WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle
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◈ The Wandering Knight and the Moving Castle ◈
Chapter 47: Monsters and Pirates (4)
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The village erupted when the subjugation force returned with four Bugbear heads.
“Th-those monsters were behind it!”
“So it’s all solved now? Can we go into the forest again?”
While the villagers chattered excitedly, Eugene set up stakes in the square and personally impaled the heads on them.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
He struck gently with the hammer so the skulls would not crack, driving the fleshy monster heads onto the stakes.
Eugene understood the power of symbolic acts like this. It would do more to ease their built-up anxiety and resentment than a hundred speeches.
“Looking at them like that, they seem more like pig heads than monsters.”
“They might taste good roasted.”
“What kind of crazy thing are you saying, idiot?”
“I’m hungry, so I said something stupid, damn it.”
Pointless jokes were already passing among the villagers.
“People of Richwood. The monsters in the forest that tormented you have been slain. But you must not enter the forest yet. It will take time for order to return there. Please trust us and be patient.”
The sight of the knight making this declaration with his black cloak fluttering behind him left the villagers unable to entertain any doubts.
Afterward, Eugene continued to send out patrols and scout the forest. They occasionally encountered only a few wild animals. The monsters that had appeared on the roads and around the forest’s edge had vanished.
* * *
Having dealt with the monster problem, Eugene stared at the river leading to the Inland Sea.
‘So the pirates are the remaining problem?’
Since the manor stood on high ground due to its motte-and-bailey structure, watching the river was easy.
Eugene had a straight road built from the manor to the river, then formed a five-minute response unit that could deploy at any time.
“Sir Eugene. The smiths have finished the item you ordered.”
At the scribe’s report, Eugene headed to the smithy, where Muto welcomed him.
“Look, Sir Knight! It’ll grip any ballista spear tightly.”
The iron spear-thrower clearly did not look like something meant for a person to use. Yet it suited Eugene perfectly.
“What about the large spears to fit into it?”
“Here they are.”
Another smith brought over a spear two and a half times thicker than an ordinary one. Once it was fitted into the spear-thrower and lifted, it held firm without shaking.
“Thanks to the carpenters’ help, it was easy to make. We only had to cut the wood prepared for spare palisades in two and shape it. There are six ready now, and four more will be finished by tomorrow.”
“The spear-thrower is impressive, but the spears are being made quickly too.”
“This is a village with more lumber than it knows what to do with.”
Everyone in the smithy laughed. When the pirates came calling, they would have an unusual experience unlike anything they had ever seen.
“A special weapon deserves a fitting name. A weapon made only for you, Sir Knight, unlike any other spear-thrower! Please grant it a name.”
“I haven’t really thought of one.”
The sudden request left Eugene at a loss, but Muto’s eager gaze softened his heart.
“Giant’s Revenge. Let’s call it that.”
“A splendid name!”
Muto nodded with satisfaction.
“The strength with which you throw spears is like that of a giant, and the will within it represents the people’s desire for revenge against the pirates. It truly is the perfect name.”
The scribe also clapped as though deeply impressed.
‘It’s just the name of a spear from a game I played long ago.’
Feeling awkward for no reason, Eugene kept his mouth shut.
“If those pirate bastards come, may we follow you? We really want to see our creation in action.”
“Of course. But it’ll be dangerous, so stay back.”
“Of course!”
The smiths’ eyes shone like boys’, despite their age.
“All that remains is to pray the pirates come. I hope they head down soon.”
Unlike the monster subjugation, Eugene could not make this happen on his own initiative.
House Morad paid all the mercenaries’ wages, so there was no financial burden. Still, the village was a boring place for the mercenaries to remain idle.
“Don’t worry. Those bastards will definitely come soon.”
“Those vicious bastards attack every year.”
The smiths spoke with expressions half-filled with resentment and half with excitement.
“The villages upstream have already been looted. They know the lord isn’t here and that the forest is in turmoil. They’ll definitely come looking to make a killing.”
