The Rebel Princess: A Fight For Justice

We had been on the road for about six hours, walking from dusk till dawn. Some of us were tired and hungry, but the orc by our side kept walking confidently, assuring us that we were getting closer.

At first, I didn't trust him. But when I thought about the situation more carefully, I realized that helping us wouldn't benefit him. On the contrary, if he was lying, he would be putting himself in great danger - something I'm sure he wouldn't want.

Under normal circumstances, he said we should have reached the rebel nest by now. But due to the heavy presence of the Fourth Epic's soldiers in the vicinity, we had to take a longer route to avoid battle.

The weather here was warmer than in the other kingdoms we had visited. The forest was drier and the number of living creatures was too few to be seen. According to the orc, this was because the Fourth Epic had cut down trees and polluted the area to increase production.

As we walked, Hiroshi approached me from behind and wanted to have a few words.

"How are you holding up?" he asked.

"I've seen better days," I replied. "How about you?"

"Well, if we don't get there in an hour or two, I think I'm going to pass out."

"You need to cut down on the cigar," I said. "But don't worry - if you pass out, I'll carry you."

Hiroshi chuckled and responded, "Thank you for your generosity, but all jokes aside, I need to discuss something with you. About last night…"

"I know what you're going to say and I assure you it won't happen again. I lost my temper momentarily, but that's all," he said.

"Kid, we trust you. However, I want you to be cautious because anger is a powerful weapon. If you lose control of it, eventually you won't be able to distinguish friend from foe," Hiroshi warned.

"I promise to try and control my anger," I replied.

"I know you will, Ryuu. We're counting on you. Just don't do anything you'll regret later," Hiroshi advised.

"I'll do my best," I promised.

"Now tell me, when you were in the castle of the orcs, what did the king orc want from you?" Hiroshi asked.

"He wanted revenge. The orc I killed in the first kingdom was his son. To get even, he threatened to kill you all in front of me," I explained.

"That's not good. He'll be all over us like we don't have a problem. Orcs tend to take things personally," Hiroshi said.

"Yes, just like all our enemies," I agreed.

"Be careful though. After the tournament, everyone may have found out about your ancestry. you will be the first target of many people." Hiroshi warned.

I was about to respond when the orc leading the way in the front row shouted excitedly behind him, "Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at the home of the rebels."

As we passed through the bushes, an intriguing town-like place came into view. Part of the town was built into the hill while the rest was on the land below. It was difficult to discern the nature of the place, but they had done an impressive job with what they had.

We crossed the wooden bridge and made our way towards the large building built into the hill. The building wasn't entirely in the hill, but part of it seemed to be connected. It was more fascinating than I had anticipated, and I was certain we were in the right place.

As we arrived at the entrance of the large building attached to the hill, a young girl, only a few years older than me and quite beautiful, approached us quickly. Her face and movements conveyed great excitement as if she had been eagerly awaiting our arrival.

We didn't know who she was, but we were certain she would be able to answer our questions because she seemed to be the one giving the orders to those around her.. When she reached us, she first addressed the orc that had brought us there.

"Hor, you've made it back and I see you've brought us some guests?" she said.

"Your Majesty, these are the ones who defeated the epics in the other kingdom. They have come here to help us fight," Hor replied.

"I know who they are. Everyone in the kingdoms is talking about them," the girl said, turning towards us. "And I'm sure you have many questions."

Shou studied the girl for a moment before realizing who she was. Apparently, they had a history together. He joined the conversation, wanting to confirm her identity.

"Princess, is that you?" he asked.

The princess didn't recognize Shou because of his metal armor and asked him directly to clarify his identity.

"Yes, but I don't remember seeing you before," she said.

"Princess, it's me, Shou. The slave you once saved," he replied.

"Shou! What happened to you? All these years I thought you were dead," she exclaimed.

"So did I, but I have unfinished business," he said.

Lezlie, like everyone else, was curious about what was happening after the intriguing conversation.

"I'm a little confused. What's the princess doing with the rebels?" she asked.

In response to Lezlie's question, the princess turned her head and invited us to follow her.

"Of course. Please follow me. I want to tell you everything from the beginning," she said.

