Unlike when Lark first left his territory to embark on a journey toward the capital, he no longer felt unsettled leaving the management of the town in his subordinates' hands. He was now confident of his men's capabilities. He was sure that they would manage Blackstone Town properly during his absence.
Lark summoned the officials of his territory to his office.
"I'll be gone for a couple of months," said Lark. "Although I can't disclose the exact reason why… I'll be heading to the capital."
"You're leaving again?" said Silver Claw.
It felt like just yesterday when Lark gathered his soldiers and went to the western front to participate in the war against the Empire.
"It can't be helped," said Lark. "There are things which need my physical presence. I'll be looking forward to seeing the Town Hall. I hope it's complete by the time I come back."
"Sounds like you'll be gone for quite some time." Silver Claw scratched his cheeks. He was the only officer in this room who could talk informally with Lark. "The Town Hall will be done before autumn ends.
Leave it to me."
"End of autumn, huh?"
Lark was reminded that winter was looming. That season marked his first year since coming to this timeline.
Lark slid a document toward Pico. "This the proof of payment for the livestock we've ordered from Lion City. Six pairs of cattle, ten pairs of goats, fifteen sheep, five horses." Pico took the document and slowly read the first page. "It'll take some time, but I hope that there will come a time when we'll no longer have to order livestock from the nearby territories.
Coordinate with Silver Claw for the sheds. Be sure everything's done before winter arrives."
"Yes, Young Lord?"
The south was a vast grassland. It was the perfect place for the animals to graze around.
"Oliver," said Lark.
"Yes, My Lord?"
"While I'm gone, you'll have full authority over the northern and western farmlands," said Lark. "Although we already have enough food stored in the granaries to last us throughout winter, the rise in our territory's population is steep. I want all of the wheat seeds planted in the Northern Land by the end of this month. Remember, there's no such thing as too much food—we can always export the excess to the surrounding regions."
"Leave it to me, Lord." Oliver bowed his head. "We're already halfway done with planting the seeds. I'm confident in meeting our Lord's deadline."
Lark nodded in satisfaction at this. "?ery well. I expect a lot from you." He looked at all of the officers in the room. "The same goes for everyone here. Coordinate with each other while I'm away."
"Yes, Lord?"
*** Along with all of his disciples, the princess, and her knights, Lark made his way to Lion City. Unlike before, the road leading toward the city was visibly more secure: mercenaries hired by the merchants guild patrolled the road, and some of the paths were lit by kalrane stones. They even passed by a small cabin, which served as a garrison for the mercenaries, on their way to the city.
After arriving at the city, Lark went straight to the smithy, while the rest of the group lodged at an inn.
Upon the princess' insistent request, Chryselle ended up sharing the same room with Her Highness.
Princess Esmeralda sat on the bed and patted the wool blanket. "Hey, at this rate, I'll never learn how to use magic, will I?"
Chryselle didn't immediately respond to the princess' question. She carefully thought of her next words. "You can, Your Highness. But becoming a disciple of Master Lark is out of the question." Chryselle slowly added, "But you can always learn from someone else. You're a princess of this Kingdom, after all."
A few weeks ago, Chryselle heard from Lark himself that he had no intentions of teaching the princess any spells. According to him, the princess lacked the fundamentals to become a decent magician. She had mediocre mana pool, and her talent in magic was very subpar. Chryselle confirmed this herself when the princess asked her to teach her the magic basics.
The princess would eventually become capable of casting first?tier to second?tier spells if she persevered, but that was probably her limit. She would not achieve greater heights than this.
The princess slumped on the bed. She sighed. "You're a princess of the kingdom, after all—I've heard these words a lot, even when I was still at the capital. It's frustrating. Whenever people look at me, they only see my status as the princess of this country."
Chryselle simply listened and didn't utter a reply. As one of the elders of the Magic Tower, she understood what the Princess was going through right now.
"Princess this, princess that," she angrily mumbled. "Can't they see anything aside from that useless title?"
