WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle
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◈ The Wandering Knight and the Moving Castle ◈
Chapter 80: Descent (4)
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“Miles went down in one hit?”
The unconscious knight had been one of their best fighters. Still, it was not strange.
Homi had never received knight training, but she trained diligently every day and possessed exceptional natural physical gifts.
She might not be unrivaled with bladed weapons, but when it came to hand-to-hand combat using only the body, no one in Eugene's unit could match her.
Sniff, sniff.
Homi's cute, high-bridged nose twitched.
The smell of iron, oil used for maintenance, and the distinctive hand scent ingrained in weapon grips. None of that came from the men before her.
She signaled that her opponents were unarmed.
‘We should capture them alive.’
Eugene gave up on drawing his sword. There was far too much information to wring out of them before worrying about ransom.
“Who are you people?”
“I'm Eugene of House Mayer, a knight invited by Duke Ismar to attend the celebration. Who are you?”
Eugene answered readily, and the Emperor's knights were the ones caught off guard.
“W-we're... uh...”
Their opponent had confidently introduced himself with the manner of a noble.
Lying that they were travelers would disgrace them as knights. Yet saying, “We're so-and-so, sent by the Emperor on a secret mission to carry out terrorism,” would be even more embarrassing.
“You idiots! Just attack them!”
A middle-aged knight clicked his tongue at the hesitant companions and charged.
Harsh knight training included close-quarters hand-to-hand combat.
The one who had let their guard down, taken a kick to the face, and been knocked out was simply pathetic. Subduing a slender woman should have been easy enough.
Homi casually caught the knight's fist and bent it backward.
Crack!
“Argh!”
The back of the knight's hand was bent against the wrist, sending terrible pain through them.
Her clenched fist slammed into the unguarded jaw, and the knight too passed out in a single blow, just like Miles.
“Sir Polson!”
“Damn it! That bitch is monstrously strong!”
The knights realized this was no time to worry about honor and attacked together.
Yet their hand-to-hand combat was only something they had learned to support their swordsmanship.
Thud!
Pow!
Before the man and woman, who overwhelmed them in both skill and brute strength, they went flying like bowling pins.
Eugene and Homi had sparred together for nearly ten years as knight and Squire. As they covered each other's blind spots, the pair fought like they were performing a dance.
“Sir Simon! Why are you just standing there watching?”
Simon wasn't the sort of mage who could immediately display combat ability in a situation like this.
Besides, a man in monastic robes stood by the door, aiming a hand at him.
“Leave that mage to me.”
A dangerous aura gathered in the burned hand, power that could take Simon's life at any moment.
Meanwhile, everyone recoiled in horror at Eugene, the knight of monstrous strength, swinging a fellow knight by the ankle like a club.
“You monster!”
A knight barely dodged the airborne body of a companion, then gave Homi an opening for a low kick. Pain shot through the back of the knee as though it had snapped, and the leg gave out.
Grab.
Homi seized the kneeling knight's cheeks with both hands and drove her knee into the face.
Bang!
The knight went flying with a spectacular spray of blood from the nose. Homi turned away and shook out her hands.
Eugene unconsciously rubbed his cheek at the brutal sight.
They did not look like the hands that gently caressed him with affection while shaving him.
“?”
At Homi's questioning expression, Eugene smiled awkwardly.
“No, it's nothing.”
“I surrender.”
From halfway through the fight, Simon had simply been standing there with both hands raised.
‘Damn it. I shouldn't have been worrying about that summoner.’
The mercenaries Haind had called arrived and tightly bound Simon and the unconscious knights.
* * *
Not long after Eugene slipped away, the tournament was halted.
“In Duke Ismar's name, I declare an evacuation order! Lead the panicked people to safety! Anyone who refuses to obey will be punished severely!”
“Ahhh!”
The knights later in the tournament order, who had not yet had a chance to prove themselves, let out cries of despair at the Duke's order.
“His Grace has permitted a certain degree of violence. Beat anyone who won't listen if you have to.”
“Move them slowly! If several people fall at once, they'll all get trampled!”
Knights and soldiers shouted as they tried to bring the panicked crowd under control.
Flash!
It was not easy when the intervals between lightning strikes grew shorter and shorter, turning the world white again and again.
Screams erupted everywhere, and many people sat down or collapsed to the ground.
“Mom!”
Even soldiers authorized to use force could not bring themselves to touch a mother crouched over her child.
