Published at 7th of May 2023 7:35 pm

Volume 12, Chapter 1 – Five Great Generals, Part 4

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By the time she could remember, Stryer, the fourth-generation princess shrine maiden, was already living in the “Spirit King Temple.”

However, she did not feel any sense of discomfort, nor did she ever question it.

She lived as she should, aged as she should, and lived as she should.

There were times when she wondered about her origins, but the longer she lived, the less she cared.

There were many people in the “Spirit King Temple” who were in a similar situation to her.

One day, however, she discovered her own cursed fate.

One night, her closest friends were all killed by an intruder in the “Spirit King Temple.” Seeing her friends sinking in a pool of blood, she could not think of anything else.

It was hard for her to accept the reality of the situation, but the assassin who killed her friends had no regard for her, and his deadly blade was mercilessly pointed at her. The blade shone brightly in the darkness, and she, a young girl, closed her eyes with a face painted with fear without knowing why. However, the pain did not strike her at all, and when she opened her eyes with fear, it was the assassin who was submerged in a sea of blood―near the corpse stood the princess shrine maiden of that time, with nothingness in her eyes.

“…..I’m sorry.”

The princess shrine maiden of that time hugged her while apologizing with a painful expression on her face.

The situation was incomprehensible, but one thing she understood was that the fear had gone.

That was why she cried and screamed. She cried because she knew the joy of being alive. Rather than grieving over the deaths of her friends, she felt relief that she had survived.

“Now… why did I have such a dream…?”

Princess Shrine Maiden Stryer looked at herself, embracing the princess shrine maiden of that time. With her younger self in the past, she soon realized that this was a dream. In addition, the previous princess shrine maiden, who was no longer with her, was also present, so it could not be real.

It was an abominable memory, a past that she had kept hidden and never told anyone.

Memories of her childhood, when she knew no dirt, saw no ugliness in the world, and was simply pure.

She couldn’t forget it even if she wanted to; it still came to her memory as if it were only yesterday.

She can’t forget her pathetic self―the foolish one who trusted adults.

“It makes me want to kill them.”

Stryer muttered, and the landscape around her changed.

The space swirled, the colors blended, and the wind whipped past at high speed behind Stryer as if carried by the wind. Without such a showy performance, Stryer accepted the mysterious phenomenon with a bitter smile, wishing that if it were her dream, she would have woken up right away.

What appeared next was a new view―the young herself from earlier was gone, and a slightly more grown-up version of herself stood before her.

“You have a nice face now.”

The face still had a childish look to it. The next scene was a new one: the young self was gone, and a slightly grown-up self stood in front of her.

“Being covered in so much blood… how old was I when this happened…?”

The past self, whose entire body is stained red―she reaches out to wipe the blood from her cheeks, but she couldn’t touch it. Stryer tried to recall when this happened, but her gaze suddenly caught the head of the “human” who had been in the arms of her younger self.

“Ah….. was it when I killed the third princess shrine maiden?”

The emotion in Stryer’s eyes was disgust.

“Hypocritical… puppet…”

As she muttered, Stryer’s gaze turned to herself as she stood there, still smiling.

No―to the boy standing behind him.

“The “Fairy King”…”

The “Fairy King” in the form of a boy’s mouth moved as Stryer muttered.

“Now, the next princess shrine maiden will be you, Stryer.

Whether or not his words reached her, of course not, but it seemed as if the “Fairy King’s” gaze was not on the young woman but on the present Stryer. But this was definitely not the case. Because he existed only in her memory, and the “Fairy King’s” eyes were hidden by a large cloth.

“Thank you. Fairy King.”

The young Stryer, who was patting the head of the third princess shrine maiden, bowed her head toward the boy standing behind her, the Fairy King.

“Stryer, don’t forget your contract. I gave you the King’s Eye and the Five Destructive Holy Principle Swords, not for your own personal gain.”

“I will not forget. But the eye seems to be incomplete…?”

“The vessel is broken. But don’t worry. It will come back with time.”

“Let’s hope.”

“Until then, you must get the “Spirit King” to come after you. And when the time comes, come and call on me.”

“Understood. Everything will be as you wish.”

With a smile on her face, her expression unchanged from the beginning, the young Stryer bowed deeply.

Her face was downcast, and her hidden expression was joyful. A deep smile was etched on her face, like a child who could not hide the joy of a successful prank, as if everything had gone as planned.

The “Fairy King” nodded his head in satisfaction and disappeared, not even noticing the strange appearance.

What was left behind was a black, ugly feeling that had taken root deep in her heart.