Realizing that she had raised her voice, she looked at Chryselle apologetically. But after the princess remembered once again when Lark called her mere baggage, frustration started swelling up within her.
"I can always get another magician to teach me, that's right," said the Princess. "But that's also like saying I've given up. That that stupid Lark Marcus was right?"
Chryselle smiled at the fuming princess. She looked cute, despite her childish remarks. Maybe it would feel like this, if she had a younger sister?
Although Chryselle had been dubbed as a magic prodigy ever since she was a child, she could still understand where the princess was coming from.
Chryselle sat on the bed, right next to the princess. She said, "How about the sword, Your Highness?"
Princess Esmeralda shook her head. "I don't like swords. Parzival tried teaching me swordsmanship when I was little. He said I have talent with it, but just the mere thought of cutting another person with a blade is enough to make my stomach churn. I can't do it."
Chryselle thought that magic was similar to the blade, probably even more barbaric and cruel. Since she was a child, she had seen firsthand what magic was capable of.
But it was apparent that the princess had already made her mind to become a magician, no matter what. Chryselle felt no merit in convincing her otherwise.
"Hey, Chryselle."
"Yes, Princess?"
"I told you to just call me Esmeralda." The Princess pouted. "How long do you think it'll take the blacksmith to finish the phylactery?"
Lark was currently at the smithy, discussing the details with the blacksmith. Since they already had the flower and the rest of the materials in their hands, all that was left was the phylactery.
"Master Lark said it'll probably take at least several days, a week at most."
"A week," the princess mumbled to herself as she stared at the ceiling.
A week felt too long right now. "I wonder… how my father is. Lady Ropianna's with him, so nothing too dangerous should happen, right?" The Princess sighed.
The bells of the city rang. Numerous footsteps were heard outside.
Chryselle stood up, swept away the curtains and opened the window on the second floor. Below them, she saw several soldiers running toward the direction of the western gate.
"What's happening outside?"
Curious of the clamor outside the inn, the princess peeked her head out of the window. She noticed that the residents started going back to their homes, the door of the nearby inns and taverns were shut, and more soldiers started moving toward the west.
"Monsters again, eh?" one of the soldiers below said.
"That's obvious, idiot. It's a full moon tonight."
Chryselle and the princess looked up and saw the twin crimson moons above.
Chyselle understood immediately what was happening. Near this city was that monster?infested lake. She heard that for the last several months, the monsters of the lake had started attacking the human settlements in the area.
Loud knocks were heard at their door. Chryselle opened it and Parzival and the rest of the knights entered the room. After the door was shut, Parzival said, "Princess, monsters are attacking the city. We should probably get out of here while we still can."
The hair on the princess' nape bristled upon hearing this. She stuttered, "M?Monsters? Why are monsters attacking here? It's one of our Kingdom's major cities?"
"I asked one of the inn's servants. She said the monsters probably came from the Lake of the Full Moon," said Parzival. "Hundreds, if not thousands of them, are attacking the city right now."
Color started draining from the princess' face. She'd been sheltered in the king's castle her entire life. The idea of a city being overrun by monsters never crossed her mind. The mere thought of innocent civilians being eaten by those beasts was too terrifying.
"Don't worry, princess," said Tomas. "The soldiers are gathering at the western gate even now as we speak. Even if the military fails, we'll make sure the princess safely escap—" "—There's no need for that," Chryselle finally spoke. She was the only one in the room who'd remained calm throughout the conversation. "If this monster invasion is as terrible as you guys make it out to be, the citizens of this city would have already left a long time ago. People value their lives above anything else, after all. I saw the soldiers down below just a few minutes ago. And they looked too carefree for someone going to confront a horde of monsters."
Now that Chryselle mentioned it, the princess also realized it. She also saw the soldiers moving toward the western gates. Some of them were merrily chatting with each other, as though going to a picnic.
"Then are you saying that this monster invasion is a trivial matter?"
Parzival frowned. He clearly did not like the fact that Chryselle was dismissing the potential danger of this monster invasion.
