Forbidden Region

by Michael Sisa

  “I believe I’ve given you enough time,” King Alvis said softly. “Let me hear it. What reward do you wish to receive this time?”

  After careful consideration, Lark had arrived at a conclusion. What his territory was lacking right now was both manpower and gold. He was already blessed with a very large territory. What he needed was funds, and people.

  “If it isn’t too much, five thousand gold coins,” Lark said carefully. “And a notice backed by the royal family.”

  Monetary reward was among King Alvis’ expectations, but he hadn’t anticipated the last request. In his whole life, this was the first time someone had requested such a reward from him, the king.

  “Five thousand gold coins is reasonable.” King Alvis looked at Lark with eyes filled with interest. “As for the notice, it’ll depend on its contents.” It must be something of grave importance, since Lark specifically requested the crown back it up. But Lark’s next words proved the king’s assumption to be wrong.

  “It’s a simple recruitment notice, Your Majesty. A recruitment notice for the military, agriculture, education, and other things like arts and masonry. There have been a lot of immigrants coming to Blackstone Town lately, but I believe it’ll soon be just a dribble.”

  King Alvis stroked his beard.

  Indeed, there was a limit to the amount of people who’d be willing to immigrate to a town in the middle of the wilderness, even if the pay offered was generous.

  But with the help of the royal family, it would be a lot easier to recruit more immigrants for Blackstone Town. After all, a recruitment notice with the seal of the royal family held more weight and credibility. Furthermore, it would be possible to post the recruitment notices in the lands ruled by the other nobles all throughout the kingdom. A feat impossible to achieve with Lark’s authority alone.

  A smile slowly formed on King Alvis’ face. The second son of Duke Drakus was really something else. For a moment, King Alvis was truly glad that the curse had been lifted. Maybe he’d be lucky to live long enough to see Blackstone Town become one of the major cities of the kingdom.

  Just thinking about it made the king tremble with excitement.

  “A recruitment notice, huh?” said the king. “Very well. You shall be granted five thousand gold coins, and the royal family shall do everything in its power to help you recruit more people for your territory.”

  Lark grinned. With this, the problem regarding Blackstone Town’s population would soon be resolved. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

  Had Lark been greedy, he would have also asked for a high-grade mana stone. But he knew that such item was so rare that Lady Ropianna had to pull one out of her family heirloom just to obtain one.

  It was regrettable, but he’d have to settle with these rewards this time.

  “Now that we’re done discussing the rewards…” King Alvis looked at General Carlos, who’d been standing right next to him. “Carlos.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  General Carlos removed the cloth covering the item he was holding in his hand, revealing the phylactery they had used to temporarily store the fragment.

  “You said before that it would be possible to use the pinnacle-grade barrier spell stored inside the phylactery to protect the entire capital,” said the king.

  Lark nodded. “Yes, that’s correct, Your Majesty.”

  King Alvis paused for a moment, as though ashamed that he would be asking Lark for another favor today. He said gloomily, “The flower used to complete the spell was obtained in exchange for the lives of almost a hundred of my most loyal men. This old man sincerely hopes that you’ll be able to erect the barrier here, to protect the capital.”

  “Of course, Your Majesty,” Lark said without hesitation. He also believed that this spell should be used to protect the capital. This way, the souls of the knights who died to obtain the flower would be appeased somewhat.

  “You said before that it’s possible to control the barrier as long as someone is holding the phylactery,” said General Carlos.

  Lark nodded. “Yes.”

  General Carlos turned to the king. “Your Majesty, I believe it would be best to install the barrier at the most secured place in the castle.”

  “Then, the Royal Sanctum,” said King Alvis.

  “Yes. There’s no place more secure than the Royal Sanctum,” said the General.

  The Royal Sanctum was different from the treasure room of the king’s castle. The treasure room was where the gold, silver, jewels, and other important notes were stored, while the Royal Sanctum was where the treasures of the past royals were kept.

  Even royal court magicians would have a hard time breaching it.

  “Although only those with royal blood are allowed entry, it’d be wise to make an exception this time. Very well, let us install the barrier there.”

  Following the lead of His Majesty, Lark and General Carlos arrived at the entrance of a large underground chamber. The four royal guards standing in front of the door immediately knelt the moment they saw His Majesty.

  King Alvis took out two long, slender keys and pushed them into the keyholes, before twisting them at the same time. Loud clinking sounds were heard.

  “Carlos,” said King Alvis.

  General Carlos placed both his hands on the iron door and started pushing it with all his might. The iron door, which was almost two meters thick, slowly creaked open as the General pushed it. Stale air seeped out of the gap.

  General Carlos’ muscles bulged as he pushed it open, making a gap just enough for two people to pass through side by side. After the king, Lark, and General Carlos entered the room the iron door was shut tight again.

  Darkness momentarily swallowed them. General Carlos summoned an orb of light and willed it to hover right above them, illuminating the entire chamber.

  It seemed that this was merely another passageway, as another iron door stood at the end of the chamber.

  “A trap room,” said Lark.

  He noticed the irregularly placed blocks of stones forming a portion of the walls. Below them, the ground felt hollow as they walked. Above, three medium-sized magic formations were engraved on the ceiling. At their center were three middle-grade mana stones.

