re-Estize, but, eventually, we’ll be able to ship things there directly. It will be an excellent showcase of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s logistical capabilities. At the moment, it takes merchant caravans a month to travel between E-Rantel and Kalinsha. The new route will see Soul Eater-drawn wagons arriving within half a day.”

Nemel’s mind whirled at the implications. Lady Zahradnik gently rose into the air.

“Anyway, I need to head back now. Once you’ve settled down and gotten started, please do take a look around the territory and see how the local industries function.”

Lady Zahradnik flew across the river, quickly becoming a speck in the eastern sky.

A white sail appeared from downriver. The ship with their supplies came ashore across the river and the Undead crew started to unload their belongings. Fendros came closer, speaking in low tones.

“What she said just now…”

“I know.”

“What do you know?” Dame Verilyn asked.

“This road we’re standing on,” Nemel answered. “I don’t know how long it will take, but it will become the highway between Warden’s Vale and Kalinsha. We’re sitting on a future major trade route!”

She had envisioned a long career marked by slow, steady progress. Now, they would have to recalculate everything. Or would they? There was nothing wrong with having a purely agrarian territory, but something inside Nemel just screamed at her to take advantage of the new development.

“You mean like the imperial highways?”

“Yes, but it will be bigger than that. The goods we export will have access to a huge market that wasn’t available to us before. Well, we don’t even have to look that far – Warden’s Vale will grow quickly from the new trade route and we’ll be supplying goods to the city that will be there eventually.”

Whoever was planning the Sorcerous Kingdom’s transportation network had an insane amount of foresight. Major infrastructure was popping up as if they had confidently predicted what would happen.

“Will you be alright now?” Dame Verilyn asked, “I haven’t been back to my lair for months.”

“Yes, Dame Verilyn,” Nemel answered. “Thank you. We have a lot of work ahead of us, so please don’t expect villages and potato farms to pop up overnight.”

Dame Verilyn took wing, circling up the mountain on lazy wingbeats. Their ship made its way across the river and grounded itself lightly on the gravel beach. Nemel and her friends got on with half of their settlers. The Death Warrior pushed off and its Skeleton crew rowed back to the other side.

Her leather boots sunk ankle-deep into the mud when she stepped off of the beach into the tangle of brush along the shore. A few metres away, Elise knelt and made a snowball the size of her head. She halfheartedly tossed it into the river, watching it float away.

“It really is snow,” she said.

“What did you think it was?” Ida asked.

“I-I don’t know! How is one side of the river covered in snow while it’s nice and green on the other side?”

“We work for a Dragon,” Fendros said. “I bet this isn’t the last of the crazy things we’ll see.”

They wandered around aimlessly over the shore before Nemel called everyone together. Her people looked at her expectantly. She couldn’t figure out what to say. Settling a new land was always an intrepid venture in the tales, but the mountain of work awaiting them clogged her head.

“I’ll get a fire started, Mistress Nemel.”

The man who spoke was one of her Rangers, Joel Baumer. Nemel smiled in thanks.

“We need a place to set up our tents before nightfall,” she said. “Let’s put our supplies back in the boat for now to keep them dry…you can stay here with us, right?”

She looked over to the Death Warrior, who nodded. The Skeleton crew moved to put everything back on the ship. Nemel turned back to address her people.

“Our Rangers will spread out and look for a decent place to camp. Come back in thirty minutes and we’ll pick out the best location from what you find.”

Taking up their longbows and axes, the Rangers dispersed at her orders. She looked up and down the shore before addressing the woodcutters.

“Let’s start clearing out the brush along this stretch of shore. We need to build up a stockpile of firewood first. Once the Rangers get back, we’ll figure out the other things from there.”

The sound of snapping twigs and hatchets hewing through branches filled the air around them. Nemel got together with Fendros, Elise and Ida near the boat.

“That was amazing,” Elise grinned. “We instantly went from nothing to something!”

“I know, right?” Ida said excitedly, “We were all just like ‘uh…’ and then everything suddenly started taking shape.”

“I-I just did what I thought was correct,” Nemel looked down. “We camped during the promotional exam too, remember?”

“This is a lot different than that, though. The Imperial Knights did most of the work and we just helped out where we could.”

“What do we do now?” Fendros asked, “Dame Verilyn said something about us only doing what we’re supposed to do, if I recall correctly.”

“That doesn’t leave much if we’re ‘Nobles’ or ‘bureaucrats’,” Ida said.

“What are you talking about,” Nemel said. “We have plenty to do!”

Their blank stares caused Nemel to take a mental step backwards.

“…out of curiosity, what did you learn growing up in your households?”

“Reading, writing, etiquette, memorising houses and their members,” Fendros said, “when I got older, I learned about the political relationships relevant to our house.”

