part0018

The moment Lark returned to Blackstone Town, he ordered his servants to post an announcement on the notice board at the Central Plaza. Now that the school had been opened for couple of months, a significant number of residents could read what it was about. Making announcements like this would become easier and more convenient later on, once the literacy rate of Blackstone Town rose several fold.

Mikael Garios, the knight tasked to observe the development of Blackstone Town and its Lord, read the words written on the notice board.

The declaration of the Lord of Blackstone Town was quite peculiar. According to him, all residents of Blackstone Town were mandated to stay inside their homes for a couple of hours tomorrow morning, at least two hours before noon arrived.

“A massive wall will rise tomorrow and enclose a portion of this region,” Mikael read it out loud.

Although this would have been preposterous had other people declared it, it sounded feasible upon knowing that it came from the Lord of Blackstone Town. Mikael knew that the second son of Duke Drakus was an extremely powerful magician. Although he had yet to gauge the full extent of the young man’s power, Mikael was certain that he was at least on par with a royal court magician. He was the man who’d defeated the Master of Wizzert, after all.

Now that he’d thought of it, it was quite amusing that Lark Marcus managed to stay unaffected for this long. Under normal circumstances, someone as talented as him would have been one of the strongest contenders for the throne.

“If only the other nobles knew.” Mikael chuckled.

They would probably flock to him like hyenas.

“Hey, old man,” said a familiar voice.

Mikael turned around and was greeted by the grinning face of a short, muscular man. Based on what Mikael had heard, this man had the blood of dwarves flowing through his veins.

“So, you remember.” Arturo was pleased. “I haven’t seen you in the mines for quite some time now. Heard you quit?”

“Ah, that’s right. I’ve managed to land a job at the lord’s mansion recently.”

Arturo snorted. “The mine’s too difficult for someone like you, eh? You need strength to break open those rocks. As expected of a former serf. It’s understandable that you chose to work in the stables of the mansion instead, cutting grass and cleaning horse feces.”

Arturo laughed after spouting the last part of his statement. He was clearly enjoying this encounter.

“I work as a coachman though?” said Mikael. He was unfazed, despite Arturo’s derisive remark.

“Coachman, gardener, or whatever. Bah! They’re the same! Don’t you think the salary of the servants in the mansion is quite… lacking?”

“It’s definitely less than a skilled miner, yes,” said Mikael. “But it’s a stable and honorable job. Moreover, there’s no quota required.”

Arturo clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“You’ll remain a poor man your whole life with that mindset, I’m telling you. This is the problem with serfs!” preached Arturo. “They don’t recognize opportunity when they see one. How stupid!” He noticed the announcement pinned on the notice board. “And what’s this?”

Arturo leaned forward and stroked his short beard. Although he’d been attending classes at the recently opened school, he was still having a hard time deciphering what was written.

“Ah, that,” said Mikael. “It’s an announcement from the lord, telling all residents to stay indoors tomorrow morning, before noon. According to it, a massive wall will rise up in this region and enclose Blackstone Town.”

“I-I know. I could read that much.” Arturo coughed to hide his embarrassment. “But a wall? Is the lord taking us for a fool?”

No matter how Arturo thought of it, it seemed impossible for a wall to suddenly shoot out of the ground and enclose the entirety of Blackstone Town.

Arturo spat on the ground. He looked at Mikael from head to foot, his eyes lingering longer on the cheap tunic, and said, “I’m going to buy several ecaruits for my kid. They’re quite expensive, but my daughter really likes them. See you around, old man.”

“Of course.” Mikael smiled.

Although most of the miners held contempt against Arturo, Mikael knew that the short guy wasn’t necessarily a bad person. He’d heard before that Arturo went out of his way during the freezing winter to buy medicine for his sick daughter. And when he found out that the Central Market had ran out of medicine, he even went as far as pleading with the herbalist for help.

Before he retired from the military academy, Mikael had seen his fair share of corrupted nobles and high-ranking government officials. Arturo’s snide and disparaging words were nothing, compared to those evil bastards.

While watching Arturo disappear into the crowd in the Central Plaza, Mikael noticed a familiar face among the crowd. Although she was wearing a hooded cloak to conceal her face, Mikael was certain that she was the princess.

Princess Esmeralda, the youngest daughter of His Majesty, King Alvis.

“What is she doing here, all alone?” he mumbled.

Seeing that she wasn’t accompanied by any of her knights, Mikael decided to follow her around.

Soon, she arrived at the Training Hall. Over a hundred soldiers were already there, repeatedly training their basic movements of the spear.

“It’s the princess.”

“It’s the fourth day, isn’t it?”

“I thought she’d quit after what happened yesterday.”

The soldiers mumbled and murmured to each other the moment the princess pulled down her hood and revealed her face. No matter how they looked at it, she wasn’t suitable to hold the sword, never mind a spear.

“Sir Anandra!” said the princess. “Please let me use the Training Hall again this time!”

