Chapter 380: Prelude to Great Fame

“They’ll look magnificent when they leave, but they’ll surely be battered when they return. Prepare so they can collapse and receive care immediately upon return.”

After the great explorers set sail for the unknown world, Eugene carried out the remaining tasks.

The first was installing beacons. He built beacon altars so the ship’s return could be quickly communicated to the dwarf village. This had already been discussed with the crew.

Nearby, open cabins were built to accommodate exhausted crew members, with field beds and airtight first-aid supplies stocked. The dwarves would take charge of maintaining these arrangements.

Eugene’s reason for building a settlement in the southern New Continent wasn’t merely to mine gold. It was also to receive support as a forward base for further expansion.

“When the expedition’s return is confirmed, our village will immediately send support. The Divide friends have also pledged to help willingly. The nation’s heroes will receive food and treatment without lifting a finger.”

“I’m counting on you. Long-distance voyages are usually terrible.”

“Leave it to us. We must repay the gift properly.”

Theodore pounded his chest with his fist.

The Dwarven Mountain Range was a place that valued hospitality customs toward outsiders. After emigrating to the New Continent, that tradition had only strengthened.

“Is this all the return volunteers? Far fewer than I expected.”

Eugene scanned the dwarves Theodore had called. Smiling and waving at them as they stood with packed luggage looking overwhelmed, he gestured for them to relax.

“Was it really loneliness? Even with good neighbors, you can’t help feeling isolated.”

“Living in the Dwarven Mountain Range isn’t much different in terms of isolation.”

“Then was it just not agreeing with the climate?”

“That’s probably the main reason, but each has their own circumstances. Actually, more people are satisfied with life here. Living with clean, warm water in abundance and simple, honest locals.”

No one wished to return home to be buried there, as those from the mountain range basically had a cremation culture.

Perhaps feeling awkward, the return volunteers bowed to Eugene.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. We’ve caused you trouble with our change of heart…”

“It’s fine. This was a promise I made with you before coming to this land.”

Even for those full of pioneering spirit, adapting to an entirely different environment like the jungle of the New Continent was extremely difficult.

Moreover, descriptions heard from others about environments were often distorted. It wasn’t uncommon to travel far for a job based on a referral only to work in a completely different setting.

With this in mind, Eugene had included a return clause when recruiting settlers. Thanks to this, he was able to supply a large number of settlers in a short time. Without it, he wouldn’t have gathered even half the current number.

-Are you really coming to pick us up?

-To receive gold and cocoa, we need to visit regularly anyway. Besides, carrying those with homesickness on the way back is nothing.

The Dwarven Mountain Range was a friendly nation with much to gain from exchange. Carrying the dwarf settlers was part of the cycle and caused no loss.

The most important element in such promises was whether the super-powerful party would actually keep their word.

-If you find it hard to believe, shall I ask the King of Khazad-dor for a notarized document?

-No! We’re grateful for your generous care! We’ll work with all our might!

This was the moment to feel the power of honor. The credit and reputation Eugene had built traveling the world provided enough trust for the dwarves to feel at ease with just a verbal promise.

And this time, if Eugene kept his promise and sent a group of dwarves home, that credit would only solidify further.

“Even with them gone, there won’t be a shortage of hands.”

Eugene nodded, looking at the beastkin working everywhere. Initially, the number of departures was far fewer than he had expected, while the incoming population was much greater.

“Production will actually increase. Please don’t worry.”

“Don’t push yourselves. For me, this village growing is more pleasing than gold production increasing. The gold isn’t going anywhere.”

“Your words bring us joy.”

“Ah, and as I said before, I can’t guarantee visits every year. There are too many places to go.”

“Even once every five years is sufficient. We didn’t come here with a casual resolve.”

Under the proportional compensation contract, the return volunteers received tax-free gold coins for one year of pioneering and labor, and boarded the Moving Castle with happy faces.

The treatment and adventure tales these volunteers would spread throughout the Dwarven Mountain Range and even Khazad-dor would create a virtuous cycle, drawing more applicants to Eugene’s pioneering projects.

