Chapter 237

Chapter 237 - The Last Sanctuary

As Eugene's faction grew day by day, many things improved, and among them protocol was included.

To welcome the master returning after finishing diplomatic duties, more than 50 people gathered in front of the castle entrance. This is Valda's handiwork. It's a big difference from when only a little over 10 guards and servants welcomed him just prior to the marriage.

20 guards holding flags lined up on both sides of the path the Castle Lord would pass, and behind them, those holding fairy race string and wind instruments played a welcoming piece.

- I think about enough servants to take your coat would be sufficient. Would there be a need to make many wait?

- Your consideration for your subordinates is also what I love, but this is a duty. It is something we must do as a duty, not our right.

Eugene recalled the conversation regarding protocol he exchanged with Valda in the past. It felt like luxury at the time, but as expected, it was good he listened to his wise wife.

'Being welcomed like this, the reward for the hard work is definitely felt.'

The protocol music of the Elf Royal House is the exact opposite of that of human countries like Roman or Britannia. There is no grandiose or cheerful feeling. Useful percussion instruments for such purposes were not used. Instead, the chirping of birds sitting on the band members' shoulders substituted it.

Peace and relief. The music brewed with two virtues flows out.

'Even if all the lights in the world go out, may this place guide you in the darkness.'

The meaning contained in the music is gentle, unlike those of arrogant kingdoms. The guests felt nostalgia in a place they had never been to before.

And beyond the guards, Eugene saw an Elf beautiful beyond compare to anything.

"Welcome back. My love!"

"Oh..."

Only then did the feeling of having returned home, exactly the feeling of having gotten off work, dig in.

The blonde hair fluttering profusely meeting the wind of the Bean Land grassland. That is the flag planted at the destination Eugene must reach.

The golden eyes full of infinite trust make his heart pound more than the praises he received as the tournament winner.

'She's my wife, but she's a peculiar woman.'

Eugene is the person who knows Valda the best in the world. Appearances not even her handmaids or Grace can approach. Because he is enjoying the expressions, service, conversation, mischief, and figure permitted only to the husband.

'But despite that, it always feels shy and new like the first night.'

Meanwhile, Marcus and Maria marveled at the path of flowers laid out like a carpet starting from the castle entrance.

"These flowers are?"

"They aren't ones that bloom nearby. There are no traces of them being transplanted either."

Valda's original plan was to modestly welcome her husband at the end of the guard formation.

"It suits you well. Lady Valda. The red coat, the wind of Bean Land, and the newly woven black fabric. Just looking at you, all my fatigue disappears."

"..."

However, Valda couldn't hold back. She was the very first to ignore the scheduled protocol and run out. Every flower touched by the feet of the last Elf princess bloomed even more fully as if it had received sweet rain.

Warak!

After leisurely enjoying the embrace, Valda stroked Eugene's face, neck, and hands, examining him carefully.

Because he didn't allow a single attack to land, there isn't a single scratch. But there is no fooling a wife's eyes and nose.

"There was a real battle besides the tournament."

"We rescued mermaids and sent them to the ocean, and subjugated Harpies."

"..."

Valda, who had thought of about a bandit group, was left speechless. To encounter two existences that are not easy to even see once consecutively.

"So I was later than scheduled. I'm sorry. Did you wait long?"

"Nn-nn. There's no need to apologize."

Valda stroked Eugene's hair.

"The world wishes to make you a hero, so what can be done? It is natural for the water channels of destiny to gather in the river stream that is you. If forcibly blocked, it will overflow in a bizarre place and become a disaster. I only wish to be by your side when you need me."

"It's something I always feel, but I really think I hit the jackpot in marriage."

Eugene, breaking the embrace, introduced his guests.

"This is Marcus and Maria of the Pierce family."

"Welcome. The Might you presented has excellently served Eugene."

At Valda's greeting, the Dhampir siblings expressed courtesy as if overwhelmed by the honor.

"Not at all. I only repaid you for helping my younger sister."

"His success soon led to a connection with me, so I have always wanted to convey my gratitude."

Marcus looked at Eugene.

"You really are the luckiest man in the world. Being chosen by the legendary castle was a secondary fortunateness."

'To think she's such a beautiful woman...' Maria's ensuing words hit a lump in her throat and didn't come out of her mouth.