‘We should have hurried sooner.’
Duke Ismar regretted ignoring the unease he had felt at the beginning, the warning that had come from within.
The weather mage standing nearby was so pale that they looked half dead.
The city guard was thrown into chaos as well.
“Call in everyone off duty and on leave!”
An emergency bell summoning every armed soldier in the city rang loudly.
In truth, most of them were already rushing to their posts without needing the bell.
The pay and conditions were good, so competition was fierce and discipline was strict.
Besides, several fiefs left without a lord during this northern civil war had fallen into the Duke's hands. Mercenary captains seeking advancement could not help but grow eager.
“If I distinguish myself, I could become a lord too!”
“If I could just receive one small village...”
Dreaming of becoming true nobles, they pushed their subordinates hard.
“What happened?”
“Did some giant monster appear?”
The soldiers who gathered in a hurry could not understand why an emergency summons had been issued.
The Imperial Faction's army and the pirates had all been defeated. No matter how they thought about it, there was nothing that could be called a crisis.
Yet those already on duty only said, “You wouldn't believe it if we told you,” or, “You'll understand when you see it.”
“That's insane...”
The soldiers who climbed the walls were stunned.
“Am I dreaming?”
Everyone rubbed their eyes and stared at the plains beyond the city.
A magnificent structure that no human could possibly have built looked down at them arrogantly.
Rostok possessed one of the tallest walls in all Roman, yet even the guards had to crane their necks far back to see it.
“Is that a castle? Or a ship?”
“It definitely looks like it's made of stone.”
“Look at the top. It has jagged walls like ours, doesn't it? That's a castle! It's the Wandering Castle I saw in Bonyard City!”
A soldier from Bonyard City shouted excitedly.
Its blunt yet pointed rectangular form resembled a ship, but its texture and overwhelming presence were unmistakably those of a castle.
The dark clouds that had arrived so quickly withdrew just as fast.
Sizzle.
Warm sunlight poured down, driving away the hollow chill clinging to the surface.
The soldiers felt as though they were watching an enormous dragon basking in the sun.
“Oh...”
The heat haze and mist rising from the frozen castle made it seem as though the castle were breathing.
* * *
Duke Ismar's council chamber was packed with nobles. Even the local lords had come for the festival and tournament.
Regardless of the Duke's summons, they were deeply curious about this unprecedented situation.
“The Wandering Castle?”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Duke Ismar looked surprised at Eugene's answer.
“I'm certain of it. It is the last legacy left behind by the Ancient Kingdom. I saw an identical model in Bonyard City.”
“And what do your mages say?”
“They agree with me.”
The authority of Eugene's advisers was not to be taken lightly.
Varda was the sage of the forest whom every noble longed to meet. Marbas was also a great summoner whom countless religious orders wished to invite to lecture.
“Good grief. It sounds absurd, but there it is right before our eyes.”
“I thought I had seen many strange things while traveling across the continent in my youth. Looking at that, all of it feels insignificant.”
The nobles laughed hollowly and murmured among themselves.
The enormous structure that had appeared with the lightning storm possessed a wonder that could not be explained unless it was a legacy of the Ancient Kingdom.
“Who could build a castle so magnificent? Even dwarves could not accomplish such a thing.”
“Ahem!”
Several dwarven nobles present looked uncomfortable, but they could not bring themselves to argue.
“Sir Eugene, on behalf of the North, I thank you for arresting the Emperor's spies. If not for you, we might have dismissed this incident as nothing more than a disaster.”
The other nobles agreed with Duke Ismar and offered their respect.
After capturing Simon's group, Eugene had reported to the Duke and handed the prisoners over to the city guard.
Simon confessed everything without resistance from the start. The knights endured harsh torture while screaming defiance, but they broke one by one.
“Thanks to you, the weather mage survived as well.”
“I'm glad to hear it.”
Eugene smiled as the Duke patted his shoulder.
The weather mage had reportedly written a suicide note and been preparing to hang themselves out of guilt.
“I never expected the Emperor to stoop this low.”
“I heard he had been searching through ancient ruins everywhere, but I never imagined he had acquired a magic artifact this powerful.”
Normally, that magic artifact could not produce magic of this magnitude.
Yet the Wandering Castle was not saying a word, so no one, Eugene included, could know why this had happened.
“Your Grace, the scouts who inspected the castle's surroundings have returned.”
The captain of the city guard reported.