“If you say so.”
The scribe joined in, and Eugene nodded. No one knew the local situation better than those born and raised there.
In truth, it did not take long for the uninvited guests, or rather, the guests they were now waiting for, to arrive.
* * *
A longship, a boat with a single mast and sail, cut forcefully through Roman’s river.
Round shields hung in a row along both sides of the ship, while twenty oars protruding between them moved in perfect unison.
Every man at an oar was a veteran sailor and warrior. Their muscular arms flexed without pause, yet none showed any sign of fatigue. They were simply excited by their hunger for the spoils ahead.
The only one worried was the navigator.
“Boss. There’s a rumor the lord has returned. Will we be all right?”
“It’s nonsense. He was called back to the main house because of the war not long ago. Do you really think he’d be back already? We need to make a proper haul while Roman is in chaos.”
This was not just the boss’s opinion. Most of the crew thought the same. Pirates who operated on the rivers near Gord or Barsia envied them greatly.
“And what if he has returned? Those bastards are only good at riding horses. How could they possibly catch us on a river?”
They could attack whenever they wanted, see how the other side reacted, then decide whether to fight or retreat. That one-sided control over battle was what made pirates who traveled the Inland Sea and rivers such a nightmare.
“That’s true. Opportunities like this don’t come often, and it’d be a shame to let this one go.”
“Exactly. We have to return to our island in the Inland Sea before winter comes.”
Winter was harsh on everyone, but it was especially hellish for those who lived at sea.
The story of men who went raiding in winter after their food ran out, only for every oarsman to get frostbite and become crippled, was well known. That tribe failed to survive the winter, and all of them starved to death.
“Keep your spirits up, everyone. If this goes well, we’ll return home and rest until next spring!”
“Uoooh!”
The pirates answered their boss’s words with cheers.
The problem was that, just as they entered Richwood’s boundaries, dozens of troops were coming down toward them.
“Looks like they noticed us. They must have prepared in advance. They even cleared a straight road.”
“Damn it! There are three knights among them!”
The pirate boss groaned.
Every raider shared a fear of knights. Lightly armored for sailing and raiding, they would be cut down like rotten branches.
More reinforcements would arrive soon, so landing here would be nearly the same as suicide.
“Keep your spirits up! Is this the only village around? There are plenty of other places to loot! We’ll pass it by and head for the next village!”
“Understood!”
Still, the pirates were furious at the thought of simply leaving, so they intended to at least hurl some satisfying insults.
“You sons of bitches! We’re only doing this to survive, so is it right for you to interfere like this? Don’t you know what compassion is?”
“We’ll only take enough to fill our bellies, so get lost already!”
The pirates cursed and mocked the knights with shameless audacity.
“Eat this.”
Trickle, trickle, trickle.
One pirate stood and pissed at the knights. The others joined in with snickers.
“...”
Something was strange.
Normally, the knights’ faces should have been red with rage by now. They should have ridden to the shallow riverbank, swung swords that could not reach them, and screamed like mad.
But today, they showed no anger at all. Instead, they watched the pirates with expressions that almost seemed expectant.
“Did those bastards eat something bad?”
“Yeah. It feels like they’re welcoming us.”
They had been raiding for anywhere from several years to over twenty, but they had never seen such a reaction.
Then the large knight at the front dismounted. A pretty beastkin woman set a huge spear into the spear-thrower, and he took a throwing stance.
The pirates pointed at him as if he were insane. He was trying to throw something that should have been loaded into a ballista and fired.
Yet the moment the knight truly launched it, all laughter vanished. The enormous sound of it tearing through the air swallowed every other noise.
Fwoooosh!!!
Booom!
A hole one meter wide opened in the front of the longship, spraying wooden fragments in every direction.
“Aaaah!”
Splash!
Two pirates at the oars were flung into the air by the impact and fell into the river. The violent shock sent all the pirates tumbling over one another.
Trickle, trickle.
Some of them had not even finished urinating. But they were too shocked to get angry at their comrades.
