Chapter 617: The Hollow Floating Castle
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 617: The Hollow Floating Castle
They called it an arrest, and they called it an escort, but the mages didn't seem to care much about Shei or me. They were so oblivious that they didn't even notice when I untied my ropes and secretly started playing cat's cradle.
[You told me to get captured, and now you're just fooling around!]
It got to the point where even Shei couldn't stand it and had to scold me, which says it all.
The door to the Magic Tower opened automatically. As soon as we stepped inside, it closed and began to move downward with incredible smoothness.
An elevator? The Military State had elevators like this, but the one in the Magic Tower was unrealistically smooth and fast. I could barely tell I was moving.
How much time passed like that? Now bored with cat's cradle, I looked around and asked.
“Just how far down are we going? At this rate, we're going to pass right through the Floating Castle.”
“Hah.”
“Heh.”
“Pfft.”
This is why plebeians are so hopeless.
Three different kinds of laughter were directed at me. What the hell? I just asked a question. What's so funny that they have to surround me and laugh? Being surrounded and laughed at is giving me PTSD from my school days.
Not that I experienced it myself. I just read the thoughts of some guy who was ignored by Lankart.
“…No, something's strange.”
Shei, the only one who took my words seriously, stared intently at the ceiling.
“We're definitely going down, but the direction kept changing.”
“What? How can the direction change while we're going down?”
“I don't know. But it definitely did. What's going on…”
“It's a long story. Besides, there's no point in explaining how this Floating Castle moves to plebeians.”
The Green Tower Master stepped forward to show off, saving me the trouble of explaining. Seriously, if you're not going to tell us, don't even bring it up.
“Even plebeians have eyes like ours, I suppose. You will be given a chance to observe and understand the Floating Castle. A chance, and nothing more.”
“What kind of chance?”
Ding. A small chime announced our arrival. The Green Tower Master opened the elevator door with her umbrella and spoke.
“The chance to witness, and understand, this wonder.”
The moment I witnessed the scene outside the elevator, I instantly understood why the Green Tower Master had been so dramatic.
Long ago, in an age when freeloaders called philosophers stole food from the world and their trivial imaginations were given form to roam the land.
There were those who believed another land existed beneath this one.
They claimed the round earth was merely an eggshell, and we were nothing but insects crawling upon it. A groundless rumor once circulated that a true civilization, protected by Mother Earth's shell, existed inside this world, standing upside down on a land just like our own.
Though they are now objects of ridicule, if they were resurrected to see this sight, they would have collapsed in sheer awe.
A great cavern. A round world, where countless mages walked along the walls.
Mages stood upside down like bats, walking on the ceiling with their staves. Trees grew downward, stretching from the ceiling toward the floor like stalactites. When someone cast a spell, a round orb traced an inverted parabola, falling up to the ceiling.
They weren't hanging. The direction of gravity itself was different.
A perpetually maintained reverse gravity pushed everything away—outward from the center of the Floating Castle. Pushed by this inverse gravity, bodies treated the walls and ceiling as their floor. Thanks to this, people could live with their feet planted on the walls and ceiling alike.
Which way was up, and which was down? Naturally, up was the center of the Floating Castle, and down was everywhere else.
A tower seemed to pierce the castle's core, and at its very center, 'something' that dominated gravity shone like a sun. This was the sky itself. Not the 'sky' that is merely a name for the empty void, but a sky that was an omnipotent and powerful god.
It seemed this was Shei's first time seeing it too, as she muttered in a daze, her mouth slightly agape.
“…So this is what the Floating Castle looks like.”
Huh? You're a Regressor. You're telling me you've never been to a famous and important place like the Floating Castle?
“You've never been to the Floating Castle, Shei?”
“That's…”
“Of course she hasn't. A plebeian could never find their way here without a guide, and even if they did, why would we ever let them this deep inside?”
I wasn't asking you, and I wasn't asking about this timeline either. Why are you so damn arrogant? I barely managed to swallow the words that rose to my throat.
Normally, I would have made a sarcastic remark and turned it back on her, but it would be useless now. The mages' elitism was as deep-rooted and tangled as a tree; any attempt to dig at it would just be met with a scoff.
If I were stronger or could control the mood of those around me, I might have been able to create an opening. But these were all mages, 'chosen ones' who took pride in their knowledge. They already considered me and them to be different races, so an accusatory tone would have no effect.
In times like this, questions are better than accusations. It's a way to satisfy both their vanity and my curiosity.
“But you did let us, mere plebeians, into the Floating Castle, didn't you?”
