Chapter 82: The Path of the Castle Lord (1)
Chapter 82: The Path of the Castle Lord (1)
The castle's whisper ended in two words.
"Hey? Are you listening?"
He had plenty he wanted to ask about what was going on, but no matter how he questioned the empty air, there was no further answer.
In the end, he had to stop asking questions and focus on the immediate situation: survival and resupply.
"It's fortunate we can obtain water."
"It's a small garden, but they've packed a lot into it."
In the corner of the secret garden there was a rather large pond, and water channels branching from it crossed the garden. All around, various plants were growing in abundance.
He did not know where the water came from, but it flowed constantly and ran clear, so they did not have to worry about drinking water.
"This definitely seems like a safe zone."
"It should be. It's enclosed by a stone gate and walls built with the ancient kingdom's stoneworking techniques."
It was physically secure, and Eugene could feel a protective energy throughout the garden. He felt certain evil beings could not enter.
Perhaps her animal instincts had sensed the safety; Homi looked relaxed.
She had removed her outer garment and knelt before the pond, staring beneath the water's surface.
Her focused, motionless figure was more reminiscent of a hunting heron than a feline.
SPLASH!
Suddenly, both her hands plunged beneath the surface and knocked a fish out of the pond.
FLAP! FLAP!
The thing, as thick as a forearm, flopped this way and that across the garden's grassy ground.
THWACK!
Homi flicked the fish on the head with one slender finger, and it went limp.
"There was one that big in there?"
Homi beamed at Eugene's impressed expression, then knelt by the pond again. Big as the fish was, it was not enough to feed three people.
Homi spread her hands like a bird of prey and went motionless over the water again, her eyes fixed on the surface.
Swish, swish.
Only her tail moved, twitching with excitement from the praise and the hunt.
"I can't just sit still either."
Varda's golden eyes swept over the lush plants filling the garden.
"Are they edible?"
"Every plant in this garden is useful. They're either edible or can be used for hygiene or medicine."
"I've heard large castles have a lot of hidden spaces like this."
A postern gate separate from the main gate was one example. During a siege, it could be used to send out an envoy for relief, launch a surprise attack with a detached force, or let the castle lord escape.
Large castles inhabited by counts and higher nobles also had many hidden spaces inside.
There might be a shelter for when even the inner keep fell, a secret place of worship for clergy who could not reveal their faith openly, or even the castle lord's own hidden passage for shady purposes.
"Compared to this place, those are nothing more than cramped rooms reeking of musty odors. They're no different from warehouses without light or proper ventilation."
"It's amazing that it seems to have remained like this with no maintenance."
Bright light descended from the ceiling, and the plants throughout were brimming with vitality.
"It must be a place sustained by the power of magic."
As Varda drew a deep breath, her chest swelled.
"I can feel traces left by my kin. It's forest magic—a secret art humans can't use."
"If we hole up here, we could hold out for a long time."
"Considering when this castle was built, it isn't that strange, is it?"
The one who commanded the Wandering Castle to be built was Lucius, the last king of the ancient kingdom.
The kingdom was being torn apart by civil war on the eve of its destruction, so Lucius would have paid special attention to hidden rooms like this.
After looking around, Varda plucked a single flower bud and recited an incantation.
WHOOSH!
The flower bud, smaller than her palm, bloomed in an instant. It did not merely grow rapidly; it became much larger and even changed shape.
"A basket?"
"Hehe. Handy, isn't it?"
Varda hooked the small basket the bud had become over her arm. She placed her left foot behind her right heel and lightly lifted the hem of her skirt.
She looked like the young daughter of a noble house who had encountered a wandering knight in the countryside—fresh and graceful.
"I used this spell when I found rare herbs or delicious-looking fruit while walking through the forest. It's useful when you suddenly need something to carry them in."
Varda took a few steps and stopped before a broad-leaved tree as tall as a person.
PLUCK.
She picked the reddish berries, each the size of a thumb, and placed them in the flower basket.
She also picked shoots resembling aralia and large leaves to wrap the fish in while cooking.
