Chapter 238

Chapter 238 - The Ship Cleaving the Waves of Prophecy

"I didn't know there were people in the world who excessively eat more than Dwarves."

"The food storage manager was rejoicing. Saying that thanks to them, he cleared out all the old stock."

Around the time the banquet was ending, Eugene's retainers clicked their tongues. Because although they had heard the rumor many times that Barcia nobles were serious about amusement and gastronomy, they didn't know it would be to this extent.

Normally they are the ones acting dignified saying nobles of other countries are vulgar, but during the banquet, they were no different from barbarians.

"Dri~nk! Drink! Dri~nk! Drink!"

Filling 4 glasses with different drinks and downing them consecutively is nothing.

"Kkourururururuk!"

"Wahahahaha! That's one hearty burp!"

Even Eugene was flustered at the Royal Guardsman who spread both arms like a vocalist and spewed a 5-second breath. However, far from reprimanding him for lacking dignity, the Barcia King rather burst into loud laughter. Because during a banquet, burping is also acknowledged as manliness.

"I saw a tamed Direwolf earlier, could I borrow it for a moment? Accompanied by the breeder, I mean."

Suddenly a certain knight brought a Direwolf that was in the stable and kneeled side by side next to it.

"Black beast! Pounce at the honorable knight of Barcia! Since I came as a guest to the banquet, I cannot draw my sword, but I will conquer you with my teeth!"

In front of the two, plates piled high with sausages were placed.

"To think they would try to have a speed-eating contest with a beast..."

"Truly proper crazy bastards."

The retainers were perplexed at the eccentric behavior, but were so amused they even shed tears at the unprecedented match that unfolded right after.

"Urgh! I... won't l..."

"Keureureureu. Nyam nyam nyam."

"Rogue! Whose plate are you thrusting your snout into? Wait, you already ate it all?!"

Naturally, it was impossible for a human to win in an eating contest against a monster.

It is true that the image of Barcia nobles in foreign countries is bad, and Eugene had also seen many fellows who made him frown. But even though it was during a banquet, delightful guys are endlessly delightful.

It seems there's no one whose extremes of case-by-case are as different to this extent. Is it because the accidents caused by the unlikable knights of the Louis family or Piranian family were so exceptionally impressive?

Meanwhile, not everyone liked the banquet hall. Disliking boisterousness, there were also those who only showed their faces and left. However, even such people couldn't dislike window shopping in the commercial district.

"Please take a look and go! Traveling around the world, I've gathered everything deemed fascinating!"

Various kinds of shops run by beastmen serving the Blackhand family are lined up. The guests who exited the banquet hall were caught in the commercial district like moths caught in a spider web.

"Welcome to Sylph Veil. All the fabrics here were woven on fairy race looms imbued with spirits. They are as light as if imbued with the wind spirit. Please appreciate these artworks completed by artisans with at least 40 years of experience. For the fairy race, each family is an atelier of a separate brand! Please appreciate the clothes of diverse family traditions passed down through generations!"

A noble lady with a bored expression had her eyes stolen by sophisticated dresses, blouses, and scarves she hadn't seen even in a large city.

The daughter who came hooking arms with that noble lady was entering the shop attached right next door.

"This is Victory Hall. Humans leave their names when they die, and beasts and monsters leave their hides. Please feel the touch of beasts taken down by great fighters. Look around leather jackets and fur coats obtainable only here! Experience the glory of victory indirectly!"

The daughter was fascinated by the dignity given by abundant fur and the vitality given by wild leather.

Spoils of war obtained by Eugene's army hunting while wandering the world. Among them, those usable for military purposes are put into producing defensive gear, but the rest were used for producing consumer goods for civilian use.

Knights who have much interest in armaments but whose pocket situations aren't good are exploring the armory for second-hand trading.

Among the weapons captured while touring the whole world, only those above a certain quality are exhibited. Even so, the number was staggering.

"Exactly how many armies have they crushed?"

"These are the Zweihänders of the Eastern Empire Immortals. Look at this unique wave pattern. My goodness! There must be a good 300 swords. The rumor that they were annihilated by His Excellency in Sicily was real!"

In front of the Zweihänders, the captured grand flag of the Immortal Knight Order was even planted right there.

Various shops usually doing business targeting residents are filled with unique products and services that cannot be found elsewhere.

"W-Witch? A witch's fortune-telling?"

"What's there to be scared of? It's His Excellency the Count's castle, there's no way there are suspicious people. Shall I try getting my future told once?"

"Hey! No matter what, that's a bit..."

The fortune-telling shop adorned with dark velvet had severely divided likes and dislikes. Those who shunned witches didn't even come near, and those who didn't care about such things entered with faces full of curiosity.

Enjoying oneself eating and drinking at a banquet.

Shopping in the commercial district.

Service facilities such as a spa, swimming pool, sauna, training ground, and promenades.

Visiting Moving Castle was closer to a resort excursion rather than the concept of a banquet. Should I call it an ultra-luxurious cruise ship ahead of its time? One wandering the whole world in an atmosphere of a family-like company.

In that way, the first large-scale banquet was incredibly successful.