* * *
‘As expected, it can withstand the force when it’s made from solid iron.’
For the first time since his birth, Eugene had thrown a spear with his full strength. Until now, the spears had been too light, and he could not put his full power into them for fear their shafts would break.
“Next.”
Homi immediately fitted the second large spear into the spear-thrower. It was so large and heavy that no one else could properly act as the assistant.
The spear shaft and spear-thrower had to be held separately with one hand each while fitting them together. Only Homi could do it.
Fweeeet!
A whistle signaling that it was loaded sounded beside Eugene’s ear.
His powerful arm trembled under the strain, and his tendons stood out. Every blood vessel explosively supplied his muscles with nourishment.
Fwoooosh!!!
The second spear flew toward the ship carrying the pirate boss. Since Eugene was aiming for the lower part of the ship to sink it, the spear skimmed close to the water’s surface.
Despite its tremendous speed, everyone could clearly see its trajectory. The air pressure dramatically split the river’s surface.
Booom!
The lower center of the ship was destroyed, and river water began rushing in with terrifying force. It was far beyond the point where they could bail it out.
“Row faster! We’re getting out of here now!”
The deputy boss aboard an undamaged ship shouted urgently, but those were his last words.
Fweeeet!
Fwoooosh!!!
A horrible sound tearing through the air, paired with the whistle!
The spear tore through the shields hung along the ship’s side like paper and vaporized the deputy boss’s upper body.
Splaash!
“Eek!”
The pirates, drenched in the spectacular explosion of blood, dropped their oars in terror.
“Magic! It’s magic!”
“They brought a mage!”
Like sailors more superstitious than even mercenaries, the pirates seemed to think Eugene was a mage.
“How is that a mage? Have you ever seen a mage built like that?”
“The villagers brought a muscular mage!”
“It’s magic that fires spears with a whistle!”
One pirate, babbling whatever came to mind in panic, stumbled onto the answer by accident.
Eugene was someone who understood and commanded mysteries. Besides, physical force powerful enough was not much different from magic.
“What are you doing?! Grab the oars! Are you all planning to sit there and die?”
At the veteran pirate’s shout, everyone gripped their oars with trembling hands.
“No!”
“Don’t leave us behind!”
The pirates aboard the sinking boss’s ship screamed desperately.
“Ignore them! We don’t have time to take those bastards aboard!”
Even as the veteran pirate urged them on, that monster who was either a knight or a mage continued his absurd spear-throwing.
Crunch!
Seventy percent of the mast on the fleeing longship vanished. It quickly tilted, then snapped in half.
Creeeak!
“Get out of the way!”
“Aaaah!”
As it fell backward, it crushed the sailors at the rear who had been rowing. The river filled with the sound of bones breaking and agonized screams.
The impact of the falling mast and sail shifted the center of balance backward, slightly raising the ship’s bow.
Fweeeet!
Fwoooosh!!!
A massive spear bombarded the exposed keel.
Crackle!
Creak!
As the ship’s spine shattered, the vessel began tearing apart in a chain reaction from that point. The ship carrying the boss had already sunk.
“Whew!”
After several more spears flew out, the ships were completely destroyed. Eugene rotated his aching right arm to loosen it up.
“...”
“...”
When he turned around, the knights and smiths stood there speechless.
Eugene’s direct mercenaries, on the other hand, seemed to be growing used to this and waited in honed, ready postures for orders.
“Capture them all. You may kill anyone who resists.”
“Yes!”
The mercenaries ran toward the riverbank with loaded crossbows. Hidden fishermen emerged there and began preparing their fishing boats.
“Gasp! Gasp!”
Deep hatred filled the fishermen’s eyes as they glared at the pirates in the water.
“Why did you call for us, Sir Knight?”
“Don’t you want to take revenge with your own hands?”
“...!”
Eugene considered protecting the civilians under his responsibility important. But once their safety was secured, there was no reason to avoid a joint civilian-government operation.
Footnotes:
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