"You must be tired from unexpected events, so please come in quickly."

Eugene, grinning, led the guests inside.

Sabak sabak.

The Pierce siblings and the guards admired the appearance of the flowers holding their heads up straight without being crushed even though stepped on by feet.

"As expected of the Magician of the Emerald Forest. Unbelievable, a welcome ceremony that cannot even be bought with gold coins."

"Indeed."

Unlike Marcus who purely admired, Maria headed inside the castle with a somewhat sad face.

* * *

The welcoming flower path was maintained vividly even until the Barcia King and nobles arrived a few days later. No, it became rather even more abundant and splendid. As if speaking for the joy of the mistress who made the flowers bloom.

"Is this the dwelling of the Grim Rider? As expected! He was living in such a place, that's why he was so aloof about everything."

The Barcia King understood Eugene's reaction of not being surprised by anything and being nonchalant toward any treasure throughout the tournament and banquet.

Grim Rider is the nickname Barcia nobles attached to Eugene. Even they, who possess extraordinary pride regarding military horses, admitted defeat in front of the World Charger's majestic figure.

A title regarding a mount is the maximum respect Barcia nobles offer.

"Over there! Over there!"

Everyone's gazes gathered where a certain noble pointed. There were Vertigos taking a sunbath and Might keeping watch so they couldn't dig up the ground.

"Can you imagine charging into enemy lines riding those ferocious beasts?"

"If I could ride on the back of a World Charger just once, I would have no regrets even if I died."

Befitting Barcia nobles, the magic castle is the magic castle, but they showed immense interest in mounts as well.

It was already known that both Vertigos and the World Charger possessed a dirty temper that disallowed hands other than their designated master's. Throughout their entry into Moving Castle, everyone couldn't take their eyes off the beasts resting on the grassland.

However, the moment they entered the lobby beyond the main gate, lingering attachments to the spectacles outside disappeared.

"L-Lamia!"

In a conspicuous place inside the lobby, the stuffed Queen Lamia coils her body.

"Look at that grip that could tear a bull apart with one hand! This isn't an average Lamia!"

"That's the Champion we heard about at the banquet. Indeed, it's a monster that would paralyze Samur's greatest trade route."

The nobles caught a glimpse of authority from Queen Lamia's figure. That she harbored enough power capable of collapsing a country while alive.

However, the Queen's expression holds terror instead of majesty. An emotion directed toward the existence that sentenced the Evil God's Champion to death. Queen Lamia's face is effectively a tele-mirror showing Eugene.

The watermelon-sized eggs the Queen carried in her belly were coated with reagents and became objects. They are placed as if decorating the snake torso.

The Queen who once led hundreds of Lamias and threatened Samur is no longer an object of fear. Only taking her place as an eternal loser, leaving a lesson of silence to those who see her.

'Revere him. This great knight.'

A symbol directed toward those who enter the castle harboring good feelings for Eugene.

'Do not resist. Only ruin will return.'

And as a symbol directed toward those who enter harboring hostile feelings.

"Is this the Gnoll Champion they said appeared in the Shield Mountains?"

"Strictly speaking, I heard it was the Champion's son."

"Look at this! It's a Troll's canine tooth. Just how many did he hunt down?"

A noble who had hunted Trolls by joining forces with knights recognized the tooth necklace hanging on the Gnoll leader's neck.

It's a necklace the Gnoll leader completed during his days living in the Demonic Forest beyond the Shield Mountains. There were frequent fights with Trolls during territorial disputes, and he commemorated his glory by pulling out their canines achieving victory every time.

"This is a more dangerous guy than Queen Lamia. Lamia's breeding capability is obvious anyway and they can only be active in warm places. But Gnolls are different. If left neglected under the reign of a Champion, they easily multiply to thousands. Even the cold of winter cannot stop them."

When a Champion appears with the blessing of an Evil God, monsters that originally formed a society are far more dangerous than monsters that do not.

"My Lords!"

Eugene appeared at the internal balcony rising up the stairs from the lobby.

"Noble friends from Barcia. Welcome to Moving Castle."

Among the guests, there are also nobles who swallowed their anger after losing to Eugene in the tournament. However, now the expressions of everyone looking up at the Castle Lord are polite. That was the role performed by the spoils of war in the lobby.

