Calling it the "Sun Castle" got a bit confusing since that was also the name of the location. I decided to think of the talking entity as the Sun Castle Crystal Stone to keep them straight.
The Sun Castle was divided into nine main blocks.
First, there was the castle in the center. The courtyard was located here, and it was where we had landed. The castle itself was... well, a normal castle. It had a multi-layered structure, and I couldn't really get a sense of the interior layout just by walking around for a bit. It seemed to be about five stories high. There were open-air atriums and useless corridors that didn't seem to serve any purpose.
Besides the Audience Chamber, there was a Castle Lord's Residential Area, meeting rooms, a Soldier Waiting Area, guest rooms, a kitchen, and baths. The interior was extremely luxurious, but unfortunately, almost every available space had been turned into a field, which made the whole place feel bizarre. These were likely the Dungeon Potato fields Kuzuden had mentioned.
Dungeon Potatoes were apparently a variety that could grow in dark rooms without any sunlight. As for the taste... well, even to be polite, I couldn't call it delicious. However, since they could be dried and ground into powder to serve as a wheat substitute, they had become the staple food for the Devil Race living in the Sun Castle.
It was explained to me that the Devils and Dream Demons trapped here had been under siege; they had secured a water source but couldn't produce enough food, leading to this state of affairs. Looking at the scale of the fields, I doubted the harvest was enough to comfortably support two hundred and sixty people.
Now that I thought about it, I’d heard about the Devils' diet, but what did the Dream Demons eat?
Apparently, Dream Demons lived by consuming "love" within dreams. What a romantic race. I decided not to think too deeply about the mechanics of that.
We set to work cooking the ingredients we’d brought and served them to the Devils. Their diet must have been truly terrible, as they were all far too thin. I made sure the dishes were centered around pork, with plenty of garlic and eggs. I made a mental note to ask Michael-san to procure some eel for them next time. Hang in there, guys.
As for the Dream Demons, they were all women. And young, at that. Furthermore, they weren't exactly in their underwear, but their fashion sense certainly made it look that way. Their movements were somehow... erotic.
Walk straight, I thought. Just walk straight. Stop wiggling like that.
I had to make sure Urza and Gral weren't watching them too closely.
The Devil Race, on the other hand, was a mix of men and women, though the ratio skewed toward men. There were also clearly elderly individuals among them. Even so, they were likely younger than Bulga or Stifano. It was a fresh reminder that I lived in a world where races with vastly different lifespans coexisted.
"Hm? Ah, don't worry about it. Go ahead and eat. Have some Mandarins, too. Nutritional balance is important."
The three blocks to the front—the southwest, south, and southeast—made up the Urban Districts. They were built one level lower than the Central Castle Block. These areas had been occupied by monsters and Magic Beasts and were mostly in ruins. The waterways running through various sections were quite prominent.
The East Block was also an Urban District, but it seemed to have been the site of various workshops. While it was also in ruins, several sturdy buildings still retained their shape. It appeared those sturdy structures had served as nests for monsters and Magic Beasts. I could see traces of fierce battles... or perhaps I should call them massacres... scattered about.
Kuro's offspring looked up at me with expressions that said they had worked very hard, so I patted their heads. Of course, once I patted one, the others started lining up one after another. I made sure to give them all a good scratching. I told Hakuren and Rusty I’d pat them later so they wouldn't try to join the line.
The Northwest, North, and Northeast blocks were the Forest Districts. These were situated one level lower than the Urban Districts. Waterways were maintained here as well, but most of the trees were withered. Likely, this area had also been used as a nesting ground for monsters. A few trees remained standing, but their branches were snapped and broken, giving them a pitiful appearance.
I wondered why a flying castle would have such a place. Was it for air circulation? Or perhaps just for decoration? Considering the previous residents were the Angel Race, the latter seemed more likely. Even though the trees were dead, the air didn't feel stale.
In the Northwest Block, there was a massive hole. It apparently led into the interior of the foundation section that had been attached to the bottom of the castle until recently. Now, it was just a terrifying drop that led straight down to the ground. I made sure to stay far away from it.
