The Little Witch’s Daily Struggle – Chapter 1670

Chapter 1670 Ghoul Lair

Soon Lorna understood why I was so surprised. When we arrived beneath the chaotic burial ground, we saw a rather spectacular European-style castle.
Towers, walls, drawbridges, and barbicans were all present, and it didn’t look much inferior to the Lord of the City’s mansion. However, because it was underground, the upper level had a direct skylight, with the chaotic burial ground on top of that. Moreover, more than half of the castle was sunk into the ground.
But according to my God’s Eye, even the part submerged in the earth was crafted extremely complete in the manner of a castle, rivaling Lavias’s underground castle, and possibly even more complete.
This was because Lavias’s castle primarily focused on the interior, featuring layered traps and mechanisms, banqueting halls, numerous rooms, a blood pool core, and various facilities. However, the exterior was not fully designed in a castle style, deeming it unnecessary when buried underground.
But this castle, including its exterior, was entirely in the style of a castle. The castle was equipped with scattered ballistas and several ghouls were controlling them. The walls had rolling logs, stones, and boiling oil, as well as shields and gun ports.
These were not mere designs to replicate a castle but had truly experienced combat. Facing the cave entrance, the castle walls bore huge claw marks that dug deep into them, along with pitted areas caused by corrosion. One tower had even collapsed, seemingly smashed down by immense force.
Additionally, I could see that even the parts buried in the earth had been attacked. Monsters that could burrow through the ground had bitten through the surrounding earth tunnels from behind, attempting to assault the castle. However, they were stopped by the city walls and couldn’t break in, only leaving a large opening in the wall.
It was likely that the ghouls inhabiting the surrounding tunnels had detected it beforehand. When it tried to penetrate the city walls, it became stuck and was immediately besieged and killed. Clear traces of combat could be seen over there.
This castle was not only built deep underground but also had many tunnels dug around it by ghouls. They lived inside, much like how peasants would live around a feudal lord’s castle.
This might be why the owner here stubbornly insisted on building their underground stronghold as a castle. The threats from underground were equally dangerous, and the numerous surrounding tunnels served as an early warning system.
It was precisely because of this that the castle could stand in the chaotic burial ground outside the city and had not fallen. Although there were no corpses around, there were traces of battle and bloodstains everywhere.

“Is this what Parul (Sister) was so surprised about? A castle, it’s quite impressive indeed. But if it was just a matter of controlling countless Undead to build it day and night, building such a castle wouldn’t be that difficult,” Lorna said.
“No, I’m not surprised by its appearance, but by what’s inside. Let’s go in, and you’ll understand,” I said. At this moment, the castle’s main gate had already opened, welcoming all guests.
Quite a few Undead were already standing at the entrance. Perhaps due to the severe repercussions last time, the inspection this time was particularly strict. Many Undead Mages and lower-level Undead who couldn’t prove their identity were refused entry.
I felt that such an inspection was meaningless. After all, even if they knew the guests’ identities, they wouldn’t know their personalities. Like the Lich I encountered last time, he wanted to rob things and was stubborn enough to provoke divine punishment for a mutual kill. What could you do?
I was just worried about whether it would affect my entry, as I am not a real Necromancer and cannot prove my identity reliably. However, just as I was worrying, Sherris stepped forward.
Upon seeing Sherris, the ghoul at the entrance immediately displayed a very respectful expression, bowed, and gestured for us to enter. They even let us in without any inspection, leaving the other Undead, who were refused entry, stunned.
Sherris truly held a high status among the ghouls. Thanks to her, we entered directly. After passing through the double city gates and seeing the scene inside, Via, Lorna, and Giselle were indeed as stunned as I was.
The castle interior was splendid, sumptuously decorated. The walls were painted a delicate gold, the ceiling featured intricate carved designs, and the floor was laid with golden tiles adorned with beautiful patterns. A red carpet was spread across the floor.
Every few steps along the corridor, a luxurious chandelier hung from the ceiling. They were all made of crystal, with a ring of candles burning fiercely atop them. Golden wall lamps, carved in the shape of demons holding them up, were also present on the walls.
The walls were adorned with various old murals, as well as beast heads made into specimens, and weapons fixed in display cases.
At first glance, the overwhelming impression was one of grandeur and opulence, as if one had walked into the mansion of some nobleman, and not just a Lord of the City, but a more senior and very wealthy one.
But upon closer inspection, one would feel a chill. The chandeliers and wall lamps all used candles, but these candles were made from corpse wax. The carpet was sewn from flayed beast skins.
The oil paintings mostly depicted scenes of wild beasts hunting and devouring their prey, with visceral realism, as if the artist aimed solely to convey such brutality.
The displayed weapons were mostly meat saws and skinning knives, rusted and stained with blood, making one wonder how many people these weapons had killed.
The monster head specimens were the most “normal”, although I noticed some bite marks on them. Their brains, tongues, and muscles had been hollowed out. I suspected these monsters were torn apart and eaten alive, leaving only the relatively intact heads.
In addition, the luxurious castle was covered everywhere with splattered and dripping bloodstains, as well as bloody footprints and handprints. These bloodstains had long since dried and turned black.

“So, this is the ghoul lair. It’s truly luxurious,” Giselle commented calmly. After seeing the scale of the Hessen family’s castle in Darmstadt, the luxury here was only average.
But upon inquiry, I learned that from her perspective, the paintings did not depict disembowelment, and there were no bloodstains on the floor or walls. More importantly, the weapons she saw were brand new, unstained by blood and not rusted.
Via was much the same. Of course, both of them could sense that something was not quite right. If an ordinary person came here, they would see a perfectly normal, luxurious palace.
Of course, ordinary people coming here would be courting death. I could already see large numbers of ugly ghouls crawling around in the corridors, on the stairs, and in the castle’s secret passages. For ordinary people, it would be like sheep entering a tiger’s den.
“Esteemed guests, please come this way. The Trade Fair is about to begin,” a ghoul in a suit and tie said to me, his appearance made me want to laugh.