As Lakeside Town developed, a trade route connecting Stormveil Castle, Lakeside Town, Academy Gate Town, and Caria Manor gradually took shape and flourished.
Horace drew on the tribe's existing strengths in hunting and gathering, along with textile production and basic mineral processing introduced through cooperation with Caria, and the techniques for making glintstone by-products learned from the Academy's artisans, to produce distinctive goods: sturdy fur and leather products, talismans bearing simple protective Great Runes, stable low-grade healing potions (thanks to the Formless Mother's power), and some True Magic materials native to the Liurnia Lake Region.
Caravans carried these goods south to Stormveil Castle in exchange for grain, ironware, and horses;
west to the Academy and Caria in exchange for more profound knowledge, finer weapons and armor, and True Magic materials.
Wealth accumulated in Lakeside Town like streams flowing into a lake.
The town expanded, the roads were leveled, the warehouses filled with supplies, and the Order of the Great Rune Knights' equipment grew ever finer.
Yet prosperity brought new problems.
The Academy's attitude gradually shifted from its initial attempts to win him over and its wariness into something complex and subtle.
Horace's close relationship with the two masters, the young people under him studying at the Academy, and his increasingly profound knowledge of True Magic all unsettled the Academy's leadership.
They began tightening restrictions on the outflow of techniques and knowledge, subjecting artisans and scholars bound for Lakeside Town to stricter scrutiny.
Though the caravans continued unimpeded, prices for the Academy's goods showed subtle signs of rising, and supplies of certain sensitive materials became unreliable.
The changes on Caria's side were more concealed, but concerned Horace even more.
Queen Rennala's Moon True Magic was nearing perfection, and in several small-scale clashes with the Academy, the full moon's power had displayed a suppressive might that struck fear into every glintstone sorcerer.
The Carian Family's prestige rose by the day.
No longer content to stand as the Academy's equal, they began revealing their intention to unify Liurnia's True Magic community and thereby gain greater authority.
Under these circumstances, Horace's position as an "ally" who maintained ties with both sides while steadily growing stronger became awkward.
Caria needed him, both as support against the Academy and as a hub connecting the northern trade routes and securing supplies.
At the same time, however, they feared him. They feared the speed of his growth, his "Great Runes," which were not fully bound by the systems of True Magic or incantations, his personal friendships with the Academy's masters, and even... the subtle influence Rellana's long-term residence here might bring.
Rellana herself became both a buffer for this complicated attitude and a focus of scrutiny.
The reports she sent back to Caria Manor were inevitably filtered; the instructions her elder sister Rennala sent her also grew increasingly frequent and specific.
Horace could sense the mounting pressure this lady knight bore. The occasional distracted looks and silences she displayed were not without cause.
On the terrace, Horace was, for once, not attending to official business. He merely gazed toward distant Caria Manor.
Rellana silently walked up beside him and looked in the same direction.
"My sister... has been asking a lot about you lately, and your 'Order of the Great Rune Knights.'" She suddenly spoke, her voice so soft that the wind almost scattered it.
"As expected." Horace did not turn.
"We hold a monopoly over the northern lake region's trade hub, and we have a powerful armed force. Any ruler would be concerned about a stone that suddenly appeared beside their pillow-whether it would be a stepping stone or something to stub their foot on."
"What do you intend to do?" Rellana turned to look at his sharply defined profile.
Years of trials had stripped away some of his barbarian roughness, lending him composure and a sense of control. Only the clarity in his eyes and the occasional flash of detachment remained as they had been when they first met.
"I intend to survive, and let the people who follow me survive too, and live better lives," Horace answered simply.
"As for this stone... I never intended to become anyone's stepping stone, nor do I want to hurt anyone's feet. But if someone tries to smash us up to pave a road, that stone might land on their foot."
Rellana fell silent for a while.
"The Academy has recently been secretly investigating your contact with Master Lusat. They seem extremely sensitive about 'Primeval Current True Magic' leaking out," she warned quietly.
