WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle
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◈ The Wandering Knight and the Moving Castle ◈
Chapter 77: Descent (1)
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“Home!”
The moment the beloved Northfork River came into view, the mercenaries all shouted at once.
They said any place became home once you grew attached to it, and it seemed they had formed a deep bond with Northfork over just a few winter months.
With good weather, varied food, and fishing and hunting permitted on certain days, it was practically paradise for mercenaries.
Three reclining chairs had been placed on the balcony behind the lord’s office, one each for Eugene, Homi, and Varda.
“I don’t want to be an inconsiderate fool, so I’ll decline. I’m grateful for the thought.”
They had originally planned to set out four chairs, but Marbas had laughed heartily and declined.
Homi loved lying there and feeling the spring breeze blowing in from the river.
Scratch, scratch.
Twitch, twitch.
The sounds of Eugene reviewing documents and signing them with a quill in his office became her background music.
Once his work as lord was finished, the knight and Squire often went hunting together without guards or beaters, just as they had in Kingdom's End.
The difference was that they now had excellent warhorses and equipment, along with a vast hunting ground reserved solely for the lord.
Finding prey was easy.
“Won’t that be dangerous?”
Homi shook her head.
Sometimes, she even stood upright on horseback, scanning the surroundings with her broad field of vision.
Sandy seemed used to it by now. Whenever Homi climbed up, Sandy walked while keeping its movements to a minimum. Even accounting for that, Homi’s balance was absurd.
Sniff, sniff.
Homi’s nose surpassed that of a hunting dog, and she never missed a scent even while riding. Any animal careless enough to relieve itself nearby ended up on the lord’s table that day.
Prrr!
Might seemed happy to run alongside Sandy as well.
“Thank you, as always.”
When Eugene stroked its mane, Might half-closed its eyes in pleasure.
Barsian warhorses were generally intelligent, but Might was particularly clever. After spending so much time with Eugene, Might had perfectly learned the range of the long-handled flail and maintained the ideal distance.
Enemy attacks could not reach Eugene, while Eugene could strike them unilaterally from the edge of his weapon’s range.
“You need to stay healthy. I can’t even imagine how much training it would take for another horse to do as much as you do.”
People did not call horses a knight’s companion simply because it sounded romantic.
Varda had arranged dozens of flowerpots throughout the office.
“I’ve never seen a design like this before.”
“Of course not. Elves made them.”
“Something so precious?”
Elven crafts were rare goods that could not be bought even with money. Elves were an extremely closed-off people. Countless merchant companies had tried to establish trade with them, but most had failed.
“I have connections in the elven society in the forests north of the Inland Sea. I contacted them and received these. They arrived while you were away on the expedition.”
The elven flowerpots, magic, and plants touched by elven hands transformed the office into somewhere else entirely.
It felt like sitting in the heart of a forest filled with freshness and peace. Every visitor could only marvel.
“Your tea will grow cold.”
“Ah, yes! Right!”
Everyone became so focused on savoring the air deep in their lungs that they forgot to drink the tea before them.
The worries in their hearts, the exhaustion of their journey, and the impurities clinging to their muscles, lungs, and souls all seemed to be washed away by the plants’ breath.
“This place has changed completely since my last visit.”
“Have you hired a new gardener? Please introduce them to me. I’ve never seen skill like this even in the household of a great lord.”
“...”
When night fell, the three of them sat side by side in the balcony chairs and watched the river.
The few boats out for night fishing and the guards patrolling the village with lanterns made for a deeply comforting sight.
It felt as though the stench of blood and filth that had clung to their hands was finally fading away.
Soft, even breaths.
Whenever Homi fell asleep, Eugene picked her up. Varda curled Homi’s long tail over her chest so it would not drag along the ground.
“Have pleasant dreams.”
“You too.”
After carrying Homi to her room and parting from Varda with a wave, another peaceful day came to an end.
* * *
Unfortunately, their vacation did not last long.
The northern lords, having settled the chaos and driven out the pirates, were planning a festival.
Naturally, Eugene received an invitation bearing Duke Ismar’s seal.
“They say he’s holding a grand banquet to commemorate driving away the threats to the north.”
“It won’t be just for friendship. He’s probably gathering those who will become the north’s swords when the time comes to fight the Imperial Faction again.”
“A banquet right after such a huge war. The duke’s wealth really is impressive.”
“He owns several valuable cities bordering the Inland Sea.”
