Chapter 519: The Secret within the Stars
Roland watched Yorko bow his way out of the room, still practically vibrating with excitement, and shook his head with a smile.
He didn’t mind helping the people who had helped Prince Roland—provided they had no bad intentions. That bar was low, but Yorko cleared it.
“Where is Wendy right now?” He turned to Nightingale.
“Probably on top of the tower, practicing her ability. Do you want me to summon her?”
“Yes—and get Sylvie, Lightning, and Maggie as well.” Roland glanced toward the window. “We’re going to visit the astrologers. We’ll be flying there.”
Nightingale’s eyes lit up. “I understand.”
It was the safest mode of transport in an unsettled city. A hydrogen balloon was nearly impossible to threaten from the ground, and no one who wanted to reach Roland could do so while he was airborne.
He’d learned from a carrier pigeon that Kyle was already on his way, so he’d postponed his visit to the Alchemist Workshop. The Astrology Association—King’s City’s other main academic institution—had waited long enough.
He also had a specific question that needed answering.
The Astrology Association occupied a mountain in the northern outer city, second in height only to the palace’s twin towers. Seen from above, the Astrology Hall was a hexagonal stone tower with a flat roof, broad at the base and narrowing toward the top—its silhouette precisely, almost aggressively symmetrical.
Roland knew what that symmetry meant.
Without advanced surveying and positioning instruments, constructing a large stone structure to that level of precision was extraordinarily difficult—more difficult, in some ways, than building a great city wall. Someone had spent considerable effort on this building for a reason.
The guards had arrived ahead of them and ringed the tower. As the hydrogen balloon vented air and settled onto the roof, Brian, Sean, and Alva Taber came forward to meet them.
“Your Majesty, the area is completely sealed—not a rat will get through!”
“We’ve also confiscated all the astrologers’ God’s Stones of Retaliation. Miss Sylvie can use her ability freely.”
“Good work. Stay alert.” Roland’s gaze moved to the row of men in gray robes standing behind the guards. They were all past thirty, and they kept glancing at the hydrogen balloon with wide, rattled eyes—still shaken by someone arriving from the sky.
He turned to Alva. “Who leads this association? Have him come forward.”
Alva consulted briefly with two elderly robed figures, and one of them made his careful way over. “Your Majesty, this is King’s City’s Chief Astrologer—Astrologer of Dispersion Star.”
The old man pressed his hand to his chest and bowed. “Your Majesty Roland Wimbledon, your honored presence makes all the stars shine brighter.”
Roland raised an eyebrow. “Why not your real name?”
“It’s a tradition of the Association,” Alva said quickly. “Every astrologer dreams of naming himself after a star image. Only those who discover new ones may take such a name.”
“So you discovered the Dispersion Star?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” The old man straightened slightly with pride. “It forms a ring with three Dark Stars—representing death and rebirth.”
“And the others?” Roland nodded toward the men in gray.
“These eight are the star-image masters of the station—each has made at least one discovery.” Dispersion Star described them one by one. “They can interpret anything from stellar movement to the meaning of dusk and dawn. As can I, of course.”
“I’m not here to have my fortune told.”
The old man paused, thrown. “Then… Your Majesty, may I ask why you’ve come?”
“To study the stars.” Roland shrugged. “Let’s take this indoors. Bring every diagram of every star image the Association has ever documented—I assume you keep records? Mark the brightest stars and connect them with lines. The standard method.”
Stacks of parchment covered the table in the hall, some yellowed with age.
Roland set a clean sheet in front of him and drew two shapes from memory: a wide-bowled spoon, and an hourglass. He connected the bright stars within each image with careful lines.
“Your Majesty, what are these?” the Chief Astrologer asked.
“Two star images.” Roland held up the paper. “Have you seen anything like these?”
The astrologers passed the paper among themselves and shook their heads—all of them.
“Then search every parchment on this table,” Roland said. “Everyone take a stack. Look at every single one. I’m looking for shapes similar to these.”
While they worked, he turned the question over in his mind.
Am I on a different side of the same planet?
