Chapter 81
On the Sedia continent, the country with the longest civilized history is Shulendal [Kingdom of the North].
Or so believes the majority of people living in the continent’s central and western areas, but there are many who hold a different opinion.
According to them, the credit of being the founder of civilization belongs to the Shuzlus Holy Kingdom, which was located east of Shulendal, where present-day Feldi is.
The kingdom ruled by kings inheriting the blood of the Snake G.o.d of Creation prospered for several thousand years, but was erased 500 years ago during the First Bleed.
The citizens of the holy kingdom were scattered into hundreds of small tribes and small countries.
The blood of the lineage of the holy kings flows thick in the Shulz tribe, blessing them with powerful and charismatic leaders generation after generation. In 200 years, they managed to build up Filsand to its current size.
During the Second Bleed 150 years ago, they managed to protect their city, despite suffering significant losses. However, they were unable to do the same in the face of the next invasion.
In other words, the invasion of the Kingdom of Feldi, roughly 20 years ago.
The general Damund, who had led Feldi’s vanguard in vanquishing several countries, killed the Shulz’s Tribe Chief of the time, and successfully drove out all the Shulz people from Filsand. He eventually was granted peerage and authority over the city, becoming the Duke of Filsand.
The Shulz people fled to the barren lands in the south.
Mainly composed of rocky mountains and wastelands, the south was indeed a harsh place to live in. However, the new Tribe Chief led the tribe to raise mountain goats, catch fish, and cultivate small farms.
Though burning with ambition, the Duke of Filsand showed no interest in the barren, worthless lands in the south, so a few cold, quiet years pa.s.sed.
The change came from the Shulz tribe side.
Roughly 5 years after being chased out of Filsand.
The wife of the Tribe Chief, a woman named Sheiru who was one of the daughters of the previous Tribe Chief, gave birth to a child.
The red eyes of the child that signifies that the blood of the holy kings flows strong in her caused the people of the tribe to remember their pride and their anger.
It can also be said that they realized that this land could not support their numbers, which had begun to grow again.
The males of the tribe took up weapons in between going hunting and farming, and began attacking Filsand.
At the time, the surviving population of the Shulz was about 3,000. In the middle of developing due to maritime trade, Filsand had a population of about 30,000. There was no comparing.
Despite that, the Shulz still attacked trade caravans and frontier settlements, aiming to hurt Filsand’s wealth and power however much they can.
The daughter between the Tribe Chief and Sheiru, Dianu, was already mixed in with the boys by age 10, running around the mountains and joining in the hunts.
With red eyes and silver hair, she was expected to become a stunning beauty in the future. However, she loved hunting more than singing, weapons more than sewing needles.
“You are actually the princess of Filsand. The princess of that huge, brightly shining, wealthy city. That’s why you must kill that hated Duke and my elder sister, who shook her tail at that Duke, and reclaim that wonderful Filsand.”
Considering how e
very single night, Dianu was repeatedly made to listen to her mother’s pent-up resentment in place of lullabies, she actually grew up relatively well.
“The reason because mother and the Shulz people got chased from the city was because they were weak! I will become incredibly strong, then take everything back!”
So saying, she poured her energy into learning martial arts, leading the boys in her surroundings to do nothing but train to fight.
She was 10 years old when she experienced a real battle for the first time.
Her opponent was not soldiers from Filsand, but a monster.
It was a gigantic bat called a Rock Bat that was active at night, preying on small, solitary animals, such as humans.
The Shulz did not have sufficient resources to arrange for sufficient guarding, so every month, the Rock Bat would take away 2 to 3 children or elders.
Possessing a certain amount of intelligent, it wouldn’t show up when the security was tight. But when the soldiers grew tired, it would attack from an unexpected direction.
Hiding a short sword dipped in poison in her breast, the 10 year old girl crouched, alone, on a large rock at night.
The last attack had been 10 days ago. It was a night when no one else was about, when “it’s almost time for the next one” was on everyone’s mind.
As expected, the hungry demonic beast attacked the little girl.
True to its name, it was a bat with grey skin as hard as rock. However, it was a lot larger than any ordinary bat, and it possessed claws and fangs that gave it the ability to kill its prey.
Right when the bat with a wingspan of almost 2m tried to grab onto the young girl with both its legs……
“Dayaa——!”
The young girl rolled to a face up position, grabbed one of the bat’s legs and stabbed it with her short sword…… or not. Instead, she used all her strength to draw the bat’s body towards herself.
“Giii! Giii!”
The demonic beast possessed overwhelmingly greater strength, but as it was in the middle of a dive, it could not help but to be pulled along.
The grey bat and little girl were almost close enough for their noses to touch.
“Dah!”
“GIGIGiiiiiii!”
The bat opened its mouth widely to sink its fangs into the little girl’s throat, but the little girl was faster in plunging her sword into that mouth.
“GyaAHH! OW! It HURTS d.a.m.n you!”
“Giii! GIGIGii!”
Of course, the little girl did not go unscathed. The hand that was grasping onto the Rock Bat’s leg was stabbed and gouged by its other claw. She still has the scar from this wound.
The bat mustered all the strength in its wings to clobber her and wildly flailed its claws, trying desperately to tear her off.
Despite that, the little girl hung on, pushing the short sword deeper and deeper into the bat’s mouth, twisting it the entire time.
In the end, the death match was over after several minutes.
The one who eventually rose from that rock that was covered in a sea of blood was the girl.
After that, she tried to sneak back into her own room the way she had sneaked out, planning to put on an innocent face while waking up the next morning……. ‘planning’ being the operative word.
Because of course, she was caught by her parents, everything came to light, and she was berated from head to toe.
It turned into one of those very rare instances when her father, who believed in letting sleeping dogs lie and rarely raised his voice, and her mother, a prideful person who only ever spoke of their tribe’s past glory, came to be in sync. To this time, the girl still remembers how they hugged her after the harsh scolding was over.
For the Shulz people, this episode became a beacon of hope.
For this people who was growing wearing from the harsh life in the hinterlands and the fruitless fighting against Filsand, the appearance of a hero was what they desired for the most.
Furthermore, several years later, she became selected to be the wielder of the Divine Sword. More and more people came to adore her, and to entrust her with their dream…… the dream of returning to the bountiful Filsand.