WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle
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◈ The Wandering Knight and the Moving Castle ◈
Chapter 83: The Lord's Path (2)
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Thump!
At that moment, the castle's pulse traveled through Eugene's palm and connected with his heart.
Without the slightest discord, the two became one, as though a severed circuit had finally been reconnected.
Was it because Eugene wielded more potent Otherworldly power than anyone else?
Just as Marbas had been drawn to the Wandering Castle as if enchanted, the castle itself longed for Eugene.
“We should get moving. It’s time to find whoever dragged us here and demand an explanation.”
“Can you find the way?”
“No problem.”
With only a little concentration, Eugene could trace the source of the mystical power flowing through the castle. Following it was easy.
“If it called us inside, it should be able to send us back out. It seems capable of conversation, so I’ll settle this with it.”
“Our opponent is a vast mystical entity dwelling within a castle of this scale. Yet you don’t seem afraid at all.”
“What’s the point of fearing something when there’s work that must be done?”
Charging toward what needed to be done, and facing the fear of death that might come with it.
That was something he had trained for his entire life, across two lives.
Eugene grasped the opening mechanism beside the stone door. There was no reason to hide it inside, so it had been left out in the open.
Click.
When he pulled the mechanism, the corridor was revealed with a small sound wholly unsuited to the massive stone door.
Shing.
Eugene drew Last Autumn, while Homi raised her military hammer. They took the lead.
At the front, Eugene strode forward without hesitation. Everything felt familiar, as though he had lived here for decades.
Whenever he placed a hand against the castle wall, he could sense nearby things as though he had become part of the castle.
“This way.”
That allowed them to avoid potential enemies wandering the interior and take the best route.
Still, no matter how well they planned their path, it was impossible to move through without fighting even once.
Grrk!
Kyarrrr.
The enemies they encountered were not the sort of monsters found in the present world. They were far more wicked than undead like the living armor they had fought when they first arrived.
They were roughly human-sized and walked on two legs, but had no body hair. Horns protruded from their foreheads and heads, while their skin was dry as a mummy’s.
Their faces were best compared to skulls. Their sunken eyes gleamed with pure evil, and each of their dozens of uneven teeth resembled a wolf’s fang.
“Demons.”
Varda spoke in a trembling voice.
No matter how dangerous and wicked monsters such as goblins, Orcs, trolls, and ogres were, they were still creatures of the present world.
They carried the darkness of the world, yet did not reject the natural order.
Demons, born and raised in the Otherworld, rejected even that natural order. They were enemies of everyone belonging to the present world, embodiments of pure evil.
They must have been stowaways from the Wandering Castle’s long journey, one that had even passed through Hell.
“Are they more dangerous than a Wendigo?”
“No. Their evil is purer and denser, but their combat ability does not even compare to a Wendigo’s.”
“Then that’s fine.”
Eugene kicked off the ground and charged.
Swift Assault!
As Last Autumn’s Aether-forged blade drew a silver arc, the foremost demon’s head flew off, spraying black blood.
Another demon leaped over its fallen kin's corpse as it slowly sank to its knees and collapsed, then lunged at him.
Thwck!
The tip of Eugene’s thrust pierced straight through its forehead.
He kicked the dead demon in the stomach. With a wet pop as its abdomen burst, its corpse flew away, crashed into another demon, and sent both tumbling across the floor.
Krrrraaar!
Even in the face of such overwhelming violence, the demons did not shrink back in the slightest.
For the living, death and the afterlife awaiting beyond it were the greatest fears. To demons, both were as familiar as home.
Fortunately, Eugene’s group could handle such reckless attacks.
Crack!
A demon’s head burst beneath Homi’s military hammer. Brain matter ran down between fragments of skull.
She was not as strong as Eugene, but she was still well beyond the limits of ordinary humans. Even a demon crazed by madness had no way of enduring a blow from her.
This time, Varda was not someone they needed to protect. She fought alongside them.
“There is no need to protect me like some burden. I will fight beside you as a warrior as well.”
She drew the sword she carried for self-defense. Though she was dressed for a banquet, the sword was light and blunt, a practice weapon that gave her no trouble to wield.
Fighting demons with a practice sword might have looked ridiculous, but it was actually a terrifying weapon. Dozens of thorn vines blessed with magic were entwined around Varda’s blade.
“Let those who do not fear death suffer pain beyond death!”
Varda thrust her sword, and one of the thorn vines wrapped around it rapidly grew and shot outward like a net.
A demon that had been about to rush Homi was caught completely off guard and bound tightly from head to toe.
The result was horrific.
Kyaaaaaah!
Even the demon let out a terrible scream as the thorn-covered net tore apart its entire body. Eugene charged into the opening, and a bloody storm swept through the hall.
Homi and Varda stood shoulder to shoulder, dealing with the few demons that broke away.
Varda’s movements and posture were excellent, perhaps because she had received formal swordsmanship training. Naturally, she could not compare to real knights, but she did not need to strike her enemies’ bodies directly with her blade.
Clack!
A demon caught Varda’s swinging sword. It grinned viciously, believing it had neutralized her weapon, then immediately began screaming.
