Hark Castle

**Hark Castle** is the name of the royal castle in Jin-Hark, the capital of the Louria Kingdom, where King Hark Louria XXXIV resides.

## Location

The Hark Castle is located at a summit in the capital Jin-Hark. It was like a mountain castle but lacked the slope of a mountain.

## Exterior and Interior Features

### Exterior

The Hark Castle is the towering edifice above a gentle hill, which was constructed fully of stone bricks, giving it the appearance of a city sticking out from a mountain if seen from afar. Surrounding the prosperous royal capital was three layers of walls.

### Interior

The rooms, halls and underground barracks inside the castle are built full of stone bricks and illuminated by dim candlelight and torches. The flame flickered from the minute movement of the air and made the shadows of the men reflected on the wall sway back and forth.

On the 4th floor, the heart of the audience hall is a massive hallway at the end of the king’s antechamber and an emergency antechamber in the royal hall with the hidden wall door.

## Chronology

### Rodenius War Arc

At Hark Castle in the royal capital Jin-Hark, the three great generals, Pandour, Miminel and Smark attended the meeting in the King’s Royal Council with General Patagene at the time of war with the Qua-Toyne Principality and the Quila Kingdom. They heard King Haag Louria XXXIV speech about the Louria Kingdom investing nearly all of its possessions and national power, putting the entire country in debt for decades, to create the legion to conquer the Rodenius Continent. They already received the report that the preparations have been completed.

The council room was filled with silence. Prime Minister Maus, who was in charge of the current military operation, looked towards General Patagene and three other generals and discussed them planning to invade the Qua-Toyne Principality and the Quila Kingdom. King Haag Louria XXXIV said happily to think that their generation will finally unite this Rodenius Continent and exterminate the wretched demihumans. The generals continued to hear their strategy discussion as Patagene spoke and showed lined up the tabletop wargame-like pieces on the map of the Rodenius Continent on the table. Louria Kingdom’s Royal Council session ended with the war order from the King.

After the Great Naval Battle of Rodenius and Liberation of Gim, the war council members had attended the meeting room at Hark Castle. They discussed the kingdom’s crisis, determining countermeasures against the Qua-Toyne Principality and Japan.

At dawn on September 1, 1639, The JASDF 1st Airwing six F-15J Kai fighters and two F-2 fighters flew in the sky over the castle and port on the Jin-Hark. The two F-2 fighters bombed the Lourian warships with the unguided bombs in the ports. They shot the wyvern squadron down, except Thanakane. The mages struggled to fight them with magic fireballs. After wyverns were annihilated from the sky, the JGSDF 7th Division with the Armored Combat Regiment approached 4 km north of the Royal Capital Jin-Hark.

After Japan’s attack during the Pacification of Jin-Hark, the war council returned to the meeting room again for an emergency about how to defend against the impending Royal Capital invasion. However, a black-robed man Valhal, who was an observer and emissary from the Parpaldia Empire, addressed Patagene for rejecting another reinforcement to them by the Parpaldia Empire. He angrily slammed his fist on the table. The war council concluded to meet the Japanese Army in a battle at the Industry City Beales, east of the Capital Jin-Hark. Then after they measured the enemy’s strength, to put this information in defending the Capital.

In the pitch black darkness, helicopters were flying over the skies of the capital, carrying fully equipped teams from the 1st Airborne Brigade and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s Special Assault Team, entered the airspace above the Hark Castle.

After clearing their hindrances, Commander Nakano and Hashimoto of the 1st Airborne Brigade ran for the 4th floor where their target should be in the emergency antechamber in the royal hall. Nakano saw two maids standing behind Royal Guards commander Rand as bait to ambush JSDF. He stepped forward in front of Hashimoto. Rand tried to earn time for reinforcements to arrive by faking a surrender, but Nakano didn’t allow him to buy some time. Nakano put him down on the floor and yelled twelve men of the First Corps Royal Guards who hid behind the pillars to surrender. They swiftly followed Hashimoto’s orders, threw away their weapons, and lay flat on the ground. He asked Rand that King Hark Louria XXXIV was behind the door, however the Zeroth Corps Royal Guards commenced to attack them by opening the hidden wall door with filled smoke.

When Rand helplessly witnessed his ambush troops were killed so easily by the JSDF, he tried to engage Nakano to close combat. Rand used smoke magic and tried to cut him with a hidden arm-mounted sword but managed to counter using a combat knife. In one swift strike, Nakano struck Rand on the neck. The knife hit his armor, scraping its surface. Rand stepped back in astonishment at Nakano’s handling. However, his wound was fatal. By the time he tried to swing his sword once more, the magic steel staff wielded by Hashimoto breathed out fire, and he fell where he stood.

After that, the rest of the Guards were also defeated by strafing, Nakano and other soldiers rushing into the king's throne room. They poured into the royal audience chamber to face King Hark Louria who stunned in fear and terrifyingly asked whether the Japanese were the Ancient Sorcerous Empire in disguise only for the JSDF to rectify him behind as they captured him, but Aoki didn’t know about the existence of this Ancient Sorcerous Empire. Aoki defined him under arrest for ordering the massacre of Gim in the Qua-Toyne Principality. King Hark Louria XXXIV was led away in handcuffs by them who succeeded in the operation to capture him.