◈ 247. [Side Story] Maple leaves
10 years ago.
south-central continent. A change near the Great Forest. in the woods.
puck! Poo-!
Kureha’s lightning-like fist fell from the tree and pierced the imperial soldier’s armor.
“Heuk!”
“Aww?!”
Soldiers whose armor had been dented screamed and fell backwards.
Kureha landed on the floor while spinning her red braid, stepping on a branch again and running up the tree.
The imperial soldiers hurriedly aimed their spears at the trees, but Kureha was nowhere to be seen.
“What are you doing with your eyes open! Aren’t you vigilant?!”
“Ha, but it’s too fast and there are a lot of numbers-”
Bahak! Wow!
It wasn’t just Kureha. Other beastman tribe warriors also ambush from the trees.
The imperial army was knocked down one by one after being beaten by the surprise and desertion of the warriors of the elusive beast tribe.
Eventually,
“Retreat! Retreat-!”
The commander of the imperial army, who could not hold out, shouted and the soldiers turned around and ran away as if they had waited.
The beast warriors who were watching the fleeing imperial soldiers came down the trees one by one.
The beast tribe warriors, who had been breathing heavily, eventually clapped each other’s hands.
“I won!”
“I beat you again… !”
Even after winning the battle, the expressions of the warriors were not very bright.
The Imperial Army continued to push in without getting tired, even if they lost a few soldiers due to the overwhelming mass offensive.
On the other hand, the number of warriors of the beast tribe was limited, but even that was being eaten little by little.
The battle in the forest recorded an overwhelming exchange rate, but the front line was steadily being pushed back.
If they pushed back just a little bit more, they would have to fight through the village.
“Everyone had a hard time! We won today!”
Kureha, the field commander, shouted in a cheerful voice.
“Collect the wounded and the dead! Let’s go back to the village.”
Upon returning to the village, the beast tribesmen welcomed the warriors in unison. Cheers and applause erupted.
The commander, Kureha, was particularly popular. The residents chanted Kureha’s name in unison.
“Kureha! Kureha!”
“Miracle Kureha! An undefeated warrior!”
“Imperial forces are no match for our warriors!”
Kureha waved her hand moderately with a tired face and accepted the cheers.
Kureha has not suffered defeat in any battle she has participated in since she was 18 years old.
Even if we win or not, at least we achieved a draw. And he returned with the help of his ally.
So it got this nickname.
Miracle Kureha.
An undefeated warrior who protects his tribe.
“You are still very popular, Kureha. After all, your battle record is nothing short of legendary.”
In the midst of the residents, my mother warmly welcomed me with a proud face.
Kureha lightly hugged her mother and smiled bitterly.
“It’s because I’m lucky.”
“He is very lucky too. This is your skill… … .”
“It’s not just empty words, it’s because I’m really lucky. I’m an ignorant Kang-woon.”
Kureha looked down at the crude necklace around her neck. It was a necklace with coins from an ancient kingdom that are no longer used.
“Because my brother Quylan is protecting me.”
Quylan was the name of a younger brother who died in an accident when he was a child.
This necklace was said to be a keepsake of Kuilan and was given to her by her mother.
Mother always used to talk to Kureha. Quylan is protecting you. Don’t forget the name of your brother who protects you.
Kureha couldn’t even remember his brother’s face, but he would think about it whenever odd luck happened on the battlefield.
It’s all thanks to the luck that my brother lent me.
“… .”
The mother, who was looking at her son with a silent gaze, smiled.
“Anyway, it was hard. Let’s go home soon Your father found it.”
The village chief and martial arts teacher for the village warriors. And the village’s representative shaman.
The father was waiting for his son at the village chief’s mansion.
“I’m back, father.”
“hmm.”
Even the son who returned alive, the father did not smile once.
However, Kureha was able to read his father’s state of mind just by looking at his father’s hardened face.
are rejoicing son’s victory.
“Where are you hurt?”
“doesn’t exist. I am fine as always.”
“What about the other warriors?”
“Eight wounded and five dead.”
“How far have they marched?”
“They camped by an oak tree in the middle of the forest.”
Kureha hurriedly continued.
“I can’t last long like this, Father.”
“… .”
“As I said before, why don’t you offer peace? Now that we’ve proven that we have enough military power, the Empire will be willing to negotiate… … .”
“Nothing to say!”
Father shouted harshly.
“If you open the way for them, you will end up being their slave. Didn’t you see how the other tribes fell?”
“But father… The warriors are exhausted and there is no more front line to push back. At this rate, within a few weeks you will have to fight with the village fence on.”
Kureha, the field commander, knew his father as well as the village chief, who oversaw the situation of the entire village.
The residents were also getting tired and the village’s supplies were also low.
Defeat was only a matter of time.
“… There is still a way.”
But still, my father wasn’t about to give up.
“Kureha. Come under the maple altar tonight.”
“yes?”
“To you, the last succession of the clan… … I will teach you the secrets of the Maple Fest.”
Surprised by those words, Kureha raised her eyes wide.
Maple ticket was a martial law that had been passed down from generation to generation in the family.
My father studied it with Kureha, but in the end, he did not teach me the last secret, which could be the final decision. It was because it was too risky.
He said he would teach it tonight.
Kureha was both saddened and happy at the same time that the situation of the tribe cornered to the point where she had to pass on that dangerous secret technique.
The next step in the martial arts he has built up throughout his life.
It was because I was finally able to grab hold of it, which seemed impossible to hold in my hand.
***
There was a huge maple tree in the center of the village.
It was a beautiful maple tree that was hundreds of years old.
