WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle
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◈ The Wandering Knight and the Moving Castle ◈
Chapter 23: Victory Banquet
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A banquet was held to celebrate victory in the Hall War.
“Did you see that last knight go splat when he fell? He looked like some kind of frog, ha ha ha!”
“Volx was even more satisfying. He was built like a mountain, yet there he was rolling around after getting grabbed under the arm, like a child throwing a tantrum.”
“Come on! Your cups are empty!”
Perhaps it was a reaction to the gloom they had endured for so long, but the city’s leading figures drank and celebrated like mad.
“What a bunch of idiots!”
Fannis’s cheeks trembled as he watched them.
It was certainly a banquet celebrating Bonyard City’s victory. Still, Eugene should have been at its center. He was the knight who had appeared in the city’s hour of need and defeated every enemy.
This was separate from Fannis’s personal fondness for him. Honoring a hero who had done the city such a favor was also a matter of the city’s dignity.
It made Fannis furious to see the very people who should have been most eager to welcome Eugene enjoying themselves among their own.
“Try to understand, Chief Constable. You watched the situation unfold, but they were left in the dark.”
The Chief Magistrate tried to console him.
“At least someone more distinguished than us is by Sir Eugene’s side.”
“Whew, you’re right. We almost would’ve been too ashamed to face him.”
Their eyes turned to the Roman noble chatting with Eugene.
It was common for witnesses to be invited to a victory banquet, but they were under no obligation to attend.
Benjamin, the head witness, was the second son of the venerable House Morad. Learned and eloquent, he was highly respected in many countries.
He was a busy man who usually returned home as soon as his work was done, but this trial by combat must have left quite an impression on him.
“Sir, would you accept a drink?”
“It would be an honor.”
“Please, spare me that. It is I who am honored to pour wine for a Victor Knight. We grew the grapes and made the wine ourselves.”
The wine Benjamin poured had an exceptional color and a rich fragrance.
“I don’t mean to belittle Bonyard City, but it will taste better than any fine wine you can find here.”
Roman, at the center of the continent, possessed the largest plains relative to its territory. Its soil and climate were perfect, and it had been famous for producing the finest wines since ancient times.
The fact that Benjamin was offering wine he had brought for himself showed just how much he liked the knight before him.
“It truly is delicious. I’ve never had wine like this before.”
Benjamin accepted the praise without false modesty.
“I have attended countless trials by combat, but I have never seen one as remarkable as this. A man blessed with strength by the gods, yet one who also possesses compassion.”
“Sir Volx died, though.”
And rather brutally at that. Eugene had even thought he might as well have taken Volx’s head cleanly.
“Ha! Even calling that barbarian ‘sir’ is too generous. He may wear fine armor and receive a knighthood, but low blood remains low blood. He deserved to die like a beast.”
Benjamin drained his wine as if the thought alone had soured his appetite.
“I attended another trial by combat involving Volx.”
“Though violent, he was truly skilled. He was the most dangerous of the three.”
The armor Gopri had passed down to Eugene was excellent, but Volx’s two-handed axe could not be ignored. It might not have cut through the iron plates protecting his torso, but it seemed fully capable of tearing through the sections guarded only by chain mail.
“That is why he was summoned everywhere. The last time I saw him, he was horrifyingly cruel.”
Benjamin shook his head.
“He drove his axe into the mouth of an opponent with a severed leg who was begging for mercy.”
“My goodness.”
“The severed upper half of his head rolled across the ground, and the arena became complete chaos.”
“Cruel though it may be, isn’t that what a duel is? Blood is bound to be shed.”
“The essence of a duel is a judgment delivered by the gods. Human weapons are no more than pens in Their hands.”
Eugene filled Benjamin’s empty cup.
“Just as a prophet recording the words of the gods must not add personal opinions to scripture, a warrior entering a trial by combat must exercise restraint with his weapon.”
“Lord Benjamin is right. Blood spilled in a dueling ground is like ink. Too much of it only defiles the scripture.”
“Ha ha ha ha!”
Benjamin burst into hearty laughter.
“I told you there would be no other knight like you, didn’t I? There should be more knights like you, but the world only grows more barbaric by the day.”
Unlike Eugene, who had drunk more yet showed no change, Benjamin was thoroughly drunk. At some point, he had begun complaining about Roman’s internal affairs.
“How can they claim to be descendants of the Ancient Kingdom, then falsely claim the title of emperor? The world is ending, it truly is.”
‘Oh! This is information I wanted to know.’
Eugene poured even more wine into Benjamin’s empty cup.
Gulp, gulp!
Benjamin usually valued moderation, but today he had let himself go for many reasons.
“I understand that incident has thrown the Roman Empire, no, the kingdom, into turmoil.”
Benjamin emptied his cup and frowned.
“Kuha! Feel free to call it an empire. They are already rewriting the law codes. If they cast aside the laws they inherited and cease to be a kingdom, how can they possibly call themselves heirs of the Ancient Kingdom?”
Seeing his lord so disheveled, Benjamin’s attendant tried to intervene, but Homi blocked the way.
“Squire, please step aside...”
“Grrr.”
“Eek!”
The attendant took one look at her towering height, icy expression, wild eyes, and fangs, then backed away in fear as if facing a predator.
“Goodness, why is Lord Benjamin glued to Sir Eugene’s side? Does he have that much to say?”
“You’re telling me. There are plenty of people who want to ask the knight for favors. He should think about those waiting behind him too. Tsk, tsk.”
Those who had planned to praise Eugene’s honor before slipping in some cheap request could only stamp their feet in frustration.
Eugene swept his cold gaze over them. He knew those hyenas could not approach because of Benjamin.
“Sir. A great war will break out before long.”
