Fantasy Lord: I Have a Moving Castle

Chapter 48: Chapter 1 The Morning of Raindrops, The Cry of a Chick

Chapter 48: Chapter 1 The Morning of Raindrops, The Cry of a Chick

The next day, Char was woken by the chirping of birds.

Dawn’s raindrops trickled down along the veins of leaves, creating a crisp dripping sound.

The birds sang cheerily, amidst the verdant mountain clouds.

Char opened his eyes, only to feel an aching back and sore waist: he had unwittingly fallen asleep on the bench.

But this uncomfortable sleeping position severely punished him, as Char felt all his muscles sore and not a single bone in the correct position.

The floor around him was already dry, but further away it was still damp.

Star Worm, Lotus Leaf Frog, and Betty were still by his side, snuggling against him, but the Clover Mantis and Lantern Firefly were nowhere to be seen, and the Wind Winged Horse was no longer in the room.

He couldn’t help but stretch mightily, loosening all his limbs and joints.

With a series of creaks and pops, his spine crackled, but that sound abruptly stopped the moment he looked up at the ceiling above his head.

Char, still in the middle of stretching, looked up at the dark iron ceiling, momentarily bewildered: didn’t he remember the carriage roof being shaved off? How come it was still there?

After his momentary daze, surprise flooded his heart.

The Castle could actually restore itself automatically!

Great!

He had previously been worried about how to repair the carriage.

After all, the roofs of both carriage sections had been stripped away, and fixing them would definitely be a major project. Moreover, with his rough craftsmanship, even if he managed to patch it up, it would be at best a makeshift roof and nowhere near as good as the original.

Unexpectedly, when he opened his eyes in the morning, the carriage had returned to its former state.

This was completely beyond Char’s expectations and brought him a huge surprise.

Because before this, the carriage hadn’t shown any signs of being able to restore itself automatically. Previous damages, such as bumps and burns that caused charring from fires, hadn’t disappeared.

It did disappear once during an upgrade of the carriage, but after that, any new damage or wear and tear remained.

Unexpectedly, after suffering severe damage, the carriage had undergone automatic repairs.

For Char, this was undoubtedly great news, further brightening his mood that had already been calm.

In the room without the Wind Winged Horse, he guessed it must have left the carriage on its own after noticing the automatic repairs.

‘It’s also fortunate that the Wind Winged Horse left early, otherwise it wouldn’t have been able to get out,’ Char thought to himself as he stepped out of the carriage and looked at the Wing Winged Horse grazing on the nearby grass.

Seeing Char emerge from the carriage, the Clover Mantis and Lantern Firefly flew back from not far away.

They were unlike Star Worm and Lotus Leaf Frog, who could sleep because they knew someone tall was there to hold up the sky. Clover Mantis and Lantern Firefly were the tall ones, so how could they sleep without any vigilance?

At the very least, one had to keep watch at night, right?

So after Char, Star Worm, and the others had all dozed off, the two took turns keeping watch through the night and resumed their combat training early in the morning, incredibly diligent.

They also noticed the carriage repairing itself and alerted the Wind Winged Horse to fly out.

With no need to labor over repairing the carriage, Char was in a great mood.

He first opened all the windows, allowing air to flow in for the room to dry quickly, and then aired out all the items that had been soaked by the rain.

Afterwards, he made breakfast, relishing a hearty meal, then armed with the Wild Boar Dagger and his bow and arrow, he called Clover Mantis, Star Worm, and Betty to start today’s hunt.

As for the Lantern Firefly and the Lotus Leaf Frog? They were left behind by Char to guard the home.

Ever since the Clover Mantis was recruited, the Lantern Firefly had gracefully stepped down from its close bodyguard position for Char.

To their small force, Char’s personal safety was of the utmost importance.

If something were to happen to Char, the Castle wouldn’t have a future, not to mention upgrading—it might not even continue to exist.

Previously, keeping the Lantern Firefly as a close guard couldn’t be helped because it was Char’s strongest combat force. If not the Lantern Firefly, then who else could protect him?

In reality, the combat strength of the Lantern Firefly was somewhat strained in ensuring Char’s safety.

Indeed, that was the case. First the Steel Teeth Pig, then the Bear Goblin—in a short period, the Lantern Firefly had encountered two enemies of comparable strength.

Fully ensuring his safety was quite a stretch.

But the Clover Mantis was different. Its strength far surpassed that of the Lantern Firefly, enough to make Char king of this area—unless once again they encountered a behemoth like last night’s unknown giant bird.

However, that was a small probability event. Having encountered it once already was quite unlucky; it was not likely to happen two times in a row.

Char trekked through the forest, with the Star Worm and Betty circling around him like two stars.

The Clover Mantis was perched on the treetops, constantly shifting its position. Each shift would propel it forward to another tree, ensuring no dangers were present in the vicinity.

Last night’s storm and the rampage of the unknown giant bird had caused destruction, not only to the carriage but also to the forest.

Char looked around and saw signs of devastation everywhere. A large number of trees had fallen, some directly split by lightning, others blown down by the fierce winds, and some were severed at the middle, just like the carriage from last night.

So many trees had fallen that the view had become significantly more open.

For the creatures of the forest, this was undoubtedly a devastating natural disaster. A large number of animals died that night.

Walking through the forest, Char could clearly feel that the calls of animals had significantly decreased, which also made his hunting much more challenging.

Just then, Char suddenly heard a tender, faint cry coming from a distance.

Almost at the same time, the Clover Mantis also noticed, halting upon a treetop ahead.

The Clover Mantis was at the highest level, surpassing everyone else by far, so its perception was the most powerful among them.

But Char’s perception abilities were no less remarkable.

With the enhancement from the “Natural Seal,” his perception had been boosted tremendously, and with the breakthrough in his “Universal Arrow Skill,” reaching professional level 3, his perception attribute correspondingly strengthened.

Both factors combined had elevated Char’s perception to the same level as that of the Clover Mantis.

Both Char and the Clover Mantis heard the noise while the relatively weaker Star Worm and Betty were oblivious, but they could clearly sense something amiss from Char and the Clover Mantis.

“What is it, Mr. Char?”

“I’ve found something.”

Char responded briefly and then followed the sound.

In fact, there were many cries of young birds at this hour.

Last night’s catastrophic storm had knocked down who knows how many trees, as well as destroyed countless bird nests.

Although the vast majority of the nestlings had perished, there were always survivors.

Therefore, to Char’s acute hearing, feeble cries of young birds came from every direction. The cry he had just heard should have been drowned out by the many sounds of the young birds, not catching his attention.

But the cry of this particular nestling was distinct from the others as if carrying a hint of magic power, subconsciously drawing attention.