As the Princess entered the building ahead of us, the orc that had brought us here left our side. The density of people was lower than downstairs. We could see a few guards of different bloodlines, but they didn't cause any trouble at the Princess's command since they knew us.

We followed the Princess as instructed. She walked slowly down the corridor while talking to us and answering our questions.

"My name is Yeli. I am one of the daughters of the Fourth King. But don't worry, I don't work for him. I am fighting against him to put an end to the evil kingdom he has established," she explained.

Hiroshi understood the Princess's motives to some extent, but it was still her father she was fighting against. Not many people would have done such a thing. Hiroshi wanted a clear answer from her.

"Why are you doing this, especially against your father?" he asked.

"As painful as it is to fight against my father, I do it for the same reason you want to fight the epics - to bring justice and peace. It may seem meaningless to some, but to my mother, my grandfather, and Alpha Prime, it was everything," she replied.

It was nice to hear someone praise my father, Alpha Prime. The princess had done an exceptional job fighting alongside us and standing up against her father, something that not many could have done. However, we needed more information to assist her and achieve the peace we desired.

"I can understand what you're fighting for, but you must share all that you know, so that we may aid you and your kingdom," I said.

"It all began when we were young children. We lost my mother to a widespread disease that had spread to the second kingdom. My father didn't grieve her passing as one would expect. Instead, he became consumed with anger and single-mindedness. He kept his emotions to himself, but after my mother's death, he lost control. When he learned that Yores' son could control the king's judgment, he decided to rule the entire kingdom as a single entity again." Yeli explained.

"It was as if the third king had shared this knowledge with us," Lezlie said.

"The king's judgement is a power that only the descendants of the king can wield. It's an incredibly potent ability, so much so that very few have been able to harness it since the kingdom's inception. It doesn't work on powerful humans or monsters, but it certainly works on all common descendants, monsters, and humans," The Princess added.

Mila was curious about how the fourth epic controlled the monster that the merpeople couldn't get along with.

"So how does he control the creature?" she asked.

"No one knows," came the reply. "All we know is that on one thunderous night, he pulled the creature out from under the deepest waters and then it began to work under his command."

"But if your father wants to rule with one head, why does he take orders from the son of Yores?" Mila inquired.

"My father always had great respect for Uncle Yores. They used to do most things together. But after Uncle Yores' rebellion, he changed. Even though everyone turned their backs on him, my father still believed in him. When Uncle Yores failed in his great war, my father took in his younger son, one of his two children.

"He never explained why," The Princess continued. "My father raised him with us and over time grew to love him more than my brother and me. It was because my father liked power and the son of Yores gave him exactly what he wanted. Though the fourth saga was stronger and more cunning, their minds worked exactly the same - as if they were one. With this, my father had once again found the Yores he once revered. Now all he needed was to conquer the world and its kingdoms."

The story was gradually connecting. Slowly, we were able to understand who was who, but at the same time, the answers were raising other questions. Wedan wanted to know why someone so powerful still wanted to be epic.

"So why did he become epic?" he asked.

"He made a deal," came the reply.

"With whom?"

"With the founder of the epics. It is said that the fourth epic received information about his future from a powerful sorcerer. When he learned that it was his missing brother who had brought about his end, he asked the leader of the epics to find and kill him. The leader of the epics sent his disciple Miron to secretly kill his brother and his family, who were hiding in the third kingdom."

Hiroshi had heard the story as many times as we had - that the leader of the Epics and the fourth Epic were feuding. So he asked the princess for an answer.

"Why did he make enemies with the Epics?" he inquired.

"In exchange for fulfilling the request of the son of Yores, the leader of the epics wanted to make him one of their own so that he could more easily achieve his great unknown goal. But the son of Yores refused to become an epic. He could not be under orders when all he wanted was to rule. They fought a great battle and the leader of the epics defeated him by a large margin. The fourth epic damaged both physically and mentally, agreed to become one of them in exchange for his life. Although he is referred to as one of the epics, every day he grows stronger and gathers an army just to kill their leader."

Shou joined in on the conversation.

"What about your brother?" she asked.

"He died in a rebellion," came the reply. "My father didn't care about his death but if you ask me, it wasn't the rebellion that killed him - it was my father's indifference. So I had to give him something to remember him by - something to always remember my brother by. And with that in mind, I formed the rebels."