“Same here,” Ida said. “Then there was the usual thing with fine arts and fashion. Navigating the local court and all of its functions was important, too.”

“We all learned what was necessary for work as Maids,” Elise added. “Around twelve or thirteen, my mother started teaching me about men and how to please them.”

Now it was Nemel’s turn to stare blankly at her friends. It wasn’t proper to pry into someone’s household affairs, so she didn’t know anything about their upbringing. All she knew was that they felt like properly reared noblewomen who were trendy and socially adept.

What they had listed was part and parcel of a noblewoman’s education. Looking pretty, attending classy dinner parties and catching the eye of influential and wealthy Noble houses was a common goal. A woman’s joy was to be married, get pregnant, bear children and raise them; that was considered proper from a Noble’s point of view.

Once they ensured that the success of Dame Verilyn’s territory was well on its way, they could certainly use that education to attract partners if they felt like it. However, she didn’t know why they had brought up those aspects of a noblewoman’s education now, as most of it was utterly useless in their situation.

“What about managing household affairs?” Nemel asked, “Overseeing a demesne, managing tenants and balancing trade?”

“We learned about that at the Academy,” Fendros said.

“Your parents didn’t teach you anything about that at all?”

Her friends shook their heads.

“My parents told me that the Academy would teach me about that,” Elise said. “They weren’t wrong.”

“But surely your parents would try and give you a head start on that…?”

They shook their heads again. Nemel’s frown grew dire.

“…out of curiosity,” Nemel asked, “how much time did your parents spend managing their titles?”

“They left that to their vassals and retainers,” Ida said.

“Same here,” Elise nodded. “My parents mostly focused on maintaining ties with other houses.”

“Mine worked to get ahead of the other houses in the region,” Fendros said. “Retainers did most of the provincial work.”

Thank the gods for the Imperial Magic Academy…

No wonder it was mandatory for Nobles to attend. It appeared that Fendros, Elise and Ida’s parents ignored the fundamental aspects of being a territorial administrator.

Delegating duties to retainers with relevant expertise was, of course, a normal part of managing a demesne, but that didn’t mean a Noble house didn’t need to educate its scions on such matters.

Every house and its territory had a history and circumstances unique to itself. A Noble house couldn’t rely on the standard, generic education of the Imperial Magic Academy to cover that. It was up to the family to educate their daughters not only on their own affairs, but also on the territories and known circumstances of the prospective houses that they would marry into.

The fact that their parents hadn’t fully prepared their daughters for their future suggested all sorts of things. Not a single one of those things was good. Her friends’ accounts shed a great deal of light on why their houses had been attainted in the first place. It also explained why their areas of expertise were so skewed towards politics and intrigue.

“Nemel,” Ida said, “you look like something just wiggled up your butt.”

“I thought everyone was raised like that,” Fendros frowned. “What was your childhood like?”

“I studied magic like crazy,” Nemel replied. “I did all the stuff you mentioned, too, but I also studied management, industry, economics and leadership. There was more history than I care to remember. There was plenty of fine arts, language and diplomacy…”

“…which imperial family are you from?”

“I thought that was normal!” Nemel grabbed her head in frustration, “Argh…”

It was a good thing that Dame Verilyn had flown home. Nemel didn’t want to explain how she had fooled herself into thinking that her friends all had little Nemels inside of them waiting to be freed from repression. That they were competent young noblewomen who would flourish if offered a chance to prove themselves.

“This can’t stand…” Nemel muttered.

“What was that?” Fendros asked.

“This can’t stand!” Nemel shouted, “I’m retraining you all, House Gran style! From now on, you are all Imperial Arcanists!”

“What’s that?”

Nemel narrowed her eyes at Ida.

“Didn’t you read Principles of Magocratic Governance?”

“I sort of skimmed through it…i-it was insanely long…”

“We’re not imperials anymore, either,” Elise added.

“That doesn’t matter,” Nemel told them. “I refuse to have any Nobles who aren’t Imperial Arcanists working for me!”

“Rei,” Elise cried, “Nemel’s gone crazy!”

“Captain!” Nemel ordered, “Tie them up in sacks and ship them back to the Empire!”

The Death Warrior went over and started rummaging around the ship.

“WAIT!” Fendros said, “Wait! Don’t sack us! We’ll do it! I don’t know what it is, but we’ll do it!”

“…really?” Nemel peered at Fendros suspiciously.

“Really really!”

On either side of Fendros, Elise and Ida nodded vigorously.

“You get one chance,” Nemel said. “Let’s get started.”

“But what do we do?” Fendros asked.

Nemel’s gaze slowly passed between the three desperate-looking women. They swallowed in fearful apprehension.

“We study!” Nemel told them.

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