WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle
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◈ The Wandering Knight and the Moving Castle ◈
Chapter 10: The One Who Understands Three Worlds (10)
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Even though it was night, the village was far too quiet. Every window had been shut tight.
“Have all the children been hidden?”
“Yes. But shouldn't we pack up and run away altogether?”
The villagers couldn't sleep even when they lay down, their hearts pounding in their chests. They had lived peacefully for so long that the current situation didn't feel real.
“Honey, they aren't ordinary bandits. They were all on horseback. At this rate, we might all die.”
“Wait. They don't seem to be bandits.”
Despite his wife's urging, the husband remained calm. If anyone carelessly went outside while everyone else held their breath indoors and caught their attention, they might be the first to take a blade.
Judging by the mounted soldiers' equipment and manner of speaking, they were nothing like bandits crazed by plunder.
More than anything, there were those glowing eyes in the darkness. He remembered the women the monastery had abducted and brought in a few days ago.
“They won't be after us. Let's keep our heads down and stay quiet.”
That was the judgment of the head of the household.
Of course, some households couldn't resist their curiosity and tried to sneak a look outside.
Creeeak.
A window slowly opened at the sound of Eugene and Homi passing by.
“Aaargh!”
At that moment, screams and the clash of weapons rose from the monastery.
Bang!
The window slammed shut in an instant.
“Yaaah!”
“Waaah!”
Cheers followed soon after. It seemed Marcus's group, having escaped from the underground prison, had joined up with the shieldmen.
When Eugene and Homi reached the entrance to the village, two members of the village watch lay on the ground.
“Both of them are alive. They did seem like gentlemen, after all.”
There was no blood on the ground, so they appeared to have been knocked unconscious with blunt weapons.
Once they passed them, they stepped onto wild land overgrown with weeds. Eugene had walked this ground countless times before, but today it felt like the entrance to a new world.
“Doesn't even the air taste different?”
“?”
Homi looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“Let's head back to the cabin first. There are too many things there that'd be a shame to leave behind.”
Homi nodded.
Then hoofbeats sounded behind them. It could only be Marcus's group.
The elite truly were elite. As soon as they had secured the women, they regrouped the troops locked in a standoff and made a swift escape.
They must have dealt the priests a heavy blow, because there was no sign of pursuit. Only noisy shouting from the monastery could be heard.
“Stand down. They aren't enemies for now.”
Eugene stopped Homi as she drew her crossbow and prepared to stay on guard. A brief exchange had been enough to tell him they weren't the sort of scoundrels who repaid kindness with hostility.
Even if his judgment was wrong, there was no need to make a mounted force wary out here on the plains.
“Sir Eugene.”
Marcus, who rode at the front, greeted him.
“There was no time earlier, so I couldn't properly introduce myself. My name is Marcus, head of House Pierce.”
“As I said, I'm Eugene Mayer.”
“...”
“...?”
Marcus stared at him.
“Is that all?”
“That’s right. Why?”
“I thought a knight as renowned as you would have many accomplishments to introduce.”
Aaron, beside Marcus, nodded as if that were only natural. He seemed to have already forgotten the grudge of being struck and sent flying.
“Ah, that's what you meant.”
Knights were like moths drawn to honor and glory. If they had even the smallest thing to adorn their names, they were sure to mention it.
Some veteran knights were embarrassed by such dark chapters of their past, such as proudly introducing themselves by the number of goblins they had killed in their youth.
“I'm grateful you think so highly of me, but I was only knighted a few days ago. I'm still a novice, so I have nothing worth boasting about yet.”
Tap, tap.
Homi touched the back of Eugene's hand.
She pressed her nose with her index finger, making an adorable pig snout. She seemed to be asking why he wasn't telling them about hunting the monstrous boar.
But what could he do? There had been no witnesses, and Boar Slayer wasn't a particularly impressive title.
“You were knighted only a few days ago? Then that means it happened here.”
A name immediately came to Marcus's mind.
“Don't tell me it was by Sir Gopri?”
“So you know my master.”
“Of course I do! So you inherited his teachings.”
Marcus and all his subordinates looked at Eugene with even greater reverence.