"I will promise! The name of the chosen Mayer family of Moving Castle! Just how beautifully and cozily its honorable master and citizens have decorated the castle!"

The Barcia King and the nobles below him departed feeling thankful for being gifted the memory of a lifetime. The number of nobles who hugged the pillars of the castle and offered farewell kisses was to the point of not being just one or two.

* * *

Eugene and Valda strolled through the empty banquet hall. With the noisy guests gone, it feels hollow. Only the Pierce party remained in the guest rooms for the military horse negotiations.

"Thanks to Lady Valda, I think it became a banquet that will be remembered for a long time. Starting from the carpet of flowers spread out at the castle entrance to the bread of the sun everyone highly praised."

As the Barcia nobles departed, they picked the flowers fully bloomed in front of the castle gate one by one. As if trying to ruminate on the enjoyable banquet looking at the flowers on their way back home.

"They are flowers imbued with magic. They'll be fresh for a good half a year."

Eugene massaged the arms of his wife who worked diligently as the mistress. Because he remembers the appearance of her kneading dough and baking bread taking great pains to serve all the guests.

After doing that, she attended to countless nobles without resting for even a moment.

However, since they all treated Valda docilely, they didn't make her suffer. Because there wasn't a need for Valda to do much.

- Sublime one. I have attended numerous banquets in Barcia, but I have never seen the nobles be polite like today.

A certain lord who grew a stylish mustache kissed the back of Valda's hand.

- Because there probably won't be anyone who wishes to show off a candle in front of a radiant dusk. Your beauty erases their arrogance simply by you standing there.

When the two nobles who were like cats and dogs saw Valda's smile, they held out wine glasses to each other and toasted instead of fists.

- I remember the fairy tale my mother read to me in my childhood where my memories are hazy. The story that the Elf Queen of the First Era made the Great King of a foreign race retreat with the scent of freshly baked bread.

An aged and bony Marquis of Barcia offered a kiss to the back of Valda's hand.

- I laughed saying it was nonsense at the time, but I will admit it. The me from back then was foolish. Blessings to the fortune of greeting the last banquet of my life at this place! May there be happiness on the path ahead of the great couple!

Is it said the end of tuning is genuine? Any luxurious and extravagant food couldn't surpass the most noble bread.

"When I became 10 years old and started learning cooking for the first time, the very first thing Grace taught me was the bread of the sun."

"When you were 10 years old?"

It was too early an age even by the standards of a farming household lacking working hands. Given that in the Emerald Forest mansion, there were Grace and as many as 10 clone dryads she commanded.

"Originally one learns cooking after more time passes, but Grace was fretful. The bread of the sun is a blessing food passed down through generations by the daughters of the Royal House. That skill had been severed for far too long."

"Aha! She wanted to quickly revive it through Lady Valda's hands."

Valda leaned her head against Eugene's chest.

"Yeah. The First Era ended and passing the Second Era to reach the present. So many things were severed for a long time. The fragrance of the bread baked by the daughters of the Royal House. She must've wished to quickly summon at least that alone."

Grace had lived carrying anxiety about severance her entire life. The fear that everything would be forgotten even if she misstepped just a little.

"When I finally succeeded after a few failures, how happy Grace was."

"How was she happy?"

"Flowers bloomed on her chest."

"...That is quite a unique way of expression."

"I liked it, though. Because when I was embraced in her arms, more softness and fragrance wrapped around me."

Valda took out the last piece of bread from her bosom and put it in Eugene's mouth.

"Since the banquet hall was cleared away, there is nothing to spread on the bread."

"It's not needed. Because there is only one seasoning that suits the bread of the sun the best."

"What is that?"

"The wind."

Breathing every time one chews a bite. Feeling the savory fragrance naturally entering to fill the nasal cavity through that. That itself was the best seasoning. There is no room for other miscellaneous things to mix in.

Except for exactly one thing.

The most delectable rose flower in the world. I mean the red petal that bloomed solely for Eugene alone.

* * *

However, this banquet wasn't merely perfect. The morning of the last day of the banquet. Although it was for a moment, they also encountered a crisis.

"Everyone! This magician here graduated from the University of Mirage Magic and predicted 3 droughts and 2 floods. Regarding prophesy, he is one of the greatest magicians of the current generation."

The desire to know about the future is common to all people. Nobles always wanted to keep competent magicians close under their command, and among them, the most popular is definitely a magician of prophesy.

Inviting a magician to such a grand banquet and telling fortunes of good and ill luck is a common occurrence. The problem was the part where the noble who brought the magician got too caught up in the excitement.

"I wish to offer a prophesy for the Count couple who bestowed the best banquet."

The moment the noble chattered away, the Dark Elves in the banquet hall twitched their eyebrows. They looked at the Castle Lord couple with flustered complexions.

A prophesy regarding Eugene and Valda.

That is an implicitly tabooed matter in Moving Castle. It is the place where the most witches in the world train and research, but no one told the future of the two.

However, the guests who didn't know these parts just watched with interesting faces. They were swept up in the desire to spectate at least a part of the future of a powerful and special couple that will remain in history.

"Magician! Hurry and let us hear it!"

