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Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle

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◈ The Wandering Knight and the Moving Castle ◈

Chapter 2: The One Who Understands Three Worlds (2)

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As Eugene quietly accepted the pat on the head, he sensed a certain lightness in Gopri's tone.

"Are you thinking of leaving the monastery too, Master?"

"You're always so quick to notice things."

Gopri withdrew his hand.

"Even if I'm a thorn in their side, the priests won't be happy if you leave."

"They brought it on themselves. Who else can they blame?"

The priests of the Church of the Absolute were losing influence by the day, and they were desperate to gain more followers. Their aggressive methods had grown so extreme that even Gopri frowned at them.

Pheeet!

A whistle rang out in the distance, clear and sweet enough to linger in the ear.

It carried delight, along with an eager plea to look this way. It was like a letter written in whistles. Even Gopri's expression softened at the innocent sound.

"Homi! Don't rush. Come slowly!"

Despite Eugene's shout, the girl racing down the mountainside did not slow down.

She looked to be in her late teens. Tall, yet with a lovely, fairy-like face, she also gave off a raw, wild impression.

As a beastkin, she had grown quickly and was large enough to look natural standing beside Eugene. She was the herbalist and hunter who had taken over the cabin where Eugene and his mother once lived.

"A Squire with a Squire of his own."

"Please don't tease me."

Eugene shot his laughing master a glare.

Just as Gopri had taken Eugene in, Eugene had taken Homi in. They were only two years apart, so they felt more like siblings than master and servant.

Though she had run a considerable distance, Homi's breathing remained steady.

Homi bowed deeply to Gopri and Eugene.

"We're here to catch the boar threatening the village."

Homi nodded.

At Gopri's words, she reacted as if she already knew. Since she lived in a cabin at the edge of the forest, she was always the first to notice whenever an unfamiliar animal appeared.

"If you find anything that might be a clue, will you tell us?" Eugene asked.

Homi thumped her chest twice, telling him to leave it to her.

She could not speak human language. It wasn't because she was mute, but because of something innate to her race.

A thick, long white tail poked out from the back of Homi's trousers as she led the way. It swayed gently from side to side, as though she were pleased.

The tail was especially striking because she was a snow leopard beastkin.

The wild blood in her ran too strong for her to speak. No matter how hard she tried, only the growls of a beast came from her mouth, never human words.

Only on the rare days when the wildness in her blood thinned could she speak.

"I'm curious about the origin of her bloodline. I've seen countless beastkin, but never one like that child."

Perhaps it was a blessing hidden within misfortune. God has a way of taking one thing away and giving another.

Homi's strong wild blood had taken away her speech, but in return, it had granted her matching physical abilities. Even experienced hunters and herbalists would be outclassed by her.

"She's a spirited girl, but won't she be lonely living by herself?"

"She might be in another village. Here, too many people make her feel unwelcome."

Eugene glanced toward the monastery.

"True enough."

"Besides, Homi is happier out here than in a crowded village. She's never been one to stay put."

Soon, the cabin came into view. A place full of happy childhood memories, it welcomed its former owner without having changed at all.

Homi bent at the waist and stretched out an arm.

'Welcome! You're always welcome here!'

Even without words, her warm heart came through clearly.

Not long after Eugene had begun adjusting to life at the monastery, an orphan girl had appeared in the village. Eugene had been the one to offer a hand to the starving child shivering from the cold in a back alley.

Homi still vividly remembered his warm smile and outstretched hand from that first meeting, when he had been growing from a boy into a young man.

Protecting the cabin Eugene had given her as a gift was Homi's pride.

"Thank you, as always. You've taken excellent care of it."

After stroking Homi's head, Eugene stepped inside.

"When you first said you would let Homi live here, I was worried. Looking at it now, though, this must be more comfortable than life at the monastery."

"Master, Homi eats better and lives better than we do."

Gopri took in the interior with admiration. Dried herbs, fruit, and jerky hung in abundance everywhere.

They had been made using knowledge Eugene's mother, a Witch, had taught him, which he had then passed on to Homi.

On the bed sat a stuffed doll Eugene had made and given her himself. He had intended to make a teddy bear, but it had turned out looking more like a bugbear.

No matter how carefully Homi washed it, the doll was steeped in her scent because she always slept hugging it.

Bubble, bubble.