The thorn vines wrapped around the sword slithered up its arm like snakes and covered its body.
The demon tore away several vines with its beast-like grip, but only mangled its own hands in the process.
Crunch!
As it struggled among the thorns, Homi kicked it in the jaw, shattering it and snapping its neck.
Varda took seeds from her pocket, pressed them onto her sword as if loading ammunition, and chanted a spell. New thorn vines grew and covered the blade.
Even demons, who should have known no fear, faltered for a moment at the sight.
Pain.
The one law that applied across every race and dimension. Even demons who laughed at the fear of death could not dismiss endless pain.
“Excellent.”
The demons that had stopped their charge were helplessly cut down by Eugene’s sword as he closed in on them.
* * *
When the battle ended, the once-antique corridor was a mess. Even the magical lamps had been so heavily splattered with demon blood that their glow had grown dim.
Once he sensed no more enemies approaching, Eugene led the group to a distant room and locked the door.
“Is anyone hurt?”
“Homi and I are fine. You’re the one who pushed too hard.”
Eugene dropped to the floor and caught his breath.
Demons possessed both the cunning and toughness of monsters, as well as the undead’s reckless disregard for life and death.
They attacked with sturdy bodies starved for slaughter, yet neither lost heart nor fled before a stronger opponent.
Killing such creatures while keeping Varda safe was exhausting even for Eugene.
“Have you studied swordsmanship before? Your stance was very proper.”
“I only learned it as part of a lady’s education.”
In Roman, quite a few noble young ladies chose the path of a knight.
As a result, it was not unusual for noblewomen to learn and practice swordsmanship instead of embroidery as part of their education.
“I am not skilled enough to fight with a real sword. I am not prepared to cut into another person’s flesh.”
A real battle required not only strength and skill, but also the resolve to kill.
One reason warriors with good hearts died or were injured in their first real battle was a lack of that resolve.
They would be startled by the sensation of their swords piercing another body, hesitate, and lose their lives. It happened more often than one might think.
“It doesn’t seem like Varda needs to fight with a real sword at all.”
Eugene recalled the fearsome power of the thorn vines during the battle with the demons.
She could fire them from a distance with a thrust, and in close combat, opponents could not even clash weapons with her.
“I disliked the idea that forest mages could do nothing in close combat. There were people who tried to exploit that weakness. I needed a way to protect myself if the need arose.”
“Did you develop that magic yourself?”
“The thorn vines themselves are an old spell. Loading them onto a weapon and activating them quickly like this was my own idea.”
Varda paused and watched Eugene’s reaction.
“It is such a cruel method that I did not want to use it if possible. But this is no time for such weakness.”
“It wasn’t cruel at all. It was just impressive.”
Homi nodded eagerly beside him.
Both knight and Squire were thorough pragmatists. They felt awe at Varda’s technique, not disappointment.
“Thank you, both of you.”
Varda smiled and stroked Homi’s head.
“How about sparring with me from time to time?”
“You would teach me yourself?”
“For exercise. Wouldn’t it be interesting to study a swordsmanship style specifically meant to make the most of thorn vines?”
“A special style suited to them would certainly be more efficient than ordinary swordsmanship.”
Varda gladly accepted Eugene’s proposal.
They were still trapped in the Wandering Castle, in the middle of a crisis. Yet talking about the future did not feel unrealistic at all.
There was a strong belief that, together, the three of them could overcome any danger.
After resting sufficiently, Eugene’s group set out once more.
Following several smaller battles, they finally reached their destination.
“I know this place.”
Eugene stopped before a place he had seen once in a dream. The door before them was larger and more lavishly decorated than anything they had seen so far.
“This is where I entered in my dream and nearly became bound. Varda saved me.”
“The room with the vast hall and the radiant throne that you mentioned?”
“Yes.”
The source of the mystical power flowing through the castle lay beyond this door. Eugene gripped his sword tightly and looked at Varda and Homi. They both nodded.
When he pushed the door, it opened without a sound.
The vast hall revealed itself, along with the throne at its far end and the countless skulls scattered across the floor. Everything was exactly as it had been in his dream.
The moment Eugene stepped into the hall, he understood at once why the castle had longed for him so desperately.
[A body needs a soul.]
The throne whispered to Eugene.
At the end of its journey beyond even time and space, the Wandering Castle had transformed into a single living being.
Yet while it could fill itself with blood and flesh, it could not possess a soul. That was why it had longed for a master who had undergone the same experiences as itself.
[I am filled with flesh, yet empty.]
The words the castle offered were not the will of a being with a soul.
They were merely the echo of instinct born from a lump of flesh, a soulless body that did nothing but pulse.
Like a stomach growling when hungry, an erection caused by sexual stimulation, or goosebumps rising on skin in the cold.
[I pulse, but I am growing cold.]
The castle wanted a soul equal to itself, one that had made its way through Hell just as it had.
To welcome such a master and finally become a complete being with both body and soul. That was what the Wandering Castle longed for.
After countless years, the one and only master it had awaited had finally entered its deepest embrace.
Footnotes:
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