After becoming a lord, Eugene had come to understand it even more clearly. Honestly farming crops and raising livestock did not bring in much money.
To make real wealth, one had to seize spoils and ransoms through war or enter maritime trade.
Baron Est owned four villages, yet the baron’s total income was not even twice Eugene’s.
Once the cost of separately managing and defending those scattered villages was taken into account, there was not much difference in their actual earnings.
“It seems many free knights are heading north as well.”
Every ship leaving Northfork Harbor carried knights who had come from all over.
“You’re planning to accept the invitation, right?”
“Of course. This wasn’t written by a scribe. It’s a letter in the duke’s own hand.”
Saving Baron Est, Duke Ismar’s vassal, and Rasta Monastery, which the duke supported, had paid off.
“When do you plan to leave?”
“There’s no reason to hesitate, so I plan to head out right away.”
Whether it was a battlefield or a banquet, those who arrived first always got at least one more thing.
On a battlefield, they would receive priority in the distribution of spoils and honor. At a banquet, they would receive the host’s attention and gratitude.
As they prepared for departure, a gift arrived from the Black Hand Tribe.
“Sir Knight, this is the bow I mentioned last time.”
Rex presented the bow he had received.
“It has a strange shape.”
Two bowstaves, each larger than those of an ordinary composite bow, overlapped in an X shape. The two bowstrings met and twisted together at the center.
“It looks impressive, but isn’t it structurally inefficient? There must be a reason people don’t make bows like this.”
“That’s correct. Energy is lost at the joints between the bowstaves and in the double strings. It’s heavier, and the strings are also more likely to shake.”
Rex shrugged.
“But you possess god-given strength, Sir Knight. We designed it this way so that you could wield it on horseback while using all of that strength.”
Twang!
When Eugene drew the string and released it, even the sound was different.
“With that, an ordinary boar or deer will be pierced clean through by the arrow.”
“Thank you. I’ll make good use of it.”
Two days later, Eugene boarded a ship with a small group of elite soldiers.
Just as with the Dark Elf festival, they could travel comfortably by waterway. That was one of the advantages of the north.
* * *
“What a sight.”
Rostok, where they arrived without trouble, was Duke Ismar’s stronghold and a logistics city facing the Inland Sea.
It already saw a great deal of traffic in ordinary times, but with the festival underway, the crowds were overwhelming.
There was no sandy beach along the shore. It was all rocky ground. Beyond it, dozens of large ships came and went.
“So that’s the sea.”
“My god! I thought people were joking when they said there was a horizon, but it’s real.”
The mercenaries, who had only ever seen lakes and rivers before seeing the Inland Sea, stood with their mouths open. They could not imagine so much water gathered in one place.
“Strictly speaking, that isn’t a sea. It’s a gigantic lake.”
“What? But everyone calls it a sea.”
The mercenaries looked at their employer, who remained as calm as ever.
“The true seas lie at the southern and western edges of the continent. They smell different from river water from the start.”
“I’ve heard the water is salty.”
Whenever he had the chance, Eugene gathered information from travelers and merchants who came from distant lands.
As a result, he had become certain that while monsters and magic existed in this world, the natural world itself was not very different from what he knew.
“If you sail far out into the ocean, it can be thousands of meters deep, and the fish caught there are entirely different.”
“Thousands of meters? Wouldn’t that be far deeper than the southern mountain range?”
Everyone listened closely. The stories their employer occasionally shared were always interesting.
There were filthy jokes that made even battle-hardened mercenaries gape, amusing fables, and tales of faraway places.
“You all like shrimp, don’t you?”
“Of course. We’d eat it every day if we could.”
The freshwater shrimp and crabs caught in Northfork’s broad river were a delicacy the mercenaries loved.
When Eugene first offered them some, though, everyone had recoiled in horror.
“Try it. It’s really delicious.”
“I-isn’t this a bug?”
“Captain, fine food should naturally be tasted by the captain first.”
“You bastards...”
Eugene had personally peeled one, sprinkled it with salt, and put it into the mercenary captain’s mouth. The captain’s eyes had gone wide.
After that, shellfish became one reason the mercenaries missed Northfork during expeditions.
“In the true sea, they catch crabs and shrimp several times larger than what you’ve eaten. The larger they are, the richer they taste and the better their texture.”
“The world really is vast.”
“Damn. That must be a delicacy people like us will never taste in our lives.”
The mercenaries smacked their lips, then smiled as though even imagining it was enjoyable.
