WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle

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◈ The Wandering Knight and the Moving Castle ◈

Chapter 59: Spiritual Tide (1)

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As they drew closer to northern Roman, the crowds they encountered grew more diverse.

Whenever Eugene met merchants, he traded for supplies. When mercenaries gave them insolent looks and tested whether they could get away with plundering them, he beat them up and took their money.

“How can I ever repay this kindness? May God bless you, Sir Knight.”

Whenever he saw an elderly pilgrim, Gopri came to mind, and Eugene would at least treat them to a warm meal.

“We will soon reach the place I mentioned before.”

Haind spoke as the plains ended and the mountains drew near.

“There is a defensible outpost on a narrow trail between those mountains. I heard bandits recently fortified it and have been collecting tolls from travelers.”

A palisade and watchtowers built along the mountain slopes made for a highly defensible position.

“Has no one tried to drive them out?”

“It is not within any particular lord’s sphere of influence, nor is it a major trade route. They chose their location well. If they hear a proper subjugation force is being assembled, they will run. They carefully question travelers for information while collecting tolls.”

It was not even certain that bandits had truly settled there. Eugene planned to assess the situation, fight if they seemed manageable, and otherwise either pay or turn back.

As though the journey had no intention of becoming easy, a barricade soon appeared ahead, blocking the mountain pass. Travelers spoke with the guards at the entrance, paid, and passed through.

Archers stood watch in three towers.

“Hm?”

Something was strange. The closer Eugene got, the less they resembled the bandits he had imagined.

They were handsome men and women with dark, clear skin in shades of brown, charcoal gray, and bluish gray. Their ears were long, and their equipment was excellent.

“Sir Haind. Were the bandits in the rumor Dark Elves?”

“...No.”

Haind narrowed his eyes, equally bewildered.

As they approached, Eugene saw the area around the barricade filled with disarmed humans forced to kneel.

“The honorable Black Hand Mercenary Company has subjugated us, who were blocking the road and extorting money!”

A shaggy-haired human man, bruised black and blue, shouted from atop a raised platform.

“As payment for that wonderful unpaid service, they have agreed to take only half of what we used to extort!”

Boos rose, followed by flying stones. Though the shaggy-haired man cried out in pain, he could not stop speaking.

“T-Travelers! Direct your insults at us! This is all because we are bad people!”

Eugene covered his face and laughed.

“So those bastards had settled here, then got crushed.”

Around eighty Dark Elves were visible. The travelers did not dare challenge them and quietly paid.

Some prisoners pulled arrows embedded in the palisade and guard posts. Others sorted them into piles according to how damaged they were.

“Sir Knight, as you know, the Black Hand Mercenary Company is not the sort to work for free. Since they cleared out the bandits’ den, they will not leave until they have collected enough to satisfy themselves.”

The mercenary captain clearly hoped Eugene would simply pay the toll. Still, they were afraid to tell a great knight to bow his head, especially when the other side was not a noble army but a mere mercenary company.

“We should try talking first. I do not want to owe a blood debt to the Black Hand Tribe either. They are not easy opponents.”

The mercenaries were relieved that their employer was not going to charge into a fight on courage alone.

Dark Elves armed with composite bows were grim reapers on the battlefield. Their weapons would rain death with power, accuracy, and speed of fire beyond comparison to the mercenaries’ crossbows.

Yet Eugene’s party did not need to pay.

“Ah?!”

A Dark Elf standing guard in a watchtower checked Eugene several times, then signaled to those below.

“Would you happen to be Sir Eugene from Bonyard City?”

When it was his turn, the squad leader guarding the entrance asked politely.

“That is right. I subjugated a band of thieves there with Rex.”

“It is an honor to meet you. We heard much about you from Young Master Rex at the tribal council. It is fortunate that we recognized you before we could commit any discourtesy.”

As soon as Rex returned to the tribe, he had shared his experiences. Since they operated scattered throughout the world, exchanging news whenever they gathered was an essential custom.

They identified factions worth building good relations with, enemies whose debts needed repaying, and VIPs who must never be offended. Eugene was a rare example of the third kind.