Whether sending people to the southern New Continent or to the unknown northern lands.

Eugene, separate from the gifts offered by the crew, released supplies in the village for his subjects as a monarch.

“Bug-repelling incense?!”

The most popular items were indeed the seedlings used to make bug-repelling incense.

“It’s a product the elves developed over a long time. Harmless to the human body, yet with excellent repelling effects. One application lasts three months. Since using it, not a single soldier under my command has been bitten by a mosquito.”

“Oh my! This is the best gift this old man has ever received in his life!”

Theodore and the village elders all clamored with joy.

Even the sturdy dwarves couldn’t stand mosquitoes that pierced the skin with sonic attacks while buzzing in their ears.

The Dwarven Mountain Range also had conditions suitable for mosquito habitation, so one of the items most frequently purchased from human merchants was mosquito nets.

“Then let’s meet again in good health.”

Eugene, having received gold ingots, cocoa, and specialty products, said his farewells.

*

Eugene entered the core room, and the Moving Castle, transformed by a bolt of lightning, cut across the world. The otherworld he had seen countless times since becoming the castle’s master unfolded before him.

Otto and Sigurd burned with the desire to stand proudly at their lord’s side by discovering great sea routes. But in truth, Eugene already surpassed them as a captain navigating the routes.

The special space Eugene had named “Grid Space” was essentially the Moving Castle’s dedicated route.

Adjacent to reality but free from its rules, a place where various tricks could be played. Like a gods’ sketchbook, one might say.

During transit, Eugene could observe the external world. Not with human eyes, of course, nor with the thermal vision the dragon’s eyes provided.

A sight that could only be explained through overwhelmingly advanced technology—no biological eye could see it. A world of information composed of energy, space, mathematics, and code.

That was why he could immediately notice when something foreign mixed in.

‘What is that?’

Eugene discovered an anomaly he had never seen in any previous transmission. An energy mass was creeping from the other side of the world toward the mortal realm.

While the Moving Castle shot like a beam of light with high mass and clear direction, this drifted down slowly with much lighter mass.

Its form reminded one of a jellyfish swarm—intruders that suddenly appeared in vast numbers from a usually peaceful horizon, occupying the sea.

‘That’ couldn’t be steered as precisely as the Moving Castle, so its movements were disordered. It soon lost direction, drifting with the current, and disappeared again to the other side of the world.

But at the boundary where ‘that’ disappeared, what Eugene saw was…

*

Flash!

The Moving Castle appeared in the Dwarven Mountain Range. As everyone came out to the balcony to breathe the refreshing mountain air, Eugene gazed in the direction where the anomalous energy had appeared.

“Eugene?”

Valda was the first to notice her husband’s unusual state.

“Is something wrong? Your expression isn’t good.”

“Something happened, but I’m not sure how to explain it.”

The unidentified cluster in the Grid Space didn’t contain clear intent like the Moving Castle. In some ways, it looked like a natural phenomenon—there was cause and effect but no intent.

The problem was that within that energy mass, life forms were huddled just like the Moving Castle’s inhabitants. If it had succeeded in reaching the mortal realm, what would have happened?

“Rampage.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Lead them personally and escort the return volunteers home. We’ll visit Khazad-dor a little later.”

“As you command.”

Rampage and the mounted warriors rode Vertigo out of the castle. It was natural to want to show off their success when returning home.

“Elders, hold on tight. Even if you fall, these are low enough that you won’t be hurt.”

“Hahahaha! At my age, I get to enjoy such luxury!”

Moreover, this was a service to neighboring elders. The elderly dwarves laughed heartily at the riding enjoyment that even a king couldn’t experience, gripping the shoulders of their juniors.

“I need to meet with Marbas right away. Homi, gather all the summoners too. I’ll explain everything at once.”

Eugene was cautious by nature, but he rarely showed it outwardly. Even when serious inside, he remained composed and affable on the surface, reassuring those around him—that was his way.