As if she had prepared for their visit, a kettle was already boiling. Homi steeped tea leaves she had gathered in the wild and served them to her guests.

"Thank you."

"I'll enjoy it."

Homi smiled brightly.

"This never fails to impress me."

Gopri put a dried persimmon Homi had served for dessert into his mouth. He was a dignified master, but he could not resist its sweet, chewy texture.

"It's food from my homeland."

"Didn't you wander from the moment you were in your mother's womb?"

"You could call it the homeland of my heart. Something like that."

While the two chatted, Homi busied herself with preparations for the hunt, as befitted a Squire's Squire.

"What a crude weapon."

Gopri frowned at the presence of the huge club lying beside Eugene. His senses were so sharp that he could tell its shape without seeing it.

"That's a weapon barbarians would use. It doesn't suit a knight."

"But decent weapons are all expensive. They break easily too."

Gopri had retired and lived frugally, so he owned only his personal equipment. The monastery did have weapons and armor, but Eugene could not lay a hand on them.

"This is useful enough."

Eugene had repeatedly coated and dried an oak club with a mixture of sap made through a Witch's secret arts. The resulting dark club was incredibly hard.

Once, he had even seen a rat break its teeth trying to gnaw on it.

"I always think this, but I have to wonder if you're really human."

The club was not simply large. Massive was a better word for it. It was a weapon better suited to a medium-sized monster than a person. Gopri could only be aghast at the strength of his disciple, who lifted it so easily with one hand.

* * *

After finishing their tea, the party of three set off.

The fence around the cabin carried a peculiar scent. It had been coated with sap that mountain animals and insects hated.

Since they were taking a path they did not usually travel, they soon came across a fallen tree blocking the way.

Thud!

Gopri smiled as Homi effortlessly moved it aside.

"You two really are a perfect match."

"Thank you for the compliment."

That was why there was no problem with a woman living alone in a cabin outside the village.

Any man foolish enough to break in with bad intentions would have his soul knocked out of him with one punch. Broken teeth and a shattered nose would be a bonus.

Homi led them to a mountain garden. A village herbalist had secretly made it and planted valuable cash crops there.

It had been carefully hidden among bushes, but Homi's nose could not be fooled. The fence meant to keep out wild animals had been smashed to pieces.

"These are its tracks. The old herbalist will be wailing when he sees this."

The sight of the ruthlessly devoured crops brought to mind the elderly herbalist's face.

Suddenly, Gopri's ears twitched, and he turned toward a rabbit lying in the grass.

"We got this close, and it's sleeping peacefully?"

Homi rushed over, tied the rabbit by its hind legs, and hung it from her pack.

"It's a trap made by mixing fragrant sap, herbs that dull an animal's caution, and mushroom powder that puts them into a deep sleep. Rabbits fall for it especially easily."

That explained why there was so much jerky in the cabin.

"Hunters must covet that skill greatly."

"It's a secret method my mother left our family. We'll never teach it to anyone. Right?"

Homi nodded fiercely.

"Haven't the hunters been pestering you to teach them?"

This time, Homi nodded with a frown.

"Homi has set boar-luring traps all over the place."

"That child will serve you well on your journey ahead."

A Squire who supported a knight with complete devotion was like treasure. Homi was more devoted and capable than any Squire Gopri had ever seen.

"I don't have any particular plans to leave the village. I like living off the land from the cabin."

"It's a waste for your talent to rot away in a place like this."

"I'll take my time thinking it over."

They continued on for some time, checking the bait traps Homi had set.

"We've got it."

Gopri was the first to react.

Homi's ears perked up next.

Grrrk!

Eugene only figured out its location after hearing the boar's cry. It was near a cliff-like outcrop tucked away in the mountains.

The place resembled the rock in The Lion King where an old monkey held a young lion aloft and proclaimed the birth of a king.

A sheer cliff dropped away below, and beyond it stretched a vast forest. It was the extremely dangerous forest west of the village, known as the Demon Realm.

Grrrkk!

A huge boar staggered around in the weeds atop the cliff.

"Is it so big that the medicine didn't work properly? It's all right, it's all right. It isn't your fault."

Eugene stroked Homi's head as she looked ashamed.

"It's your turn now."

"Of course."

Eugene stepped forward, carrying the huge club.

Gopri and Homi waited calmly. They were certain that even a boar that large was no match for Eugene.