Smooch.
She kissed each cut surface after harvesting it.
"Is that some kind of elven prayer of thanks?"
Eugene recalled the prayer that centaurs offered when they caught prey.
"No. Even elves don't go that far. In human terms, think of it as stopping the bleeding and applying ointment."
Varda gestured for him to come and see.
"You'll understand faster if you look closely."
"Oh! So it wasn't a prayer—it was magic."
The plucked leaves and berries had already stopped oozing sap, and new sprouts that sealed the wounds had emerged like moss.
"This is our only safe refuge in an unknown place where everything else is hostile. Better to coexist with it than use it up carelessly."
"You're absolutely right."
SPLASH!
Around that time, Homi caught the second fish.
"Good work. But let's stop there. Fruit and leaves are one thing, but there can only be so many fish."
Shake, shake.
Homi shook her head, then pointed to a spot in the pond.
A large water supply pipe, apparently used to circulate the water, was there. The water was so clear it was easy to see.
Homi made a tube with one hand, then bent the other and mimed something moving in and out of it.
"The fish come and go through there?"
Nod.
"It probably leads to a fish farm somewhere."
"They really prepared this castle thoroughly."
It was fitting for a castle shaped like an ark. Its builders had thought beyond simply stockpiling supplies and holding out; they had planned for self-sufficiency.
Eugene gutted the fish with the Bloodletting Dagger and buried the entrails. Homi lit a fire with her flint, and Varda stuffed the cleaned fish with herbs.
SIZZLE.
As the fish cooked over the fire, a mouthwatering aroma rose. The berries and greens Varda had picked were set out as well.
But despite the savory smell, the taste was disappointing. With no salt or seasoning, it was simply grilled fish.
"We need to get out of here soon."
Eugene had always tried to give his two most trusted aides the best treatment he could. This rare return to such scarcity bothered him.
"I don't mind it so much."
Homi nodded twice.
But Varda and Homi wore contented expressions.
"This reminds me of the first time the three of us set out and camped together. Do you remember the night after we left the Emerald Forest and slept outdoors?"
"I think we ate better back then than we are now."
"I'm talking about the atmosphere, not the quality of the food. You rose in the world much faster than I expected, so you were always surrounded by people."
The three of them preparing a meal together and spending time in nature—it really had been a long time.
When they were out in the field, Eugene ate with his subordinates to inspect the rations; when he was a guest of other nobles or staying in North Fork, people were always coming and going.
While the three of them, trapped in a dangerous place, enjoyed an unexpectedly cozy time together, things outside were changing rapidly.
Was this not now a spectacle for all humanity, far beyond a mere festival for the northern nobles?
The number of banners and tents outside Rostock grew rapidly. People came from Barsia and Gord, from free cities and petty kingdoms across the eastern continent.
Duke Ismar and his vassal nobles were staying outside the city to meet and host them.
"Shouldn't we tell them about the Emperor's terrorist acts?"
"The Duke told us to keep quiet. It doesn't have to be a secret, but he said not to go shouting it all over the place either."
The more warlike nobles wanted to take the opportunity to smear shit all over the Emperor's reputation, but they had to restrain themselves.
The Emperor's movements were troubling. Signs that he really meant to send an army here were appearing one by one.
Reserve troops meant to reinforce the Emperor Faction in southern Roman were returning to the capital, while mercenaries were being recruited with money raised through loans and even grave robbing.
"No matter how extraordinary the Wandering Castle is, I don't understand this."
"Exactly. Taking possession of one symbol won't erase all the tyranny up to now."
The last legacy of the ancient kingdom would certainly boost the Emperor's political standing, but even the nobles wondered whether it was worth taking such risks for.
If the Emperor lost and was driven from the throne, mere exile would not be the end of it.
"Then who does that castle belong to?"
At the most important question, the nobles' expressions turned interested.
"Well, it did land in the Duke's domain."
"It's not as if they discovered a mineral vein. You can't just claim a castle that dropped out of the sky for that reason."