“A large man with a snow leopard beastkin Squire and an elf mage. He has black hair and brown eyes. Never act hostile toward that knight.”

Eugene’s appearance had been shared with most members of the Black Hand Tribe operating outside their homeland.

“So we can just pass through?”

“Of course. But if you are not in a hurry, we would like to offer you hospitality.”

The Dark Elf pointed toward a well-built log cabin. It had originally been the officers’ quarters of the mercenaries who had occupied the place.

The Black Hand Tribe were skilled warriors Eugene wanted to remain close with as well. Since they were being so welcoming, there was no reason to refuse.

“Thank you. I will gladly accept.”

“It is always a pleasure to host a great warrior.”

Respecting the strong and despising the weak was common among warriors in this world, but Dark Elves took it to an extreme.

Eugene’s party was led into the spacious camp.

“I should have hugged Rex harder when we parted. What thoughtful treatment.”

“Do not. You would kill Rex.”

Varda stopped him with a serious expression, since Eugene’s face was too earnest for it to be a joke.

‘I have felt this before, but they really are an army.’

Those standing guard while collecting tolls maintained perfect posture. They inspected every person approaching the entrance as if conducting a full search.

The people moving through the camp kept their footsteps to a minimum, and even their discipline during rest was strict. They seemed ready to spring into action at any moment.

“Is that the knight who killed a magical beast alone?”

Many of them were stretching or training their muscles. Of the exercise routines being practiced, at least half were ones Eugene had taught Rex and his group.

“I want to ask whether I have the posture right.”

“Would it not be fine to ask? I heard he is very generous.”

“What if Captain Helga has us whipped for it?”

Despite their goodwill toward a strong person, their desire to ask about exercise practically hung in the air. Yet their overwhelming discipline kept them all restrained.

‘Ask! Ask me anything you want!’

Far from disliking teaching exercise, Eugene enjoyed it. In this world, only Homi and the Dark Elves could share that joy with him.

“This way, please.”

“...”

“Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing.”

Still, not one of them asked before Eugene entered the large log cabin.

* * *

Eugene and Varda received excellent hospitality. Considering they were in the field, the table was laid with a diverse spread of food.

“This is a meal I never expected to enjoy in a place like this.”

“We bought various things from passing merchants. Some of it was received in place of tolls.”

Helga, the captain leading the unit, answered.

She was nearly as tall as Eugene, reaching just below his eye level, with a well-trained body to match.

“Have you already finished making money in Roman?”

“My unit has. We were fortunate enough to capture the eldest son of a marquis house and received a tremendous reward. The other units will return soon as well.”

“With winter here, there is no fighting, so there is little money to be made.”

“Yes. But there is a greater reason. The festival, where every Dark Elf tribe gathers, is going to be held. It is an important event that occurs once every few years. The schedule was set suddenly, but we cannot miss it.”

Wandering peoples such as Dark Elves and centaurs sometimes held events where all their tribes gathered.

Without maintaining even a faint connection with one another, their people risked falling apart before the harsh currents of the world.

Even if each person survived on their own, in the end, their own kind were still the only ones they could rely on.

“Ordinarily, we should return to the tribe and wait there, but at the request of the summoner traveling with us, we have somewhere to stop first.”

“A summoner!”

Varda’s golden eyes gleamed with interest.

Summoners were people who drew power from the Otherworld. They were so rare that they could be called mages among mages.

It took an extraordinary fate just to sense mysteries in this world. To sense mysteries from another world required an even more extraordinary fate.

Because of the nature of the magic they pursued, they could easily be mistaken for heretical mages. That was why they used the more neutral title of summoner rather than the old term, necromancer.

“Can you tell me what it is about?”

Helga nodded as if she had been waiting for the question.

“As it happens, the summoner also wished to speak with Sir Eugene. If you do not mind, please visit his room on the second floor.”

“That works out well.”

Eugene was still curious about mages. Aside from himself and Varda, the only ones he had met were the heretical mage he had encountered briefly and Decimus.

Varda looked disappointed. It was customary not to intrude carelessly on a mage’s invitation, since mages were sensitive about uninvited guests.

