Nyoi-Bo Studio

  Nyoi-Bo Studio

  The team finally left the lair of the dragon. They found the Amos white deer that they had left outside, and began dragging the huge white dragon head along with them on their journey back. Not much time had passed, but to the team felt like it had been eons. After their near glances with death, everything that happened inside felt like a dream now.

  All of them were injured. April had also been trapped for several months. Although the dragon raja servants had provided her with food, her state was still fairly weak from being trapped in the ice cave for so long.

  It was winter, so the Amos Icefield would be engulfed in snow storms from time to time. They journeyed for almost twenty days to get to the edge of it.

  As the ice began to give way to more familiar woods, they knew that they were close to home. At this time, Ibu called out to Verthandi. “Will!”


  Verthandi’s condition was also less than ideal, but as she held the Sword of the King, it would provide her with spurts of warmth from time to time, so she didn’t look any worse for the wear. By contrast, Allen and April both had frostbite. April also was running a high fever.

  “What?”


  Ibu hesitated for a second before speaking. “We cannot let April leave the Amos Icefield alive.”


  Verthandi looked at Ibu with rage. “Why? She is our companion.”


  Ibu replied. “I know, but she is also the Princess of the Kingdom of Engido. Now that she knows that you have the Sword of the King, if she were to live, you will be embroiled in all sorts of trouble.”


  Ibu continued. “If you so wish it, Tiridan, Allen, and I can become your loyal sworn men. Then, after you get the rank of Baron, we could become your knights. And, with your word, I would move immediately……”


  Before Ibu could finish his sentence, Verthandi gave him an instant rejection. “She is our companion. I am a knight, who is under the orders of the king to slay the dragon and rescue the princess. I refuse to let this act of justice be tainted with evil.”


  Ibu sighed, as they reformed the team and headed out of the Amos Icefield. Verthandi was still worried, so she approached April, who was being carried on a sled.

  April was running a high fever, so Verthandi used the Sword of the King to heal her everyday. Even though this healing was extremely effective for wounds, its effects for injuries was much weaker, especially since April’s condition was so vulnerable, due to this frigid climate, where adequate nutrition was lacking.

  The sleeping April awoke, then looked at Verthandi, coughing. “They told you to kill me, right?”


  Verthandi gave a start, then spoke carefully. “Your Highness. Don’t worry. We will bring you safely before His Majesty.”


  April was wrapped up tightly. She laughed with flushed cheeks. “You really are a true knight!……Cough!……Come over here, I have something to say to you!”


  When Verthandi got close, April kissed her lips. “Thank you, pretty lady knight!”


  Verthandi’s face turned a bright red, as she had become suddenly embarrassed. She then stood in a hurry. She had no idea how April had discovered her!

  Verthandi had followed her father’s warning, hiding the fact that she was a female via special information waves and redirections, thus making others ignore her identity.

  When Verthandi was younger, she used this method for hiding from possible enemies. Yet, while touring the Alen Continent, it was utilized because a male identity was more convenient. Hence, Verthandi was extremely puzzled as to how April was able to tell!

  They were approaching the valley, and even met some of the hunters that were heading back, as well as nearby tribesmen. All of them saw the carcass of the dragon’s head, gasping at it as they swarmed by. Even though they weren’t at the village yet, there was still a considerable gathering.

  “It’s them! They really came back alive!”


  “They actually did it!”


  All of the people had thought that they would die in the Amos Icefield, or by the hand of the dragon. None of them thought that they would return alive, much less accompanied with the Frost’s head!

  Within the village, Lu Zhiyu stood by the water tower. From there, he could spot the team from afar. He could even see Verthandi at the very front.

  Lu Zhiyu stood on the wooden handlebar of the water tower. As the harsh wind blew through his hunting hood, the Lu ZHiyu at this moment looked completely different from the man he had been before.

  “It’s almost time to go.” Lu Zhiyu removed his hood. His beard had been completely shaved off. He looked almost ten years younger now. He sighed, then turned to leave the water tower.