“...!”
If Benjamin said so, it would surely happen.
“Some nobles have already been stripped of their titles, and the heirs of other nobles, who had been held hostage in the capital, have died.”
“They won’t stay still.”
“They are already gathering around the great nobles. A civil war will break out. In my view, it will begin in the Holden region...”
Benjamin rambled on until he finally slumped over. Eugene gave Homi a look.
She cleared the way, and the attendant hurried over to take Benjamin away.
‘Farmers live on peace, but knights live on war.’
Eugene had entered the city simply to earn some living expenses, but he realized a greater ambition was boiling within him.
He really had become a knight. Even when thinking of war, he felt not fear, but longing.
* * *
“It’s impressive that you can drink that much without being affected.”
Karas approached Eugene, who was enjoying the night breeze on the balcony.
“You seem fine yourself.”
“I barely drank. After tasting liquor from home, I couldn’t swallow that filthy water in there.”
“You take great pride in your homeland.”
“It’s the only thing stronger than my sword.”
“Are you disappointed you never got your turn?”
Karas smiled and stood beside Eugene.
“At first, I was. But it was also quite fun to watch.”
Karas held his hand upright and ran it beneath his armpit.
“That bear turning blue was quite the sight.”
“Did you come from Cressy’s funeral?”
A funeral for Cressy was being held near the banquet hall.
Even if he had been of little help, he was a knight who had died fighting during the city’s crisis. Giving him the best funeral possible was a matter of the city’s pride.
“He was too shameful to call a knight, but he was a companion for a time. Besides, I don’t like banquets. Everyone heaping praise on one another and laughing like they’re the best of friends.”
Karas shrugged.
“So I offered flowers at the funeral, then had something to eat.”
A commotion broke out behind them. Drunk city leaders trying to enter the balcony were stopped by Homi.
“Move! Do you know who you’re blocking? Huh?”
A wealthy cloth merchant, thoroughly drunk, barked at her before his face split into a foolish grin.
“What’s this? Why is your tail so long and thick? How fascinating. Where are you from?”
“H-hey! This person is...”
One friend with some sense tried to stop him, but alcohol in the blood could turn anyone into a warrior.
“Ahem! I’m Gazel, Gazel! Anywhere in this city, when I show my face...”
The merchant stopped talking. His friend grabbed his face and forcibly turned him toward the balcony.
The moment he met the glares of the two knights, who looked like wild beasts, he sobered up completely.
“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t realize you knights were here!”
Despite staggering, the merchant fled quickly.
“I wondered why you kept a Squire who couldn’t speak. Now I see why.”
Karas showed Eugene his wrist, where a red handprint remained.
“Looks like Homi didn’t want to let you through.”
“Yeah. She seemed to value the time you spend resting alone. She blocked me with such a determined expression.”
Karas rubbed his wrist, as though it still hurt.
“How did you get in? Don’t tell me you shook off Homi’s strength.”
“Of course not. I’m no weakling myself, but I couldn’t overcome your Squire. In any case, the two of you suit each other well.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“I told her I had come from Cressy’s funeral. When I said I wanted to mourn his death with you, she let me pass.”
Karas looked at Homi with warmth in his eyes. The Squire standing guard at the entrance with disciplined posture looked like a soldier.
“I always traveled alone because I hated having someone trailing behind me, but seeing this, I’m a little envious.”
Karas suddenly touched his rough chin and neck. Eugene’s face, on the other hand, was always clean-shaven.
“Why don’t you get yourself a Squire too?”
“I will if I find one like that.”
“Then you’ll travel alone for the rest of your life.”
Eugene laughed and teased him.
“So what do you plan to do next, Victor Knight?”
“I plan to stay in the city for a while. I’ve only just stepped into the world, so there’s a lot I don’t know. It’s nice here because all sorts of information reaches my ears.”
Karas found it strange that the knight before him called himself a novice so freely.
With skill like Eugene’s, he could have swaggered as much as he liked. Yet he retained an odd cynicism. Even draped in glory that anyone would covet, he seemed unmoved.
Eugene looked regretfully at the banquet hall as it was being cleaned up.
“I heard they invited the mage from the nearby forest too, but she never came. I really wanted to meet her.”
“The Lady of the Forest?”
She was such a famous mage that even Karas had heard the rumors.
“I’ve never seen a mage before, so I was curious.”
The farmers of Kingdom’s End treated magic as something found only in old tales.
Eugene, however, had personally experienced supernatural power. He was deeply interested in mages.
“What would a knight want with a mage? You really are an odd one. Then again, if that absurd strength of yours is magic, perhaps it counts as magic. Are you drawn to your own kind?”
To commoners, mages were like immortals from fairy tales who helped pitiful farmers.
To a traditional knight like Karas, they were unsettling beings who wielded incomprehensible power and distorted the world.
A knight’s virtue was to carve out a path through effort, sweat, and courage. In Karas’s eyes, a mage was something caught between a ghost and a human.
Whoooom!
At that moment, an eagle owl flew over the balcony, blocking out the full moon.
“That thing has been circling around here for a while. It’s unsettling.”
Karas looked up at the sky uneasily. Owls and eagle owls were symbols of ill omen to people of this era.
They often appeared in tales about animals commanded by evil mages.
“Maybe it came to catch the mice drawn in by the banquet. It looks quite magnificent.”
Eugene was not bound by superstition, so he was simply glad to see an animal he rarely encountered. It was so large that it could cover the entire full moon.
Still, one thing was strange.
‘Am I imagining it? It feels like it’s been staring only at me this whole time.’
As though it had no interest in hunting, the eagle owl landed on a distant roof and stared intently at Eugene.
Footnotes:
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