Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Ilren Castle
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Please take good care of me.
"We've arrived!"
"Finally..."
The expedition party's appearance upon reaching Ilren Castle could only be described as ragged beggars.
Covered head to toe in dirt, their faces etched with exhaustion—dark circles under their eyes—they looked utterly spent. Starved from rationing food, their cheeks were gaunt and hollow.
Had they not been riding Jin, the mechanical beasts knights used as mounts, the squires who had first come to greet them from Ilren Castle might have mistaken them for bandits.
The one who stepped forward to greet the expedition party first was a man dressed as a squire, fully armed and equipped.
"Welcome to Ilren Castle! I'm Chief Squire Billam. Please, follow me inside."
"I'm Knight Ramun. For now, I'd like to see the castle lord. Is Lord Ludas inside?"
"Ah..."
The chief squire glanced around darkly for a moment before whispering softly.
Of course, Ramun and the knights around him could hear it easily with their keen senses.
"The castle lord is inside. But his condition right now is... a bit off. Come in and we'll talk."
"Understood."
The expedition party crossed the wooden palisade and entered the castle interior.
Arsen slowly guided his Jin while surveying the inner landscape of Ilren Castle.
Worn and filthy clothing, dilapidated buildings—it reminded him of the rundown environment of Crata Castle, where he had lived in the past.
The people gathering to gawk at the expedition party were all skinny and malnourished, as if they hadn't eaten properly.
Eloise, sitting in front of Arsen, whispered softly.
"Everyone looks... so thin. Unlike the estate folk."
"No helping it. Even riding lizards full tilt, it takes a week from here to the estate. With multiple castles around, trade happens maybe once every few months at best. The castle I lived in was like this too."
"Can't they just supply a ton of food at once?"
"Food spoils, and more importantly, if they did... well, that'd mess up the estate. Hmm, not something to get into detail here."
Controlling the castles by firmly gripping food supplies from the estate was a fact that was highly inappropriate to discuss openly within the castle itself.
Arsen glossed over it, not wanting to burden the innocent young lady with such dirty realities.
Just then, someone popped out from the crowd of onlookers and blocked the expedition party's path.
It was a child draped in patched-up rags.
"Please, please, give us something to eat! My mom's gonna die soon. She hasn't eaten properly in a week already. Please..."
"Damn it, what the hell? Get that brat out of here!"
At the chief squire's shout—who was leading the party—two soldiers from the crowd stepped forward and forcibly dragged the child away.
Struggling not to go, the child took a few punches to the gut before going limp, apparently unconscious.
Only after watching the child being hauled off into the distance did the chief squire turn back to the knights and bow obsequiously.
"I'm truly sorry. Such a disgrace... I'll punish them severely."
"Enough. Just lead the way."
"Understood, Lord Ramun."
The procession, halted briefly, resumed toward the castle lord's residence.
Arsen clicked his tongue, watching the child being dragged far away, a bitter taste filling his mouth that felt all too personal.
Eloise spoke in a trembling voice.
"That was... too much. Do they have to go that far?"
"No, that's not right. Even for a castle, that's a bit extreme..."
Arsen had grown up in a harsh environment as a child, but at least there he could scavenge discarded food scraps.
Even when food was scarce in a castle, they rarely let regular members starve to death. Jumping in front of knights to beg like that was tantamount to risking one's life.
The other knights didn't see the scene as some everyday occurrence either.
Not just Palato—even a few veteran knights shot uncomfortable glances at the chief squire.
Feeling their stares, the chief squire shrank back slightly.
"Don't make a fuss—just make sure that kid and his mom get some food later. The castle can't be that short on supplies. How starved do you have to be..."
"Understood..."
As the chief squire responded to Palato's rebuke, the procession finally halted at the castle lord's residence in the center of the castle.
The chief squire dismounted first and shouted to the guards at the door.
"Knights from the estate have arrived! Open the gate!"
Then he sidled up to the soldier and whispered.
"...The lord?"
"Not yet."
He'd whispered as if to avoid being heard, but it reached the knights' ears clearly.
Ramun, dismounting first, ordered his own chief squire.
"Secure lodging where we can rest first. We'll stay in the lord's residence."
"Got it!"
"Ah, Lord Ramun. Just a moment..."
Ignoring Ilren Castle's chief squire's attempt to speak, the knights all dismounted from their Jin and entered the lord's residence.
Arsen entered as well, with Eloise cloaked in her robe.
The interior of the lord's residence was filthy, poorly cleaned, and a rotting smell wafted from somewhere.
"...Smells."
Patting Eloise's muttering shoulder, they ventured deeper, arriving at a space used as a banquet hall, meeting room, and dining area.
On the large wooden table in the dining area lay half-eaten food and scattered liquor. A massive man in his thirties, wearing only pants, sprawled across a chair.
A soldier was cautiously shaking him awake, but the giant snored on, dead to the world.
A pungent booze stench emanated from him, stinging the nose.
The only one who could pass out drunk so brazenly in the lord's residence was surely Castle Lord Ludas.
Scornful jeers rippled through the knights.
"...Drinking himself stupid in broad daylight in this situation? Is he insane?"
"Falling into a castle doesn't fix his habits. What a drunken lout."
"I had my suspicions... but he's still a moron."
Arsen inwardly agreed with the knights' pitiful assessment.
