WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Wandering Knight and the Moving Castle ◈
Chapter 37: First Subjugation Campaign (8)
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As Eugene stood over the defeated Wendigo, an abacus clicked away in his head. Honor? Glory? Those could wait.
“Rex. Does this thing’s blood or hide have any use? I heard that from medium-sized monsters onward, there’s nothing worth throwing away.”
There was bound to be a magic stone inside it, a real windfall. Still, there had to be other ways to make money from it.
Dangerous monsters such as yetis, Minotaurs, and ogres could earn a knight more than several years’ income of a famous knight from a single kill.
“It’s our first time dealing with one too. Our tribal elders might know.”
Even Rex, who had always answered Eugene’s many questions, could only scratch his head this time.
Unlike naturally occurring monsters, the Wendigo was a magical beast created through high-level sacrificial magic. It was hard enough to encounter and even harder to kill, so little was known about it.
“The blood of a magical beast made through sacrificial magic isn’t much different from that of the original animal. It won’t fetch much on the alchemy market.”
“Hmm, that really is a shame.”
“Money isn’t what matters now. You slaughtered a magical beast as powerful as a Wendigo in an instant. What could be more valuable to a knight than such glory?”
Varda looked at Eugene in awe. She had known he was an exceptional knight, but this went far beyond anything she had imagined.
“The mage is right. To find an achievement like this, you’d have to search not just history books, but ancient records of myth.”
Rex supported Varda as well.
“If we don’t need to collect the blood, there’s no rush.”
“Those antlers alone will fetch whatever price we ask. The hide should have its uses too. We’ll recover the corpse and examine it.”
The dark elf warriors volunteered. Their entire tribe was made up of wandering warriors, and none could match their skill at processing monster corpses.
“If nothing else, I could use it as a deer trophy.”
“A Wendigo trophy. Displaying it would surely raise the standing of your house.”
Everyone, including Varda, laughed as Eugene grabbed the Wendigo’s head and shook it.
“Enough chatter. We should join the others. Rex, split off one squad and send them back the way we came.”
“You mean to collect spoils from the large camp we passed?”
“I like that you’re quick on the uptake. I saw several mercenary companies in the city, but you’re the only ones I’d call an army.”
“It’s an honor.”
Rex grinned and gestured. Ten dark elves immediately ran back the way they had come.
“I shall go with them. I want to search the altar where they performed their rituals. I may find an artifact useful to you.”
Varda joined the group.
The battle was over now. What remained was a hunt between pursuers and the pursued.
“Captain! We need to get out of here now!”
“Even if we’re running, shouldn’t we at least form up first? Get everyone in line...”
The bandit mercenary captain, who had tried to pull things together somehow, froze.
“Captain?”
Eugene charged at them atop Might. The captain threw down their weapon and fled as well.
The tide of battle, changed by one terrifying magical beast, was overturned once more by one great knight.
* * *
Eugene and his subordinates might have been few, but they were the foremost experts in slaughter on this battlefield.
Each time the dark elves drew their curved swords because arrows were too valuable to waste, bandits fell clutching their backs and limbs.
The Squire and retainers who had served Galia also swung their weapons viciously, venting their rage over the loss of their master.
“Kill the evil mage!”
One mercenary captain from the subjugation force pointed at a black-robed figure among the bandits.
“How dare you filthy wretches!”
Realizing everything was over, the mage bit their index finger and formed a blood seal. It was forbidden magic that unleashed a curse at the cost of the caster’s life.
Thud!
Eugene’s thrown spear pierced the mage’s heart, scattering the spell. The spear buried itself in the ground, leaving the corpse suspended in the air.
“Are you planning to end the war by yourself, Sir Knight?”
The guard captain leading from the front cracked a smile at the joke.
“I’ve already ended a war alone.”
“What? What do you... Ah!”
Remembering the Hall War, the guard captain burst into laughter.
“I wonder if Bonyard City shouldn’t put up a statue of you.”
The lieutenants praised him, half joking and half serious. The fear and stress that had built up during the desperate battle had turned into exhilaration all at once.
‘I thought it would be troublesome if the mage escaped, but that was needless worry.’
The heretical mage had been near the front to control the Wendigo, so there had been no chance to pull away. Wearing a black robe also made the mage easy to spot, whether one could sense magic or not.
