Chapter 5: The Magic Castle

The dark, towering castle stood like a ferocious beast in the center of the plain. Its mottled gates resembled the beast’s gaping mouth, standing motionless in the distance. It was a series of three castles—one main and two auxiliary—all built from bluestone. The seven-meter-high walls formed a zigzag pattern, with the gates positioned at the apex of the zigzag. Above the gates, a blurred bronze emblem was covered in rust, making it impossible to discern its image, though a bear’s head with bared teeth could still be faintly seen. Years of wind and rain had worn the walls, giving them a dilapidated appearance, suggesting that no one had visited this place for a long time.

The main gate faced the road, but no one had walked on that road for countless years. Traces of past carriages could still be faintly seen beneath the waist-high weeds, extending all the way to the gate. Half-orc soldiers, fully armed, stood behind Komer and his group, staring at the gloomy castle. The half-elf archers showed signs of fear—elven blood made them sensitive to certain dangers. Although Komer only had a partial elven heritage, he could still sense the dangers lurking within the castle.

Komer looked up. There was nothing visible on the walls on either side of the castle. Both gates were closed. Moss covered the bluestone beneath the rusted iron doors. It was unclear when these gates had been shut or whether a key was needed. After walking along the wall for a few steps, Komer noticed that the ground at the base of the wall was damp, and the foundation seemed soft. He couldn’t understand why the castle had been built here. Tapping the ground beneath his feet, he felt it resembled a semi-arid swamp, though he couldn’t fathom why the walls hadn’t sunk despite being built on such ground.

The city wall, several meters high and slightly sloped, was built from massive stones, giving it an extremely imposing appearance. Though its surface was very worn, Komer could tell that the craftsmen who built it had put some effort into it, as the surface was quite smooth. Weeds mixed among the cracks in the wall, and many vines climbed up along it. Brownish dead branches and leaves swayed in the cold wind, but this did not detract from the overall beauty and order of the structure. He didn’t know what lay behind the wall or what there might be, but his intuition told him that something special seemed to be waiting for him inside. He couldn’t say exactly what it was. He knew he would inevitably return to this place someday, but not yet. He also had no intention of living in this castle right away. Although he felt a sense of defiance to explore it alone, reason told him he couldn’t do so at least for now.

The walls of the two secondary forts were slightly lower than those of the main fort. It was likely that there were walls separating the secondary forts from the main fort, along with passageways connecting them. As a combination of a small fortress and the lord’s official residence, the castle served both functions, though it had never been used as a fortress. Was this Fort Damorlensk?

After observing it for a long time, Komer returned to where he came from and sighed, “Let’s go. It’s a shame such a magnificent castle can’t be inhabited. But since I’m here, I believe it won’t take long before it regains its vitality.” Komer’s voice was loud and directed toward the main gate, seemingly intended to declare something to those inside and around the castle. Like that half-elf, his intuition sensed the presence of some strange entity in the castle. That entity had awakened and was using its senses to perceive the people outside. This strange feeling made him uncomfortable, but he couldn’t determine exactly what was lurking inside. One thing was certain: whatever was there was definitely not a normal being like himself.

Inside and outside the fortress, it was as if there was a standoff. A chilling sense of oppression slowly seeped into Komer’s heart. He strived to merge the crystal attached to his chest with his own mental energy—a subconscious habit that had developed over time. Whenever faced with difficulties, the crystal would immediately become his support, and the merged mental energy would become incredibly powerful. The intense resistance made Komer instinctively adopt a confrontational stance. The cold aura emanating from within the fortress seemed to sense Komer’s defiance and suddenly disappeared, as if it had never been there. Everything returned to its usual state of peace and normality.

Whether it was Ilot, Puber, or even Fran, those standing behind Komer had all noticed the anomaly within the fortress. That icy aura almost chilled their hearts to the core in that moment, making them feel as though their hearts were completely exposed to the world, with no defenses left. This left the three of them in shock, unable to do anything but grit their teeth and hold on. Fortunately, it didn’t last long—the threat disappeared. They exchanged astonished glances but saw determination and interest in the lord’s eyes, which only increased their expectations of Komer.

The days that followed were rather dull. It wasn’t as dangerous and exciting as everyone had imagined, nor as peaceful and prosperous as the King’s realm. The entire town of Ugru had fewer than three thousand residents: one adventurer’s guild, three taverns, two inns, a blacksmith shop that also sold weapons and armor, a few specialty goods stores run by merchants from other places, and some small vendors selling daily necessities. This was the core area of Komer’s territory. There were also a few villages scattered along the coast and the Nise River. In total, the population of the Caucasus territory was less than five thousand. This information was gathered by Puber within a week after taking office, with the help of two orc guards, by checking the meager records left by the previous lord in the farms. Aside from a few people living in the town center, most people made a living through farming, while a small number relied on hunting in the nearby forests. Due to the long absence of a lord and his officials, tax collection here had practically come to a halt.

On the third day after Komer took office, as was customary, the mayor appointed by the previous lord along with the mayors of several surrounding villages came to pay him a visit. As Komer had expected, all of them complained about the hardships of life and the difficulties in their territories and, as per tradition, submitted their resignations, asking Komer to provide sufficient funds to improve living conditions in the region. Although Komer had never faced such a situation before, being of noble birth, he was well aware of the shamelessness of these so-called elected representatives from the lower classes. After offering some hypocritical reassurances, he accepted their resignations and vowed that he, as the new lord, would not disappoint the people of the territory like his predecessors had, and would strive to make a difference there.

After sending off these soon-to-be-replaced local officials, Komer met with the so-called industry representatives from Ugru Town. He paid much more attention to receiving these representatives, knowing that in the absence of a lord, the Caucasus was essentially in a state of anarchy, with real power in the hands of these people. Now that he had taken office, they were certainly unwilling to relinquish their power, but they would not openly defy him as the legitimate lord. Deceptive behavior was inevitable, but as long as he could bring these people under control, at least the Caucasus would be in his hands for now.