The remaining West Block consisted of a giant pond. It was likely the Water Storage District. It sat one level lower than the Forest Districts and seemed to be designed as the final destination for the waterways from all the other blocks. Water was purified here and then pumped back up into the castle by something other than a mechanical pump—likely magic. From there, it flowed back out to the various districts.
Because this water system had remained functional, the Devils and Dream Demons had been able to survive. I suppose they were lucky. According to Hakuren and the others, the system stayed intact because no water-based monsters had taken up residence there. I guess aquatic monsters didn't usually find their way into a castle in the sky.
Returning to the large hole in the Northwest Block, it seemed most of the monsters had invaded from there. To be precise, the massive foundation under the castle was the result of an old Devil attack. Their plan had been to launch soil filled with monster eggs at the bottom of the Sun Castle to weight it down and obstruct its movement, while simultaneously letting the hatched monsters attack from below.
In reality, they hadn't known exactly how long it would take for the eggs to hatch. While the plan was executed, it ultimately stalled out. All it did was leave a massive hunk of earth attached to the castle's underside. While the Sun Castle's movements were dulled, it was only a minor nuisance.
The Devils had then changed their tactics to infiltration.
"How did you actually get inside the Sun Castle?" I asked Kuzuden, who was accompanying me.
"According to the stories passed down to us, they infiltrated by hiding inside cargo that was being delivered to the castle," he explained.
I see. As it happened, the Angels living there had deployed for battle elsewhere, leaving their numbers thinned. Although only about a dozen Devils had infiltrated, they were lucky enough to seize control of the interior. However, the remaining Angels had made it impossible for the Devils to control the castle's flight. While they were struggling with that, the monsters hatched inside the earth foundation below and began crawling up, forcing everyone into a state of siege.
"I heard from my Grandfather that it was a blessing in disguise that they had packed a massive amount of Dungeon Potatoes into the cargo as a form of harassment before the infiltration," Kuzuden added.
I understood how the monsters got here, but what about the Magic Beasts? Apparently, they were animals originally kept by the Angels that had eventually gone wild. That made sense.
"What about the Dream Demons? Did they infiltrate with the Devils?"
If so, it seemed a bit strange. The Angels were all women. Sending in Dream Demons—who also appeared to be exclusively female—seemed like a poor tactical choice.
"The Dream Demons were actually servants to the God-kin... the Angel Race," Kuzuden clarified.
"Wait, really?"
Apparently, the Dream Demons had served the Angels. Since they didn't possess much combat power, they surrendered immediately when the Devils took over. Because they were all being cornered by the monsters, they ended up living in a communal arrangement with the Devils.
So that was the story.
I finished my tour of the Sun Castle, but I didn't find many other points of interest. It sounds harsh, but everything outside the central castle was just a desolate ruin. I was impressed the castle itself had been maintained so well, but that was apparently thanks to the Sun Castle Crystal Stone.
"Even though he wasn't officially the Castle Lord, the crystal did a good job helping you out," I remarked.
"That was only because we spent decades flattering, praising, and coaxing it," Kuzuden replied with a sigh.
I see. Well, the Sun Castle Crystal Stone would also have been in trouble if monsters had completely overrun the interior and started breaking things.
Now then, while I hadn't found much during the tour, there was one specific spot that bothered me. There was a strange place inside the castle.
"Um, where are you going?" Kuzuden asked, following behind me.
I headed toward one of those "useless" corridors that didn't seem to make sense. They were likely designed to confuse invaders, as most of them were dead ends. At least, that's what one would think.
However, there was one dead-end corridor with a single ornament placed quietly at the very end.
No way, right?
I reached out and touched the vase. There was a slight gap that allowed it to be tilted forward. After a moment of hesitation, I pulled it toward me.
With a heavy clunk, a section of the wall swung open, revealing a hidden passage.
"What?! S-Such a mechanism existed?!"
Bypassing the stunned Kuzuden, Kuro's offspring immediately charged into the dark opening. I just hoped there weren't any monsters or anything lurking inside.