Homi searched the mage’s robes and took a pouch containing three silver coins and dozens of copper coins, along with several magical reagents. Her sense of smell revealed what another person carried as clearly as if it were in her own pocket.
“Let’s pull back here. There’s nothing more for us to do.”
Their allies had already pushed forward, so advancing any farther would only tangle them together.
Eugene looked down at Galia’s Squire and servants.
“You carried out your duties faithfully. I return the command I held temporarily. May Sir Galia rest in peace.”
“It was an honor to serve you, even for a short time. Thank you once again for avenging our lord.”
The Squire and servants bowed their heads, then ran toward the enemy camp. They seemed to be returning to their small encampment to recover their lord’s body and tend to the wounded.
Eugene led the dark elves back the way they had come, toward the side path leading to the altar where sacrificial magic had been used.
“So forest magic can do something this incredible.”
Rex could not hide his admiration.
Varda’s magic created shortcuts even where there seemed to be no path. It was not as flashy as a fire mage’s spells, but it held enormous tactical potential.
“You’ve returned. Nothing unusual to report.”
The dark elves stationed throughout the camp as sentries saluted.
Eugene stopped his horse before the altar. Varda sat on a rock, reading a book covered in animal hide.
“The heretical mage has been dealt with.”
“You did well.”
“Is that their research journal?”
Varda nodded.
“They served Kalash, God of the Hungry Brand. In other words, they were both a mage and a priest.”
“Someone the monks would love.”
Even religious orders that recognized many gods and got along peacefully with one another showed no mercy to heretics. Add evil magic to that, and they would hunt the person down with fire in their eyes.
“But, God of the Hungry Brand? That seems like a rather unimpressive title for a god.”
“It does, but it is fortunate for the people of this world. Kalash does not accept humans as sacrifices.”
“Why not? Don’t heretical gods usually demand human sacrifice?”
“Because even if Kalash eats them, it isn’t enough to fill that hunger. That is why Kalash only accepts large livestock.”
“...Now that I hear it again, it doesn’t seem like such a bad title.”
“Kalash is still an evil god.”
Varda closed the book.
The sounds of battle were gradually drawing closer. The subjugation force seemed to have pushed into the area.
“Sir Knight, serving the mage is important, but you should still take what is yours.”
Rex placed the valuables his subordinates had looted from the camp before Eugene.
“You all... already took everything.”
“Of course we did.”
Every dark elf had gathered anything that looked valuable. One even had five swords hanging from their belt. As a tribe of wandering, hunting, and raiding warriors, they moved quickly when it came to such things.
“Still, we set aside what seemed most valuable for you, Sir Knight.”
“You didn’t have to go this far, but thank you.”
Ceremonial tools made of gold filled the bundle.
“Silver and gold have high magical conductivity. But one cannot use silver in evil rituals. That is one reason heretical mages are always short of money.”
“So they go too far in search of research funds and cause disasters like this? They can’t get support from cities or nobles, either.”
“That is why most are discovered and eliminated before reaching a high level. Priests claim it is one of the laws of the world arranged by the gods.”
Having a mage in the group certainly brought all kinds of interesting knowledge.
“Benzin! Cray! You don’t need to block the entrance anymore. Shoot any bandits who come, and let subjugation-force mercenaries through.”
“Understood.”
At Rex’s command, the two dark elves stepped aside. They had replenished their arrows from the dead throughout the camp.
“What are you doing?”
“Removing a curse.”
Varda was wrapping a strangely shaped dagger in large green leaves. It looked much like wrapping a fish for roasting in the wild.
“It was used in sacrificial rituals, and it contains a curse.”
“It was a vile object used by a heretical mage, so that makes sense.”
“If left this way for three days, the curse will fade. It holds a fairly useful spell, so I’ll give it to you once the curse removal is complete.”
“What kind of spell?”
“Any wound inflicted by this will not stop bleeding easily. It does more than prevent the wound from clotting. It draws some blood from other parts of the body and forces bleeding.”
“Oh! It’ll be useful against enemies with great vitality or regeneration.”
Eugene kept the words, ‘And for ambushes if necessary,’ to himself.
“It is a somewhat wicked weapon to give a knight, but I doubt you would hesitate to use it.”
Varda said this as she recalled Eugene defeating the bandit knight.