“The only reason you're allowed in here, even as prisoners, is ironically thanks to Lankart Spendry. Since you're the plebeians that madman brought, it's awkward to either cast you out or treat you as guests.”
The Green Tower Master's reply was a bit reluctant. I read two conflicting emotions in her mind.
Displeasure and discomfort toward Lankart, who acted as if he owned the world. She resented him for wielding such immense power at a young age, yet at the same time, she suspected his Unique Magic, far more powerful than expected… might hold some deeper enlightenment.
Hmm. So that's how she feels. I probed subtly.
“Our situation? What's so awkward about it?”
“It's not your concern.”
“It's about our situation, so how can we not be concerned? Is it something you're not allowed to tell us? Or is it something we plebeians wouldn't be able to understand?”
It was neither. It was a refusal born of sheer whim. I asked, knowing this full well, and the Green Tower Master, realizing she had no real reason not to answer, decided to just reply.
“Lankart's official position is that of a Federation Investigator. He has the authority to escort any individual deemed necessary by the Federation to the Floating Castle. Even if those individuals are plebeians like you, ignorant of magic.”
“Wow, Lankart's really moved up in the world since I last saw him. So why did you chase him off?”
“I believe I told you earlier. Falling from an altitude far above the Floating Castle is forbidden.”
The Green Tower Master answered with a displeased expression.
“The Floating Castle is the center of the sky, and meteors falling from space are naturally drawn to its core. Most small, insignificant meteors stop at the surface, just like you plebeians, and become the very bricks that make up this castle. But occasionally, when a large meteor that could potentially harm the castle is detected, its Defense Magic activates.”
“Large? There were only three of us falling.”
“You know nothing. Then again, I suppose that's to be expected of a plebeian.”
Every other word is 'plebeian.' It's really starting to piss off this plebeian. The Green Tower Master gave me a pathetic look and scoffed as if to say, 'See? What did I tell you?'
“A human-sized meteor is plenty large. If it were to fall unimpeded, it could easily annihilate a village on the ground below. That's why it must be pulverized by the Defense Magic before it hits.”
“You mean that beam of mana Lankart deflected?”
“The Defense Magic is a multi-elemental condensed mana shell designed for anti-meteor purposes. Meaning, it was never designed with Unique Magic in mind. …Not that any other means could have pierced his Unique Magic, either.”
She seemed to grit her teeth as she added that last part, clearly still bothered by it. Shaking off the sticky feeling of displeasure, the Green Tower Master walked toward a large building.
“If three human-sized objects are falling, it means one of two things: meteors or intruders. Either way, it's a matter that requires me, the final line of defense for the Floating Castle, to be dispatched. My Unique Magic severs all things, be they meteors or people.”
“Wow. So you were dispatched because of Lankart. It must be tough, having to do work that wasn't even on your schedule.”
“A plebeian, but a perceptive one. You'll need to be, if you wish to survive in this Floating Castle without knowing the secret arts of magic.”
The place we arrived at was a particularly conspicuous building, even within the Floating Castle. As if mocking all of humanity's achievements in civil engineering, the building was thicker at the top than the bottom, with dozens of rooms hanging from it like branches. It looked as if a good shake would send the rooms tumbling down.
What is this? Do the architects of the Floating Castle not know the laws of gravity…? Or are the laws of gravity different here?
In any case, the Green Tower Master stopped in front of the bizarre building, removed a jewel from her necklace, and inserted it into a crack in the door. A ripple of light flowed through the magic circle engraved on the stone gate. A green light flashed, and the door rotated, opening vertically.
“This is the Security Bureau. You plebeians will be detained and questioned by an interrogator. We won't harm you, so please cooperate quietly with the questioning.”
“…Detained? You're detaining us?”
At the word 'detained,' Shei's demeanor sharpened. The Green Tower Master, however, paid her reaction no mind and continued.
“Ah. Perhaps 'protection' is a better word? Freedom is akin to indulgence. If we were to let plebeians who have never seen or experienced the Floating Castle roam free, and you touched the wrong thing and died an untimely death, it would be awkward for both you and me.”
Surprisingly, she was being sincere. She was saying that it could be genuinely dangerous for Shei and me to go outside.
Every single word was steeped in elitism. It felt like she was trying to force us, plebeians who couldn't use magic, to feel deprived. And to be fair, the Floating Castle was a mysterious and wondrous enough place to make her point understandable, but…
Hmph. This Floating Castle you're all so proud of.
Which made Shei's next thought all the more striking. I read her mind and my eyes widened.
It was sent crashing to the ground by a single strike from the Sword Saint, causing the Great Descent!