Especially one already drugged into such a state.

Squeeeal!

The boar noticed the intruder and turned toward Eugene. It struggled to open its drooping eyes and force its weakening knees back up.

"...What?"

"What's wrong?"

Gopri was puzzled by his disciple, who had frozen in front of the boar.

"Something is strange."

Eugene had seen plenty of pigs raised in the village.

As with all livestock, male pigs were castrated while young. Otherwise, the meat became tough and took on a foul smell.

The few males left for breeding strutted around with magnificent testicles, two coconut-sized sacks swinging proudly between their legs. It was an awe-inspiring sight.

Yet the giant wild boar before him had small testicles, as though it were an immature piglet that had not fully grown.

And there was that chilling feeling running down his spine. Eugene trusted his instincts.

"This isn't an adult!"

"Are you serious? What kind of piglet could possibly be that size..."

At that moment, Gopri stopped speaking and turned around.

Eugene did not ask an obvious question like, "What is it?" Something had clearly caught his master's attention.

Trees in the distance began to sway, and mountain birds took off all at once.

The movement rolled toward them like waves, as though something enormous was charging straight at them.

Escape did not seem easy. This was a long, protruding stretch of land, and their only way out had been blocked.

"A good place to trap prey, but it seems we're the ones trapped now."

Gopri drew his sword, and Homi pulled out the massive crossbow slung over her shoulder.

A moment later, a colossal boar more than twice the size of a bull appeared.

"My God."

Gopri groaned. It had already surpassed the size of a boar. It was more fitting to call it a monster.

Whoosh!

Gopri and Homi split to either side as the monstrous boar blasted through the space between them, scattering a gust of wind. There was nothing between its hind legs, so it was the mother.

Slash!

Gopri's sword aimed for its ankle, but its hide was too thick for the blade to sink in properly.

Gopri had stabbed through the joints of knights strutting around in full plate and hunted many dangerous monsters.

But this prey was far beyond anything normal. To kill a monster like that, they needed siege weapons, not fine swordsmanship.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The savage beast's eyes were fixed on Eugene, who threatened its child. It paid no attention to the old knight who had wounded its hind leg.

Then something unexpected happened.

The drugged piglet lost its balance from the vibrations caused by its mother's charge and fell off the cliff.

Roooar!

Having lost her child before her eyes, the mother boar roared in fury.

"I didn't kill it. You did!"

"Do you think words like that will get through to it? Get out of the way! Even you can't handle an opponent like that!"

Gopri shouted urgently.

Twang!

Homi fired a bolt from her crossbow.

She had aimed for its eye, but the bolt missed it by a hair and merely grazed the area. Its defense was as absurd as expected.

The mother boar ignored it and charged on, as if an annoying gnat were buzzing around her.

Click.

Homi did not care. She ran as she reloaded the massive crossbow, one that looked fit for a siege.

Strong men would have needed to brace a foot against the crossbow and pull the string back with both hands. Homi did it while moving, a feat of truly absurd strength.

Eugene also ran to the left, setting up an easy firing angle for Homi.

Then came the second shot.

Thunk!

This time, it hit.

Squeal!

The bolt embedded itself in the mother boar's left eye as it moved in a straight line, mad with rage.

Half her vision vanished, and the unimaginable pain she had never experienced before erased even her maternal love and desire for revenge.

The mother boar turned toward Homi, who was beginning to reload for a third shot, and opened her remaining eye wide with hatred.

"Where are you looking?"

At that moment, Eugene's voice reached her ear. He had dashed up, using her rump and back as footholds.

Squeee...

Before she could finish her cry, the massive club struck the crown of her head.

Bang!!!

With a deafening crash, her head slammed into the ground, and the impact threw her huge hind legs into the air.

Blood poured from nostrils large enough to fit a human head inside.

But she was not dead yet. As she staggered up, Eugene swung again with all his strength and struck her temple.

Crack!!!

This time, she could not even scream.

The massive body wavered, then rolled off the cliff after her child. It bounced from rock to rock for a long time before finally coming to a stop before the dark forest below.

"Oh, God."

Gopri was speechless at the absurd scene.

'The world is vast, and the hidden mysteries within it have no limit. I was arrogant too.'

He knew his disciple possessed prodigious strength, but he had never imagined it went this far!

Footnotes:

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