Chapter 86

Chapter 86 - Return of the Castellan

Ventilation shafts that circulated fresh air existed throughout the Moving Castle.

With Eugene's single command, they transformed into the breathing holes of a fire dragon.

"...?"

"Keureureu!"

"Geuu?"

The monsters spread throughout the entire castle raised their heads at the suddenly plunging hot wind.

"Keuwuuu!"

But after their faces and eyeballs were subjected to a hot compress, they immediately lowered their heads.

Even teeth that could tear steel could not bite the air, and hides that laughably deflected conscripts' spears could not block the heat.

Whoosh.

The hot wind plunging down even more intensely.

"Kyawuu."

"Kareureureuk."

Like petty demons encountering the divine light of a god, the monsters scattered in all directions.

However, no matter which room or corridor they fled to, nothing changed.

As if the opposite of a mythical great flood, the heat filling the closed world was sweeping away the monsters.

The next day after such a night passed.

A bizarre fog was gently flowing around the outskirts of the Moving Castle. It was a phenomenon created by the temperature difference between the castle, which had become a steamer from heating, and the cool forest outside.

Countless footprints were stamped in front of the giant castle gate as if an army of hundreds had held a maneuver drill overnight.

'It was a good thing I released them here.'

The traces of the monsters seen through the window surpassed Eugene's imagination in scale and momentum.

If he had opened the castle gate in the Rostock plains, regardless of stake disputes, massive bloodshed would have occurred. And Eugene wouldn't have been able to avoid the responsibility for the knights and nobles who died.

'And to think they would even fight amongst themselves.'

The land connecting the castle to the forest was dyed with blood like a red carpet had been laid out. Over it, unidentified scales, claws, and bone fragments rolled around.

Perhaps having flocked to the forest while fighting, several fallen and smashed trees could also be seen.

Whether the monsters were originally in a competitive relationship or fought out of madness from the heat is unknown. What is certain is that the operation was a huge success.

* * *

However, there is one problem.

Eugene's party was also suffering from the heat.

"Congratulations on it going as planned."

Valda, whose entire body was drenched in sweat, greeted him in the audience room. Her figure was like a slowly melting ice sculpture.

Her ears, which always stood haughty and elegant, drooped powerlessly, almost horizontally.

Her hair, like golden threads, clung damply to her forehead and nape, emitting a peculiar sexiness combined with her flushed skin.

"I am sorry. The heating and cooling system is more inflexible than I thought. They should have made it better."

Because the structure applies uniformly tied by floor units, the audience room alone could not be excluded from heating.

"You are the only one in the world who would criticize such amazing facilities so harshly."

Naturally, being inflexible is just Eugene's thought with unnecessarily high standards. Valda looked at him with an absurd face instead.

"Since this place is in the center, it needs to be heated up properly."

The central floor where the audience room is located was wide and close to the main castle gate. The fact that it could hold that many monsters and make it easy to send them out meant it was a place that shouldn't be left out.

"It is a rational design. Even if it is arduous right now, considering you will receive guests and rule thereafter, it is an exactly fitting location."

Valda sighed, exhausted from the heat. A silver bead formed at the tip of her chin trembled and dropped off.

"Excuse me for a moment."

Eugene gathered all her golden hair and tied it round like a bun.

'Is it because she's an Elf? Or because she's a forest magician?'

Valda's body scent rising from her wet neck and shoulders was far from animalistic.

Perhaps because she sweat so much, it deeply penetrated Eugene's nose, a smell likely to emerge from ripening exotic fruits.

"Where did you learn such a skill?"

"I often did it for the neighborhood kids when I grew up in the countryside. Is it a bit better?"

Valda nodded with an admiring face. It was a cute tie to be the work of a fearsome knight.

"I minimized the incoming heat somehow. It's only dizzying from the heat here, but outside the audience room will be an environment like hell in the human world."

"I am envious of you."

Eugene had bared his upper body using the privilege of a man.

"If you are envious, you can copy me as well."

"Don't be frivolous."

The edge of Valda's hand lightly struck Eugene's chest.

Her level of exposure is also at an all-time high. She was wearing a skirt and a crop top Eugene made by cutting up clothes procured from the audience room here and there.

-Wh-What is these scandalous clothes?!

