Chapter 214 ·Maiden of Blood (3)
Maiden of Blood (3)
Those who have lived with a wealth of emotion yet in hardship would often say:
Why do people have joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure?
If only those didn't exist, then there would be nothing to bring tears or pain.
There were more than a few who considered the very things most precious to humans as poison instead.
Just looking at the East Continent, torn by the Great War, it was filled to the brim only with people like that.
In such a hellish land, the environment was so harsh one might say dying would be more comfortable.
Everywhere, screams and bombardment had become more common than birdsong, the stench of blood hung thick in the air, and the ground was piled high with the bodies of those who once shed blood together.
Countless people made extreme choices to escape that hell.
So much so that cults sprouted up that dressed death as "eternal life," promising release from the suffering of life.
This did not change, even after the continent was unified.
Though the war had ended, conflict had not disappeared.
There was an Empire that succeeded in unifying the continent, but sweeping away the remnants of the defeated empires was also a grueling task.
Naturally, the defeated nations' remnants shrank until they barely remained, mere mice chased by the victors.
It was still an age rife with suffering, but in stark contrast, there were those who sought happiness.
They belonged to the empire that concluded the Great War and unified the entirety of the East Continent.
The people there mocked those from defeated nations as rabble or captured them and used them like livestock.
In other words, times had not changed—a man using another as a tool was still the way of things.
And the ones who suffered had no idea.
They did not know that the architect of their suffering was someone who could not even feel joy.
.
.
.
"What are you standing there for, Maiden of Blood?"
An old man in military uniform spoke to a young girl.
Her black hair and red eyes gave her a beauty that could make even a nonexistent heart flutter, but anyone who approached her with personal motives would lose their neck.
"Just call me 666, instructor."
To begin with, no one ever talked to a woman whose eyes were so lifeless.
Moreover, the girl now held a power that no one in this country dared disrespect.
"Indeed, your name is Number 666. It was I who gave you that name. But lately, I hear you are called the 'Maiden of Blood' much more often."
Since the Great War ended and the continent was unified, the girl had become famous.
It was only natural.
The hero who achieved that unification now stood in front of the man who had once been her instructor and now served as her adjutant.
"So, what are you doing right now?"
When the adjutant got to the point, the girl showed him the thick stack of papers she was working on at her desk.
"I was writing my duty log and records, as ordered, sir."
"Records? Are you saying you've been carrying out the order I gave you six years ago until now?"
"Yes, sir."
Six years ago, when the girl was twelve.
The order was given after her emotions had been perfectly erased.
"That order was so I could gauge the situation back then. Now that the continent's unified, there's no... Ah."
Wait, she doesn't stop an order she's heard until I tell her to.
The adjutant clicked his tongue, recalling that much too late.
The thing that moved this machine-like girl was solely his command.
He knew better than anyone.
"What do you want to do?"
"Hmm..."
Those logs had originally been ordered to monitor her.
It was a way to check through her writings whether this girl, unable to lie to him, was truly following his orders.
But now, the war was over. There was no profit in continuing to monitor the girl.
Nonetheless, a glance at her book gave the adjutant a sudden idea.
"What are you drawing?"
"It's about swordsmanship."
Literally, the girl was not simply writing; she was also drawing images as if a person were swinging a sword.
"I thought text alone could no longer express the fierce battles we experienced. I want to use drawings as well."
"Then... there's something I'd like you to do from now on."
.
.
.
The task entrusted to the girl by the adjutant was simple:
Record, for posterity, the special manual of the swordsmanship she had used.
The girl began writing in the special book the adjutant gave her.
She had been told to include both words and drawings, recording each sword movement in detail, so it naturally took a long time.
The girl's swordsmanship was extremely unusual, unlike any other.
Even the greatest masters of the Empire or any foe she had faced until now could not comprehend her swordsmanship.
A sword wrapped in crimson aura left bloody afterimages with every sweep, bringing death.
The indescribable, chilling Sword Ki that emanated from it would later be called the Blood Sword Technique.
And two years later, the girl was still recording that very technique.
"Haa..."
Even after the Great War ended, the girl's sword was stained with blood and corpses of thugs who had challenged her littered the ground.
They weren't mere ruffians.
They were survivors from the defeated side of the Great War, who had lost everything.
The girl, for that reason, had many enemies.
In unifying the continent, she had destroyed entire nations.
"Such a devil..."
Slice—
The girl coldly beheaded her foe as if their words were not even worth hearing.
Indeed, to her, anything not a direct order from her superiors was worthless.
"Keeping you alive was the right call."
The adjutant watched as she wiped out these remnants alone, speaking with satisfaction.
"There are still so many of these rats hiding, so you're still needed. His Majesty must have thought the same."
"Thank you."
"Sure. You can be grateful to me. Or, if you'd like, think of me as a father."
"...."
The girl stood still, speechless.