"I am so very curious what kind of journey will unfold on the path ahead of the two."

The heavily drunk nobles incited without exception. For the magician too, it was a situation where the mystery of prophesy had already descended. If he didn't release this, he couldn't receive the next prophesy.

Thereby, the prophesy put forth by the magician whose eyes rolled back white crossed the banquet hall.

[Valda. Our beloved princess. The one we shall protect. The final legacy left by our history that was radiant.]

The voice coming from the magician's vocal cords wasn't the magician's. Voices that once crossed this entire land to cultivate civilization and sing. Now, they are the remaining residual thoughts of the Elves of the First Era where only echoes remain.

There are various methods of prophesy, but the magician who graduated from Mirage University scraped together the residual thoughts remaining in the world and contained them in his body. Seeing the future from the countlessly piled past. That is this magician's method.

"Ooh!"

"Indeed a magician of Mirage."

Everyone in the banquet hall admired.

[We shed tears at the tragedy to come.]

However, sadness was contained in the magician's voice.

[Princess. You will hold the knight's hand and promise eternity. However, that promise will not last longer than a single maple tree.

No matter how mighty a knight he is, he is a human. He will age faster than you, and his vigorous steps will also become slow.

Even if you walk the glorious path together with held hands, at some point you will discover your husband lagging behind. A husband who can no longer walk side by side and only sends a sad smile.

You shall realize when he lets out his last breath in your arms. That even if the time spent together with him was happy, the remaining time is only unending silence and sorrow.

Think of after your spouse's smile and warmth disappear into the dusk. You shall shed tears embracing only a shadow in front of the stone statue honoring the great knight. Because even the great couples of the past who birthed half-fairies could not avoid that destiny.]

A silence like death visited the banquet hall. However, the magician who had already given his flesh to the voices of prophecy continued his words. Because hope must always follow after despair.

[The final treasure left by the most radiant era. Please bloom the fruit of your love. The long lifespan the blood of the Royal House shall grant. So that you may soothe your scheduled solitude surrounded by flowers.]

With that, the prophecy came to an end.

The magician who was possessed by the residual thoughts doesn't know what words he spoke. But seeing the appearance of the audience looking at him with silence laid out, he realized at least that he was fucked.

"..."

The smile of Valda who was smiling consistently from start to finish also grew faint. Like moonlight being hidden into the clouds.

Kkook.

She changed the hand she had been holding with Eugene and interlocked fingers. For a stronger bond. As if trying to resist the prophecy brought down.

The one who reversed the atmosphere was Eugene.

"Prophecy is not an absolute thing. It can be changed however much. Because I have already shattered the prophecy of destruction."

Eugene smiled at the Blackhand tribe members and put his right hand on his heart. They also responded exactly the same.

"Destiny is swallowed by a more powerful necessity. From the moment this castle came to Lady Valda and me, we started walking a different path than the past. Something like a warning left by residual thoughts that only see the future through the past. I will show you I'll easily repel it. Like a ship that smashes head-on through rough waves and advances."

Clap!

When Eugene's words finished, Marcus clapped first.

Clap clap clap!

Subsequently, the Barcia King.

"May the Mayer family be eternal!"

"May infinite happiness fill the path ahead of the two noble couples!"

And all the nobles in the banquet hall presented a thunderous applause.

The only ones not participating in the applause and cheers were the Dwarves and Dark Elves. They offered an oath of silence for the couple they served.

That they would stand against everything trying to tear the two apart. Warning that for that, they would crush the uncrushable and even cut down the uncuttable.

* * *

That night, Valda lying on the bed turned sideways and hugged Eugene.

"Won't you be uncomfortable falling asleep like this?"

"Because it seems like I'll have a nightmare if I lie down like usual."

"That noble bastard who brought that magician. I should've kicked his ass and chased him out."

It was Valda who, even after fiercely sharing love, looked at the ceiling to invite sleep when sleeping. Because warmth was sufficient with held hands under the blanket.

But is it because of the prophecy? Valda craved Eugene's embrace like a child crawling into her parents' bedroom on a day with thunder and lightning.

"I'll give you an arm pillow instead."

"It's not enough with that."

"To think the person who so majestically dominated the banquet hall has suddenly gotten weak."

"..."

Eugene also turned sideways and hugged Valda.

Eugene felt his wife's touch encompassing his back and stroking his neck. On his instep, Valda's slender toes landed like butterflies.

"Are you at ease now?"

"Fufufut."

A laughter of agreement. However, Valda didn't close her eyes.

"Are you planning to sleep with your eyes open?"

"Once you fall asleep first, I will also sleep. Today is the first time I hate even the darkness of my eyelids."

One of the two peaceful breathing sounds changed to soft breathing. It took a longer time than usual for the remaining one to change too.

Eugene definitely showed a strong appearance in front of everyone, but it is true that anxiety also dwelt in his heart.

A piece of the prophecy that his firm voice couldn't completely shatter in the banquet hall. That dug deep into Eugene's heart and led him to a dream.

One fortunate thing is that the soul of Valda pressing her body against his did not leave him alone in the nightmare.

Just as it did at the knight's house in the past when the two were friends.