章 61: Intermission: Dark Clouds on the Horizon
To the east of the Reztef Kingdom, beyond the Elven Lands, there is a region known as The Warring States. The people of the west named it so because the many states that comprise this area are in a constant state of warfare.
While their combined population and power is no less than those in the west, they are looked down upon with ridicule. Those in the west do not acknowledge this region as a major power due to the lack of unity. Each state wishes to reign supreme above the others, but none have been able to wield enough power to unite the entire area. However, if there ever came a day when these states were somehow united under one banner, they could change the entire power dynamic of the entire continent.
Even now, the northern areas of The Warring States were able to hold back the Demons bordering their lands. With no help from neighbors, each individual state protected themselves, and indirectly the rest of the region. This went to show how powerful each state was individually. This heightened military prowess of each state was most likely due to being constantly at war with each other, forcing each generation to become more and more powerful to survive.
Since the west continued to look upon these states with disdain, they had also missed the recent actions of the most recent leader from the state known as Fengshi. Their new king, Tuga, who had ascended after his father died, had taken it upon himself to unify the region. This news was not surprising, but what was surprising was the progress he was making.
Tuga was the greatest warrior born to Fengshi, defeating grown men at the age of 10. At the time of his father's death, Tuga was 24, and a mighty warrior. Without his father's more reserved approach reigning him in, Tuga began to scorch a path across the region. One by one, neighboring states fell before the armies of Fengshi led personally by Tuga. The deadlocks that would normally occur were swept away by his individual power and tactics.
On one such day of conquest, Tuga found himself at the castle gates in the capital city of the state of Runmark. Amplifying his voice with magic, Tuga announced in a powerful and overbearing voice.
"Hear me king of Runmark! There will be no surrender! I will remove all the ruling power in Runmark and absorb it into Fengshi! All royalty will be swept away except for your daughter. Say goodbye to her and your loved ones now, for soon I will separate your head from your shoulders and display it for all to witness! Be grateful, since your daughter is a strong warrior worthy of me, I will have her serve me and bear my children! Now prepare yourself! ATTACKKKKKK!!!"
With that the forces of Tuga crashed against the defenders of the castle.
**********
In a room inside the castle there stood a man who looked to be in his fifties, with graying black hair, wearing a luxurious set of armor. Next to him stood a young and beautiful black haired woman. They were standing close to each other, speaking in a somber tone.
"Father you should-"
"I know what you want to say, daughter, but I cannot run even if I wanted to. The castle is surrounded."
"..."
"You...should prepare yourself. I have some poison prepared if you wish to take it."
"No! If you will stand strong, so will I!"
"Mmmm...my dear daughter, while I wish for you to live, I am afraid of what that man will do to you."
"..."
"I have heard reports about the other daughters he found...worthy. They are still alive, yes, but they are nothing more than his playthings. Some are even given to his men if they upset him or he gets bored of them."
"I-I do not care! I will be strong, I will represent the royal line of Runmark with grace and strength, like my mother before me. I will endure and one day, when the opportunity presents itself, I will kill him myself!"
"Hah...I cannot stop you, and truthfully I do not wish to see you die before my eyes either. I guess the one blessing in this is that your mother is not alive to see this dark day."
"Father I-"
Before the princess could complete her words, the voice of a soldier echoed in the halls.
"My king! They have entered the castle!"
"I see...I would like to surrender to spare the men, but Tuga would not have it. He means to massacre everyone here...such brutality. It seems his father gave him none of his grace or tact."
"My king-"
The king raised up his hand to silence the soldier, and then pulled out the sword at his waist.
"That is enough, what is your name?"
"I-it is Fontex my king."
"Fontex, you have been a great and loyal soldier, would you like to join this old man in his last battle?"
The soldier seemed like he was about to say something, but then swallowed his words. His eyes became resolute as he also pulled his weapon from his waist.
"It would be my pleasure my king!"
"Father! I shall fight with you! If I am worthy, I will die an honorable death in battle! If I am not worthy...I will continue holding onto the history and grace of our family!"
"Let us fight, for the first and last time, side by side, my dear daughter."
With that they ran from the room, weapons drawn, to meet the encroaching enemy. That day the Runmark royal line was extinguished, save for Princess Faltra Runmark. The king was killed by Tuga personally, and his head mounted on the castle gates for all to see. The state of Runmark was no more and absorbed into Fengshi.
