Fantasy Lord: I Have a Moving Castle

"The castle is too empty; tomorrow, we’ll go to Fireplace Town to hire some people," Char said, sipping his bowl of creamy mushroom soup. "It will also provide a way out for those who are starving."

Following the castle’s upgrade, while its strength had increased dramatically, a number of problems had also arisen.

The first issue was that the castle had become too large.

Back when the castle was limited to just two carriages, Char and Freyja, with the help of their Magic Pets, could handle the housework and farm labor quite easily. But now the castle had expanded countless times over, and if it were still just the two of them, the daily chores alone would be enough to kill them both.

Working from dawn till dusk, the work was never done.

Therefore, hiring people was necessary.

If possible, Char had wanted to hire people earlier.

But at the time, considering the "castle" was still too small—such limited space could hardly conceal the existence of Prayer House, so in the end, he dropped the idea.

The existence of Prayer House was known only to Freyja, and being known by many was a completely different matter.

Char did not want to increase the risks.

Moreover, he wanted to present an image of a powerful, mysterious, and inscrutable Lord Mage to his subordinates, not of a pitiable estate owner with only two carriages as a mobile home.

Because being powerful, mysterious, and inscrutable inspired awe, and Char needed his subordinates to hold him in awe.

The arrival of hired servants to the valley, if they saw two lonely carriages versus seeing a towering magical castle, would have entirely different effects!

If it were the former, the servants might develop some unnecessary thoughts.

Of course, Freyja had no objections.

"That’s wonderful," Freyja replied.

She had long wanted to hire some people.

It was not that she wanted to be lazy and leave the work to the servants; it was because hiring people could save lives.

Despite selling grain to Fireplace Town several times over the past winter and Char subsequently building more greenhouses and expanding the farmlands, some people in Fireplace Town still starved to death.

Now, if they were to go to Fireplace Town and express their willingness to take in those who could no longer survive, she believed people would certainly not refuse.

As long as they could provide these people with a little food and a place to live, not to mention those on the brink of starvation, even those who still had provisions and were not yet in immediate danger of starving would be willing to come.

Who wouldn’t want to live a better life?

...

In Pine Tree Hills, Barn rode atop an Iron-Backed Wolf, chasing a Green Leaf Muntjac with an excited gleam in his eyes.

With the change from winter to spring, more prey appeared in the forest. Usually, their hunting trips would result in only small prey such as rabbits and snakes caught by digging holes.

Wolves, deer, wild boars, and the like, the larger game, seemed to vanish, rarely seen throughout the winter, with only the occasionally lucky capture.

Now, as the ice and snow melted and the prey grew more abundant, Barn was naturally excited.

Another reason was his youthfulness, a time filled with compassion, unlike the older members of his tribe whose compassion had been mostly worn away by time and age, leaving them hardened and unmoved.

These elders could harden their hearts against the starvation seen in the town, unaffected, but young people like Barn could not, even if the starving were all humans, and despite the increasingly evident power struggles between dwarves, elves, half-elves, half-orcs, and humans growing more obvious lately. Seeing those who starved to death, Barn still wanted to do something.

For him, killing an additional piece of game might save one more person.

"Swoosh, swoosh!"

The arrows flew through the air, aimed at the Green Leaf Muntjac.

A small antler atop the Green Leaf Muntjac suddenly emitted a green light, and right afterwards, the brush and vines began to close in, wildly growing, swiftly forming a barrier behind the muntjac that blocked the arrows.

The Green Leaf Muntjac was a Demon Beast, not particularly powerful but still armed with some survival tricks, its speed and agility in the forest even surpassing that of the Iron-Backed Wolf.

At that moment, Barn’s Iron-Backed Wolf let out a deep growl, its fangs glowing with a steel hue. The very next second, two fang-shaped rays of light shot out, instantly piercing through the vine barrier.

The Green Leaf Muntjac let out a piteous cry.

A Cloud Leopard, swift as the breeze, leapt over the Iron-Backed Wolf and chased after the wounded Green Leaf Muntjac. On its back, an Elf nocked an arrow to the bow, aiming and firing.

By the time Barn caught up, an arrow had pierced the Green Leaf Muntjac’s head, and it lay motionless on the ground.

Ryan was about to put away his bow and arrow, gesturing for Barn to come forward to move the Green Leaf Muntjac’s body, when he suddenly sensed something, leapt up, and with a fierce shove, pushed Barn aside. An arrow feather flew over the back of the Iron-Backed Wolf and embedded itself into the ground.

Not far away, several monstrous creatures with fierce appearances that Barn had never seen before landed, poised and ready to attack.

These monsters had vulture-like heads and the bodies of giant beetles, with murky white eyes that looked both bizarre and terrifying; however, the most noticeable feature was their horribly curved hooks at the ends of their two front limbs.

On the backs of these monsters, one could see a few nimble yet somewhat slender figures, their silhouettes not much different from that of Ryan the Wood Elf, also sporting the pointed ears that were characteristic of elves.

Unlike the Wood Elves, these elves before them bore polished, jet-black skin like obsidian, as well as pale hair, and their eyes concealed malevolence that was hard to hide.