By the time the two reached the castle hall, Yupa had long been waiting there.
He wore a brown cloak to shield himself from the wind and sand, and a wide-brimmed hat. Simply standing there, he gave off the fierce air of a hawk.
Yupa was gazing in a daze at the gold-and-red tapestry behind the throne.
Only when he heard Nausicaä's footsteps did he turn around.
Years of travel through wind and sand had given Yupa an especially rugged face, its lower half almost entirely covered by a thick, flaxen beard.
"Oh? Nausicaä!"
"Master Yupa!"
Nausicaä rushed to him like a bird returning to its nest. The man laughed, picked her up, spun her around in the air, and gently set her down.
"Hehehe... You were still a little girl the last time I came. Now I almost didn't recognize you. And Mito is here too. How does it feel to serve as the princess's aide?"
"Thanks to you, Her Highness has become an excellent leader," Mito replied respectfully.
Through Nausicaä's eyes, Mu En was also observing Yupa, an important character in the original work.
An old friend of King Jihl and Nausicaä's teacher, he was a traveler, explorer, and scholar, as well as the greatest swordsman acknowledged by the nations of the Sea of Corruption.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the conversation turned to the matter at hand.
"Master Yupa, what did you find on your journey south this time? And who are these two...?"
Nausicaä turned her gaze to the two reserved strangers by the door.
One was a woman in shabby clothes, with a bewildered look on her face, but a dignified air in her bearing.
The other was a boy not yet ten, who averted his eyes and clung tightly to the woman's arm.
Although Yupa was born and raised in the Valley of the Wind, he had spent years traveling in search of something.
Each time he returned, he brought the valley new knowledge, accounts of what he had seen, and even local specialties.
And Jihl, the chieftain, would hold a feast at the castle with all the people of the Valley of the Wind to welcome him back.
That was also an indirect reason for his popularity in the valley.
Unfortunately, what Yupa had brought this time was not good news.
"My journey was interrupted before I could get deep into the Sea of Corruption. As for these two... ahem, they... they're from the Kingdom of Pejite."
For some reason, the girl's question seemed to embarrass Yupa, and even his words became evasive.
At that moment, the woman with the noble bearing stepped forward, gave Nausicaä a proper curtsy, and introduced herself.
"Your Highness Nausicaä, please forgive our presumptuous visit. I am Eliana, and this is my son, Lucian."
"You're the... Queen of Pejite?!"
"I am. Please don't blame us for coming uninvited, Your Highness. We'll leave after staying a few days," Eliana said, neither servile nor arrogant.
"What happened?" Nausicaä realized that the situation might not be so simple.
Although the Valley of the Wind was on fairly good terms with several nearby countries, those ties were not close enough for a queen to bring a prince on a visit.
Moreover, the fact that they had disguised themselves as commoners invited all kinds of speculation.
Seeing Eliana reveal her identity, Yupa breathed a sigh of relief. He had had no choice but to bring this unusual mother and son here.
Then his expression turned grave, and in a low voice he delivered news that would shake the nations of the Sea of Corruption.
"Because Pejite... exists in name only now."
"What?!"
"How is that possible?!"
Nausicaä and Mito cried out in unison.
The Sea of Corruption brought humanity not only disaster, but also countless treasures.
Insect products, medicines made from certain fungi, relics of ancient civilizations lost in the Sea of Corruption, and the world's toughest materials-these "specialties" from the Sea of Corruption were always in short supply.
Thus, the Kingdom of Pejite had come into being southwest of the Valley of the Wind, less than three kilometers from the Sea of Corruption.
It was a city that had grown out of a stopping place for explorers.
Like the Valley of the Wind, it was called a country, but was actually a small city-state with a permanent population of only a few thousand.
Living off the resources at its doorstep, it enjoyed the advantage of bordering the Sea of Corruption. Countless explorers eager to strike it rich overnight gathered there, while neighboring countries, especially Tolmekia, bought large quantities of products from the Sea of Corruption there.
Though the risks were enormous, the profits were simply incalculable.
Over time, Pejite had become the second most powerful nation among those of the Sea of Corruption, surpassed only by the industrial city-state of Pejite. It was also known as the land of explorers.
And this country had actually fallen?
They had not even heard a single rumor about it!
The two could hardly believe what they were hearing, but the grief on the faces of the Queen and Prince of Pejite beside them did not look feigned.
She did not doubt whether Eliana was putting on an act.
As the queen of a powerful nation, she had no need to put on airs before the chieftain of a tiny country like hers.
"Mito, please see our guests somewhere they can rest first."
Looking at the mother and son, exhausted from their long journey, Nausicaä understood that this was not the time to press for details.
Besides, compared with the queen she had just met, he trusted what Master Yupa had seen and heard more.
"Yes. Your Highness Eliana, Your Highness Lucian, please follow me. I'll arrange rooms for you both to rest in."
Only after they had disappeared at the end of the staircase did Nausicaä turn urgently to Yupa.
"Could it be that Tolmekia has finally dropped all pretense and gone to war with the northern nations? Aren't they afraid the conscripts at the front will rebel?"
Nausicaä could not think of anyone other than the Torumekian Empire who could have brought down the Kingdom of Pejite.
And Pejite happened to be the small nation closest to Tolmekia's border.
Ever since the empire had been unified, it had wanted to annex the northern nations, but its fear of the ancient weapons held by the nations of the Sea of Corruption had kept it from acting.
The latest conscription had left those nations weakened at home, making it an ideal time to annex them.
Yet a strange expression appeared on Yupa's face. He shook his head, dismissing Nausicaä's guess.
"No... In fact, the seeds of Pejite's collapse were sown before this mass conscription."
"On the contrary, it was the arrival of the Tolmekians that temporarily stabilized the situation and kept it from becoming a dead city. And they didn't even intend to leave a garrison behind."
The girl was even more confused by her teacher's explanation.
Since when did Tolmekia care whether small countries like theirs lived or died?
Yupa sighed, his voice full of self-reproach.
"This may have something to do with me as well... Sigh, if I'd set out with that old fellow back then, perhaps I could have prevented this tragedy."
In his subdued voice, he told Nausicaä the whole story.
It all began with an agreement made half a year ago.