A sun and moon are not remarkable—the universe contains billions of fixed star systems, and in an infinitely large universe the conditions for another could exist. But the biological similarities are harder to explain. Evolution proceeds by random accident; the same environment can produce wildly different organisms. I don’t think the demonic beasts or the demons evolved from any natural world I know. So where does that leave me?
This was the point of the star images. Fixed stars endured for billions of years; their positions barely shifted across any span of human history. They had been used to navigate and to assign symbolic meaning since the first people looked up. Roland carried two constellations in his memory—the Big Dipper and Orion. If he could match them against this world’s star charts, he could begin to determine his actual position.
An hour passed. No one found either constellation.
He asked Dispersion Star about the most famous star images of this world. None of them matched anything he knew. The Zodiac signs—every one of them unknown here. And the bright stars in these charts were significantly denser than in the constellations he remembered, suggesting a position closer to the galaxy’s center, where fixed stars clustered more tightly together.
If that’s right, then I am not on Earth. Not even in the same region of the galaxy.
The answer settled over him with a muted, flat weight—not shock, because he’d been holding the possibility at arm’s length for a long time. But it settled nonetheless.
He exhaled, and looked around the hall. “How many members does the Astrology Association have?”
“Nine astrologers, one hundred and fifty-six apprentices, sixty-seven laborers and masons,” Dispersion Star replied.
“I plan to close the Astrological Station. Pack your things and come with me to the City of Neverwinter.”
The room changed. Alva’s voice went high. “Your Majesty, how—how could you—”
“I don’t believe in astrology,” Roland said plainly. “I believe in individual choice. And I’m the King of Graycastle. I can close this station if I wish. In the Western Region you’ll learn what the stars actually are—and you’ll find they aren’t pathways for fate.”
“With respect, Your Majesty.” The Chief Astrologer rose from his seat, slowly, and his voice steadied. “You cannot do this. It is the duty of this station to observe the night sky without interruption—that order was passed down from your own ancestors.”
Chapter 519: The Secret within the Stars
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
Roland shook his head with a smile as he watched Yorko excitedly bowed and left.
He did not mind helping the people who had helped Prince Roland in the past, as long as they did not have any bad intentions.
“Where’s Wendy right now?” He turned around and asked Nightingale after taking care of this matter.
“She’s probably on the top of the tower practicing her ability. Do you want me to summon her?”
“Yes, and get Sylvie, Lightning, and Maggie as well… we’re going to visit the astrologers,” said Roland. “And we’ll be flying to them.”
“I understand.” Nightingale’s eyes lit up.
“Even if someone wants to attack me, they can’t pose a threat against a hydrogen balloon, so this is the best way to travel.”
Roland had learned via carrier pigeon that Kyle was on his way, so he postponed his visit to the Alchemist Workshop. He was very curious about the Astrology Association, the other main academic organization in King’s City.
Roland also had a great point of confusion that needed to be confirmed.
…
The Astrology Association was located on a mountain in the northern area of the outer city, and it was only the second in height to the twin towers of the palace. The Astrology Hall had a pretty unique design and it looked like a hexagonal stone tower with a flat top from above. It had a wide base and narrow top, and its silhouette was precisely symmetrical.
Roland knew what symmetry implied in that era.
Without advanced measuring and positioning methods, it was nearly impossible to build such a large yet perfect stone structure, a process even more difficult than building a giant city wall.
The guards had left earlier and surrounded the stone tower. As the hydrogen balloon released the air and slowly landed on the tower roof, its passengers were immediately greeted by Brian, Sean and Alva Taber.
“Your Majesty, this area has been completely sealed, and I promise that not a single rat will escape!”
“We have also confiscated all the astrologers’ God’s Stones of Retaliation, allowing Miss Sylvie to use her magic power, so you can interact with them freely.”
“Good job. Stay alert.” Roland nodded in approval and shifted his sight to the row of men in gray robes standing behind the guards. They were all aged over 30 years old, and they kept peeking at the hydrogen balloon in panic. They were obviously still rattled by his sudden appearance from the sky.
Roland turned to Alva. “Who’s in charge around here? Tell him to come see me.”
