Chapter 6: Filthiness
The arrival of Hoffman, Tracy, and their party added some liveliness to Caucasus. At the banquet held in honor of these three distinguished guests and Princess Vero, who had arrived earlier, Komer invited all the nobles from the Caucasus region. Unfortunately, Caucasus was far too simple; among its inhabitants, the only nobles with titles were Baron Komer, along with two lower-ranking nobles, Ilot and Pupber, who held knightly titles. Aside from these three, there was only Lord Melbourne, who wasn’t even a true noble—he had merely purchased a lordly title without any lands or official recognition. The rest were wealthy merchants who lacked any status, making the banquet somewhat ridiculous. Even Hoffman and the others felt that attending such a banquet was somewhat beneath their dignity. Yet Komer, as the host, wasn’t bothered at all. He introduced Hoffman and the others to the guests one by one, creating a rather awkward atmosphere at the banquet.
Fortunately, though these wealthy merchants weren’t of noble birth, they were well-versed in etiquette. As merchants, they had attended similar banquets in their own countries and city-states, though the guests there weren’t as noble as those present this time.
During Hoffman’s group’s visit to Caucasus, aside from that one chance for conversation, Tracy seemed to keep a tight watch on Hoffman and Lenta, never giving Komer another chance to be alone with Hoffman. Instead, she took walks with Komer a few times, triggering endless memories in him about the past. But the past was gone, and the people remained—the situation felt like entering a tunnel of time reversal, leaving Komer in a daze several times.
Vero could sense the special relationship that once existed between this woman and Komer. Although Komer could hide it, her keen intuition allowed her to detect the awkwardness mixed with an odd atmosphere between them. Tracy acted much more normally, while Komer wasn’t good at hiding his feelings. It seemed the rumors about them weren’t unfounded. However, she felt that there was no longer any intimacy or understanding between them, replaced instead by a deliberate coldness. Both sides focused more on the other two guests, which disappointed Vero greatly.
Vero had no interest in political matters at all. Coming to the Caucasus felt like paradise to her—beautiful mountains and green landscapes, bright sunshine, fresh air, a novel environment, and kind people. All of this made her extremely happy, and those around her seemed to understand her feelings as well. They never brought up any troublesome topics. How wonderful it would be if things could stay this way forever.
She found herself particularly interested in the past relationship between Komer and Tracy. Although she pretended to be indifferent on the surface, she couldn’t hide her true feelings. Even the slightest word, gesture, or glance between Komer and Tracy could spark endless thoughts in her. She felt as though she was being possessed—was she really starting to like this man, who always seemed cheerful but hid a hint of melancholy? She wasn’t sure, but she knew the flame of jealousy in her heart was burning her fragile heart. Everyone knew what jealousy meant. What should she do?
After three days, Hoffman and his group finally left satisfied. Hoffman and Lenta were very pleased with Komer’s performance. The five hundred half-human soldiers he had at his disposal might not seem like much, but Komer’s promise to help the rebels in the already chaotic Leon region piqued Hoffman and Lenta’s great interest. Hoffman promised to send someone to contact Komer as soon as possible to discuss transporting weapons, armor, and food to the Caucasus by sea. Food, in particular, was the biggest obstacle preventing the rebels from growing stronger; to overcome this, the supply volume needed to be greatly increased. Hoffman also understood that Komer wanted to take advantage of the situation, as the Caucasus was also short of food. Although Mardan’s port had reopened, many grain merchants would be hesitant to transport large quantities of food right under Philip’s nose. Moreover, most of the grain in the area came from the Bosen Plain and the Calais Plain, both of which were under the control of Philip and Zelin’s alliance. Therefore, transporting large amounts of food to the Caucasus required careful planning.
Hoffman and his party’s departure left Komer feeling lost. During this time, Tricia and Komer had a deep conversation in which she formally asked him not to enforce the Utrecht Edict and to avoid getting too entangled with the kingdom. The Caucasus first belonged to the Homer region before becoming part of the kingdom’s territory; this relationship must not be distorted, otherwise it would lead to serious consequences. This politically charged conversation finally freed Komer’s mind, which had been plagued by an inexplicable emotion. He didn’t even know why, after the conversation, the pressure and gloom in his heart eased somewhat. Though he hadn’t fully returned to normal, he believed he could break free from this mental burden with time.
He found himself still deeply attached to Tricia, a feeling even stronger than before the conversation. But it was now purely physical attraction and desire. Tricia’s skillful teasing and hints made Komer’s passion flare up several times. Her delicate, porcelain-like body and enchanting murmurs echoed in his mind repeatedly, making it seem like an uncontrollable desire for her to submit to him once again.
However, Tricia’s timely words stopped Komer from acting on his impulses. He wasn’t opposed to such a transaction that bordered on a naked exchange between physical desire and politics, but now wasn’t the right time. The perceptive Vero was already very concerned about the relationship between him and Tricia, which was a good sign. He didn’t want to turn this good sign into a bad reality. Perhaps another time and place would be the best opportunity—now was not.
His reply to Tricia was naturally vague. Komer put forward his conditions: lifting the food and weapons embargo on the Caucasus from other parts of Homer and restoring tariffs to their original levels. This was his prerequisite. Tricia agreed to convey this opinion to Grand Duke Philip upon returning to Cyprus. Komer held no hope for such diplomatic promises. In his mind, everything would remain as it was.
