Ch.633Side Story) Orhan. 21 Years Ago (1)

It was an unbearably hot day.

A cloudless sky, a season of drought where even the prairie soil was becoming parched under the scorching heat. The beating sunlight was so hot it was suffocating.

It wasn’t a good day for battle. Not for us, nor for our enemies.

“Warriors of Aishan, soak the earth with the blood of the western dogs!”

“Long live Khan Orhan! Long live Aishan-Gioro!”

Mounted warriors shouted my name as they unleashed a rain of arrows toward the Empire’s raiding party.

Battle against the Imperial army. It was a routine affair. Those Empire bastards beyond the wall feared the power of the steppes, and whenever they had the chance, they would form punitive forces and attack across the wall.

Their only miscalculation was that this time, I had come in person. The greatest champion of Aishan.

“Tear the western dogs to pieces! In the name of Aishan!”

Twenty-three years since I lost all my kin and swore revenge.

I, who was once just a fourteen-year-old boy, had now become the mighty ruler of the steppes, having united three tribes to form the tribal union called Aishan.

“Aaaaargh!”

An imperial soldier who tried to block arrows with his flimsy shield collapsed with a death cry, and knights who charged in full armor despite this heat were toyed with by the horsemen’s riding skills before being unhorsed.

Spears, swords, and great blades crossed in pursuit of each other’s lives, spraying blood across the steppes.

“Ces bâtards, sont différents de d’habitude…!”

(These bastards are different from usual…!)

Morale and military might completely different from the ragtag forces they had come to subjugate. The imperials who shouted incomprehensible cries in tones full of bewilderment soon lay scattered as corpses.

“Se battre jusqu’au bout!”

(Fight to the end!)

“pour Le Randebourg! pour L’empire!”

(For Landenburg! For the Empire!)

Even after falling from their horses, the knights resisted to the end, enduring the rain of arrows thanks to their full armor, but they fell one by one under the fierce attacks of warriors who circled around them, shooting arrows.

It was an overwhelming victory.

As it always had been whenever I personally took the field.

The only unusual thing was…

“Toi. êtes-vous le commandant!”

(You. You are the commander!)

Perhaps trying to create a breakthrough for retreat, a knight with a sharp voice charged desperately toward me.

Wielding a strange blue-silver sword. Whether it was a legendary blade far beyond ordinary steel swords, the warriors who rushed to intercept the knight were cut down along with their weapons and armor, tumbling in sprays of blood.

“Haaaah!”

Finally reaching me, the knight thrust forward with the sword. I twisted my body sideways to avoid the knight’s blade, then grabbed the knight’s outstretched right arm like a talon and lifted it up. It was lighter than I expected.

“Kuh…!”

“Your courage is admirable… but foolishly reckless.”

The sword was indeed a magnificent blade, and the thrusting stance was impressively sharp… but the skill itself was ultimately below that of a champion. Not only was victory impossible, but even wounding me was beyond reach.

I swung the knight’s arm like a whip, slamming the body into the ground.

– Thud!

“Kuhak…!”

The knight let out a groan after hitting the ground with their back and went limp. The steel helmet that had been knocked off rolled across the cracked earth.

‘…A woman?’

I slightly furrowed my brow as I looked at the unconscious knight’s face.

Brilliantly shining golden hair. Long eyelashes. A sharp nose bridge and pink lips. Though covered in sweat and dust, she was still beautiful enough to draw a quiet gasp of admiration.

I stared down at her face for a moment before turning away.

I was briefly interested in her pretty appearance for a knight, but she was someone I would never meet again anyway.

No, she wasn’t even human anymore. For the captured woman would only fall to the status of a slave.

—-

After annihilating the Empire’s punitive force, I awarded the woman to the warrior who had achieved the most merit. Gisaha. A young warrior who had reached the realm of champion through this battle.

“Thank you, my Khan!”

He seemed pleased with the beauty of the slave he had been awarded, his face beaming with joy, but for some reason I found his expression strangely unpleasant. I couldn’t understand why.

Perhaps it was the weather.

After fighting in such terrible heat, my body felt like it was steaming.

I picked up the blue-silver sword that had fallen to the ground as spoils of war and led my warriors back to Ordos. The massive tent city with its back to the Barun River. The land that would someday become the capital of Aishan.

I heard news of that woman again five days later.

—-

“An escaped slave?”

“Yes. Do you remember the western woman you awarded to Champion Gisaha? That woman killed Gisaha and escaped. Warriors are tracking her now.”

“…Gisaha is dead?”

I tilted my head questioningly at the report from Glar, my guard captain, who was prostrated before me.

“That woman. Her martial skill was quite decent… but not enough to kill a champion.”

“I heard she broke her chains with a hidden dagger and killed Gisaha while he had neither armor nor weapon. Something impossible without champion-level strength.”