When Eugene first handed it over, Valda was startled out of her wits. Because it was a top that revealed both her navel and shoulders.

-It is an attire commonly worn in Samur.

-This is Roman, and I am an Elf. How could such...

Valda, who was about to say 'vulgar', swallowed her words. Because she couldn't speak insultingly of the sincerity and consideration Eugene put into tailoring it himself for her.

-It's probably better than catching heatstroke like this. Look at the floor you are standing on right now.

-...

The sweat that flowed down past Valda's upper body, thighs, and ankles was forming a small puddle. Even her ears flushed from subtle embarrassment.

-If you are truly embarrassed, should I wear a blindfold?

-There is no need to go that far. I will gratefully wear it.

The noble-blooded Elf magician also eventually succumbed before the harsh heat.

"Heuueu."

Similarly drenched, Homi also lay limp. Her always energetic tail did not even twitch.

All three retreated from the heat in the plantation room attached to the audience room. The abundant plants had the effect of absorbing heat to some extent.

Flutter flutter.

With Valda's magic, large-leafed crops swayed here and there, fanning them.

Valda rather looked marvelously at Eugene, who watched the pumpkin leaves with an interested face.

"Are you completely unaffected? In this terrible heat?"

"It is endurable for me."

Eugene smiled leisurely.

"A knight's patience is different as expected."

The stories of a knight charging while shouting fighting spirits even with multiple arrows stuck in their body are not rare. From the harsh training received since childhood, pain is like a knight's friend.

It felt like seeing a fragment of that in Eugene's current appearance.

'The weather here is generally on the cool side.'

It's partly that his body itself is sturdy, and Eugene's mind is also in a state tempered by heatwaves even worse than this.

"Homi."

When he brought a wet towel, Homi who was lying down slithered and sat up.

As Eugene wrapped her face with the cool towel, a pleasant purring sound slipped out.

When he also wiped her neck, back, and firm belly with abdominal muscles, she collapsed again with a much better face.

"Now for Lady Valda."

"...I can do it myself."

Contrary to her words, when Eugene brought the towel, she obediently entrusted her body.

As the cool towel wrapped her sculpturously beautiful face, Valda also let out an alluring nasal sound.

"Eut!"

When he dabbed the small pond pooled in her white collarbone with the towel, her breathing became even heavier.

Furthermore, as he tried to touch both her ears with the towel, she shrank her shoulders and shouted.

"Th-The ears are fine!"

"Hahaha!"

The heat was terrible, but the discomfort index was low.

Because they were three people who couldn't become unpleasant as long as they were together, even in difficult situations.

Twitch.

At that time, Valda's ear turned towards the audience room window.

"A bout of uproar has broken out outside."

"It's natural since cruel predators are densely packed together while suffering from the heat."

Like a city where a riot broke out, monstrous roars and sounds of smashing were endlessly heard from the surrounding forest.

It was so loud and fierce that it reached the audience room, even if faintly.

Eugene could hardly hear it, but the Elf's long ears continuously twitched.

* * *

There was no longer any existence escaping from the castle gate. It was time to turn off the heating.

Kuwuuung.

After the massive castle gate closed, a cool breeze began to circulate from the ventilation shafts where dragon's breath had come out.

The two ladies, finally liberated from the heat, had faces as if they had arrived in heaven.

After taking turns bathed in the refreshing sensation, they sat around a table. A large map of the continent was spread upon it.

"There were various maps stacked in large quantities in the warehouse."

Befitting a unified dynasty, the Ancient Kingdom was capable of completing high-quality continental maps as a national project.

It is an impossible feat in the current world divided into dozens of countries and thousands of noble families.

Leaving cost issues aside, if lords interfered saying, 'Who are you to dare survey my land?', they would have no choice but to retreat.

In Eugene's eyes, these maps possessed a value surpassing a thousand gold. Excluding the castle itself, they were treasures truly worthy of being called the king's legacy.

"Most uninvited guests have been driven out. However, including undead types, dangerous elements will still remain."

"We will have to handle those directly with steel."

"Before that, joining up with the unit is the priority."

The castle is so vast, and it's unknown what variables might exist. Fighting alone was a foolish act.

Eugene's finger stopped at a riverside village in northern Roman.

"Are we returning directly to Northfork?"