When the scouts departed, they had worn solemn expressions as though heading toward certain death. When they returned, they were as excited as boys who had seen something wonderful.
“No monsters, ghosts, or even the slightest movement were seen.”
“There is a large gate at the bottom that appears to be an entrance, but it is completely sealed.”
“Do not touch the castle under any circumstances. It is still extremely cold. One soldier nearly suffered frostbite.”
It was fortunate that the castle did not pose an immediate disaster, but they could not simply leave it alone. Regardless of its danger, the castle was too politically significant to leave unattended.
“Won't the Emperor march an army north?”
“It is an artifact he has been desperately searching for...”
The worried words of the nobles made everyone's expressions harden. It was a reasonable concern.
They had thought the North was peaceful after the Imperial Faction was destroyed early on, but now there was a chance it would once again be drawn into war.
* * *
While the important people troubled themselves over it, ordinary folk were thrilled.
Travelers, bards, adventurers, mercenaries, lesser nobles, free knights, and scholars from every field flocked to see the Wandering Castle.
Political issues meant nothing to them. How could they miss a sight that would keep them talking over drinks for the rest of their lives?
“Eat before you go! It's cheap!”
Merchants and laborers hoping to do business with them set up tents and stalls everywhere.
“Anyone without permission is strictly forbidden from touching the castle directly. Anyone who crosses the cordon will be arrested, regardless of the reason.”
As a result, the troops Duke Ismar had dispatched to maintain order were having a miserable time.
The castle was so large that they could not surround and block it off completely. That would require enough troops to conduct a proper siege.
“If you refuse orders and are arrested, it will be treated as a challenge to His Grace. You will be punished severely.”
The guards pressured the spectators with murderous glares and threats of severe punishment.
Eugene's group had received the Duke's permission, allowing them to investigate the castle freely.
Haind returned after riding around the castle. Rex had returned to the Black Hand Tribe to report this important development.
“Every entrance into the interior is tightly sealed. I could not find even a gap wide enough to insert a knife blade.”
Haind could not hide his admiration for the castle's sturdiness. A knight by nature, he found a perfect fortress more alluring than gold, jewels, or even the most beautiful women.
“There seem to be balconies up there.”
They tilted their heads all the way back.
“No siege tower in existence could reach that height.”
There seemed to be no way to get up there unless someone was wrapped in a thick straw mat, loaded into a catapult, and fired.
“Still, isn't it strange?”
“What do you mean?”
“This was built using the Ancient Kingdom's stonecraft. What could have damaged a castle like this so badly?”
Up close, the Wandering Castle's surface was badly damaged, charred, broken, and worn away in places. Its overall form remained intact, yet it looked as though it had endured a truly dreadful experience.
“The Ancient Kingdom's structures are tough as nails. An earthquake might bring them down, but it could not crack them.”
“The mages will return soon. We should ask them.”
Varda and Marbas were each inspecting the area with guards.
“Speak of the devil.”
No sooner had Haind spoken than Marbas returned from the distance.
Filled with excitement, Marbas did not even respond when Eugene acknowledged his hard work, instead asking abruptly, “Do you remember what I said when we first met? That the Wandering Castle was an existence wandering between the present world and the Otherworld?”
“Yes. That's also why it remained undiscovered for so long.”
“It seems that castle has traveled much, much farther than I thought.”
“What do you mean by farther?”
“A place filled with malice that burned my body and soul. I only tasted the threshold of Hell before fleeing...”
Fear and irresistible curiosity mixed on Marbas's face as he approached the Wandering Castle.
“It appears this castle reached the very end of that place and returned.”
His burned palm stroked the castle's charred, damaged surface, unlike the buildings of the Ancient Kingdom left in Bonyard City.
“It is the result of being tempered in turn by heat and cold that cannot exist in this world.”
“I wondered what could damage even a legacy of the Ancient Kingdom. Now I understand.”
Hell.
A metaphysical space located in the deepest part of the Otherworld. The far edge of time and space.
No matter how powerful a creature might be, even a legendary dragon could not reach it while keeping both body and soul intact.
The stonecraft of the ancient people, which had reached the realm of gods, was still human skill made with materials from the present world.
Before true horror, it was only natural for it to crumble and fade.
And there was one more thing.
When Eugene placed his palm against the castle, a strange sense of familiarity flowed through the texture of the rough stone.
It seemed the Wandering Castle, which had reached the end of another world, had returned carrying more than the heat and cold of Hell.
Footnotes:
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