“Yes, my lord!” Alva spoke briefly with two old men in robes, and one of them cautiously walked to Roland with him. “Your Majesty, this is King’s City’s Chief Astrologer, Astrologer of Dispersion Star.”
“Your Majesty Roland Wimbledon, your honored presence makes all the stars shine brighter.”
“Why don’t you use your real name?” asked Roland, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s a tradition of the Astrology Association,” explained Alva hastily. “Every astrologer dreams of naming themselves after a star image… and only people who discover new star images are allowed such an honor.”
“So you discovered… the Dispersion Star?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” said the old man with his hand on his chest. “It forms a Dispersion Star ring with three other Dark Stars, and it represents death and rebirth.”
“What about them?” Roland pointed at the other men in gray robes.
“These eight are star image masters of the Astrological Station, so they all made their own discoveries.” Dispersion Star respectfully described them one by one. “They can explain the meaning behind anything from changes in the stars to dusk and dawn… of course, so can I.”
“I’m not here to have my fortune explained.”
The old man paused in shock. “Then… Your Majesty, may I ask why you’re here?”
“I’m here to explore the stars.” Roland shrugged. “Let’s continue this conversation indoors. By the way, bring the diagrams of all the star images you’ve discovered. You have records for these, right? Mark the brightest stars and connect them with a thin line—yes, those things.”
…
Stacks of parchment piled up on the table in the hall, some tinged with yellow due to their age.
Roland took a deep breath and used a pen to draw a “spoon” and “hourglass” on a piece of paper, and connecting the bright stars with lines according to the stars diagram.
“Your Majesty, what’re these?” asked the scholar confusedly.
“They’re two star images.” He picked up the paper and showed it to the group of astrologers. “Have you ever seen images like these before?”
They all shook their heads.
“Search for similar images in all of these parchments,” ordered Roland. “Everyone, takes a pile, and be sure to look at every single one.”
His great confusion was: “Am I on a different side of the same planet?
It’s not surprising that this place also has a sun and a moon. The sun is just a regular fixed star. There’re billions of fixed stars in the Milky Way, and there’re billions of galaxies like the Milky Way in the universe, so it’s not unlikely that there’s another fixed star system in the infinitely large universe.
However, I’m not sure about species’ similarities. Biological evolution occurred by the coincidental outbreak, so there could be completely different organisms produced in the same environment. Whether it’s demonic beasts or demons, I don’t think they evolved from the same natural world as earth’s.”
He decided to use star images to address this confusion.
Fixed stars had life spans of billions of years, and their location barely ever changed, so they had always been used to determine the direction or hold symbolic meaning. Roland only remembered two star images: the commonlyknown Big Dipper, and Orion. If he could find them among the constellations, he would be able to determine his location.
After an hour, no one had found the constellations.
Roland also used this time to ask Astrologer of Dispersion Star about a few of this world’s most famous star images, but he had never heard of any of them. The Kingdom of Graycastle astrologers also did not know of the Zodiac star images.
In general, the Bright Stars on these star images were far denser than the star images he knew, which meant he was closer to the center of the galaxy. This was because fixed stars were closer together towards the galaxy’s center.
Then it’s very likely that I’m not on Earth.
This answer slightly disappointed Roland. He sighed and glanced around the hall. “How many members are there in the Astrology Association?”
“Your Majesty, there’re 9 astrologers, 156 apprentices, and 67 handymen and masons,” replied Astrologer of Dispersion Star.
“I plan to shut down the Astrological Station. Pack your bags and return to the City of Neverwinter with me.”
The words instantly changed the expression on everyone’s face. Alva said in a terrified tone, “Your Majesty, how, how could you…”
“I don’t believe in astrology. I only believe in personal choice,” said Roland nonchalantly. “And I’m the King of Graycastle, so I can shut this down if I wish to. You’ll learn the truth about star images in the Western Region, and you won’t see them as the meaningless pathways for fate anymore.”
“With all due respect, Your Majesty Wimbledon, you can’t do this.” The Chief Astrologer slowly rose and said, “We have to watch the stars at all times without interruption—this order was passed by your ancestors.”