"Because the mercenaries I hired would have returned there."

"They might have just left after you went missing. You shouldn't expect the virtue of loyalty from mercenaries."

"They are not such disloyal people. According to the contract, I arranged for them to be paid up to a month's wages from the territory even if I die."

The treasurer who received the given instructions signed by Eugene had a face of seeing something truly novel. Because he had never heard of nor seen a noble ordering such a thing.

"You are a peculiar man. Most nobles don't go this far."

"Since loyalty is obtained through valor and maintained with silver coins."

"A reputation as a generous monarch is not bad, but it feels like treating them unnecessarily well. All of that costs money too."

Valda offered realistic advice so Eugene wouldn't become too much of an idealist.

"You will be respected enough just by not 'shaking them off'."

'Shaking them off' refers to nobles purposely killing mercenaries to save on wages. Whether sending them out as arrow fodder or making them do dangerous night reconnaissance.

Valda had even witnessed drunk nobles during banquets competitively boasting about their experiences of how they 'shook off' mercenaries.

"What I want is not the fame of a generous monarch. It's the reputation of a person who has never delayed wages. Even broadly estimating, it will take 10 years, but it will be convenient once achieved."

Nobles only considered trust amongst nobles themselves important, but Eugene's thought was different.

"It is the commoners who actually make the world turn while dirtying their hands with blood, sweat, dirt, and ink. They value this kind of trust more than honor, bloodline, or martial prowess."

"You were having such thoughts."

Valda honestly admired it.

This was a virtue that could be found from merchants, but was rare among nobles, especially knights who only thought about today and tomorrow.

The gazes of the three moved down to the map again.

"Your territory also has the base of the Blackhand Mercenaries. If the castle appears, the entire tribe will be informed immediately."

Being experts in monster hunting as well, they possess numerous silver-plated weapons. Since the enemies remaining in the castle had a high probability of being non-living creatures, it would be exceptionally effective.

"Once the castle is cleared, I plan to formally invite the tribe after bringing supplies from Northfork. If we host a large reception, their prophecy will be achieved."

Eugene's gaze moved from Northfork to central Roman.

"However, there is one thing weighing on my mind."

"Do you mean the Emperor's wrath?"

"Appearing in my territory is akin to announcing to the whole world. That Eugene Meier has claimed the Moving Castle."

By now, he would be scrutinizing the entire continent with glaring eyes.

"Considering the Emperor's obsession, it means becoming mortal enemies."

"Well, it's something that will be known someday anyway. Moreover, even if the Emperor's army comes, it doesn't seem particularly dangerous."

"Ancient Kingdom's masonry, and the garrison is Dark Elves. The commander is the victorious knight who executed the Wendigo and the Death Knight."

Valda shook her head as if it was absurd. Thinking from a besieging stance, it was a fortress with no answers.

"I have no intention of hiding from the world. We revert to Northfork."

Homi attached her feet and offered a military salute, and Valda bent her waist holding one hand to her chest.

* * *

The next morning.

A white thunderbolt accompanied with a storm fell on the barren wasteland distant from Northfork.

Huwuuuuung!

The wind pushed by the descending giant castle presented a wave of brown sand in all directions.

Lizards and rodents scurrying on the ground scuttled to hide underground in fright.

Eugene's party, who had finished battle preparations, stood in front of the audience room's main door.

"I will clear the path. Let's focus on escaping the castle as quickly as possible and returning to the territory."

At Eugene's words, Valda and Homi nodded.

It is not a very long way from the audience room to the castle gate. They had to pass through a few checkpoints in between, but they had left all the doors open and there were no guards defending them.

When they unlocked and opened the main door, a desolate corridor revealed its appearance. Traces of battle were seen here and there, indicating there might have been internal strife among the monsters.

Clank.

Two Living Armors blocked Eugene's party. One was one-armed with a crushed chest, and the other was full of scratches all over its body.

Swish!

Bam!

The sword Eugene thrust and the military hammer Homi swung smashed the two simultaneously.

A journey of the trio exactly identical to the time they departed the Emerald Forest in the past. But everything is different from that time.

If the three people at that time were seeds full of potential, the three people now are massive roots.

Because the group that will be born the moment they reach Northfork will be unprecedented even if one searched through all human history.