“What is his name?”

“His name is Marbas.”

* * *

When Eugene knocked on the second-floor door, a deep voice came from inside.

“Come in.”

A man dressed in a dark monastic robe sat in a chair when Eugene opened the door.

Medicine and unwrapped bandages lay on the table. As the man cleared them away, burns became visible on his wrists, arms, and neck.

“It is good to meet you. I am Eugene Mayer.”

“Forgive me for being rude enough to summon such a valued guest. I did not expect your visit, and it is difficult for me to move in my current state.”

“What hardship is there in a knight climbing some stairs?”

The man appeared to be at least in his sixties. The burns and his powerful voice made it difficult to guess his exact age.

Faint burns marked the face hidden in the shadow of his hood, but his ears were intact. Like Eugene’s, they were ordinary ears rather than pointed ones.

“You are human.”

“Mages cannot be raised whenever one wishes, so they must be invited from outside. And there is no need to be so formal. Are we not comrades who have both set foot in the same mysteries?”

True to a summoner, Marbas immediately recognized that Eugene wielded the power of the Otherworld.

“I am more comfortable speaking this way.”

Marbas was powerful enough that even the proud Dark Elf centurion addressed him respectfully as Lord Marbas. There was also something about him that reminded Eugene of his master, Gopri.

“I heard this unit is moving at your request.”

“I had business at ruins near the city of Velles. I am also very interested in the Wandering Castle that the Roman Emperor seeks.”

“Is that not a little too relaxed? While you are here collecting tolls, the ruins may be dug up.”

“I am hired help, not their commander. Even if I have made several great contributions to the tribe, is there not a limit to what I can demand?”

Marbas clearly understood his own position. A mage who could not do that and acted arrogantly would someday be stabbed in the back.

“Even if knights have visited the ruins, they will not have found anything noteworthy.”

Varden’s group had searched the ruins thoroughly, but their true power had only been unlocked after Eugene arrived. It was not strange for Marbas to be at ease.

“True. Even if they hurry, making two round trips from the Emperor’s fief would take longer than traveling to the ruins from here.”

Marbas pointed a finger at Eugene’s chest.

“In the end, waiting here was the right choice. What I wanted came rolling into my lap on its own.”

“...!”

That had come out of nowhere.

“It seems you have already visited the ruins. The relic you have in your possession appears to have come from there.”

Eugene instinctively knew there was no use denying it. The man before him had complete confidence in his words.

“How did you know?”

“There is no need to be wary. I have no intention of breaking the custom of hospitality toward someone favored by the tribe. Honestly, if I tried to challenge you, I think only my neck would be broken.”

Marbas’s words carried the same certainty as before. This kind, at least, put Eugene at ease.

“I swear upon my magic. I only wish to see what kind of relic it is.”

Now that Eugene himself was a mage, he understood well how binding such an oath was.

He took the golden key from his clothes and placed it on the table between them.

“A key. It may look like nothing much, yet it could be the most important treasure of all.”

“You still have not answered my question. How did you know that I visited those ruins and took spoils from them?”

“I smelled it.”

Marbas tapped his own nose.

“I am a summoner. In the reckless heat of my youth, I once pushed myself too far in an attempt to peer into the deepest reaches of the Otherworld. The price of that recklessness was terrible.”

When Marbas rolled up his robe sleeve, burns appeared as though dozens of fire snakes had slithered across his flesh.

“I leaned too far into a well where Hell had settled. Thanks to that, I experienced the fires of Hell while still alive. That is not a figure of speech.”

“I understand what you mean.”

“Those who walk the same path understand quickly.”

Something terrible that stood at the opposite end of the Eucharist Eugene used must have caused the burns that tore across Marbas’s body.

“Thanks to that dreadful experience, I can smell the Otherworld perfectly. I knew from the moment you entered this house carrying that key.”

“One who looks into the abyss should beware that the abyss may look into them as well... Is that it?”

“Excellent words. They suit me perfectly. I only wish I had known them in my youth.”

Marbas smiled and nodded at Eugene’s altered version of Nietzsche’s words.

Footnotes:

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