Episode 6.3

"I see that the song of the witch is of to your liking."

"Chaney. Is that true?"

"You mean whether it's a true story or not? Hmm, I wonder about that. After all, minstrels' songs have spices and flavors added to them for entertainment's sake. But it is considered a fact that such a country once existed, and that it was brought to ruins by an infighting between its princes. I can't say for sure if there's any more to the story however."

"The tale must be famous in this country."

"Yes. I think it's a well known legend on this whole continent. I have heard versions with radically different details, however the important characters all share commonality. In any case, the country was destroyed 300 years ago. No one really cares about its historical accuracy. After all, people would rather listen to curious, bizarre and mystical legends than the dull reality of true history."

It's a tale depicting the fall of a country.

There was once a country called Wapud.

It was a large and prosperous kingdom that had been around for a long time.

A king called Mahazar once ruled over the kingdom.

He was a wise king who led Wapud Kingdom to its peak of prosperity.

Under the reign of King Mahazar, a great majority of the continent was put under Wapud Kingdom's control, the country was flourishing, and the people never starved.

The knights were famed for their strength, never failing to foil invasions from any foreign country, and purging bandits in the country's highways.

The king had three great sons who got along well with each other, every one of them inherited the sagacity of the king. Everybody believed that no shadow would ever befall upon the country's prosperity regardless of which son succeeded the throne.

King Mahazar was of long life, and his sons eventually grew old as well. However, the king's three sons had two sons each, and every one of them inherited their fathers' qualities as they all grew up to be excellent individuals. All six grandsons deeply respected King Mahazar as well, as such, there was nary a worry over the country's future.

One day, one of the sons brought a lovely girl before King Mahazar. She was to personally take care of the king's personal needs. The girl was of humble origin, however she was wise, kind and an expert in healing magic. The girl devoted her all to keep the king's well being as she wholeheartedly served upon him.

The king loved the girl. He never granted her any political says, however he would answer to every need of the girl. The girl made one wish. In order to protect the king's life, she wished to learn magic skills and techniques under the most capable mages there were.

The best of the best of mages were invited to the royal palace to become the girl's tutors. Books were gathered up without regards to expenses. The girl eventually became the kingdom's best mage, possessing knowledge about life and death surpassed by none.

King Mahazar's three sons died of old age. At this point of time, the king rarely showed his figure before other people as he shut himself up inside his bedroom and issued imperial commands only through the girl.

Even the king's grandsons couldn't get an audience with the king. The grandsons felt lonesome about it while holding their suspicions. However, every one of the imperial edicts issued by the king was both appropriate and put considerations into the populace well beings, as such, the country never fell into disorder.

Everyone thought the kingdom would be forever prosperous.

One day, one of King Mahazar's grandsons broke the ban and went to meet the king.

What the prince witnessed was a mere shadow of the old King Mahazar as he had been reduced into an unsightly corpse with maggots gnawing on him, kept alive by a mysterious power.

Even with tears streaming down his face, the prince implored the king to tell him how he got to be like that.

The king spoke.

There was once an artifact left behind by the founder king deep in the royal palace. It was the magic gem of a mighty ancient dragon.

The girl who found out about the existence of that magic gem succumbed to her greed.

For the sake of preserving her beauty for all eternity and keeping her guardian, that is the king, alive forever, the two had performed a secret art. The girl who came up with the secret art at the terminus of her magic research had once given up on it since she couldn't obtain the necessary medium to perform the art, however, once she was aware of the existence of the ancient dragon's magic gem, there was nothing that could put a brake on her desire.

The secret art was performed. It succeeded on the girl, but failed on the king. Due to his advanced age, the king's vitality couldn't endure the severity of the secret art.

The king died.

<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka.com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>

However, the girl played her next card.

She used the magic gem of a lesser dragon to perform a secret art to resurrect the king.

The king was resurrected. As an existence that transgressed upon the providence of the world of men.

The king had turned into an abominable youma.

But even in his wretched state, the king was still a king.

He kept reading reports and issuing edicts that would benefit his country and people.

However as he couldn't let anyone see his figure, only the girl was allowed to have an audience with him.

The prince implored the king to issue a decree to eliminate the girl, but the king sorrowfully shook his head and told the prince that it was impossible in accordance to the oath.

The prince sneaked out of the castle before the girl could found out about his intrusion. The girl had a complete grasp over everything inside the royal palace and could move the royal guards to do her biddings. The prince would have died were he stayed in the palace.

The prince then went to the father of his mother, who was a high ranking noble and publicly announced the sad reality of their great king. In addition to that, he raised an army and made a declaration to kill the witch who was controlling the king and bring back the kingdom to the rightful hands of the living.

Two among the remaining five princes participated in this plan.

Yet the other three princes declared that they would protect the king and encamped their forces around the royal palace. The three princes had been bewitched by the witch.

A sad bitter battle began.

The two powers were equally matched, and the battle continued on, and on.

Eventually the country fell into ruin, and people began to starve. Yet the battle continued to ravage on.

Other countries even began to invade the kingdom from all directions, plundering territories left and right, and yet the princes continued their battle against each other.

And by the time all the lands but the royal capital had become the possession of other countries, the battle finally reached its climax.

The royal palace was burned down, the witch died in the flame.

However, the victorious prince also died from the wound he suffered during the battle.

By that point, all other princes had already left the world.

And thus, Wapud Kingdom was wiped off the map.

Leaving behind only the names of King Mahazar and of a witch, the root of the fall.

A witch by the name of Erushira.