"I'm saying that the city probably has a way to defeat all of those monsters," said Chryselle. "You've seen the towers before, right?"
Parzival and the rest of the knights remembered the towers scattered throughout the city. Each of them looked imposing, as though they were relics from the ancient era.
Parzival was about to utter a reply when several loud explosions were heard outside. Looking through the window, they saw a nearby tower activate. At its tip, several balls of lightning started forming, before shooting toward the west. Bright light momentarily illuminated the night sky as streaks of light shot forward.
Shortly after that, another tower was activated, and several balls of lightning once again shot toward the same direction.
"Amazing," muttered the princess. "Parzival, I want to see it? Let's look at the towers?"
Anything related to magic was fascinating for her, even when she was still a kid. The Princess ran out of the room.
"Princess?"
Her knights immediately followed suit. Chryselle also decided to go with them. She wanted to see for herself what those towers were capable of.
Soon, their group arrived at the area near the gate.
Contrary to their expectations, the soldiers weren't fighting with the monster horde. Instead, they simply stood before the gates, forming a human barricade, ready to cut down any monsters who managed to bypass the walls.
"It's dangerous here," one of the soldiers said to them. "Go back home, keep your door shut, and sleep. There's no need for you to worry. The monsters will all be dead by morning." The soldier spoke with absolute confidence, as though this monster invasion was a mere daily occurrence.
Every now and then, beams of light would shoot out of the towers in the city, creating loud explosions outside the walls. Even from this distance, they could hear the cries and death throes of the invading monsters, and the scent of charred flesh started permeating the air.
It was a one?sided slaughter.
"T?Tomas," said Parzival. "Aren't these towers very similar to the ones in Wizzert City?"
Tomas was slack?jawed as he nodded his head. "Y?Yes. There's no mistaking it."
"But impossible," said Parzival. "The elders of Wizzert would never allow another city to use their towers. So how—" "—They're not from Wizzert," the soldier from before interjected.
"They're towers commissioned by Lord ?alcres. I heard that these towers were designed by the Lord of Blackstone Town."
"By the Lord of Blackstone Town?" said the princess.
An unexpected name suddenly came out of the soldier's mouth.
Everyone, aside from Chryselle, was dumbfounded upon learning this fact.
For a moment, they doubted if what they'd heard was right.
"What was his name again? That young man from the Marcus Family?
Pretty neat invention, don't you think?" The soldier stared at the princess and her knights. He sighed. "Look, we always get curious daredevils like you during this time of the month. But there's literally nothing to see here aside from flashy explosions and deafening sound. Go back home." The soldier looked around. "The commander will punish me if they see you here."
*** By the time the princess and her knights went back to the inn, Lark had already returned. He was standing at the hallway on the second floor, waiting for them to come back. Next to him were Anandra, George, and Austen.
"You're back," said Lark.
The princess stared curiously at Lark. She had not expected that the one who invented those towers was someone they knew all along. He never mentioned anything related to those magic towers, after all.
It seemed that the Lord of Blackstone Town was somewhat popular among the citizens of Lion City. After he created the magic towers, the citizens no longer feared the coming of the next full moon. They no longer feared the monster horde. They were simply grateful that they could continue their peaceful lives in this region.
"Her Highness' room is the largest," said Lark. "Let's go inside first and discuss the things I've talked about with the blacksmith."
The princess agreed.
After everyone was inside the room, Lark went straight to the point.
"Five days. Garma told me that it'll be possible to complete the mithril phylactery in five days."
The princess breathed a sigh of relief. It was faster than she expected.
"So we'll have to stay at Lion City until then, huh?" said Princess Esmeralda.
"That's right." Lark nodded. "It's a full moon tonight, and the monsters will keep attacking the city for the next two to three days. We can't go out of the city even if we want to. It'll be too dangerous. But staying in the city should be safe, as long as we stay inside the walls, under the protection of the towers."
Lark noticed the peculiar gazes of those around him, particularly the princess and her knights. He decided to dismiss it.
He added, "We'll go to the merchants guild tomorrow morning to gather additional rations and materials."