He'd despised his father Lenoc as a drunken wastrel, but at least Lenoc barely touched liquor during the day and worked as the castle's sole knight and protector.
His "work" amounted to hunting magic beasts or diligently breeding, but still.
For the castle's top defender—a knight—to be passed out drunk during the day, when magic beasts could attack, was gross negligence.
"I hate to speak ill... but this is hardly befitting a knight."
Palato muttered with a sigh. Even that was a mild critique of Ludas's behavior.
Arsen sighed too, eyeing the table.
'They could've fed others with the grain used to make this booze.'
As everyone condemned the scoundrel, Ramun called coldly to the soldier trying to wake Ludas.
"Soldier."
"Y-Yes? Did you call me?"
"Fill a bucket with water. Cold water."
At Ramun's order, the soldier bolted outside.
Moments later, he returned grunting, hauling a large bucket brimming with water.
Ramun took it without hesitation and dumped it over the sleeping Ludas's head.
Drenched, Ludas flopped like a fish out of water, then roared awake.
"Gah! Who the hell—huh? Lord Ramun? No way, I figured you'd take a few more days..."
"We hurried a bit. Caught quite the sight, thanks to you. Lord Ludas."
"Ah, this... my apologies."
Ludas scratched his head with a sheepish grin, like a kid caught pranking.
That innocent demeanor felt downright creepy in light of what had happened outside.
Rarely for him, Palato scolded Ludas in a cold tone.
"I know it's not right to meddle in castle affairs, but is brewing all the supplied food into booze proper conduct for a castle lord? Lord Ludas? People are starving outside."
"Ah, Lord Palato. That's... a misunderstanding."
He said that but dodged any real explanation, fumbling ambiguously.
Ramun cut off Ludas's excuse coldly.
"Never mind that. Tell us about the meteorite. You didn't send a false report while drunk, did you? Otherwise, your next post won't be castle lord—it'll be mine overseer. The current one would love that."
Beluan Estate had mines too.
Outside the estate's purification range, commoners couldn't work them. So they used criminal soldiers or squires for labor, rotating in regulars when short.
The overseer position was even more reviled than castle lord.
"Of course not! I saw it myself and reported it. I've been checking every few days lately."
"What about Atar Estate? Any signs they've found it?"
"No one's come from the south yet."
Ramun pondered briefly, head bowed, then declared.
"No need to head out today, then. We're worn from the forced march already. Rest up today and go tomorrow morning."
"You're staying here tonight?"
At Palato's question, Ramun grimaced slightly, scanning the surroundings.
The filthy, stinking lord's residence wasn't ideal for rest, but in this small castle, nowhere else matched a knight's station.
If knights camped outside, squires would be shoved into worse quarters.
"Looks like it. Lord Ludas, you can provide quarters for eight knights and one mage, right?"
"Ah, of course. Hey, soldier! Clean up rooms quick!"
"Right away!"
* * *
Arsen was eating dinner with Eloise in her room.
Ludas had cleared the dining hall and prepared a feast for the knights, but Eloise couldn't join.
Freshly caught meat in greasy dishes and soft, warm bread filled him with satisfaction.
After a proper wash and real meal in a week, vitality returned to his body.
But despite the luxury, Eloise's expression remained dark throughout the meal.
After poking at her food for a while, she hesitantly spoke.
"Sen."
"Yeah?"
"Could we share some of this food with that kid from earlier?"
Arsen tore off a strip of bread and popped it in his mouth, replying simply.
"Already gave them some. Should be fine for a bit."
"Huh? When?"
"While you were washing up."
Eloise's eyes widened, as if the thought had never crossed her mind.
Arsen chuckled at the sight.
"Figured you'd forgotten?"
"No, but..."
Her face brightening considerably, Eloise scooped a spoonful of soup.
She savored it with eyes half-closed, then continued in a much calmer tone.
"Was it this bad when you lived in a castle, Sen?"
"Crata Castle... wasn't quite this rough. We could at least eat leftovers people discarded. But here, it seems even those scraps go to the adults."
The funny part was they still had food to serve estate knights.
Squires and soldiers didn't look starved either, suggesting Ludas fed his own men well.
He just barely fed the civilians.
"This castle lord's a real jerk. Wish we could toss him in a mine."
"That's for the estate lord to decide. Don't say stuff like that in front of others."
Arsen scolded her sternly, enough to feel like a reprimand.
With political threats lurking lately, one careless word from Eloise could spark trouble.
She pouted slightly.
"You think I'm an idiot? I don't say this stuff around others. Only to you, Sen."
"First I've heard of it."
"That I don't talk in front of others?"
"Nah, that you're not an idiot."
"Ugh, seriously!"
As she swung a mock punch, Arsen laughed heartily and dodged.
"Hmph." Eloise snorted.
"Tomorrow we head south to that meteorite, right?"
"Yeah. Like Lord Luden said, mining'll take time, so we'll pitch tents and stay a few days to dig it up."
"Hope it goes smoothly."
Arsen turned to gaze at the green full moon through the open window.
"No dangers, probably. South estate doesn't even know it exists yet. I'll protect you, so don't worry."
"Looking forward to it, brave knight."
Arsen chuckled at Eloise waving her spoon with a smile, then stood.
Just fend off a few magic beasts while harvesting black star iron.
With that thought, Arsen closed the wooden window.