* * *

Afterwards, a banquet unrivaled in the world continued. Judging only by grandiosity, other Great Nobles or Kings might be able to hold something grander. However, they probably couldn't emulate the specialness of this place.

"It melts softly in the mouth!"

"That's because it's shaved ice."

Eugene sprinkled more syrup on the Barcia King's shaved ice.

Ice is a luxury item Eugene actively utilizes when entertaining guests. Even high-ranking nobles who were lukewarm toward pepper could not maintain their composure in front of the ice sculptures and shaved ice.

"Is there really a cold storage warehouse? I mean the magic warehouse bigger than a parade ground that freezes everything that goes in."

"Yes. It's one of the very lucrative sources of income. Because if we cut large blocks of ice and sell them when we're in hot regions, silver coins pour in."

"Heoheoheo!"

The Barcia King just let out a hollow laugh. The only raw material is water. Perhaps it would be a highly profitable product even more than the pepper trade.

"I definitely want to try visiting that cold storage warehouse once."

"A tour doesn't matter, but if you go with that attire you'll catch a cold. Uh, Vampires also catch colds... right?"

While the two bigwigs conversed at the seat of honor, the other nobles coveted southern ingredients that couldn't be seen in Barcia.

"I-Is this telling us to dig it out and eat it as is?"

A certain noble was flustered in front of boiled meat steamed whole using a turtle shell as a bowl.

"Isn't it boisterous and good?"

"But a noble's dignity..."

"Eyy! Then don't eat it!"

"Who said I wouldn't eat it?!"

The ones more serious about gastronomy than any country in the world is Barcia. Backing down from a dish they won't have the opportunity to eat if not now operations is something they cannot tolerate of themselves.

Shrimp and lobsters caught in Sicily also drew huge popularity. Because they were well over twice as big as those caught off the coast of Barcia.

"Lords! Please try eating this! If there's a dish brewed with gold coins, it's exactly this!"

Marcus's knights who had been treated first proudly introduced corn cheese to the other nobles. Publicizing delicious food before anyone else is the honor of Barcia nobles.

Naturally, confectionery and bakery, which could be called the basics of a banquet, also drew much popularity.

"This is the pie of the fairy race!"

Gourmets harbor fantasies about breads and pies baked by the fairy race. Because it's not something that can be bought with money, and it's food they can only eat by being invited as their guest. But who would enjoy such a luxury?

Therefore, the best food of the banquet was already decided.

"Everyone. Please taste the special dish my wife personally baked for the precious guests."

It is exactly the bread baked by Valda, the Magician of the Emerald Forest. The mouthwatering golden bread was delectable as if it had stored sunlight.

"It is Anorbas. It means bread of the sun. It was made with a secret recipe passed down only within the Elf Royal House of the First Era. Even if one knew the method, it's not something just anyone could make, though."

Eugene remembered Valda baking bread under the light of dusk, not in an oven.

That was a task requiring all three authorities: the dexterity of the most outstanding baker, the magic of a magician, and the nobility of the Elf Royal House.

When Valda's handmaids placed the golden bread, folded into a square, on plates, all the nobles left the food they were eating and flocked over.

Mumble!

After each taking a bite of their respective share. They silently pushed the jam and cheese away. Because nothing else was needed for Valda's bread.

The savory and fragrant scent of the baked bread went beyond their stomach walls and permeated into their blood vessels. It blew the warmth of the sun into the cold blood and souls of the Barcia nobles.

* * *

Meanwhile, the noble ladies gathered amongst themselves sharing conversations.

Joljoljol.

The stone spa left by the Ancients had transformed into a spa of wood and life under Valda's touch.

The wooden bathtub Eugene and Homi soaked their bodies in at the mansion in the Emerald Forest in the past. Coziness equivalent to that encompassed the entire spa.

The pale-complexioned noble ladies surrounded Valda with sparkling eyes.

"Then did you, Lady Countess, have a love marriage?"

In this era, arranged marriages are the basic for nobles. The higher the status, the nobler the family, the less room there is for personal feelings to intervene. Therefore, the story of Eugene and Valda getting together became the envy of the noble ladies.

"At first we started as comrades. As we ventured the world together and fought through battles, at some point..."