Now that autumn is near, the leaves are turning red from the tips.
This tree, huge enough to inspire awe just by looking up at it, was the symbol of the clan.
The clan’s name, Danpoorang (丹楓狼), and the name of the martial arts used by the clan, Maplepokwon (丹楓拳), were all derived from this tree.
Kureha slowly approached the altar in front of that tree.
The full moon rose brightly in the darkened night sky. The moonlight was so bright that the whole area was as bright as daytime.
Father was waiting for Kureha in front of the altar. Warriors from other tribes were also together.
The warriors waited by the altar, and the father led Kureha to the front of the tree.
“… Kureha.”
“Yes Father.”
“My tribe is a beast… Did you know that it also inherited the blood of the wolf tribe?”
“yes. However, unlike other tribes, a lot of human blood is mixed… … Didn’t you say that almost all of the beastman’s characteristics disappeared?”
Other beastmen have hair growing on their bodies, teeth and claws growing like those of beasts, ears erect like those of animals… … There were characteristics such as doing.
These Danpulrang tribes were almost no different from humans.
Except for the fact that they have slightly better physical abilities than normal humans and that they all have red hair, they have almost no characteristics to be called descendants of beastmen.
Standing with Kureha in front of the huge trunk of a maple tree, the father sighed lightly.
“Not really.”
“yes?”
“Our tribe inherited the blood of our ancestors more strongly than any other tribe of beastmen.”
My father’s big fist was clenched like a hammer.
“Wolf blood. A lack of belligerent mad about struggle and slaughter.”
“… .”
“In order to reduce that beast, our ancestors constantly intermarried with humans to dilute the blood of wolves. But to no avail. No, it got worse… … The fighting spirit has turned into madness.”
Father slowly looked up at the sky. I saw the full moon shining brightly.
“In the days of your great-grandfather, on a moonlit day like today, the blood boils… Everyone went crazy and killed each other. It was already a curse, not the blood of ancestors.”
Hearing the story for the first time, Kureha held his breath. the father continued.
“Your great-grandfather, the greatest shaman in tribal history, was thinking of a way to resolve this. And you found a way.”
“How is that?”
“The scapegoat.”
Kureha’s shoulders trembled at the sudden words. the father continued.
“Choose one innocent child from among the members of the tribe and place the curse of the entire tribe on that child… They drove away the beasts sleeping in the blood of their ancestors.”
“… wait a minute.”
“It was only after the beast was castrated that we could live as fully human beings. No need to go mad in the moonlight or kill each other.”
“Wait a minute, Father!”
Kureha asked urgently.
“Then what about the child? What will happen to the child?”
“… They live as monsters for the rest of their lives, carrying a curse on the brute nature of the entire tribe.”
My father, who spoke in a firm tone without emotion as usual, reached out his hand.
“Then when he dies, he chooses the next child. As a vessel to carry on the curse one by one in each generation… … .”
My father’s hand fumbled a few times along the trunk of the maple tree, then found a groove and pushed it aside.
jump.
Then a small door leading into the huge tree opened.
Seeing this scene for the first time, Kureha’s mouth widened.
My father took the lead and entered the maple tree.
“And that child who became a monster… I will stay here until I die. Unbeknownst to any member of the tribe, under the supervision of the village headman, the village’s chief shaman.”
Inside the trunk of an empty maple tree, there was barely enough room for one person.
and there
well… … . well… … .
There was a boy whose neck and limbs were bound with chains.
With sporadic red hair, the whole body was dried up like a mummy.
Really just bones and skin. And all over the body, hairs sprouted like wolves… … boy.
The boy collapsed on the floor, staring blankly into space, not paying attention to whoever came in and out.
“This child is the child of the curse.”
The father said to Kureha, who looked down at the boy in astonishment.
“It’s Kuilan.”
“yes? Quylan… … ?”
Kureha’s hands trembled.
“This child is my… A younger brother?”
“okay.”
“But Quylan is dead… !”
“I had to let others know.”
His voice, as always, was grave.
“The ritual of removing the curse from the vessels of previous generations had to be performed in secret.
I can’t use someone else’s child, so out of my two sons… … I had to choose a vessel to contain the curse of the next generation.”
“… Then why was Kuilan chosen as the vessel?”
Looking down at her sister’s cracked lips like a dry field in a drought, Kureha asked harshly.
“Why this kid and not me? Was there a reason?”
“Don’t you always talk to yourself?”
Father pointed at Kureha’s chest.
“You are lucky.”
Kureha looked down bewildered.
A worn ancient kingdom coin hung from a necklace. Kureha’s eyes widened.
“no way… .”
“okay.”
Father nodded slowly.
“I tossed a coin. It came up tails and your brother was chosen as the bowl… That’s all.”
“… !”
Kureha gritted her teeth.
coin toss.
The fate of the brothers was divided by just such a gamble.
Luckily, Kureha lived, and unfortunately, Kuylan died.
One became the clan’s hero as the best warrior in the village, and the other became a monster in the shadows without even being erased.
“How could this… .”
Kureha’s shoulders trembled as she knelt down in front of the bone-to-bone Kuylan.
“How can you do such a cruel thing Father… !”
“It was for us to live as human beings.”
The father muttered as he looked at his two sons.
“If only one member of the tribe became a monster, everyone else could live as people.”
Kureha gritted her teeth and looked back.
In the cool moonlight shining through the wooden beams, my father stood firm as always.
On the face of a man who has been willing to take responsibility for the lives of thousands of tribes throughout his life spanning hundreds of years of history.
“If only one suffers, all the rest can be happy.”
There was no guilt whatsoever.
“That’s all.”