It was a stirred reaction, but she quickly returned to her usual self.
"Anyway, it appears there are still many remnants left. We need to weed them all out."
"I'd like to, but those guys are very good at hiding. They're hard to find."
"I don't understand why they keep fighting, even after losing."
The girl recalled the one she'd just beheaded.
"He called me a devil."
"Of course. Have you forgotten how you've been perceived these past two years?"
From the start, the girl had fame on both sides—
To the defeated, she was the devil who doomed their homeland; to Imperial citizens, a hero who brought victory.
"You know that all the kids who were raised as soldiers like you were disposed of. Do you know why?"
"Yes, to destroy the evidence."
Disposal was simple.
Just use the number branded on the body as a catalyst and spread poison throughout it.
"You were supposed to be discarded that way as well, but there were two reasons you weren't."
"Was one to deal with these remnants?"
"Good. And do you know the second?"
She did.
"Because of the eyes of the public."
"That's right. Unlike the other kids who only served as meat shields... You achieved far more than other Empire heroes. If we disposed of you, everyone would know what was happening."
She was respected not just by martial artists but by all the people.
She was a living legend—there was no one in the continent who did not know her name.
"If we disposed of you, famous as you are, the backlash would be huge."
"I don't have a name."
"That's why everyone calls you the Maiden of Blood."
"...."
The adjutant spoke mockingly, but the girl's face remained expressionless.
"The whole nation loves you. Why do you look like that?"
"Is there any reason I should like being liked?"
"...."
The adjutant looked flustered.
Of course, he was the one who made her this way, but it was still unnerving.
"Anyway, I'll proceed to the next mission."
"Are you referring to completing the manual?"
"Yes."
He looked forward to the manual, but it was a rather vexing order.
A year in, it was still incomplete.
It wasn't that the girl was slacking.
The Blood Sword Technique she wielded was so bizarre even she could barely comprehend it, which slowed her down.
"Instructor! We've finally found them!"
It wasn't just the girl and adjutant present at the site.
Thanks to the actions of these remnants, many soldiers were massed in the area.
"Luckily, it seems we weren't too late."
"But..."
At that moment, someone appeared from the undergrowth where the soldiers stood.
"Don't move!"
The man emerging from the grass held a young girl hostage.
"One move and your princess dies!"
The man threatening with a knife held none other than the princess of the victorious Empire hostage.
"Tsk. To think, in their drunkenness at victory, they'd leave such an opening."
The adjutant clicked his tongue at their blunder.
If they lost the princess here, his Majesty would fly into a rage.
"If you want your princess back, do as I say..."
Thud!—
In that instant, the man's words were cut off as he collapsed onto the ground.
The girl had attacked from behind at such speed no one saw her move.
She hadn't used a blade.
She'd merely jabbed with her finger, and a hole appeared in the back of the man's neck.
"Ah..."
Having felled her foe, the girl now locked eyes with the princess.
For a moment, the princess stared straight at her.
"Princess! Thank goodness you're safe!"
As the incident wrapped up, soldiers hurried forward to protect the princess.
Seeing her being guided away by soldiers, the girl turned without a word, showing no interest.
"Big Sis!"
Just then, the princess, supposed to be led away with the soldiers, was grasping the girl's hand.
"We've met before, haven't we?"
"...."
The question, asked so suddenly, made the girl pause and then reply,
"We haven't."
"No! You saved me before."
"When was this?"
The adjutant, hearing the exchange, suddenly looked as if he'd realized something.
Three years ago, and again two years ago, when the wars still raged—
The princess had nearly lost her life twice to enemy soldiers.
Both times, a hero had appeared from nowhere and saved her.
That hero was none other than the Maiden of Blood.
'So Her Highness remembers?'
Even the adjutant was a bit flabbergasted at the princess's remarkable memory for a child,
since the girl herself had no idea the one she'd saved each time was the princess.
'She really has no interest at all.'
Again, of course, it was he who made her that way.
****
Once, the East Continent was home to many Emperors.
They waged war with each other to expand their domains, but in the end, only one survived.
Now, with the continent unified, that lone survivor—he who was now Emperor—gazed at a manual, jaw hanging open.
"Your Majesty! Number 666... the Maiden of Blood has succeeded in rescuing the Princess!"
A report came from a guard, but His Majesty, as if entranced, did not respond.
"Your Majesty?"
"Don't speak to me. The princess was rescued? With Number 666 involved, wasn't that obvious?"
From the moment the Maiden of Blood was dispatched, there was nothing to worry about.
"As I thought... this power hides a secret!"
His Majesty stared at the incomplete manual written by the Maiden of Blood and realized something.
He could see endless darkness lurking within the Blood Sword Technique described there.
"As expected, number 666 will remain alive."
His Majesty came to a decision.
"Until the ritual takes place."
A decision that, one day, would bring a crisis greater than ever to the East Continent.