“Haha, hahaha… Fuh, kuh, hahahahahahaha, how ugly! Is that the “king”? He has lost his “vessel” and is left with only his “dignity,” and yet he still clings to this world. ――He has truly become an ugly being.”

Stryer’s eyes narrowed as she turned to her past self, who couldn’t stop laughing and laughed hysterically.

“Fufu, forever and ever and ever and ever, just the way it is.”

As Stryer let out a joyful laugh, the world showed signs of collapse. Pieces of her memory crumbled away, and like a pressure sore, her young self was peeled away and disappeared into the darkness.

“The “king” whose legs have been stripped off crawls on the ground, and the “man” who has been given legs tramples down as he pleases.”

In a world where everything was gone, Stryer looked up above her and reached out her hands.

“Now let’s go back to the world, to the world I wanted.”

Stryer lifts the corners of her mouth and closes her eyes.

Waking up from a dream to reality was always fleeting, painful, or sad, but she had forgotten what the dream was about. But she remembered only the dull ache that remains in her heart.

“The reality that will always, always, always remain the same.”

When Stryer opened her eyes again, she found that her surroundings had been shrouded in darkness.

Even so, she could tell where she was by the noise coming from the surroundings.

The faint smell of burnt air filled her lungs through her nose, and a bitter taste spread through her body as if to remind her that this was reality.

“…..Is dreaming heaven and reality hell?”

It seems that she has returned to the tent prepared for Pope Vanir.

The Three Vanir Kingdoms encampment is still noisy, perhaps with remnants of the attack by the Grantz.

In other words, not much time has passed since she left this place until she woke up.

“However, if it smells so burnt, it may be that… the flames of the “Flame Emperor” have not yet been extinguished.”

The flames generated by the power of the “Five Emperors of the Spirit Sword” cannot be extinguished with mere water. This may be the reason why the firefighting efforts were delayed. But Stryer showed no sign of concern and put her hand on her face in discomfort.

“…The curse remained a little, I thought it would be lifted by the death of Rozl, but it seems that the Five Emperor of the Demon Sword is more complicated than I had imagined.”

More than half of her face was scarred from the burns. The distorted feeling was transmitted through her palms.

There was no trace of the beautiful woman she used to be. Stryer let out a single sigh of resignation and pulled her hood over her head deeply as if avoiding the eyes of others.

“…It’s within my expectations. Thanks to this, I was able to achieve my goal.”

As she muttered to herself to convince herself, a voice could be heard outside the tent with the sound of noisy footsteps.

“Are you all right, Pope-sama?”

“Yes, everything is fine here…”

Without panicking, without making a fuss, and without compromising the Pope’s dignity, Stryer called out to the outside of the tent. She pretended to know nothing about the situation and let her words be tinged with anxiety as if she were playing the clown.

“I see that something has happened outside.”

“Yes, sir, but there is no need to worry. The enemy was scattered to the four directions, perhaps overwhelmed by the thickness of our defenses.”

After listening to the soldier’s words, Stryer stepped out through the entrance of the tent. The smell was worse outside than inside. It was not just a burning smell. There was also the smell of burning flesh mixed in, and a peculiar air took over the camp. Stryer covered her nose with her sleeve and turned her attention to the soldiers, trying to fight off nausea.

“The noise hasn’t died down, then. What else is wrong?”

Stryer stopped speaking mid-sentence. She didn’t need to ask because she knew it when she saw it. Looking in the direction of the noise, she could see flames rising fiercely. She could see many soldiers working to extinguish the flames.

“But it was still strange.”

The flames were shimmering like living creatures, moving from one part of the fire to another as if escaping from the water and burning everything up. She had never imagined that the fire set by the “Flame Emperor,” the “Five Emperors of the Spirit Sword,” would have such a nasty nature. The fire that could not be extinguished―whether it was brought about by the growth of the holder or whether it was the power of the original “Flame Emperor” was still unknown. Stryer was deep in thought when a nearby aide recognized her presence and got down on one knee, bowing.

“The damage is not so minor… and the fire is still fast spreading, so the firefighters are not able to extinguish it in time.”

“I see… that the Wind Emperor may have been responsible for the fire.”

It is probably the “wind” that is preventing the fire from being extinguished. The “Five Emperors of the Spirit Swords” with their wills could act against the will of the holder. This could lead to troublesome situations, but in this case, it seems to have worked for the better.

“…..There are clumsy ways to love someone, aren’t there?”

“What is it?”

Stryer’s muttered words did not seem to reach the aide.

Shaking her head deceptively, Stryer began to walk around the camp.

“No, but rather, give priority to the evacuation of the soldiers. The priority is human life, not the tents. If the firefighters are fatigued from the firefighting, it will hinder the march. Above all, if more people are injured, our strength will be reduced. That is just what Grantz wants.”