The sudden discovery of a mineral vein was a common cause of major disputes between nobles. It did not have to be gold or silver; iron or copper was enough.
Powerful lords and their vassals, along with trading companies with interests at stake, would come drooling from every direction, each trying to get a foot in the door.
But this castle was an entirely different case.
"Strictly speaking, it was the Emperor who summoned it."
"Shh! That's dangerous talk."
"I'm just saying, that's all."
All kinds of rumors circulated among the poorly informed public.
-The souls of the ancients sent it as a warning about the civil war their descendants are waging!
This was the most popular rumor, eagerly supported by commoners suffering from the war and by monks who pitied them.
-Why would it appear in the territory of the Noble Faction, the first place to drive out the Emperor Faction? It's heaven's judgment on the Emperor's usurpation.
This was the rumor the Noble Faction lords liked and spread.
-It's an omen of disaster. The Wandering Castle, which drifted beyond the world, has appeared. It means the Otherworld has drawn that much closer to the present world.
The mages offered advice filled with anxiety rather than curiosity.
Only a handful of northern nobles knew the cause was the magic artifact used by the Emperor's servants.
"One wrong move and the Emperor could use this as grounds to claim ownership of the castle."
"He could even use it as a pretext to invade, claiming we're occupying the castle they summoned without permission."
That was why Duke Ismar had not openly denounced the Emperor's terrorist attack.
Partly he was wary of military provocation by the Emperor, but he also did not want to give him any opening in the dispute over ownership of the Wandering Castle.
Hearing the nobles' discussion through his spies, Rex could only let out a hollow laugh.
"What kind of bullshit are those idiots talking about so seriously?"
Rex knew who the castle's true master was—who prophecy and fate had chosen—so the whole discussion struck him as absurd.
"Reporting my return."
"Good work."
The tall centurion Helga saluted Rex.
For now, the Black Hand Mercenary Company was only completing contracts it had already accepted and taking no new ones.
After putting the entire tribe on alert, they were gathering all their strength at Rostock in preparation for any emergency.
"I wonder if he's going hungry."
Rex frowned as he looked up at the majestic castle.
No being within the ancient castle would dare harm the knight among knights. But hunger and thirst could not be cut down with a sword.
SIZZLE, SIZZLE.
Contrary to Rex's worries, Eugene's party was eating a rather decent meal.
Homi squeezed juice from a lemon-like fruit over the grilled fish.
"Amazing, Varda-nim. This seems closer to divine alchemy than magic."
It was the product of crossbreeding several fruits with forest magic and forcing them to grow rapidly.
Eugene and Homi nodded.
The knight and squire gazed at the elf mage with sparkling eyes.
"It's nothing special, so there's no need to praise me so much."
Perk.
Despite her words, her long ears had perked straight up.
"We've eaten and slept enough, so I'm going out to investigate."
Eugene donned his armor with Homi's help.
"Wouldn't it be better to wait and see a little longer?"
"We can't stay here forever."
"People will keep gathering around the castle, and they won't just stand there watching. They'll try to get inside somehow."
Varda urged him to reconsider. Waiting for rescue in the safety of the garden seemed like a reasonable option.
"There's no guarantee this castle will stay put."
"Ah!"
Varda exclaimed at a point she had not considered. She had tried too hard to judge something outside the bounds of common sense by ordinary rules.
"It appeared suddenly, so it could just as suddenly return to wherever it came from."
"That's the real danger."
Eugene nodded and tapped the hilt of Last Autumn.
"I can cut down a monster, but if a tidal wave comes crashing over me, I'll be swept away like anyone else."
The Otherworld was like a blazing furnace: something to observe from a distance and make use of only by occasionally bringing what one needed to its surface. That was the proper way to deal with it.
For a human to enter it, willingly or otherwise, was never advisable.
"Besides, this is the ancient kingdom's last castle. It should be much easier to force our way out than to force our way in."
His ever-composed bearing and broad back.
Only then did Varda and Homi realize why they had been able to relax in such a dangerous situation.
The broad back of a dependable knight who would protect them from any danger. It was another moving castle, and they were inside it.