"Kyaa!"

Valda omitted the latter words, but anyone could understand what it meant.

A choice only once in a lifetime. The path guided by the heart versus the path following a noble's duty. The tears shed by noble ladies due to these two conflicting values are enough to form a river.

Valda's married life, having achieved both in one person, is the life envied by all noble ladies in the world.

A special dessert was provided to the ladies enjoying the spa. A dish made by stirring milk, eggs, honey, and cacao powder into shaved ice and freezing it again. Exactly the world's first ice cream.

A cold and sweet food while enjoying a hot spring. At a luxury unavailable even in the royal palace, the noble ladies praised the banquet of the Mayer couple.

* * *

Meanwhile, Homi guided the young men, young ladies, and boys and girls younger than them to the bone museum.

"Hydra!"

The legendary monster that led Barcia's King and knights into tragedy. At the sight of it transformed into a spoil of war, the young nobles shouted exclamations.

In the darkness of the eye sockets where only bone remained, the ferocity of when it was alive still echoed.

That wasn't all. Goblins, Gnolls, Bugbears, Owlbears, Lamias, Harpies, Ghouls, Direwolves, Direbears, Direhogs, Giant Anacondas, Wargs, Yetis, Wendigos, Giant Scorpion exoskeletons, etc.

Countless prey are exhibited with only their bones remaining.

"Look at this. The finger is incredibly long! Jjuuuuk~ Jjuk!"

The children marveled at the Harpy fingers supporting the veins of the wings.

"It looks like a fish."

"You can't touch it!"

The children squatted in front of the Anaconda where countless ribs connect.

"A male Direhog's weak point is its testicles. When a small number of cavalry draws its attention from the front, those armed with crossbows and bows should aim for its back. Entering a war of attrition, one can grasp victory without major damage."

On the information boards placed in front of each skeleton, characteristics or hunting methods for the respective monster are written. The young men and boys dreaming of becoming knights read them one by one interestingly.

"Zak. Can you read this for me?"

"Isabel! Here."

However, quite a few among nobles are illiterate. The sons and daughters of lower families who knew how to read were busy being called hither and thither.

"Every time the charge of the knights aiming their lances hit the mark, the Hydra's screams echoed across the earth."

"Wow!"

Naturally, nothing drew everyone's interest as much as the stories of Homi, who was always together at the scene. She boasted of her Lord's journeys and achievements to everyone as if to compensate for the agony of silence built up until now.

In the midst of joy and pride, her tail that should be wagging frantically is behaving.

"Ehehehe! It's soft!"

"I wanna hug it too! Move!"

Because a certain little young master was hugging it tightly. Around them were a little lady puffing her cheeks in jealousy and other young masters.

* * *

During their stay in Moving Castle, the part the Barcia nobles were most surprised by wasn't due to its marveling and majesty.

"Opening the helmet of the unfamiliar armored knight encountered on a journey reveal's a grandfather's benevolent face. It's exactly like that story. The grandiosity seen from outside disappears far away, leaving only familiarity."

"It's an unfamiliar place, but for some reason, it feels like I'm in my hometown."

That they perfectly adapted to life here in merely a few hours.

The Blackhand Tribe, who had wandered as nomads and mercenaries, also fundamentally have the children of the forest at their root. As they gained mental stability settling down in the castle, they started decorating the interior.

In the corridors, walls, and ceilings touched by the hands of the fairy race, the sole value the Ancients could not embody seeped in. The fragrance of nature steeped in. Even in the future, Valda and the Blackhand Tribe will continue to tend to this small heaven generation after generation.

And the place where the fairy race resides does not become old or crumble as time passes. Rather, the coziness only increases.

As if to repay the hospitality of the Mayer couple, the Barcia nobles composed sentences praising this nest. As if competing whose composition was more beautiful.

"A place where the present and memories, dreams and imagination cannot be separated."

"A place where babies do not cry."

"A wall where not only the spears and swords of external enemies, but also the anxieties of the heart cannot cross over."

"A banquet hall that does not need music."

Among them, the sentence that received the choices of the most people was this:

"The Last Sanctuary."

Smiles, happiness, sound sleep, stillness.

Someday when the world meets its end. Only this place will protect the best things until the very end.