The next day, the weather was clear, and sunlight streamed through the glass windows of the east courtyard of Lords Manor onto the stone floor.
Paul had just finished processing a military report in his office when Mariana walked in with two other people.
They were two young girls, around fifteen or sixteen years old, almost identical—long golden hair reaching their waists, the strands like fine threads woven by sunlight; delicate and pretty faces, fair skin, eyelashes trembling slightly in the light; they wore simple gray-blue dresses, standing side by side, like a pair of fledglings too afraid to move in the wind.
They kept their heads down, their fingers tightly intertwined, their expressions timid, lacking even the courage to look people in the eye.
Whenever Paul's gaze swept over them, one of them would tremble slightly, and the other would immediately shrink back.
" Marquis Glaeman, this is Beverly Taylor, and this is Harriet Taylor," Mariana introduced softly, "the twin sisters, daughters of my late friend in the Arcane Society."
She paused, then continued calmly, "They were originally registered members of the Arcane Society, but their abilities... were somewhat special, and also somewhat awkward."
Paul looked at them but didn't rush to speak.
Mariana continued, "Their ability is... a kind of telepathy—when one person is thinking of the other with all their heart, the other person can clearly perceive that emotion, and even receive a vague thought, but that's all. They cannot manipulate elements or cast spells. After testing, the Arcane Society determined that this ability belongs to the realm of magic, but has no practical use, and classifies it as 'ineffective talent'."
The two sisters next to her looked disappointed.
Mariana's tone held a hint of regret: " Within the Arcane Society, the capable are respected. Spellcasters like them, who are 'half-baked,' can neither contribute to the fight nor contribute to the roster, and are considered a burden. They have been ostracized and ridiculed since childhood, and are not even allowed to participate in basic mage training. In a few years, they may be drafted into the Fire Dragon Legion. The soldiers of the Fire Dragon Legion are basically composed of people who can sense magic but cannot cast concrete spells, but I don't want them to go to the dangerous battlefield."
Mariana looked at Paul: "I heard that you secretly took in a lot of Spellcaster refugees who fled from Horn Bay in Alda —those who had nowhere else to go and just wanted a peaceful life. So, I brought them here."
Her tone was earnest yet measured: "They don't want to be witches, nor do they expect to cast any great spells. They just want to live like ordinary people in a place where no one knows them—no longer to be scrutinized, no longer to be looked down upon."
Beverly glanced up at Paul, then quickly looked down again. Harriet gently tugged at her sister's sleeve, her lips moving slightly as if silently conveying something.
Paul looked at the sisters and nodded gently. " Northwest welcomes all those who are willing to obey the law and work. They can stay."
"Thank you, Lord Glaeman!" Beverly, pulling her sister along, bowed to Paul.
Paul looked at the two sisters and asked calmly, "Does your telepathy... have any distance limitations? For example, if one of you is in Northwest Bay and the other is in Gabella, can you still sense each other?"
Standing a little ahead, Beverly looked up and said softly, like the wind blowing through a crack in a window, "There is no... no distance limit. As long as we want, no matter how far apart we are, we can feel each other's...heartstrings."
She paused, then added timidly, "But... we can only convey feelings, those vague thoughts, and we can't even articulate a single sentence. Lord Glaeman, I'm sorry to disappoint you. The Arcane Society has also tried to use our abilities to transmit information over long distances, but we are simply... powerless when it comes to the specific content of the information."
Clearly, she had already guessed Paul's thoughts.
"We're so sorry to have disappointed you." The two sisters bowed again in unison.
Paul gave a soft "hmm" without showing any disappointment, then changed the subject, asking if they would like to stay in Alda, where the Political Affairs Council could arrange some simple paperwork.
But his heart was already in turmoil.
[No distance restrictions]
These five words were like a bolt of lightning, triggering a switch deep within his memory.
Those guys at Arcane Society have such a superficial understanding of information!
But having been a programmer in his past life, he was familiar with the nature of information—whether it's sound, text, or images, it can ultimately be broken down into binary 0s and 1s. The ability of these two sisters was essentially a form of long-distance information transmission:
Thinking is 1; not thinking is 0.
If there is a signal, it's a circuit; if there's no signal, it's a dead circuit.
If we can establish a set of encoding rules—for example, using three seconds of focused thought to represent "1", one second to represent "0", and ten seconds as a data packet cycle—we can break down text into binary sequences.
The older sister sends out coded thoughts, which the younger sister receives in place. The assistant then decodes and restores the information. No messenger is needed; the message is delivered instantly and cannot be intercepted. This is not just an upgrade in communication methods, but a leap in strategic dimensions.
Although it is not as efficient as a real Telegraph, it is much more efficient than the flag signal system that I am currently building.
He forced himself to breathe steadily, suppressing his emotions. Now was not the time to get excited; he needed to confirm more details: Could the senses be interfered with? How efficient were they? But he couldn't ask these questions now.
There were some things he didn't want Mariana to know too much about, even though she was his mother.
He simply said gently, "Please settle in first. If needed, I will arrange for someone to help you get familiar with the place."
He then looked at his mother: " Ms. Marianna."
"You just said that the Taylor sisters are recognized by the Arcane Society as having ineffective talents. Are there any other people like them around you, or people you know?"
Mariana paused slightly, seemingly surprised by his question. After a moment of silence, she nodded: "Yes."
She looked at Paul: "In the Arcane Society, they are mostly marginalized and not involved in core affairs. Some do clerical work, and some do menial tasks. They are not a fighting force and are not trusted. Over time, they have become accustomed to bowing their heads."
Paul's gaze fell on Beverly and Harriet, who were still looking down, their fingers tightly intertwined, as if they were each other's only support.
"Tell them," his voice was calm but firm, " that Alda welcomes them."
"Not as witches or sorcerers, but as ordinary people, as long as they are willing to work and abide by the law, Northwest will give them a place to live—no discrimination, no invalid labels, and no one will ask them what they can or cannot do."