Strolling in the square, an indescribable sense of comfort permeated Komer’s entire body, as if he had suddenly stepped into a warm ocean naked—evoking a sense of return. Even the air seemed to brim with vitality, and the sunlight lost its intensity, becoming somewhat dim and pale. Yet it was a bright dimness, devoid of any stinging heat. Immersed in it, it even had the effect of washing away dust and impurities. Komer looked up at the sky in surprise; at that moment, it had turned into a strange light blue, completely different from the clear blue outside the castle earlier. Meanwhile, the obelisk in the center of the square also seemed to exhibit some anomaly—surrounded by a halo of radiant light, the space twisted repeatedly. However, this state didn’t last long. With a harsh screech, the radiant light vanished, and the entire space became blurred and illusory before returning to calm. The sky turned blue again, the statues remained statues, and the obelisk stood firm in the center of the square.
It was then that Komer noticed several men dressed as magicians standing around the center of the square, searching along the boundary ditches. It turned out these guys were the culprits. The center of the square was originally an ancient starry sky magic array, but without a divine artifact and magic spells to guide it, this massive starry sky magic couldn’t be activated—both were essential. It seemed these men had tried to activate the magic array earlier but failed in the end. Only then did Komer realize that everything he had seen and felt was a spatial distortion caused by the magical energy emanating during the initial activation of the starry sky magic.
Rebri looked at his staff, now reduced to ashes, with frustration. The illusion magic staff that had followed him for over a decade had vanished silently into smoke. The power of this ancient magic array was indeed immense, even altering the very space around it. Unfortunately, the material of his staff was far too inferior to sustain the magic array’s operation; it turned to ashes after just a few minutes under the intense magical pressure, and his magic spells could only handle the initial stages of activation.
“Newman, it seems we’ll never be able to activate this magic array. Although we know it’s a large-scale magic array, it seems we need something truly worthy of being called a divine artifact to activate it. But where can we find such a relic now?” Rebri sighed deeply in distress, feeling powerless as the opportunity arose before him.
“Rebri, I’m afraid this artifact still needs to match the magical properties of this magic array. The Starry Sky Magic Array belongs to neutral magic, so it isn’t very strict about the attributes of artifacts. Artifacts from the light or elemental schools should all be suitable, but their effectiveness will vary. For this Starry Sky Magic Array, since it makes extensive use of light-based magic combinations, light-elemental artifacts are the most appropriate. Your staff belongs to the earth-elemental category; although it can still activate the array, it won’t last long, wasting an artifact in vain,” said the pale, thin mage, shaking his head and sighing. “But the divine artifacts among the light-elemental artifacts are usually controlled by the Light Church. Where are we supposed to get one? Ordinary light-elemental artifacts won’t suffice either. Are we supposed to storm the Light Church and steal one? I wonder who designed this Starry Sky Magic Array—such a massive scale yet guided by light magic. Doesn’t he know this land is located above the Eye of Darkness?”
Using magic of an opposing attribute in an environment with opposing attributes often requires more magic power. The Eye of Darkness is a sacred place with dark and cold properties, so light magic’s effectiveness here is greatly reduced, while dark magic and elemental magic like water and ice magic become more potent—this is also due to the differences in the environment.
“Hmph, if there’s really no other way, we’ll have to borrow one or two divine artifacts from the Light Church. It’s a shame those two who wander outside the castle are knights. If they were priests or mages, maybe we could come up with a plan from them,” Rebri sighed regretfully. “It’s damn strange—this is clearly a dark sacred place, yet the magic array used is mainly light magic. The designer of this array is truly a genius, deliberately ensuring that only those who are all-rounder geniuses can enter this castle.”
“Not necessarily. The main reason isn’t that.” The gaunt mage gazed at the statues surrounding the square and said thoughtfully, “It’s precisely because this place is located at the Eye of Darkness. Although it’s a sacred site for our cultivation and greatly beneficial to us, for ordinary people, such a place can be harmful to their health. Living here for a long time, the dark energy will gradually damage their bodies. Unless light-type magical artifacts or fire-type magical artifacts are used to counteract and compensate for it, the imbalance between yin and yang in this castle will worsen—yin energy will grow stronger while yang energy will weaken, making it uninhabitable. The Melanda family took this into account when designing and building this castle. Besides using this massive magic array to gather yang energy, look—there are platforms almost every few dozen meters on the top floor of the castle. They seem like rooftop gardens, but have you noticed the pillar in the center of each platform? It’s made of the rare Flaming Light Stone. This stone isn’t a magic crystal, but it can absorb sunlight and release light and heat at night. That’s how the castle maintains a balance between yin and yang, allowing it to serve as both a sacred cultivation site and a place suitable for ordinary people to live. Moreover, such a place with balanced yin and yang energy is highly beneficial for improving ordinary people’s physical conditions. It’s just that those half-baked individuals were scared by the dark land and never thought that a castle with a history of over a hundred years could be so simple.”
Rebri’s face turned slightly red. He wasn’t sure if the other person’s words were directed at him. The tall and thin mage who had remained silent until then finally spoke up, “Newman, stop showing off your knowledge. We already understand the general mysteries of this magic array. Right now, we just lack magical artifacts. But light-type artifacts are hard to find. It’s likely we won’t be able to find any artifacts worthy of being called magical artifacts in this land. You’d better focus your main efforts on those mechanisms and restrictions—those are our real goals. Besides enabling teleportation, this starry magic array doesn’t seem to have any other functions. Who knows where this teleportation will take us? I’m not interested in traveling to another world.”