Chapter 606 – Guardian of the Castle

“The lower floors connect to the deepest part. The upper floors contain my living quarters and personal spaces.”

“In that case… I’d like to see the upper floors first before checking the underground levels.”

“Understood. Then I’ll guide you there, so would you mind following me?”

Claudia nodded cheerfully and led the way down the corridor.

Ende Wiles Castle… could be considered Claudia’s home, so to speak.

Beyond the main corridor lay a plaza—a spacious staircase leading to a large door. Though adorned with magnificent decorations, the door opened automatically as Claudia approached.

First was an antechamber, followed by the audience hall. The layout here didn’t seem much different from other castles, designed so visitors could meet the castle lord without proceeding further.

Lining both sides of the audience hall were knights of strangely small stature.

They stood about waist-high to me, with three-head proportions that appeared comical at first glance. However, each carried a well-crafted spear, with steel wing-like decorations on their backs—likely enabling flight for attacks during emergencies.

Upon recognizing Claudia, they performed a perfectly synchronized salute. Unlike the Beast Knights, they seemed hollow inside, yet moved quite nimbly.

“They don’t look scary, but… they seem pretty strong,”

Sheila remarked after seeing them.

“Is their small size meant to maximize space and attack in numbers?”

“That’s right. They’re called Little Soldiers. While they don’t intimidate by appearance, they possess sufficient capability to serve as proper castle guards. Just as Theodore guessed, they excel at coordinated group attacks.”

If they were human-sized, they could only surround someone from four directions, but being small and capable of flight allows them to swarm a single target three-dimensionally in much larger numbers.

Upon closer inspection, each carried a whistle at their waist, suggesting they could call for reinforcements if individual units couldn’t handle a situation. Presumably, if Little Soldiers couldn’t manage an opponent, Beast Knights or other monsters would take over.

Passing by the magnificent throne, Claudia stopped before the decorative wall carving at the rear. The knight sculptures carved into the wall bowed to Claudia and moved aside, revealing a door behind them that opened inward… exposing a passageway.

“This is… quite interesting.”

“I thought you’d like it.”

As Grace and the others smiled at the spectacle, Claudia laughed cheerfully. The corridor beyond seemed to lead toward the inner sanctum of the royal castle—the castle lord’s living quarters, in other words.

Sword Maidens were sweeping floors and walls with brooms and dusters, while Little Soldiers flew in formation during patrols… Observing the activities of the monsters protecting the castle was rather enjoyable.

The plaza visible from the corridor appeared to be a training ground, where Little Soldiers practiced spear techniques under the supervision of Beast Knights I’d seen earlier, engaging in what looked like drills.

While the monsters served as defensive forces, they operated in a manner resembling castle duties, seemingly fulfilling roles to prevent Claudia from feeling too bored or lonely.

Still, seeing the same things for many years would likely grow tedious, though having visitors probably changed that. Claudia, guiding us, appeared somewhat cheerful.

“Though the castle looks large from outside, there aren’t people working here, so we lack rooms for breaks or facilities that would normally be present. The spaces actually used for living are sufficient for just me.”

“Then what about those doors over there?”

“Most are rooms for soldiers to ambush from, or to confuse and trap intruders. They’re made to look like ordinary castle rooms, though.”

“Indeed, it would be dangerous to stray from Claudia-sama,”

Ashley said, and Marlene nodded with a solemn expression.

“I’d like to show you around freely, but… well, the trap rooms are safe if you’re with me, so if there’s anywhere you’d like to see, just ask and I’ll guide you.”

Claudia smiled wryly. Continuing down the corridor, we eventually reached a vast hall.

Passages extended in all directions… but Claudia stood confidently at the hall’s center. Lightly tapping the floor with her toe, a curtain of light descended from the ceiling around us.

“We’ll ascend from here. To make security responses easier, I designed the floating stone travel to take some time.”

Immediately followed by a peculiar sensation of floating. Ah, this must be the floating stone elevator, like the one in Theoreme Castle. Though the construction differed slightly, we seemed to be rising within the curtain of light.

“The upper floor contains living spaces: library and study, kitchen, dining hall, bath, living room, bedroom, and such. The Sword Maidens handle various chores for me.”

“The library… you mentioned?”

Rosemary showed a somewhat expectant expression.

“They were brought from the lunar capital, but the contents aren’t particularly remarkable. The writing from my era… might have academic value, I suppose.”

“In other words, not grimoires or such.”

“Yes. Unfortunately not.”

Claudia laughed at my words. The elevator would take a bit more time to reach the top. During the ascent, Claudia suddenly turned serious.

“—The ships that descended from the moon to the surface rescued surviving surface dwellers and non-feral monsters from various places. Then they put down roots here, where Earth Veins converge, forming Ende Wiles deep underground, unaffected by the Magical Storm.”

So Ende Wiles was… the district created earliest by the moon ships, it seemed.

The moon ships sequentially created: a fortress to protect Claudia, Ende Wiles as housing for people, districts to supply food and resources, and areas to build strength through combat training with generated monsters before venturing outside. This became the prototype of the Boundary Labyrinth.

Self-sufficiency within the labyrinth probably wasn’t difficult. Still, people dreamed of the surface and yearned to go outside. Meanwhile, the moon ships gathered magical power, eventually quelling the Magical Storm itself.

Claudia shared such stories from the past.

“Back then, there were far more feral monsters than now. Yet many still hoped to reach the surface. I wanted to grant those wishes… so I made preparations to create what would become the prototypes of Theoreme Castle and Termwills. My original goal was building an environment enabling people to return to the surface.”

Saying this, Claudia paused briefly and closed her eyes.

“Just when we began forming Theoreme… a massive monster assault occurred. The formation of Theoreme, evacuating people working on the surface, and repelling the monsters. I used too much power at once and fell into forced slumber deep within my fortress. The core was invaded afterward. We later discovered the monster assault utilized summoning magic. Meaning… they targeted the timing of Theoreme’s formation.”

The betrayal by surface dwellers scheming to seize the moon ship’s power, resulting in the Last Guardian’s rampage. The labyrinth expanded due to system confusion, training labyrinth monsters roamed freely, and began moving to eliminate intruders.

Thus the surface dwellers went outside. The protected monsters ended up living deep within the labyrinth.

—The floating stone elevator. The curtain of light eventually reached its destination: Claudia’s residential quarters.

As we prepared to proceed, Claudia suddenly stopped.

“…Ah. It seems that one is coming. I thought waking would take longer—”

Before I could ask who. A pillar of light rose from a corridor somewhat distant from us.

Right. Claudia had already told us before coming here. Besides Claudia, there was one other being with will in this castle.

The figure emerging from the pillar of light was—a female knight in armor, carrying a spear. White bird wings grew from her back.

“—It has been too long, Princess.”

An emotionless, monotone voice echoed. Both eyes remained closed.

“Yes. It’s been a while, Helvorte.”

Helvorte. Apparently called Valkyrie Helvorte. The Guardian of Claudia’s fortress, commanding all monsters within the castle.