Chapter 13
SO, WE BOARDED A SHIP that was hanging from a giant jellyfish that flew in the sky.
Saying it out loud sounded ridiculous. Pure fantasy.
I personally had a lot of experience flying using my Phantom Horse and Fly spells and was pretty used to being high in the air. Even so, this situation far exceeded anything I could imagine. My heart was racing.
When I looked overhead, the jellyfish creature emitted a gentle purple light that took over my entire view. The left-hand and right-hand vistas were also mostly crowded by tentacles. The Moonlight Ship we’d boarded and the jellyfish (or “nocturnal monster”) were quite different sizes.
It was this size difference that allowed the jellyfish, swimming leisurely in the atmosphere, to carry a twenty-meter-long ship. I mean, I’m sure there was sorcery or magic or something involved, too, but the thing was huge.
“This is amazing. Really amazing. Beyond amazing!” Sedam remained consistently excited. He kept asking all kinds of questions of Canberils and the others, who were supposedly controlling the ship. Sedam scuttled around this way and that to look over every part of the ship he could reach.
“Since we’re all the way up here, it’s a shame we can’t enjoy the scenery.” The Moonlight Ship had no cabin. I stuck my head out from the ship’s bow and looked down at the ground below, but I couldn’t make anything out in the darkness.
“Ahh, Lord…are we there yet?”
Reyha tugged at the hem of my robes. She was sprawled on the floor in her sensational leather armor, a rare sight for her. Even so, she kept her bottom flat on the ground and her legs tucked in demurely.
Her purple eyes looked up at me, moist with tears. Her pointy ears slowly drooped.
“What, you’re scared? Just from being in a high place?” Lade asked provocatively, wearing his normal, unfriendly expression.
“S-silence! You would not see me thus, were I to fly with the lord’s magic! How could you ever think I would feel secure swinging around in jellyfish tentacles?!”
Reyha shot back her excuse defiantly, but she only clung to me more and more tightly. Her indignation had no impact whatsoever. But I had to admit, it was cute.
✦ ✦ ✦
“I apologize to your servant, but it will take another three or four days before we arrive. We’ll land during the daytime for rest.”
Canberils spoke to me as I was lowering Reyha (still clinging to me) onto a nearby bench. One of the guards stood at what looked like the helm—though I had to wonder if nautical terms still applied.
“Three days…that’s fine.”
I had no idea how fast the jellyfish was traveling, but the destination must be much closer than I’d originally thought.
“The castrum is in Shrendal right now,” Canberils explained.
“Oh, is that so? Wait…hold on a second.”
I cocked my head to the side, but Canberils continued, not noticing. “I’ll warn you in advance: The elders want to meet with you as soon as we land. Until then, please don’t speak to any other members of the clan.”
“You mean, don’t talk to anyone about the prophecy, right?”
“Thanks for making it easy. The only people who know about this are the mystic, you, three elders, two warlords, two warchiefs, and those two guards over there. This topic is just too dangerous for the warrior clan as a whole.”
Canberils’s stony face looked like it had endured the weathering of wind and rain. I could tell he was under a lot of stress. The foresight of the mystic, or rather her authority, was that important to the warrior clan.
I nodded and started to ask him a question. “By the way—”
“By the way,” Sedam cut in, suddenly right beside me, “why does the warrior clan live in this castrum or whatever? Isn’t it normally called a town, or a base, or a village?”
“That’s because it’s not a town or a base, and no one would ever consider it a village.” Canberils let out a little sigh. He sounded exhausted, like an elderly man approaching death. “The warrior clan doesn’t belong anywhere in this world. We only have places where we must be…and they are where the daemons are.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Three days later, high noon.
The plan was to walk from the Moonlight Ship’s landing spot to the castrum. They called this landing spot their harbor. We were surprised again to see that there were three more ship-and-jellyfish setups that had “anchored” there.
We walked along the rocky mountains for a few hours. The winding mountain path eventually approached a valley, surrounded on each side by high cliffs. At the entrance to the valley was a simple defensive wall and gate made of logs, as well as a watchtower.
“So, this is the warrior clan’s castrum?” Sedam said, really seeming to enjoy himself.
“That is correct,” the mystic replied, smiling. “We welcome you, and give thanks to you for coming all this way.”
We waited there for a time, and before long, the gate opened, and many boys and girls came running out at us.
“Oracle!”
“Oracle, welcome home!”
The elf maiden smiled beatifically. “Did you all stay healthy?”
“Yeah! We’re all fine!”
The mystic spoke to them gently, as if they were her own children. The rest of the warrior clan looked at her with respect, affinity, and a little fear.
“Okay, everyone! Back to work. We have important things to discuss with our guests!” Canberils spoke, and everyone bowed obediently and went back inside the gate.
“Aye, Warlord!”
“Let’s prepare a feast!”
Even the warlord had spoken gently to the children for a few minutes. My impression of the clan had only improved.
✦ ✦ ✦
Guided by the mystic, we stepped into the castrum.
“Look at this…”
“Mmm.”
The first thing to catch my eye was the living quarters. There were a variety of very simple residences lined up in neat rows at the bottom of the valley. They were adorned with cloth and leather depicting geometric patterns. Except for some elaborate decorations, they were the same designs used by the warriors staying in the Castle Getaeus courtyard.
So those weren’t just what they used for camping or temporary housing…
As we proceeded along the bottom of the valley, everything we passed shared the same sort of simple, portable design. Actually, it seemed that even the watermill shed on the small river in the valley could be struck down. The small barns and pens were likewise collapsible.
“Do you mean the warrior barracks—”
“It’s not that surprising, is it? There are clans who follow sheep and cattle. We follow daemons.” Canberils spoke dispassionately.
Now I understood. That’s why he’d mentioned where the castrum was “now” on the Moonlight Ship. They moved from one land to the next, stopping where daemons were expected to appear—probably based on prophecy.
“Just like the name implies, this really is a war camp.”
“Yeah.” Sedam looked around, nodding.
The people in the clan who weren’t wearing that weird armor sported clothing that resembled the Japanese kimono. While their initial appearance was different, they lived like completely ordinary villagers in this world: spinning thread, washing clothes at the edge of the well, cracking wheat, and so on.
But these people’s lives centered on a never-ending hunt for daemons. Even Sedam watched them with both curiosity and sympathy.