Chapter 595 – The Black Magic Castle

“I feel like… I can somehow imagine what Lady Lisa’s life was like back then.”

Grace narrowed her eyes as she looked at Mother’s room and murmured those words.

“Professor Rosetta said she received something similar from Lady Lisa too.”

Ashley smiled faintly as she looked at the skull accessory.

I had discussed with Old Sigmund about letting Grace, Ashley, and Princess Stephania—who knew Mother—see her room’s condition.

Well, in the end, everyone ended up seeing it… But even with more people, they just observed quietly. For a while, everyone silently gazed at Mother’s room, lost in thoughts of those days, before returning to the salon.

“Well… How should I put it. I believe I mentioned the story about the skull-adorned paperweight in my study. I have no idea what about it struck Patricia’s fancy. Since she was little, she’d take that paperweight out, hug it, and sleep with it in her bed.”

Old Sigmund scratched his cheek with a troubled expression but smiled nostalgically.

Ah… Yeah. I guess it was like a stuffed animal for a normal child? Well, what motifs people grow fond of varies from person to person.

Listening to such reminiscences from Old Sigmund and the elders, the evening passed.

Then, to prepare for tomorrow, we took baths, spent considerable time together performing Circulating Ki, and went to bed early—as Silvatria’s night gave way to dawn.

Morning. I opened my eyes to the soft sunlight streaming through the window.

“Mmm… Good morning. Did you sleep well?”

“Yes. Since we took time with Circulating Ki, I fell asleep easily and my physical condition is perfect.”

As I woke up, Grace was already up as usual. She had been gazing fondly at Marlene sleeping beside me, but when I spoke to her, she smiled and answered that way.

“Mmm, it’s a good morning. Indeed, I slept well.”

Rosemary answered after stretching lightly.

Perhaps hearing our hushed voices, Ashley and Claudia also opened their eyes slightly. A bit later, Marlene seemed to wake up too.

Since we’re finally heading to Beriondora, and we went to bed early last night, maybe we were in a state to wake up easily.

My physical condition is excellent.

When you spend time on Circulating Ki, the next day’s awakening is clear, and it’s certain that your condition that day is good. A sensation of power filling every corner of your limbs. Your thoughts feel clear, and your Magical Power feels sharpened.

Well then—time to psych myself up.

“——Be very careful. It’s the enemy’s stronghold. If it’s a den of Demons, anything could happen.”

“Yes. I won’t let my guard down.”

With that, we finished breakfast, joined up with the Demon-Slaying Knight Order, and assembled in the plaza. The weather is quite nice. The clear, cold air also helps clear my thoughts.

We loaded supplies, checked and inspected for anything forgotten, took roll call for personnel. After completing various departure preparations, we exchanged greetings with King Eberhart and the elders who came to see us off.

“Don’t get hurt, Theodore-kun. You are… yes, a special existence to us. You’re the long-cherished wish of the Seven Families, Patricia’s memento, and also the benefactor who restored our memories. It’s unbearably frustrating that we haven’t regained enough strength to accompany you…”

The elders hugged me without reservation, patted my back, and said such things.

“Please don’t worry. You’re helping me a great deal already.”

When I answered that, Emil moved away from me, smiled a little sadly, and nodded.

The members of the Seven Families were forced into near-imprisonment for quite a long time due to the Zadias incident. So they have a significant gap in their Vitality and Martial Arts.

When we reunited—when they hugged me—I could tell they had trained considerably more than when I last met them… But they probably decided that even so, they’d be a hindrance against Demons and opted to focus on backup.

I can understand and respect that decision. Precisely because they know those guys well, they realize that magic skill and knowledge alone aren’t enough against Demons. It must have been a bitter choice, but it makes me want to try even harder on their behalf.

“Well then, I’m off. I’ve truly been entrusted with your shares as well.”

Saying that, I grinned, and the elders widened their eyes slightly but smiled back and nodded. I climbed the gangway, bowed to everyone who came to see us off.

“Personnel roll call and supply inspection are both complete.”

I nodded at Elliot’s words, looked at Alpha sitting nearby, and said,

“Alright then, let’s go. Sirius, ascend.”

Following my words, the ship slowly rose. From the deck, we waved to everyone who came to see us off as we moved away.

Everyone waving, and the Silvatrian people sending cheers. The harmonious, orderly cityscape of Vinesdora and the magnificent Royal Castle. And—the towering Tower of the Academic Alliance. Watching them grow gradually distant, we left Vinesdora behind.

——Heading north, ever north from Vinesdora, Sirius set its course.

I spread a map on the bridge table and checked the compass. Simultaneously, I transformed Caduceus into a map, accurately determining our current position and grasping the location.

Beside me, we proceeded with confirming our strategy.