Until now, he had been an unknown knight with monstrous strength. Now he also had the prestige of being the successor to the Knight of Prophecy.
“Uuugh.”
A young woman appeared on horseback behind them. More precisely, she had been tied in place with ropes against the back of the mounted soldier in front of her.
She was Maria, Marcus's younger sister and the person they had come to rescue. As if suffering from a terrible hangover, she grimaced and shook her head.
“It looks like you slept deeply for the first time in a while, so don't push yourself. We'll get you somewhere safe.”
Even as Marcus spoke worriedly, Maria stubbornly forced her eyes open.
“What incredible willpower.”
“Thank you. She's my little sister, but I'm truly proud of her.”
Marcus was pleased by Eugene's praise. Though Maria had done so much for their house, she had always been undervalued compared to him.
Eugene had only meant that she had endured the sleeping medicine he gave her, but Marcus took it as praise for her endurance through insomnia and harsh captivity.
“The thing... we prepared...”
“Yes, my lady.”
One of the dismounted subordinates approached, leading a horse by the reins.
“Take that horse...” Maria said.
The rider respectfully offered the reins with both hands, but Eugene didn't reach for them.
“Why give it to me?”
“To repay... what I received.”
After forcing out those words, Maria swayed and her head drooped as if she were falling asleep. With difficulty, she lifted it again.
“Food for the maids, blood, help escaping... I should at least give you this much.”
Maria, who had been struggling to keep her eyes open, slumped into sleep after saying that.
“Hmm.”
Honestly, he wanted it badly. Could someone really call himself a true knight without riding a horse?
The armor his master left him was excellent, he had two weapons, and he even had a capable Squire. The last piece of the puzzle, and the largest one, was a warhorse.
Whether or not someone rode a horse changed how others reacted to them in countless encounters.
Traveling merchants he met on the road, villagers who gave him shelter for the night, and even guards standing watch at a city’s entrance would all regard him differently.
Even if he sold his martial skills to earn money, his price would rise sharply.
“I heard about you from Maria. About how courteously you treated the maids, and how generously you treated my weakened sister. Then there is your mercy in sparing my subordinates, and the debt I owe you for helping us escape. You deserve that horse.”
“If you put it that way, I'll gratefully accept it.”
Eugene took the reins. Being modest once was enough. From what he had heard, it seemed he had earned the horse's value after all.
Snore...
“It has been a long time since I heard my sister snore.”
Marcus smiled brightly and raised an arm, signaling the retreat.
“That horse is called Might. Sir Eugene, I hope we meet again someday.”
“I'm Aaron Tait. I look forward to the day I can stand beside you with honor.”
Marcus, Aaron, and the soldiers gave mounted bows before departing.
Left behind, Eugene stroked Might's mane. Might had a sturdy build, calm eyes, and a glossy coat from being well fed. Might had been properly trained and cared for as a warhorse.
“My master often said that few horses are as fine as the warhorses of Barsia.”
Snort.
Might seemed to like Eugene as well, snorting happily and rubbing its face against him.
Homi stood a short distance away with her hands clasped together.
“You look happier than I am.”
Homi smiled softly. She knew how great a knight her lord would become.
It had always pained her whenever she saw him running everywhere on foot.
He would look more gallant than anyone, riding a horse and looking out over the world. It was a right he deserved. But a warhorse, not even an ordinary horse, had been far too expensive for a backwater Squire who also gathered herbs.
Today, that wish had come true.
“I'll ask you once more. Will you follow me on the journey ahead?”
Instead of answering, Homi politely went down on one knee.
Smack!
She took Eugene's hand and pressed a deep kiss to the back of it.
“I look forward to working with you from now on.”
Her thick silver tail wagged excitedly. Homi, too, had longed for the day they would set out on their travels. Her wild nature refused to be tied to one place.
When Eugene mounted the horse, Homi moved around, looking up at him from every angle. With her hands clasped behind her back and her upper body leaning forward, she looked especially adorable.
“Come on. Let's go to the cabin, pack our things, and leave. Once daylight comes, everything will get troublesome.”
Homi nodded.
Homi lightly jumped up and sat behind Eugene. She buried her face against his dependable back and wrapped her arms around his chest.