  “That’s right,” said King Alvis. “Those who tried to force their way in without using these keys would trigger the traps. Poison arrows, pitfalls, and explosion magic would rain down on the intruders.”

  Lark studied the magic formations engraved on the ceiling. There were three of them, all explosion magic. Judging by the runes and layers in the magic formation, each of the three spells were seventh-tier at the very least. Even a royal court magician would not come out unscathed if he was bombarded with three powerful spells in this confined space at the same time.

  The king opened another thick iron door, and they arrived at a chamber similar to the first one. Just like before, several powerful traps were installed in this room. Their group passed through five trap rooms before eventually arriving at the Royal Sanctum.

  VOLUME 6: CHAPTER 2

  The orb of light illuminated the various treasure stored in the Royal Sanctum. Swords, staffs, armor, shields, various accessories and jewelry that screamed ‘extremely expensive’ filled the room. For generations, this place had held the most prized possessions of the previous royals.

  Looking around, Lark saw several items worthy of interest. His eyes lingered on the sword with a black blade hanging on the wall.

  Noticing Lark’s gaze, the king said, “It’s one of the four named swords. The black sword, Darkmoon. I gave your brother one during the previous awarding ceremony, remember?”

  Lark remembered the blue sword bestowed upon his older brother after their victory against the Empire. A sword created by the legendary dwarven blacksmith, Golgodan.

  “Grandblue is currently owned by Lui Marcus. Sword Saint Alexander holds Bloodthorne,” said King Alvis. “And Darkmoon is currently being kept here in the Royal Sanctum. As for the remainin
g one… White Seraph’s current whereabouts is unknown. It went missing during the reign of the previous king.”

  Lark stared at the black sword with interest. It was undoubtedly made of adamantite. The strongest metal in this world.

  King Alvis stroked his beard as he pondered for a moment. “How about this? If you take Esmeralda as your wife, I’ll make an exception and give the last remaining named sword to you,” chuckled King Alvis. “What do you think?”

  The king was really persistent.

  Lark smiled wryly. “I’m not so shameless as to take both the king’s daughter and his sword.”

  King Alvis laughed. “Is that so? I don’t really mind though. Tell me once you’ve changed your mind. This old man is always open for conversation, my future son-in-law.”

  The king’s hearty laugh echoed in the Royal Sanctum. General Carlos awkwardly scratched his stubble.

  General Carlos cleared his throat. “Your Majesty.”

  “Ah, of course,” said King Alvis. “I believe the shrine over there is a perfect place to install the barrier, don’t you agree?”

  At the center of the Royal Sanctum was a small shrine made of gold. It could fit only five people at most. A place once used by one of the previous kings to pray to the Gods.

  The three of them entered the shrine and Lark placed the phylactery on the empty altar. He’d already altered the magic formations in the phylactery before coming to the capital. The moment the barrier was released, only humans could come and go in the capital as they pleased.

  “Your Majesty, I presume that you’d also like the general to have control over this barrier?”

  Seeing that the king brought only General Carlos with him, it seemed that he was the one who the king trusted the most.

  “Yes. In the event that I’m unable to control the barrier,” said King Alvis. “I want you, Carlos, to control the barrier and protect the capital.”

  The General bowed his head. “As you wish, Your Majesty.”

  “Then, let’s start,” said Lark.

  Lark touched the phylactery and slowly guided the layers upon layers of runes to spin outward. As though they had a life of their own, the runes started surrounding the king, Lark, and the general, forming three separate magic formations.

  This way, only they would be able to alter the magic stored in the phylactery at will.

  The barrier started expanding.

  The barrier grew as though an invisible giant blew large amounts of air into it. At first, it enclosed the shrine, before expanding further and enclosing the entire Royal Sanctum.

  In just a few minutes, it started covering the castle, spreading outward until it covered the whole capital.

  The citizens of the capital stopped in their tracks when a translucent bubble started spreading out from the direction of the castle. Some of them panicked and tried running away from it, but upon seeing that it didn’t do anything to those it touched, they started to calm down. They watched as the translucent bubble expanded into the sky and spread far and wide, until it eventually enclosed the entire capital.

  Lark lifted his hands off the phylactery. He wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead.

  “The barrier should be visible outside,” said Lark. “It’ll probably be able to block a few dozen Grand Scale Magic spells before it collapses.”

  The king and General Carlos were stunned.

  A few dozen? If the barrier, with mithril as its medium, was this strong, then they could only begin to fathom how strong the barrier protecting the Dwarven Kingdom was. No wonder it had never been breached by its neighboring kingdoms.

  “Since I won’t always be here, it’ll be better if His Majesty and the General know how to control this barrier,” said Lark. “It’s fairly easy. Your Majesty, please touch the mithril jar.”

  The king placed both of his hands on the phylactery. The moment he touched the medium, King Alvis felt an indescribable sensation flow through his entire body—as if you suddenly found yourself able to control the flow of a raging river. It was a peculiar feeling.

  “Once you’ve been recognized as the caster of the spell, it’s fairly easy, right?” Lark grinned.

