I couldn't believe my eyes when I turned around and saw the towering castle walls behind me.

"Wow!" Even Doraemon was amazed by this ancient human creation!

The castle stood proudly among steep mountains, ancient and majestic. I craned my neck to see the pointed watchtowers along the walls and the tall main keep in the center. I could even spot patches of greenish moss, and—if I squinted—deep marks of swords on the bricks. It felt like the whole place was whispering tales from hundreds of years ago.

The moon was bright, and even in that silvery light, I could make out the details with Doraemon at my side. We started walking toward the castle steps, both of us admiring how awesome it looked.

The castle gate didn't have any doors—maybe it was too old and no one had bothered to fix it. Doraemon and I stepped through the outer walls, hearts thumping with excitement.

"We should meet the owner!" Doraemon said, always so practical.

We found ourselves in the central courtyard, right next to a dried-up fountain. Doraemon looked around with his expert eye. "Though it looks a bit old, it's still quite nice!" he commented.

We followed a path to the main keep, which—unlike the outer gate—actually had a door. Doraemon twisted the handle and, to my surprise, it was unlocked.

"Let's go in!" Doraemon said cheerfully.

I hesitated. "But is that really okay? Entering someone else's property…"

"We're here to buy the castle! We're guests!" Doraemon reasoned. I wanted to argue, but he'd already gone in, so I had no choice but to follow.

Inside, Doraemon started calling out, "Hello? Castle owner? Is anyone here?" But the huge, dark castle just echoed his voice back at us. It was honestly a little creepy.

"Looks like no one's here!" Doraemon said after a few tries.

He pulled a flashlight from his 4D pocket. "Let's go further in and look around!" he said, switching it on. The beam lit up the dusty decorations—shiny suits of armor, shields, and other Western fortress stuff I'd only seen in textbooks.

Suddenly, Doraemon screamed and jumped backward, almost knocking me over. I was so exasperated—he's always afraid of mice and ghosts! But when I looked ahead, there weren't any ghosts. It was just a person holding a candle.

In the candlelight, I saw her clearly—a beautiful blonde woman. Her hair glowed gold, and her face was so fair and perfect it almost looked unreal. She wore a black double-breasted coat, belted at the waist, with long pants and tall boots. She looked really sharp and confident.

"Doraemon!" I patted his blue head, trying to calm him down. "It's a person, not a ghost!" Only then did Doraemon relax enough to look at her.

She walked over, saying something I couldn't understand at all. Probably German. Neither of us could speak a word of it.

Doraemon saved the day as always, pulling out a grey jelly-like gadget. "Translation Tool!" he explained. "This will let us understand any language." He split it in half, ate one part, and handed the other to me.

I didn't hesitate—I popped it into my mouth. It was soft and wobbly but didn't taste like anything.

Suddenly, I could understand her!

"Who are you?" the woman asked.

Doraemon introduced us, "I'm Doraemon, and this is Nobita! We're from Japan!"

"Foreigners?" she said, looking at us curiously.

I decided to be direct. "Yes, I'm here to buy property!"

I blurted out.

"Really?" Her eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Yes!" Doraemon and I said together.

"Welcome! Please, come this way!" She was so happy to hear it, and led us to a reception room.

"Excuse us then!" I said as we followed her, feeling both nervous and excited.

…

Inside the reception room, she turned on the lights. I could see everything clearly for the first time—old fireplace, candle lamps, wooden windows. It looked just like a castle from a storybook.

We sat down on leather sofas, and she started to explain. "This castle has been empty for some time, so I'm currently the owner. I inherited it from my deceased parents. My name is Lotte Münchhausen."

So she was the owner. I wondered why anyone would want to sell a castle like this.

Doraemon asked her, "Why do you want to sell this inherited castle?"

Lotte sighed. "I did consider keeping the castle and carrying on the Münchhausen family legacy. But honestly, there's no choice—the taxes are very high."

So that was it! Taxes! I didn't really mind though; I had enough money.

Just then, a middle-aged man with a gloomy expression and weird clothes—red top, green pants—pushed open the door.

"So you did come here. Leaving without notice made people worried," he said, forcing a smile.

"I just came for a walk, enjoying the beautiful scenery," Lotte answered, kind of brushing him off.

She turned to us. "Let me introduce you—this is Uncle Yosef."

"Nice to meet you," Yosef said, but I could tell he wasn't happy.

"These are my guests, we're discussing the castle," Lotte explained.

"They want to buy the castle?" Yosef's voice sounded tense.

"Yes!" Lotte replied, watching him with an amused expression.

Yosef didn't say anything else, just poured himself a glass of red wine. But then Lotte went and said, "My dear uncle is a lawyer who wants to steal my property!" She said it playfully, but it sounded sharp.

Yosef just shrugged. "There's nothing here worth stealing," he said.

"Oh my! Isn't this castle enough?" Lotte teased him.

Yosef ignored her and looked at us. "Speaking of the castle, have you told them about that? It would be unfair to hide it!"

Lotte rolled her eyes. "How boring!"

"What exactly is 'that'?" Doraemon asked, curious as ever.

"Oh, just that ghosts appear in this castle at night. But nobody believes such silly things!" Lotte said, trying to brush it off.

Ghosts?!

Doraemon was just as nervous, agreeing quickly, "Right, right!"

Yosef scoffed, "Who would buy such a castle? I wouldn't take it even if it were free."

Lotte shot back, "Well, I wasn't planning to sell it to you, uncle. Besides, someone has come all the way from Japan to buy the castle, haven't they?"

Yosef just laughed, "We'll see about that! Heh heh heh!" He finished his wine, set the glass down, and walked out.

Advanced chapter here: p-atreon.com/Sajaboyzzz

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