  “Dragon! It’s a real dragon! They killed the evil dragon!”


  “The evil dragon Frost has died, it’s finally dead!”


  “They did it!”


  The village was swarmed with people, each of them exclaiming over the dragonslaying squad, which was now dragging the dragon’s head into the valley.

  Ibu stood up, announcing with pride, “Will did it, he slayed the dragon. He is the true dragonslayer, the strongest knight!”


  “Will! WIll!”


  “Dragonslayer!”


  All of them cheered, as the entire tribe looked at Verthandi. Immediately, they swarmed her and raised her into the air, carrying her back to the village. The children of the village even gave her a crown of flowers. Everyone cheered, as they brought their hero into the valley of the village.

  Verthandi finally spotted Lu Zhiyu. She immediately leapt into his embrace, like an excited child showing off her treasure.

  “Dad, I did it! I killed the evil dragon! Huh, why did you shave off your beard? Didn’t you treasure your beard the most? Your beard was your pride as a man!”


  Lu Zhiyu burst into laughter. “It’s nothing! Dad’s proud of you.”


  That night, the tribe threw a wild celebration with bonfires everywhere. All of the people danced around the bonfires and the dragon’s head, feasting and drinking.

  Verthandi was overjoyed, but she couldn’t hold her liquor. After a single toast, she was pretty drunk and woozy.

  That night, Lu Zhiyu had a long talk with Chief Ibu about how he had found Verthandi and obtained the badge. At the sight of the badge, Ibu let out emotional tears.

  “I knew it, I knew it was him, with that golden blond hair and those gold eyes. The people of the Sevill Empire have been awaiting his appearance. God is all merciful, and you have finally delivered him before us.”


  The tribe consisted of the remnants of some of the most loyal retainers of the Seville Empire. In other words, the ten or so tribes that lived on the Amos Icefield, and the hundreds of thousands of orcs, were once the loyal retainers of the Seville Empire, before its dissolution. The ruling family of the Seville Empire had been betrayed and slaughtered, and the remaining forces were all driven to the farthest lands in the north.

  Years ago, when he took Verthandi in, Lu Zhiyu had figured out her true identity from the badge. It had revealed that she was a surviving royal from the ruling house of the Seville Empire. And, as all of the orcs on the Icefield were the loyal retainers of the former Seville Empire, that meant that they were also Verthandi’s people.

  Ibu looked at Lu Zhiyu. “I express my utmost gratitude towards you. Verthandi is truly a ruler chosen by God. I, Ibu, pledge to serve Verthandi for life!”


  Lu Zhiyu nodded and removed the ring that granted him the Baron Eranbell title, as he took out another letter. “I prepared this to bid Verthandi farewell. I know Verthandi belongs here. Please hand these two things to her for me!”


  Returning to his room, he saw Verthandi sleeping noisily, as she mumbled something about, “Dad this, Dad that……” Lu Zhiyu found it very endearing, as he sat on her bedside and gently smoothed her messy blond hair.

  Over the last ten or so years, he had seen her grow from a child. Lu Zhiyu had really forgotten that she was a child that he had taken in. He had almost really become a native of the Alen Continent, known there as Randhir Eranbell, not Lu Zhiyu, the Creator of this world and a human from Earth.

  Lu Zhiyu’s gaze was complicated, as he looked at Verthandi’s face. Looking at her, he reminisced about their life together. He thought of her cute side, her mischief, all the times when she got mad, and of all the times when she was embarrassed. He knew everything about her, yet she knew nothing about him.

  Children will always grow up, and he always knew that he would have to leave her one day. Yet, now that the day had come, Lu Zhiyu couldn’t bear to do it.

  He stood by her side, until the horizon glittered with the first traces of light. Lu Zhiyu let out a long sigh, then his entire figure transformed into a shroud of light.

  He whirled around Verthandu, before the glittering lights changed into a hologram of a head. He then kissed Verthandi’s forehead and disappeared.

  “Good luck, my daughter, Verthandi!”