Part1: Fate
The scene shifted to Haruto, Ryuk, and Leo.
They had already decided that their next destination would be the Fate Kingdom.
However, the kingdom was quite far away from their current location.
Because of that, they needed a horse car to travel efficiently.
Fortunately, after clearing the dungeon, they had enough Reo for now.
Ryuk went ahead and borrowed a horse car for 7 Reo and 85 Peny.
Leo took the role of driving and sat on the horse, holding the reins firmly.
Meanwhile, Haruto and Ryuk sat inside the horse car.
Then, Leo began the ride.
The horse moved forward steadily, pulling the carriage across the vast field.
The environment around them was calm and peaceful.
A gentle wind flowed softly across the field.
Leaves moved quietly with the breeze, creating a soothing atmosphere.
"Environment is nice," Ryuk said.
"Hmm," Haruto replied calmly.
After a brief silence, Haruto spoke again.
"By the way, Ryuk, do you know how many kingdoms are there?" Haruto asked.
"Yeah, quite well," Ryuk replied.
"Then can you tell me the history of the kingdoms that you know about?" Haruto asked.
Ryuk nodded slightly before answering.
"In my journey till now, I have heard many things from people about the history of the kingdoms," Ryuk said.
"I will tell you the limited but real information about them."
He paused for a moment, then continued.
"It is believed that at the beginning of Tenzu, there were a total of 9 Empires."
"And each empire was named after its leader."
"For control over land, a terrifying war began between all the empires."
"In that war, many people died."
"Many became disabled."
"Many lost their families."
"Many lost everything."
Ryuk's voice remained steady, but the weight of those words was clear.
"And in the end, only 3 Empires remained."
"The Leon Empire, the Asura Empire, and the Sharron Empire."
"A final battle took place between these three empires."
"And in the end, only the Leon Empire survived."
"They became the true victors of that war."
"After that, the Leon Empire stabilized the world by forming 7 Kingdoms."
"But originally, only 6 of them are called proper kingdoms."
Ryuk then listed them one by one.
"Fate Kingdom."
"Hope Kingdom."
"Chaos Kingdom."
"Will Kingdom."
"Order Kingdom."
"Dream Kingdom."
"And the seventh one…"
"It is originally the Leon Empire's own territory."
"It is known as the Main Kingdom."
"They are the central authority among all kingdoms."
"But the Main Kingdom has no specific people or culture of its own."
"That is why it is not considered a proper kingdom like the others."
"However, it still acts as the foundation of all kingdoms."
Ryuk finished explaining.
"Damn, that's pretty good," Haruto said.
"Yeah, I know," Ryuk replied casually.
"But what will you do with this information?" Ryuk asked.
"Nothing. Just wanted to know," Haruto answered.
At that moment, the horse car suddenly came to a stop.
Haruto and Ryuk looked outside.
They saw a girl standing near the road, asking for a ride.
"Do you want to go to the Main Kingdom?" she asked.
"Yeah," Ryuk replied.
"Can you give me a ride, please? I also need to go to the Main Kingdom," she asked.
"Sure," Ryuk agreed without hesitation.
Haruto and Leo had no objections.
The girl then stepped into the horse car.
She sat down and introduced herself.
"My name is Marin," she said.
Her hair was sky blue.
She was a swordsman.
She wore a gown in deep navy blue and ivory white.
The dress featured an off-the-shoulder bodice with detailed silver filigree and a glowing teal emblem at the center.
Her sleeves were long and flared, designed like white princess sleeves with intricate silver embroidery on the cuffs.
The front of her navy skirt had two vertical columns of glowing cyan magical runes.
She also wore elegant silver jewelry, including a triangular pendant necklace and long dangling earrings.
Ryuk looked at her carefully.
"Are you a demon?" Ryuk asked.
"Uhh… yeah," Marin replied.
"How do you know that?" Haruto asked.
"Because demons smell different from regular humans," Ryuk said.
"Oh," Haruto responded.
Marin then spoke again.
"If you want to go to the Main Kingdom, we need to reach a place called Logpost first. It's a rest point," she said.
"Do you know the way?" Haruto asked.
"Yeah," Marin replied.
She then guided Leo, telling him the direction toward Logpost.
After hours of riding, they finally reached the area near Logpost.
As they approached the town, Haruto looked ahead.
In the distance, he saw a human figure.
There was a strange symbol or tattoo on the back of that person's neck.
Haruto's eyes narrowed slightly.
That symbol looked familiar.
He had seen it before.