Son of the Hero King

Chapter 714: Wratharis

[Wratharis — Patientia Temple]

Wratharis Kingdom. One of the Seven Great Kingdoms in the Mortal Realm, representing the Sin of Wrath and the Virtue of Patience. It was the kingdom of Beastkin that had fallen under the control of a Mad Tyrant for more than a decade and underwent steady decline.

Now, the Kingdom was finally seeing a new day as a new ruler took the helm after a brutal war that ended with the death and disgrace of the mad tyrant that almost took the country down with him.

That ruler was called Setsuna Ira— daughter of the previous King who was murdered by the Tyrant. A woman who fled to Lustburg as a child and came back in triumph after years of training and suffering in the kingdom of the humans.

“Hum…. I didn’t really suffer in Lustburg, though.”

In the office of the ruler, an Oni and a Wolf were working together to sort out the tale that would depict the ruler’s journey.

The Oni had a short stature, with purple black hair and two horns on her forehead. She was wearing rather risqué clothes with a certain grace to them that bordered between seductive and majestic. The majesty and grace were destroyed when people noticed the gourd filled with alcohol, however, leaving only the decadence and hedonism that was inherent in the Oni race.

She was Shuten Doji. One of the Four Great Leaders of Wratharis.

Facing her was a golden-haired, golden-furred female Wolf Beastkin. The wolf was wearing a traditional kimono with floral patterns – the defecto choice of clothing for the royalty of Wratharis – and had a sword at her hip. Her long golden hair was tied in a ponytail, pairing that with the sword and the dignity with which she made each movement gave her a valiant appearance.

This unusual gathering of the pair of women was currently busy transcribing the Memoirs of Setsuna. Something they planned to share with the population to help them understand and connect with the new queen of their nation. This was an idea proposed by Setsuna, and Shuten accepted it without much opposition. This was her specialty, after all.

Shuten Doji stopped writing and adjusted her glasses as she looked up from the paper she was holding.

“Princess…” She began, but Setsuna stopped her, an exasperated expression on her face.

“I know, I know. This is propaganda, and we need a compelling story.”

Shuten nodded slowly. “I will be honest. Your actual story sounds even more unrealistic and propaganda-like than the lie we are fabricating.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it.” Shuten took another stack of paper and started reading. “Your story when you were a kid was quite compelling but after that, it’s nothing but some sort of romance fantasy. Like, you reached Lustburg and managed to meet the Supreme Daughter directly?”

“Miss Camelia is very kind.”

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“Then, just as you finished discussing with the Supreme Daughter, the Crown Prince of Lustburg appeared?”

“.... Sol visited the church regularly as a kid.”

“Hum, then after meeting you the prince immediately took you under his guard and named you as an Apprentice Knight?”

“Miss Camelia decided that this was the best form of protection for me— a royalty on exile.”

“You faced no discrimination, no harassment, no racism. Sol and you fell in love. He never abused you, never used you, and somehow you became not only the personal Knight of the Prince, you also became his fiancée?”

This time, Setsuna could only clamp her mouth shut.

“I don’t know for you. But no matter how I read this, it looks like some kind of propaganda to make Lustburg look better and whitewash the prince.”

“But it’s the truth.” Setsuna gritted her teeth, feeling wronged for being doubted.

“The truth doesn’t matter in this situation. What matters is the perception. Your story shows no struggle. Blessed you may be, but this level of luck is simply out of this world. I can promise you, show this to a hundred people, and more than ninety will just think that you are flat out lying.”

Setsuna growled heavily at her blatant remark, but she hated that there was nothing she could retort with to Doji’s words. Even she had to admit that her life was basically a fairytale compared to what it could have truly been.

“Yet. I do not wish to lie. Much less tarnish Sol’s reputation.” Setsuna was resolute. She knew that this was not the moment to act willfully. They needed to establish her authority and increase her approval rating among the peasants of the Kingdom.

However, she refused to lie. Not on this.

Setsuna and Shuten Doji gazed at each other for a short moment, a contest of will taking place full force. One was an experienced politician. Someone who managed to cement her position as the leading force of a country despite being a foreigner. One could say that she was a miracle maker.

The other was a young girl with little to no experience in governing and who only knew how to swing her sword and follow orders.

In the end, though, the one to relent was none other than Shuten.

“You are stubborn. I wonder if it’s characteristic of all the Blessed.” She sighed and put down the paperwork she was holding. Flames erupted, consuming them until nothing was left. “Very well. Let’s start from the beginning again, and this time, we will tell the true story.”

Setsuna smiled, her golden tail wagging behind her like a happy dog as she nodded, “Let’s do that. We should start with how Sol tried to touch my ears on our first meeting.”

Shuten gave a bitter smile and started working with lethargy in her eyes. Today was going to be a long day.

***

A few hours later, a happy Setsuna walked out of Shuten’s office, leaving a thoroughly tired and drained Oni by her lonesome.

The moment the door closed behind Setsuna, all expression of lethargy vanished from her face as a cold and calculating light flashed in her eyes.

She took the story she had written and started rereading everything again. Again and again. This was valuable information. Setsuna might have concealed the most important part, but people always underestimate how important mundane information can be.

Still, the more she read, the less she understood the princess. Sometimes utterly naive, and other times extremely cold. A battle maniac, yet someone who would rather discuss than fight if possible. A pervert who could lay down with any woman throwing themselves at him, but still treated the few he cared for as if they were his entire world.

A walking contradiction, a worrying situation, a doomed fixation. He was a storm in formation, and she knew that soon this very storm would sweep through everything and anything in its path. Even if that path laid the Mortal Realm to waste.

Be it for good or bad, she could not say, nor did she care. All that mattered was for her to be on the right side of the storm that was incoming.

“Shuten, you seem to be deep in thought.” Shuten adjusted her slouched body and looked up, not surprised to see Kiku entering through the window.

“Old fox, I guess you finally decided to move.”

Kiku shrugged, her kimono struggling to contain her chest. “I was wondering if you were planning on brainwashing the princess, but for now, it seems like you are keeping your thoughts to yourself. This is very unlike you.”

“Unlike me, huh…” Shuten looked down at the new story and smiled, “My friend you do know me the best. It would be a lie to say I wasn’t tempted to make use of her. After all, this is a chance to become the shadow ruler of Wratharis. I briefly contemplated slowly manipulating her and having her on our side.”

“But you gave up. Why?” Kiku had only asked this in jest but looking at Shuten’s face, it seemed like there was more to it than she first thought.

“Why?” Shuten shook her head and gave her a bitter laugh. “Why would I risk my neck trying to manipulate a fanatic like her?”

She shuddered violently just at the thought. She did not know what kind of drug Sol gave to Setsuna. But she knew one thing.

Had she insisted on tarnishing Sol’s reputation, her neck would have been sent flying.

Of that, she had no doubt.