“You’ve judged me correctly.”
“Don’t smile so proudly. You are supposed to be an honorable knight.”
Varda gave a wry smile as Eugene raised his thumb.
“There’s a camp over there!”
At that moment, a group of eager mercenaries came up the path. Their faces fell when they saw dark elves scattered around the camp, all grinning.
“Damn it.”
“We were too late.”
They still wandered around gathering helmets, usable shields, dried rations, daggers, and anything else they could sell. Quite a few stripped boots and coats from the dead as well.
The guard captain came out to meet Eugene when he returned after taking everything worth taking.
“If you hadn’t been here, Sir Knight, we would have lost this battle. I would probably be a corpse lying somewhere myself.”
“It was also thanks to you leading the rearguard, prepared to die. The formation held, which made it easier to deal with the Wendigo. I should thank you as well.”
Eugene patted the guard captain’s shoulder.
“Uh...”
Caught off guard by the praise, the guard captain was too overwhelmed to answer.
“Let’s return to the original camp. The smell of blood here is too strong.”
‘And the smell of shit, too.’
Eugene wiped his nose and frowned.
‘So this was how awful it smelled after a large-scale battle with cold weapons?’
He had expected the stench of blood from corpses strewn everywhere.
The smell of excrement, though, had been unexpected. It was one of those shabby details films and epics left out.
“So that’s the thing.”
“Look at those antlers. Minotaur horns are nothing compared to them.”
The mercenaries admired the Wendigo’s severed head, dangling from Eugene’s saddle. Behind them, the guards hauled the rest of the Wendigo carcass on a cart.
“Sir Knight, we’ll butcher that thing as soon as we return to camp.”
Rex’s eyes gleamed.
“Why not rest first?”
“Our hands are itching. If not now, when will we ever get to handle a magical beast like this?”
Other monsters could be found with difficulty if one sought out their habitats. A Wendigo, on the other hand, was a magical beast that an evil high-level mage had to spend a long time creating.
“Even our tribal elders have only heard of them through oral tradition, never experienced one themselves. Everyone will envy us for seeing the fight up close and preparing its corpse.”
Rex wore an expression that was half reverence and half anticipation for a drinking story that would last a lifetime.
“I’ve never seen a monster like that.”
“It wasn’t a monster, it was a magical beast. Sir Knight killed a magical beast that an evil mage summoned from hell.”
The whispers of passing mercenaries spread in every direction as if contagious.
* * *
After returning to Bonyard City, the subjugation force quietly went to their respective lodgings and infirmaries.
“It seems there won’t be a triumphal procession this time?”
Everything was as usual. Eugene did not particularly crave praise or cheers, but it still seemed strange.
They had won a great victory in a battle involving a heretical mage and a magical beast, one in which the subjugation force had nearly been wiped out. Depending on how one looked at it, it was even more glorious than the Hall War, yet the city was quiet.
“It is according to tradition. When a single hero accomplishes great deeds in the same region in succession, they do not hold two triumphal processions.”
“That’s an interesting tradition. It feels like there must be some adult reason behind it.”
“There is a belief that if triumphal processions are held back-to-back, the gods grow jealous of the hero and take them away early.”
“What is that? That’s superstition.”
“As you say, it is only superstition. But isn’t it a superstition that saves money?”
“Ah!”
Eugene looked as though he had reached an understanding.
“Cases like this have not been common throughout history, but they have happened. The citizens enjoy it, but it burdens those who must prepare and pay for the processions.”
“So they used the gods as an excuse to save money and created a justification to let it go. Clever.”
“It is always the ruling class that creates and leads such customs. Besides, the knights who fought in the battle are all dead, so there is no one left to object.”
Eugene, Homi, and Varda were escorted to a mansion for honored guests, where they rested amid lavish treatment.
Victor Knight.
Magical Beast Slayer.
Only a month or so after setting out into the world, he had received two shining titles.
Noblewomen would speak of the Victor Knight’s honor with envy, while knights would speak of it with competitiveness and jealousy. Bards and mercenaries would boast in taverns of the courage it took to defeat a magical beast.
Eugene’s name, which had first appeared as that of an unknown knight, had now grown larger than Bonyard City itself.
In other words.
It was time to step into a wider world.
Footnotes:
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