Mikael was surprised to see what was happening. Currently, the youngest princess of the kingdom was bowing to the man with golden hair, asking for permission to use the Training Hall to hone her skills.

“I’ve told you before. I’m no longer the commander of the soldiers of this town,” said Anandra, his brow creased as he looked the princess in the eye. It seemed that he did not mind even if he was speaking to a royal. “I’m just an instructor now.”

The princess’ face visibly brightened upon hearing this, glad that she was not turned down outright. She turned to the dark-skinned man standing next to Anandra. “Then, Commander Qarat!”

Commander Qarat scratched his head. He whispered to Anandra, “Sir, what should I say? Is this really okay? What if the lord finds out that the princess—”

“He already knows,” said Anandra. “I always make sure to report everything to my lord, no matter how trivial it may seem. It may seem insignificant to me, but to my lord, it might be a different matter entirely.”

While speaking, Anandra’s gaze moved toward where Mikael was located.

Had the disciple of Lark Marcus noticed him?

Commander Qarat nodded. “I agree. The lord is indeed wise. If he already knows that the princess is coming here every day, then…”

“Just let her come. The lord said that she did not have any talent in magic. But with the sword…” said Anandra in a low voice. “She’s already better than most of the soldiers here. She could probably beat you in a fight, Commander.”

Commander Qarat was struck speechless for a moment. If Anandra, the genius who could utilize all types of weapons to their utmost potential, was praising her to this extent, then she was probably extremely talented.

Commander Qarat sighed. For a moment, he missed the days when he was still just the Captain of Blackstone Soldiers.

“Princess, it’s alright for you to use the Training Hall,” said Commander Qarat. “I guess?”

Princess Esmeralda smiled, taking away the breath of several soldiers. They stopped stabbing the air with their spears upon seeing it.

“Thank you, Commander!”

Qarat laughed awkwardly. “But please don’t overdo it, okay? I thought I was going to die when you broke your arm yesterday.”

The princess raised her right arm. “It’s possible for everyone to use lesser healing magic as long as they’re inside the Training Hall. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine!”

Commander Qarat rubbed his forehead. “I’ll trust you, Princess.”

From a distance, Mikael watched as the princess entered the Training Hall. He hadn’t expected things to turn out this way. He already knew the youngest daughter of His Majesty was incredibly talented with the sword, to the point that she could be hailed as a genius. But unfortunately, the princess held no interest with the blade. What she wanted was to learn magic. The ability to cast even the most basic of spells.

Mikael wondered what caused the stubborn princess to willingly train with the sword on her own. Everyone who’d stayed in this town long enough knew that the humanoids the soldiers were using as sparring partners in the Training Hall were incredibly strong.

Even soldiers with mediocre talent were able to become stronger after sparring with those humanoids every day.

Mikael wondered how much the princess would grow if she continued training like this every day.

A day quickly passed by. All of the residents of Blackstone Town, including those who’d been working in the fields, stayed inside their houses with the help of the police. There were also several people who chose to stay at the Central Plaza in hopes of witnessing the walls rise from the ground.

Mikael looked at the sky. The scorching sun was unobstructed by the clouds.

“It’s almost time,” said Mikael.

The town’s bell clanged.

As though on cue, the ground rumbled several seconds later.

Mikael’s eyes widened as he felt a colossal amount of mana being gathered underground and in the sky. He realized that two incredibly powerfully spells were being concurrently activated.

“H-Hey, what’s happening?”

“This is why we should have stayed inside our homes! I heard they placed some defensive talismans on them to prevent them from collapsing!”

“What? You’re the one who insisted on coming here!”

“Hold on tight!”

The daredevils in the Central Plaza, who chose to watch the event unfold with their very eyes, panicked the moment the ground rumbled and the clouds completely dispersed in the sky.

“Damn, the lord should have specified something like this was going to happen today!”

“Why are you blaming the lord? He told us to stay inside our homes, but you still chose to come here to the Central Plaza! This woman!”

“Stop bickering and look over there!”

The buzz in the Central Plaza died at once. Everyone was mesmerized upon seeing a massive stone wall rise from the ground. It was probably around sixty meters in height—they were not sure. What was certain was that this wall was probably the largest in the kingdom. It towered over the walls of even the other major cities. Furthermore, its width was large enough for ten people to pass through side by side.

Judging the wall’s distance from the Central Plaza, its diameter was probably thrice that of the current size of Blackstone Town. Even if they were to expand the town further, it should still be possible for them to build structures inside this fortress.

And the massive wall was just the start.

Soon, a translucent bubble slowly expanded from the direction of the lord’s mansion. It continued growing in size, stopping just right outside the wall.

It was a truly surreal sight. Had they not seen it with their own eyes, the residents of Blackstone Town would never have believed that these walls were built overnight.

“My King,” breathed Mikael, enthralled by what he saw. “If only you could see this sight.”