As they rode toward the cabin, they could see flames rising from the monastery.
“So that's why the priests aren't chasing us.”
It appeared Marcus's group had set fires here and there as they escaped. The monastery stood apart from the surrounding buildings, so there was no chance the fire would spread.
“■■■■! ■■ ■■■!”
Several priests ran outside, shouting something, but the villagers were still too frightened to come out after locking their doors.
The priests were probably having a miserable time tending to the groaning wounded and fetching water to put out the flames, but Eugene couldn't care less.
The two returned to the cabin, happily watching the campfire-like blaze.
* * *
Eugene and Homi packed quickly. They had already sorted out what they needed, so they finished in no time.
First came their valuables.
“Your master may not look it, but he gathered quite a bit during his days as a knight. So don’t refuse...”
Before leaving, Eugene had firmly declined the money his master offered.
“Homi and I are healthy, and we’re both good at hunting and gathering. There’ll be plenty of ways for us to earn money, so please take care of yourself, Master. You should eat lots of good food and sleep somewhere comfortable.”
“Do you think a comfortable pilgrimage makes any sense?”
“Why not? You don’t have a disciple to take care of you. If you develop arthritis, it’ll be a serious problem.”
“The things you say.”
Eugene also had spoils he had earned from taking on various requests and defeating bandits. Homi had saved money through hunting and gathering as well.
They also packed high-quality herbs that kept well and could be easily sold for cash.
Homi's luggage included travel essentials too, such as stimulant powder, hemostatic medicine, and medicine that drove away insects.
They had enough food to last quite a while, including jerky made from rabbit, mountain birds, and roe deer, along with dried fruit, hardtack, and rock salt.
Like the Squire she was, Homi helped Eugene into his armor and draped a cloak around him to ward off the cold and dew. Their preparations were complete.
After finishing, the two left the cabin.
‘So this is really goodbye.’
Eugene looked back and forth between the cabin filled with memories, the monastery still burning fiercely, and the direction where his mother's remains rested. Then he climbed onto his horse.
“We should head east first.”
Kingdom's End lay south of the Kingdom of Gord, a nation of warriors, and on the southwestern edge of the continent.
To the west of the village stretched an endless, dense, and dangerous Demon Realm Forest, so that direction was out of the question. The monstrous boar he had fought a few days earlier had been an unwelcome visitor from there.
The Samur Desert occupied the south and southeast. They would get lost and die of thirst before reaching the trade routes traveled by caravans.
To the north lay Homi's gathering grounds and a vast mountain range.
The territory of Gord lay beyond it, but crossing the mountains in their current state would be madness.
In the end, the east was their only option. Gopri and Marcus's group must have come and gone through that direction as well. A backwater was a backwater because it was surrounded by harsh terrain on every side.
“Let's go! To Bonyard City.”
Following the eastern road would lead them to Bonyard City, an ancient free city and a foothold for entering the continent.
That night, the knight and his Squire left their hometown of Kingdom's End.
* * *
Four days passed as they traveled along the road. At this pace, they would reach Bonyard City in three more days.
Eugene stroked Homi's head as she kept looking anxiously behind them.
“Don't worry so much. The priests won't come after us. They'll be exhausted from fighting and putting out the fire. Why would they care about people like us? They're probably trembling with rage at unknown enemies.”
Only then did Homi relax.
Marcus's group seemed to have left the road and traveled covertly along the forest. Homi had smelled horse dung left in the grass, which made that route certain.
“Thanks to you, this journey is much easier.”
Homi, walking beside the horse, smiled.
Standing watch alone at night and sharing the watch between two people were worlds apart.
“If you're tired, tell me anytime. You can ride the horse while I get off and walk.”
Homi shook her head.
Perhaps because she had strong beastkin blood, she had tremendous stamina. Even while matching the stride of Eugene's horse, she showed no sign of tiring.
Watching her walk with her tail swaying from side to side made Eugene feel as though he were taking a puppy for a walk.
Her tail suddenly stopped. There were people resting up ahead.
Every one of them carried a weapon. Even from a distance, they looked like a rather pathetic lot.
Footnotes:
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