That was why, in front of his current appearance where both inside and out were serious, Valda and Homi both quietly submitted.

-Just as the tides ebb and flow, the mortal realm and the otherworld draw close and recede repeatedly. Summoners call the period of approaching a ‘Spiritual Tide.’

-Just hearing about it gives a bad feeling for the world.

-That’s right. During the Spiritual Tide, events beyond human cognition increase.

Eugene recalled the first conversation he had with Marbas. In a way, he had obtained this magical castle thanks to that special phenomenon.

Since becoming the castle’s master, he had long forgotten, but it seemed one couldn’t only take the good things in life.

*

“His Majesty is entering.”

As Eugene entered, all the assembled members stood and bowed.

“From your expressions, you already know why I called you?”

Summoners who continuously peered into the intersection with other worlds were the knowledgeable ones to rely on in this situation. Astronomers who gazed at the sky all day wouldn’t miss a comet.

“At first, I thought another external deity had descended. But it was too savage and chaotic for that.”

“It felt like a starless portion of the night sky falling into our world. But I read the emotions within that darkness. Curiosity… hunger… joy… Oh my!”

As the young summoners spoke with trembling voices, Marbas clicked his tongue.

“His Majesty called you for advice, but what good is it to simply state your own feelings?”

Stepping in for the juniors making mistakes due to lack of experience, Marbas took the floor.

“Your Majesties. The moment I’ve spoken of many times has arrived. The time when different worlds draw extremely close—the true arrival of winter, the Spiritual Tide.”

Valda and Homi understood why Eugene had urgently convened the meeting.

“An otherworldly entity from beyond the universe approached our world’s boundary and disappeared. But this is only the beginning, I guarantee. Wasn’t it similar when the Moving Castle first appeared in Rome’s north? After several trial lightning strikes to precisely locate the landing site, the castle itself descended. Perhaps this uninvited guest serves a similar role.”

Marbas was a strong advocate of the Spiritual Tide’s danger. He was prepared to freely share the knowledge he had researched and observed for this moment.

“No matter how our summoners can see the other side, they can’t compare to Your Majesty. Could you tell us what you witnessed?”

Marbas and the other summoners could only observe through limited methods in the mortal realm. They couldn’t see directly as Eugene did in the Grid Space.

“During transmission to the Dwarven Mountain Range, I discovered an energy cluster approaching our world. If we’re a castle, what would that be… perhaps a pond?”

“A pond?”

Valda, who had expected something more terrible, tilted her head at the surprisingly mundane metaphor.

“Yes. As if scooped up with the fish, frogs, and insects living within it still inside.”

“…?”

Correction. It was absolutely not mundane.

“It didn’t seem to have the ability to control its direction like dandelion seeds on the wind. It drew close to our world briefly, then was pulled back to where it came from.”

Though Eugene was a powerful figure who had built a mighty force and feared nothing in the world, there were two threats he remained wary of.

The first was the Spiritual Tide Marbas had warned about. The great calamity that had destroyed the powerful Elven Kingdom and Ancient Kingdoms.

Though its impact on the world was immense, it was so ancient and poorly recorded that few understood it academically.

Only summoners or exceptional mages could intellectually comprehend the Spiritual Tide. Those like Marbas, who believed it caused great upheavals each time and toppled ruling kingdoms, were extremely rare.

Most people attributed the fall of the two great kingdoms to overlapping disasters during their decline. That was more logical and rational.

The second was the prophecy received by the Black Hand Tribe. That an unstoppable catastrophe would engulf the tribe unless they took refuge in the Moving Castle.

-What was the prophecy the witches spoke of? It’s been six years with nothing happening.

-I don’t care. As long as we’re in this castle, nothing can harm us.

Now, virtually no dark elf concerned themselves with the prophecy.

Even Eugene, under his protection as king, wondered what threat could harm such a strong warrior tribe. He was merely curious what could annihilate them.

At one point, he had considered magical curses, and recently, the rise of the northeastern nomadic empire.

Perhaps today, that question would be answered.