Kays Translations

Chapter 8: At the Place Called the Hanging Garden

The months passed quickly, and July drew near.

With only a few days remaining before the party Lessard had mentioned, Ren boarded a magic ship for the first time since being reborn into this world.

Alone in a cabin resembling a luxury inn room, he watched clouds drift across the blue sky beyond the window.

(So this is what we decided after all.)

The circumstances were simple.

Ren’s name was not written on the invitation. That was normal; servants and retainers accompanying nobles were not individually listed for gatherings of the aristocracy.

However, Ren was reluctant to remain in Clausel when the conversation might involve his village. The Demon King cult incident was still recent, and Licia would also benefit from having him nearby as an escort.

Therefore, he had chosen to accompany House Clausel to the capital without attending the party itself.

His lingering unease about visiting Elendil and the imperial capital could not outweigh those concerns.

“We will arrive in Elendil shortly.”

The announcement seemed to come from nowhere.

Ren looked up at the ornate chandelier mounted in the ceiling. It was also a magical device that carried voices throughout the ship.

(Perhaps every cabin nobles use is this elaborate.)

Magic-ship tickets were expensive but not entirely beyond the reach of commoners. The cabins, however, varied greatly in class. Ren had offered to pay his own fare, but Lessard insisted on covering the cost because of the circumstances.

Ren left the cabin in which he had spent nearly the entire day.

The corridor outside was calm and comfortable, almost impossible to associate with a vessel flying through the sky. It rivalled the Clausel mansion without becoming excessively ostentatious.

“Ren!”

Licia waited farther ahead and waved when she saw him.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes. I fell asleep almost immediately after you left last night.”

“A long carriage journey is exhausting. I wish Clausel could have its own magic-ship port one day.”

Her wry smile showed that she understood how unrealistic that hope currently was.

Constructing and maintaining such a port required immense funds. For now, anyone travelling from Clausel had to board a magic ship in another noble’s territory.

“Come. Father and the others are waiting.”

The ship began descending as they walked.

Within minutes, its enormous body settled beside the Elendil terminal. Ren and Licia joined Lessard and Weiss near the exit.

On the way, Ren stopped before a window.

(It truly is Elendil.)

At the centre of a vast stone platform stood an enormous white structure resembling both a fortress and a tower. Numerous spires rose from its Gothic silhouette, while waterways and greenery decorated its walls.

From the upper levels, a runway-like road extended into open air. Magic ships floated at regular intervals on either side, secured beside the elevated path.

Their forms varied dramatically: bullet-shaped craft, vessels resembling enormous boats, and massive ships layered with wings like the fins of fish.

The altitude made the clouds seem unusually close.

(This is exactly what a fantasy world should look like.)

“You have arrived, then,” Lessard called.

He and Weiss were already waiting near the private exit.

“I intended to ask for your first impression of Elendil, but your face has answered for you.”

“I was completely overwhelmed.”

“Excellent. Let us go outside and overwhelm you further.”

The four avoided the main crowd and followed the route reserved for passengers from the higher-class cabins. They stepped onto a boarding ramp connecting the ship to the terminal.

Cool wind brushed their cheeks and hair.

Ren looked over the railing at the distant ground. Carriages waited below, stalls filled the surrounding streets, and commoners, adventurers, merchants, and nobles crowded the area.

Railway lines spread from the base of the building. Seeing with his own eyes a landscape he had previously known only through the game filled him with wonder.

“The building we are entering is called—” Licia began.

“The Hanging Garden, correct?”

“How disappointing. You already knew.”

Ren felt as though he had spoiled something she had been looking forward to explaining.

“I only know its name. I have no idea what it actually does.”

Licia looked resigned, but her smile revealed that she was pleased to continue.

“The Hanging Garden is one of Elendil’s symbols.”

It served not only as a magic-ship terminal, but also as the region’s major magic-train station. A train from there reached the imperial capital in roughly an hour and a half, and no nearby station matched its scale.

Many nobles and wealthy merchants passed through it, making the Hanging Garden an important commercial complex.

“I’m learning a great deal.”

Licia smiled proudly at Ren’s admiration.

“You were wondering whether a town like this is too grand for a baron to govern, weren’t you?”

“I would never say such a thing.”

“I was not trying to be unkind. You think carefully about these matters, so I suspected the question might have occurred to you.”

She was correct. An important transportation centre of this scale would ordinarily be entrusted to a higher-ranking noble.

Lessard answered before Ren had to evade the subject.

“The Hanging Garden began losing value when magic-ship ports spread throughout the empire. It remains strategically important, but operating it is extremely difficult. The responsibility is enormous, while the profit is limited.”

“Even so, governing Elendil and the Hanging Garden together should increase a noble’s prestige.”

“It does. That is precisely why the imperial family had to select the administrator carefully. Nobles from every faction use this facility.”

Unfortunately, its high maintenance costs and the consequences of failure discouraged almost everyone. Elendil’s tax revenue helped, but much of it was consumed by maintaining the town and the terminal.

“So it grants prestige without much financial benefit.”

“Exactly. The previous lord retired without an heir, leaving Elendil without a ruler about two years before you met Licia.”

Several nobles showed interest, but the factions blocked one another from appointing their preferred candidate. Eventually, a neutral noble proposed Lessard.

Lessard was capable for his rank, politically moderate, and already known because his daughter was the White Saint. Entrusting Elendil to him became a compromise every faction could tolerate—while some hoped to draw House Clausel to their side later.

“That is how I was given responsibility for Elendil,” Lessard concluded.

“It sounds as though the position was forced upon you.”

“In a sense. But it suited me. I had no desire to expand my influence, and receiving Elendil through a neutral recommendation allowed me to reduce factional conflict, even if only slightly.”

Reality had since moved in another direction. Viscount Given had pursued his own ambitions and targeted both House Clausel and the Ashton family.

Weiss spoke with quiet pride.

“Since my lord assumed control, Elendil’s tax revenue has risen steadily.”

“Only gradually,” Lessard said. “The latest figures merely made the improvement easier to see.”

Ren admired how casually he dismissed an achievement that could eventually earn him promotion to viscount.

Not long afterward, Ren turned toward the town below.

(There it is.)

At Elendil’s centre stood a great clock tower built from ivory-coloured brick and supported by columns on all four sides. Its soaring form was a work of historical art.

The hands pointed to noon.

The bells rang with the solemn beauty of a hymn.

“Ren? Why did you stop?”

“Sorry. I was staring again.”

“Sightseeing will have to wait. We need to reach the train.”

As Ren hurried after Licia, he noticed something covered by a large canvas near the edge of the elevated runway.

Its outline resembled a bullet-shaped magic ship. In the game, it had occupied the same place and never seemed to move.

(What is it?)

He decided to ask Lessard if an opportunity arose.

Still filled with nostalgia at seeing the Hanging Garden in person, Ren followed the others to the ground-level station and boarded the magic train for the imperial capital.

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