**********
To the north of the Reztef Kingdom was the Victus Imperium, the strongest country on the continent. This was a place where humans were placed above all other species, and believed themselves to be the apex.
In the heart of the Imperium lay the capital of Revidia, crown jewel of the country. The sun was just setting today, bathing the busy streets in a reddish hue. You could make out commoners going about their day, soldiers in their gleaming armor making their rounds, and even nobles riding in their carriages as their slaves followed them on foot.
Easily viewable from any vantage point in the city was a tall tower, piercing the sky. This was the Emperor's abode, a reminder of how much higher he stood than everyone else. On this day there was a man kneeling before a golden throne which sat the Emperor.
"You may speak."
"Yes, your majesty. The Demons have been more active lately than usual, and we are slowly being pushed back at the northern border. In the end, we just don't have enough men to handle such a large border with them. If it goes on like this, we will be pushed back to the capital within the next few years. We do not have a natural barrier like the Dwarves or Beastmen."
"Yes, but isn't that the reason we are going into the Reztef Kingdom? We will conquer them and absorb their population into our own. With that we will have more than enough men to guard the northern wall. Speaking of, how is phase one going?"
"Your majesty, the operation is going well. Our agents have set up way points at all the predesignated locations in the Reztef Kingdom."
"Excellent, you have not let me down Thurgadin."
"Thank you your majesty. I am not worthy-"
"Enough. With this we are one step closer to executing the plan. Have there been any issues so far?"
"No your majesty. There was a shortage of food for the men at the hidden way points, but we have sent them extra supplies. It seems we overestimated the wildlife in certain areas, and it was insufficient to feed the beast transports."
"I see. Very well, continue the operation. Onto the next topic..."
As the conversation between the Emperor and his right hand continued, the Reztef Kingdom continued to be none the wiser to their machinations.
**********
"One silver for this meat?!? This is daylight robbery!"
"I'm sorry Yema, but the supply has been low lately. The hunters are saying the game around the village is becoming more and more scarce, and they don't understand why."
"Hah...I'm sorry for blaming you. You have always charged fairly. Oh well, I guess we will make due with a meatless meal tonight."
"Un. Sorry again Yema."
As Yema headed back to her house in the Village of Walfrey, she could only lament the fact that meat prices had been increasing. It seemed that every week there was less and less game for the hunters to hunt, and thus less for the market owners to sell. This in turn drove up the price to a point now where a chunk of meat was going for 1 silver!
Yema was by no means rich, but she made enough in the past to buy meat regularly for her and her daughter. However, with the situation lately, it seemed they'd have to make due with vegetables and bread.
"I wonder what is causing the shortage of animals all of a sudden?"
This area had never had a shortage like this in her memory, and she had lived in the village for quite a while. It was the opposite, this village was normally surrounded by an abundance of wildlife, which made it so more people could partake in meat regularly.
"Hah...I really hope whatever is going on clears up. If only that man was around...I bet he could hunt monsters for meat."
Her thoughts ended up wandering to the man she had briefly met who had saved their village. He was a decent looking young man, but to Yema he was dazzling. Though she was most likely blinded by the fact that he was the one who saved the village. His methods of saving the village at first had scared her, but by the end she realized he was no more a danger than her own daughter. If anything, she had really hoped he would have stayed in the village with them, having a reliable man like that definitely wasn't the worst thing in the world.
She thought back to their final moments, and the memories of her planting a kiss on his cheek resurfaced. Her cheeks blushed and her imagination ran wild. Instead of leaving toward the woods, he decided to stay with her and Reen, and they slowly grew close. He became a loving father and wonderful husband, her hero in more ways than one, and they enjoyed days of peace together. They were forever sheltered underneath his valiant umbrella.
She shook her head as she reached her home to come back to reality, and opened the door only to be greeted by a cheerful voice.
"Welcome home mother!"
"Mmm I'm home."
The warm face of her daughter Reen was enough to push away her woes of meat and her yearning for the man. 𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩! 𝘞𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴, 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺?
As she was about to enter the house she caught a glimpse of some dark clouds on the horizon. She stopped to look at it and mumbled to herself.
"Hmm those are some dark clouds, looks like heavy rain. Hopefully it doesn't cause too much of a problem."
クリエイターの想い 
slm5189
slm5189 This ends the intermissions from Volume 1. Took longer than I thought, sorry if it was too long. Next chapter will be the start of Volume 2 and the next arc. As always, thanks for reading!
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