  King Alvis still couldn’t get used to the overflowing mana which followed his every command. So, this was how Lark felt after he completed the pinnacle-grade spell.

  ***

  After leaving the Royal Sanctum, King Alvis immediately issued a public statement that the royal family was behind the sudden appearance of the barrier.

  The citizens did not know the full details—how strong the barrier actually was and how it was created—but they’d been told that it would hinder the entry of monsters, beastmen, and other races aside from humans.

  Since the barrier reached a portion of the outskirts of the capital, it greatly relieved some of the soldiers’ burden.

  “You’re leaving already?” said King Alvis. “Why not stay a bit longer? Blackstone Town can wait for sure.”

  He sounded like a father asking his son to stay for a couple more days.

  Lark smiled politely. “I really have to go back, Your Majesty.”

  King Alvis sighed. “Is that so?”

  “Yes.”

  King Alvis fell silent for a moment. Eventually he said, “I see. It’s regrettable. I was hoping you’d stay for a few more days.”

  King Alvis tapped the armrest of his throne several times. “I believe we’ve already given you the five thousand gold coins we discussed. As for the recruitment notice, I’ve already tasked several messengers to go to various territories of the kingdom. Although there might be some backlash, since we’ll be encroaching on other nobles’ domain, it’s nothing you should be worried about. It’s not like we’re stripping them of their titles. We’re merely recruiting more people.”

  The king laughed heartily. Judging by his mischievous expression, it seemed that he planned on issuing more recruitment notices in lands owned by the anti-royal faction.

  Lark smiled as he looked at the scheming face of the king. It was great that King Alvis had really recovered his health. He even had the spare energy to make jokes every now and then.

  After leaving the king’s castle, Lark immediately went back to the inn where his disciples were staying.

  They had packed their belongings already, ready to move out at any time. A familiar face was among them. She carried a small bag. Lark stared at her quizzically.

  “What?” she asked.

  “What brings you here, Princess?” Lark said carefully.

  “You’re going back to Blackstone Town, right?”

  It suddenly occurred to Lark that he had seen her personal knights standing outside the inn.

  “Are you perhaps… coming with us?”

  “Isn’t that obvious?” The princess frowned. “I’ve spoken with Father already and he agreed.”

  It did not make sense. She’d achieved her goal of curing her father, after all. Lark expected to part ways with her here. He expected her to stay here in the capital after His Majesty had been healed.

  “But His Majesty’s been healed,” said Lark.

  “We told you before, didn’t we? We came to Blackstone Town for the cultural exchange training,” said the princess.

  Lark was stunned to hear the stupid-sounding pretext once again. It was amazing that she managed to blurt it out without flinching.

  “I don’t plan on breaking that promise,” she added. “As I told you before, we’ll stay for at least a year.”

  Austen and George looked at each other and grinned. The brothers seemed pleased that the princess was staying with them. Judging by their faces, they would have jumped for joy and cheered if there had been no one there to see them.

  Lark rubbed his forehead. It seemed that he’d underestimated King Alvis. He must have spoken with the princess before sending her here.

  What a persistent old man.

  “Hey, I know you’re not happy with me being here, but can you at least pretend to be?” The pri
ncess pouted, her cheeks flushed after Lark’s reaction to her words.

  “Don’t mind the Young Master, Princess!” said George. “He’s young, but he has the heart of an old man. He can’t appreciate beauty when he sees it! We’re all happy that you’ll be staying at Blackstone Town!”

  George started spouting nonsense. But judging by the princess’ face, it seemed to be surprisingly effective. The princess smiled broadly and said, “Is that so?”

  She smiled at Lark with a ‘Did you hear that?’ look.

  Lark sighed. Since this was approved by His Majesty himself, there was nothing Lark could do about it.

  “Alright. I understand.” Lark conceded. “I know that you have your knights with you, but, Princess, please make sure to stick close to my disciples during your journey to Blackstone Town. Especially Anandra. You should be safe as long as he’s around.”

  Anandra was strong enough to overpower even a leader of Black Midas. As long as he didn’t encounter an opponent on General Alvaren’s caliber, the princess should be safe with him around.

  “What do you mean?” The princess shot Lark a quizzical gaze.

  It sounded as though Lark was not coming with them on their journey back to Blackstone Town. Even his disciples, especially George, Austen and Chryselle, were baffled at this statement.

  “There’s somewhere I need to go,” said Lark. He did not elaborate further.

  “Anandra.”

  “Yes, My Lord.”

  “Can I entrust the princess to you? It’d be a real pain if something were to happen to her on her way to Blackstone Town.”

  The other disciples weren’t sure if Anandra was already aware of Lark’s plan, since his expression didn’t change even after Lark declared that he wouldn’t be accompanying them back to Blackstone Town. He wore his usual cold, stoic gaze.

  “Of course, My Lord. Please leave it to me.” Anandra bowed. “I’ll eagerly await your return. Please have a safe journey.”

  Anandra was really starting to sound like an old man as time went by. Once again, his image overlapped with Gaston’s.

  “You’re leaving? You’re not coming with us back to the town?” said Chryselle.