"The two masters are under... considerable pressure within the Academy as well."
"Thank you." Horace finally glanced at her, his gaze calm.
"I know."
Another silence followed. The lakeside wind blew past, carrying damp moisture.
"Horace." Rellana addressed him by name for once, rather than "you" or "barbarian chieftain."
"If... I mean if, a decisive conflict between Caria and the Academy proves inevitable, you..."
"I'll stand with whichever side allows Lakeside Town to continue existing," Horace interrupted, his tone level.
"Or whichever side gives me a chance to take my people somewhere else and build a new home. That is my responsibility."
He did not say "your sister" or "Caria," nor did he say "the True Magic Academy."
Rellana understood. She bit her lower lip, and a complicated emotion flashed in her eyes, something like disappointment, yet also like the relief of having expected it all along.
She asked no more questions, merely turning her gaze back toward the distant manor.
"Soon, I suppose," she murmured to herself.
"What will be soon?" Horace asked.
"The decisive moment." Rellana tightened her grip on the sword hilt at her waist.
"My sister's True Magic is ready. Certain factions in the Academy are also growing restless. Master Lusat and Master Azur's silence has unsettled many people... my sister included."
Something stirred in Horace's heart.
When Lusat last met him, he had indeed seemed on the verge of saying something, only to hold back. He had merely reminded him, "Visit the Academy less for now. Focus on your own power."
It seemed that beneath Liurnia's tranquil waters, the undercurrents were already surging hard enough to burst through the surface.
"What about you?" Horace suddenly asked.
"Rellana, when that moment comes, what will you do?"
The lady knight's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.
She did not answer immediately, merely straightening her back, as proud and resolute as when she had first barred his way.
This time, however, Horace saw the struggle that flashed deep within her eyes.
"I am a knight of Caria, and Rennala's younger sister," she said at last, her voice regaining its usual cool clarity, as though reciting an oath.
"My duty and my path were decided long ago."
Horace nodded and pressed no further. He respected her choice, just as she had to shoulder her responsibility.
Yet when Rellana turned and left the terrace, her armor making soft, rhythmic sounds as it rubbed together, Horace watched her retreating figure and sighed silently.
A destined path was often the roughest and hardest to walk.
After some research into certain traditions of real-world Western royal families.
I now seriously suspect Radagon!
There are quite a few examples in history of queens handing power over to their husbands after becoming pregnant.
After Queen Isabella I of Spain became pregnant with her eldest son John in September 1477, she handed full authority over Spain to her husband Ferdinand II starting in 1478.
By the same logic, Rennala could very well have handed some authority over the Academy to Radagon during her pregnancies.
It is stated in the text that Radagon had some Academy professors' mouths sewn shut.
The Prisoner starts with True Magic Glintblade Phalanx memorized. True Magic Glintblade Phalanx is an ancient True Magic of the Carian Royal Family, so they could be considered veteran royal retainers who accompanied Rennala throughout her rise to the throne.
The Caria Knights were Rennala's trusted pillars. One Caria Knight died along the route between the Church of the Cuckoo and a classroom inside the Schoolhouse (where the Carian Knight Set is found), and Moongrum still protects Rennala to this day. Condemning a Caria Knight as a prisoner would be no different from cutting off both her own arms.
So who would do this? Who would benefit from something like this?
Also, the secret teacher mentioned in the Snow Witch Set is very intriguing. Is the Dark Moon some kind of taboo? Why teach in secret?
Ranni's Dark Moon explicitly states that Ranni encountered her Dark Moon under the guidance of her mother Rennala.
Wow, thinking about it this way, Radagon really was scum beyond measure.
Not only did he seduce and abandon her, not only did he drive his ex-wife mad, he also drastically weakened the Carian Royal Family's power, indirectly triggering internal strife.
Brilliant! He eliminated a great enemy of the Golden Dynasty without shedding a drop of blood.
We could even speculate: could Radahn, who had always idolized his father, have sealed the stars under his guidance?
Before you continue