“Don’t jump to conclusions. Perhaps we’ll go to the true sea someday.”
“If you say that, you’re getting our hopes up.”
No one knew whether they would ever see the true sea.
Still, one thing was certain. Throughout the time he had led the company, their employer had never kept good food and drink to himself.
* * *
“Do you know anything about Duke Ismar?”
Before meeting the duke, Eugene sought Varda’s advice.
“He’s a young man in his late twenties. His eldest brother, much older than him, died without children, so he suddenly became the ruler.”
“That’s similar to the current Emperor.”
“He’s a ruler who cannot be compared to the Emperor in the affection people hold for him.”
“Baron Est’s attitude made me think that might be the case.”
Duke Ismar had been unable to help when pirates beyond Baron Est’s capacity to handle attacked. Yet Baron Est had remained loyal. There had to be a reason for that.
“He makes excellent use of the north’s connected waterways. When famine struck their fiefs, there wasn’t a single lord who failed to receive relief supplies from the duke.”
“So kindness comes from a full granary.”
“And he’s a lord people can rely on in wartime as well.”
At present, the north was the only place in Roman capable of holding a festival on this scale.
“This is our chance while the Emperor is supporting the west and south.”
At the beginning of the civil war, Duke Ismar had quickly gathered his forces and forced a full-scale battle.
The move had been so swift that the Imperial Faction in the north had been nearly annihilated without receiving much support.
With the Emperor’s influence erased, the north had swiftly found stability. They had gained the breathing room to put themselves back together.
From the beginning of spring, its atmosphere had been entirely different from other regions, which were tense over another coming war.
“The duke is ready to receive you.”
At the head butler’s words, Varda checked Eugene’s clothing once more.
* * *
The office was spacious. A handsome young man sat in a chair, reading countless letters.
“Welcome, Sir Eugene of House Mayer.”
Duke Ismar looked as though a gust of wind might carry him away.
He had the face of someone who would find more joy in forgiving another person than killing one. His slender fingers seemed sculpted to hold a brush or play an instrument.
“When a large event approaches, so many letters arrive. Letters of introduction for knights sent by every noble, for example. Most are full of exaggeration and lies.”
He indicated four letters set apart from the others with his palm.
“But the letters about you were the opposite. I could sense restraint and fear in the hands that wrote them. Were they worried I might take them for liars if they exaggerated?”
Duke Ismar gave a soft laugh.
“It’s good to meet you. And let me thank you once again. Saving Baron Est’s fief and Rasta Monastery went beyond political interests. Many lives were at stake.”
“I only fulfilled my duty as a knight of the north.”
“The lords of Northfork have been excellent for generations. Your blood may not be connected, but an heir who has inherited their spirit has arrived. Even your predecessors will be able to close their eyes in peace.”
Eugene took the hand the approaching duke extended.
“Both the baron and the abbot spoke of their unwavering trust in Your Grace.”
“Doesn’t that make it all the more painful? I can never grow accustomed to assigning priorities among those who love and trust me.”
The duke rested a hand on Eugene’s back and led him to the balcony beside the office.
“People have different reasons for wanting capable knights, but I want them to lessen that pain. Keep that a secret. It makes me sound weak.”
Whoosh...
Like Eugene’s balcony, this one had a fine view of the vast Inland Sea. A chessboard had been set up there.
“Do you know how to play chess? I can teach you if you don’t.”
“I do. I’ve been learning every day from an excellent teacher.”
The lessons Eugene had received from Varda were finally about to bear fruit.
“I received the gift well. I’ll compensate you generously. It will help condemn the Emperor’s evil deeds.”
The gift the duke meant was Bruce, the knight who had led the pirates.
The Emperor asking pirates to attack the north was one thing. An Imperial knight personally guiding the pirates and even supporting them with supplies was another.
A slight change in wording could make all the political difference. Bruce was politically useful to the Noble Faction.
“You’re not bad. Who taught you?”
“Varda, the mage of the Emerald Forest.”
“You have two teachers whom neither immense wealth nor a king’s authority could summon.”
The duke seemed sincerely envious of Eugene.
“Those who work with sweat on their brows. Those who desire peace. The north is open to them all. To protect them, we need many excellent knights. It may sound like a foolish wish in this chaotic world.”
Looking at the duke as he laughed at himself, Eugene did not feel as though he was meeting a great noble.
It felt more like sharing a drink at a small table with a familiar older friend from the neighborhood. Even as night deepened, he did not want to leave.
Footnotes:
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