“As you can see, the positional relationship between Vinesdora and Beriondora is here and here. From Vinesdora’s perspective, it’s located northwest. So, if the Demons have surveillance, this direction is almost certainly watched.”

“…That’s right. We don’t know where the surveillance eyes are placed, but if we head there using the normal route, the chance of being detected increases.”

“So we’ll use a safe route, even if it takes a little extra time.”

Rosemary answered, and Ashley nodded.

Yes. We have Light Magic Camouflage, but even so. We want to minimize the possibility of being discovered en route as much as possible. We can’t definitively say there aren’t any with Evil Eyes like Gardinis’s that sense Magical Power, or others with special detection abilities.

Even if we assume that, the fact that we still have to conduct the investigation is troublesome.

Originally, Beriondora was a Magic Kingdom that suddenly bloomed in the northern frontier.

It’s the country the Seven Sages created to live on the ground after accomplishing the Seal of the alliance leader. Thinking about it knowing the background… well, it’s not incomprehensible why they built a country in the frontier.

Harsh winters can be overcome with Magical Technology, and they don’t clash with other kingdoms’ interests. Neither founding nor running the country gets interfered with.

Therefore, Beriondora is located almost at the northern extremity. There are countries to the south, but none north of Beriondora.

Normally—though it’s not that common of a topic—if you consider heading to Beriondora, as mentioned earlier, you’d either proceed northwest from the Kingdom of Silvatria, or use sea routes to the west of Beriondora, land, and head east inland. At this time of year, the sea route would probably be easier in terms of distance and geography.

That’s precisely why we’re using neither of these routes.

Gathering everyone’s gazes, I traced the map with my finger. We’d take Sirius straight north, go extra, head west—match the longitude, and finally approach by heading south.

“…So the north side is assumed to have the weakest surveillance, right? Meaning we’ll strike from behind, I suppose?”

Claudia closed her eyes and said.

Strike from behind, huh. Indeed. In other words, we plan to approach the ruined city of Beriondora from the north. Well, it’s the kind of move only possible because we have Sirius.

“The northern ruined city of Beriondora, huh. I heard it became a wasteland where not even plants grow due to the battle with Demons.”

“…A frightening story.”

Alfred and Penelope frowned.

“If the literature is correct, the wasteland has no plants, animals avoid it—and the weather around the ruined castle is particularly prone to storms, in winter it often becomes a raging blizzard. There was a hypothesis that the scars of battle with the Demons negatively affected the Spirits. In fact, before its fall, even though it was the northern extremity, it’s said the weather rarely became that violent.”

Old Sigmund knit his brows.

In society… it’s spoken of as an accursed, dreaded land, a place normal people wouldn’t even think of approaching.

Naturally, Miasma’s influence is likely present too. Monsters also tend to become more ferocious, so the area beyond the northwestern Silvatrian mountain range is said to be dangerous land.

Confirming our strategy, inspecting Equipment, checking physical condition for the operation, and various other preparations proceeded as Sirius advanced through the silver-white world.

The scenery visible on the monitors showed no abnormalities. Life Detection showed no unusual reactions. It could be called… smooth sailing.

“Shall we proceed with the Technique soon?”

“Yes. Please go ahead.”

When I nodded, Forset stood up quietly, and Old Sigmund, Valentina, and Charlotte followed her to the deck.

The plan is to protect Sirius from magical detection using Halvaronis’s concealment Technique and make it physically invisible with Light Magic Camouflage.

Foset took the lead in deploying the Magic Circle. As the Technique completed, a faint glow enveloped Sirius.

Wrapped in Wind Magic, cutting off information from scent, hearing, and temperature. Also shielded from magical detection.

Even with Sheila’s, Irmhild’s, Lavigne’s, or Corulis’s senses, or my Monocle or Gardinis’s Evil Eye, detection is impossible.

I don’t mean to say this makes us completely secure, though.

As we approached Beriondora, Sirius gradually lowered its altitude to make it harder to spot. Eventually—far beyond the monitor, it came into view. Whether to call it fortunate… the weather hadn’t deteriorated. We could see far into the distance.

That’s precisely why we could see it.

“Is that—the castle of Beriondora, said to have been magnificent?”

Old Sigmund uttered those words with a bewildered tone at the image magnified by the monitor. Princess Adriana, Valentina, and Charlotte also stared wide-eyed.

…A castle. It’s a castle. You can tell by looking. It doesn’t resemble anything else. Given its Moon Folk origins, it’s quite a large structure. That part is fine too.

What’s strange is—the color. It must be completely different from what Old Sigmund heard about. A castle of ominous appearance, with black spires towering.

That was the current form of the ruined castle of Beriondora, fallen into Demons’ hands.