"He is waking up.

" Those were the first words that Layn heard when his consciousness finally started to return.

"Quick, bring some refreshments,

" another voice said while Layn slowly pried his eyes open.

"Where am I?

" he asked as soon as he gathered enough energy to open his mouth.

"Don't worry about anything. We might not be in the capital, but this fortress is safe,

" Castor said as soon as he pushed the doors to the room open.

Only when seeing a familiar face, did Layn calm down a bit. But, with how taxing it was on him to use the blood weapon spells, he was essentially powerless.

'Heck, why am I so anxious?' Layn suddenly asked himself, noticing how stupid his worries were. 'Given where I am, they could off me while I was unconscious any time they wanted,' he thought, tightening his teeth.

For an archmage like him, this kind of situation was infringing on his personal pride. To be entirely at the mercy of others meant that he either spared too much trust in someone or wasn't strong enough to cope with the problems in the usual way.

Both of which were a big no-no for someone as experienced as Layn.

"I brought the drinks!

" a maid reported as soon as she entered the dim room with a platter full of glasses in her hand.

"Good, leave them and get out,

" Castor ordered in a stern voice, not even as much as sparing the maid a single look.

"Where are we?

" Layn asked again. The answer of being in some kind of secure fortress was too ambiguous to be satisfactory.

"We are right at the border of the lands my country properly countrols. Unlike the wild steppe to the south, there is no danger of brigands or enemy forces attacking us here,

" Castor explained in more detail before taking a glass of a fizzy drink and bringing it to the side of Layn's bed.

'Wait, bed?' the archmage suddenly thought, startled by this observation. But it was only the beginning of the chain of his surprises.

As Layn opened his eyes wide, more and more details about his surroundings started to enter his mind. From the perfectly even spaces between bricks that made up the wall of the room, he was in, through what looked like an electrical heater only a modern civilization would produce...

"What the hell is this place,

" Layn uttered while slowly moving his upper body up. As soon as Castor noticed his intent, he rushed to support the archmage from behind, helping him to sit down on the bed rather than fully resting on it.

"As I said, this is a...

" Castor started, only to stop when Layn swung his hand swiftly.

"That's not what I mean. Those bricks? This heater?

" Layn shook his head while accepting the glass from Castor's hands.

"Nothing here makes any damned sense,

" he added before taking a sip.

Just like back when he first met those people, as soon as the liquid entered his throat, it seemed as if a wave of heat suddenly appeared in his insides.

"Heater? What is a heater?

" Castor asked, puzzled by the new word.

"And what is that thing standing by the wall and shining red?

" Layn asked after separating his lips from the cup. Even if his actions made it so that he could receive as much of it as he wanted, he didn't have the habit of just gulping such a precious thing down.

Taking it slowly and allowing the medicinal effects of the brew to work their job properly was always the better way over just tanking the entire content of the cup down.

"You mean the magical furnace?

" Castor asked before shaking his head and looking weirdly at Layn.

"Would you mind explaining what a heater is, though?

" he asked while loosely trying to hide his obvious curiosity.

"Let's leave it for now,

" Layn cut the discussion as soon as it started heading in the way that could potentially turn uncomfortable to him.

"Can you let me stand? I would like to have a walk to the outside.

"

"Sure, it's not a problem at all,

" Castor replied, sliding underneath Layn's arm and helping him to stand up. From there, just a few steps were enough to bring him to the corridor of the fortress.

Even before reaching the outside properly, Layn could already notice how the landscape changed drastically through the shooting windows plastered all over the wall. Just from this architectural design, it was clear that the place was designed to be as impregnable and as costly to take as possible.

'That doesn't mean it's impossible to get conquered, though,' Layn thought grimly. He then recalled all kinds of events where various fortresses would be hailed to be undefeatable, only to fall to some stupid tricks of the invaders.

"Past those doors, we will reach the outer area,

" Castor suddenly announced while nodding his head towards the nearby wooden gate.

"Yeah, why are you telling me that in advance, though?

" Layn asked, suddenly curious about the man's motive. After all, if he wanted to get a reaction out of him or give him a good time, then Castor should just keep silent until the very last moment!

"It's just that...

" Castor attempted to say something, only to stop in the middle of his sentence and turn silent.

"Don't tell me, you guys are under siege already?

" Layn asked before sighing heavily.

"If that's the case, I'm worried I won't be of much help...

"

"No, it's nothing like that...

" Castor denied Layn's worries while shaking his head weekly.

"Just... Be prepared to see something mindboggling,

" he added as the two of them finally reached the end of the corridor.

Then, Castor pushed the doors open and brought Layn to the huge terrace outside.

"Woah...

" Layn simply stopped. For a moment, his heart skipped a beat. The sight was, just as Castor warned him, insane and almost unbelievable.

Even with all his experiences of the architecture of the modern world, Layn couldn't think of anything that was even comparable to just how enormous the fortress was.

Standing at what looked like the middle level between the inner castle and the outer embankments, Layn required a few moments to get accustomed to the sight. Just the battle-platforms by the massive walls of each level were spacious enough to fit the entirety of the Royal castle he used to live in.

But only when the archmage looked around did the reason for such an enormous structure to be built finally came to his mind.

The fortress stood right in the middle of a valley between two massive mountains. Standing on the vantage point, Layn could tell that for at least several tens of miles in each direction, passing those mountains would be just impossible.

As such, it was no wonder that someone turned the relatively narrow entrance to the valley into a reinforced position separating the two areas from each other.

"Now, you should understand why I believe we are safe out here,

" Castor said after giving Layn an ample amount of time to get used to this impossible sight.

"Yeah...

" the archmage replied, still baffled by the sight he didn't expect at all.

'It would be no wonder if just the population of this place could be greater than some of the average cities of the future...' Layn thought before looking down at the lowest level of the fortress.

And just as expected, between the wide yet relatively low embankments making up the first line of defense for the fortress and the high walls that constituted the second level, the entirety of the free space was filled with farms.

"Just how many people do live in this place,

" Layn couldn't help but mutter those words. He actually realized that he spoke out loud only when Castor looked at him with a sour smile on his face.

"Actually, there is only about a thousand people strong garrison in here,

" Castor said before lowering his head and striking his hand against the wall beside him.

"While this is one of the most important places in the entire country, those damned nobles in the capital moved most of our forced to guard the rest of our border,

" he added before tightening his fists.

"As if we could ever protect such a long frontier!

" he suddenly shouted before turning around and hiding his face from Layn's view.

"I think I understand why you are how you are,

" Layn suddenly spoke up while resting his hand against the railing that protected the soldiers from just falling over the wall.

"Huh? And why is that?

" Castor turned around, with his flushed face proving how it was his agitation speaking through him rather than the man himself.

"Watching how your state deteriorates, how the politicians are only doing their best to fill their own pockets...

" Layn muttered, not even bothering to move his eyes out of the beautiful sight that the fortress offered.

"Trust me, man,

" Layn smiled, even though his eyes had no warmth in them..

"I know this feeling better than anyone.

"