The Mythical Hero's Otherworld Chronicles: Volume 6 [Parts 1 to 8] by Tatematsuri

Author:Tatematsuri
Language: eng
Format: epub

The twelfth day of the first month of Imperial Year 1024

Winter’s chill had firmly set in, and the morning sun did little to ease the dryness in the air. Nonetheless, the people declined to stay in their houses, spilling cloaked in warm excitement out into the streets. Roaring crowds lined the central boulevard, and confetti fluttered through the air between the sky’s blue-and-white patchwork. Unbroken applause and resounding whoops shook the morning air.

Burly men marched down the center of the boulevard as the people cheered from either side. The War God’s heir rode at their head, leading the procession atop his swiftdrake. He smiled and raised a hand to the people.

“Glory to the empire!”

“Divines be with you!”

Their voices formed a chorus to the orchestra’s stately melody as they shouted their blessings, producing a grandiose marching song that filled the soldiers’ hearts with pride. A gentle breeze blew down the road, granting them its blessing for the battles to come.

A black dragon banner fluttered gracefully against the blue—the War God’s sacred standard, which only he was permitted to bear. The onlookers breathed sighs of astonishment, and their gazes held only the purest admiration. There was no high or low there; the Hero King of Twinned Black had laid the empire’s most foundational stones, and soldiers of all ranks afforded him the highest respect.

Hiro’s troops numbered twenty thousand men, gathered from the private forces of the central nobles. The soldiers of earlier belonged to the east and were not part of his sortie. Hiro had insisted on taking only central noble troops in view of the need for coordination on the field.

He turned his gaze from the crowd to the battlements above the main gate.

It’s all up to you now.

Down from the ramparts stared the woman who had protested his plan to the last: Rosa. She gave a small wave and a stiff smile, an unusual display of open sorrow for someone who maintained such a formidable front. Hiro smiled back, half-closing his eyes affectionately, but she did not return his warmth. He knew why. It had driven them to a rare argument the previous night, and he had still not managed to convince her by the time dawn came.

Don’t worry. I’ll be back...once all this is over.

He tried to face forward despite his heavy heart, but found that he couldn’t. Something in the corner of his eye caught his attention.

“I know her...” His lips parted unbidden.

In the midst of the cheering figures stood a young girl. Hiro remembered her well—in fact, he couldn’t have forgotten their meeting if he had tried. She was the girl who had offered him an anat flower during his first victory parade through the capital.

She held the same red blossom in her hands now, but she showed no sign of stepping closer. Perhaps she was intimidated by the roar of the crowd, he wondered, but she looked different today. There was grief in her eyes as she stared at him, or perhaps reproach—whatever it was, it felt uncanny coming from a child, and set every hair on his body on end.

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