Stryer held up her hand to the burning camp.

“Keep the fire scene as it is, and give priority to human life. To prevent further damage from spreading, hurry to remove the surrounding tents that are on fire. If it is too late, you may tear them down.”

“Understood.”

Cutting her gaze from the departing aide, Stryer looks around and smiles wryly.

“Now, Your Highness Celia Estrella, what moves will you entertain me with next?”

The surprise attack aimed at the commander was a spectacular miss. Still, she must have achieved no small amount of success.

It was obvious that Grantz wanted to buy time. She wanted to use the surprise attack to bring chaos to the Vanir Three Kingdoms army, and while it was calming down, she wanted the main army led by the Sixth Princess and another army led by Prime Minister Grantz to join forces. However, the damage on this side was slight, but the soldiers’ agitation would not be easily removed. The Sixth Princess has successfully gained time, and this side was also taking steps to do so.

A powerful arrow, the arrow of the free people, must surely have been delivered to them.

“And so there is only one path left.”

＊＊＊＊＊

A single horse galloped across the night meadow at full speed.

The night wind in the west of the Great Grantz Empire is piercingly cold. Yet, the rider continues to run, heedless of the cold. With her beautiful red hair, which remained bright even in the darkness, fluttering behind her, the rider of the horse―the sixth Princess Celia Estrella―was hurrying to the rendezvous point with her men.

Soon, Liz sensed the presence of people in the darkness. A large group of people were clumped together in a single mass, their voices muffled. They showed great effort to kill the presence, but the neighing of horses cut through the night darkness and told her where they were. Without warning, Liz pulled her horse up to the lone mass and immediately called out.

“Any damage?”

As a representative, a rugged man steps forward from the group. He salutes, then drops to one knee on the spot and bows his head.

“I am glad to see that you are safe, Your Highness Celia Estrella. We haven’t finished checking the damage yet, but we estimate it to be around… 200.”

There were probably some who had not yet joined up with the others. They were not supposed to be scattered in all directions in the middle of the enemy lines. In addition, if the darkness was this deep, it was understandable that they would not be able to confirm the number of people.

“Then let’s take a short rest and then head for our destination.”

Liz dismounted from her horse and handed the reins to the approaching soldier.

Finally, she had a little bit of time to spare here.

Looking up at the night sky, Liz took a deep breath before addressing her entourage again.

“We didn’t catch the Pope.”

They raided the encampments of the Vanir Three Kingdoms to disrupt them. That initial objective was achieved.

However, they originally wanted to take the Pope, the commander-in-chief, into custody. The idea of taking him out was considered but was rejected by many who opposed the idea, saying that it would cause too much danger for the future. The Vanir Three Kingdoms revere the Pope as an absolute being. If they were to avenge the Pope, they might retreat their forces, but they would not forget their grudge against the Great Grantz Empire and might challenge them to a revenge war. The chief vassals feared that the situation would become a quagmire. Therefore, a plan was adopted to have the Vanir Three Kingdoms sit down to negotiate after securing the custody of Pope Vanir. But now that it had failed, another plan had to be devised.

“We have no choice. I don’t think the Vanir Three Kingdoms will go along with the capture, and if it goes badly, there is a high possibility that they will claim to be imposters.”

“I agree.”

Liz gave a small nod to the soldier’s words, but she wanted to get her head around the new problem that had emerged.

The Pope, who stood at the top of the Vanir Three Kingdoms, was the princess shrine maiden who reigned at the top of the small country of Baum, the headquarters of “spirit believers.” The Grantz, who believed in spirits, and the Vanir Three Kingdoms, who believed in fairies.

Whether captured or avenged, the shock to the people would be immeasurable if her true identity were to be revealed. As the soldier pointed out, even if she were captured, the Vanir Three Kingdoms would not recognize her existence and would most likely claim that she was an imposter.

The Grantz, on the other hand, would have a hard time coping with the situation. If they captured the princess shrine maiden, who was the one who gave the word of the “Spirit King,” the people would immediately criticize the Grantz, no matter what the reason. In other words, it was not a good idea to capture the Pope of Vanir.

“…..It would be overturned from the ground up.”

They could not capture her. Then there was only one path left.

The time was approaching. The time would surely come when they must settle the matter.

Therefore, she must let go of her hesitation. There was no way she will be given enough time to make a choice when she is faced with her.

“…..That’s difficult.”

Sighing deeply once again, Liz looked up at the night sky.

There were no stars in sight, and the clouds seemed to be growing thicker, buried in endless, deep darkness.

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