“Hmm….”

Had she reached the realm of champion in just five days?

It was quite an interesting story. Warriors with that level of talent were rare even among the Aishan, and among women, virtually nonexistent.

“This is perfect to relieve my boredom.”

I put on the armor I had taken off and picked up the crescent blade and blue-silver sword that had been hanging on one side of the tent.

—-

The pursuit was difficult. Pouring rain and darkness without a trace of moonlight. The worst conditions for pursuing a fugitive.

Torches went out as soon as they were lit, and even the dogs couldn’t pick up the escaped slave’s scent.

Was the sky helping this woman, or had she waited for such an opportunity? Either way, it was quite a headache.

“I have an idea.”

Hatan came up with a scheme. He suggested using slaves from the Empire, especially the young ones and women, to lure the woman out.

He said if we threatened to tear these slaves to pieces unless she showed herself, she would appear on her own.

“Would such a shallow trick work? Even if she reveals herself, she can’t save those slaves.”

“It will definitely work. The western warriors… what do they call them, chevaliers? They can’t turn away from the lives of the weak. Even knowing it means their own death.”

It wasn’t a warrior’s way… but I saw no reason to object.

And indeed, it happened just as Hatan said.

—-

“Haa… haa…!”

In the middle of the endlessly pouring rain, I finally reunited with that woman.

Around us lay the bodies of warriors and hunting dogs, and the slaves we had brought according to Hatan’s suggestion were trembling behind her back.

“I. Saw. You. Dog. Son.”

She glared at me, holding a chipped sword and wearing Gisaha’s ill-fitting armor, breathing heavily. Her golden hair, soaked with rainwater, gleamed dimly.

“Ka’har, leader.”

Was it her clumsy eastern language? Or the refreshing rain? For some reason, I felt somewhat amused.

“Yes. I am Aishan-Gioro Orhan, Khan of the Golden Horde of Aishan, who will one day conquer and rule all Ka’har of the great plains. What is your name?”

“…?”

The woman twitched her eyebrows and tilted her head. She didn’t seem to understand what I meant.

“Name. Your name.”

I pointed at her with my finger, emphasizing the word “name.” Seeming to finally understand my meaning, she muttered a single “Ah” and nodded slightly.

“…Imelia. Imelia de Median.”

So that was her name. I couldn’t understand its meaning, but its soft sound didn’t feel like a warrior’s name. Unlike the sharp fighting spirit emanating from her entire body.

– Whoosh

The quality of her aura was different from before. The unique fighting spirit of those who had awakened to their own Karma, as if their soul itself was baring its teeth.

Despite having reached this state just days ago, her aura alone easily surpassed that of ordinary champions.

It was truly satisfying.

With talent like that, perhaps…

“Take it.”

I threw the blue-silver sword I had brought to the woman named Imelia.

Thinking it was an attack, she tried to deflect it with her chipped sword, but upon realizing it was her own blade, she dropped the broken sword and grabbed the longsword.

“…What?”

Unable to imagine she could get back her beloved weapon, suspicion clouded her eyes.

Clear blue eyes that shone like an autumn lake. A rare color on the steppes.

“Take that weapon and challenge me again. If you defeat me, I’ll send you back beyond the wall with those slaves.”

Speaking with gestures as if teaching a child, she seemed to understand my meaning and nodded with a stern face.

“…Don’t know your intentions. But I understand.”

The blue-silver sword pointed at me vibrated softly and flashed sharply. I pulled my crescent blade behind my shoulder and raised the corner of my mouth.

“One question. If I lose. What happens to them?”

Even with her life at stake in the upcoming battle, she was still worried about mere slaves? I let out a hollow laugh and answered.

“Well… that depends on you.”

I charged toward her, kicking off the wet ground. Swinging my crescent blade diagonally.

The sound of fierce collision drowned out the rain.

—-

Twenty minutes later.

“…It’s over.”

I held the broken and twisted blade of my crescent sword to Imelia, who was kneeling with her sword thrust into the ground. Her armor was torn to shreds, and red lines of blood marked her exposed skin here and there.

Just like mine.

She was surprisingly strong for someone who had just reached the realm of champion. She couldn’t match my physical abilities blessed with divine blood, but her swordsmanship was skilled enough to deflect my attacks and counter to wound me.

It was a satisfying fight.

“Grrrr…! Not yet, not yet…!”

Kneeling Imelia gritted her teeth and struggled with all her might to stand up. Her fighting spirit was impressive. Trying to continue fighting despite injuries that deserved applause just for staying conscious.

“I’m not… yet…!”

Her blue eyes, mixed with frustration, impatience, and regret, were directed at the slaves trembling behind her.

I turned my head to look at the slaves, then looked down at her again.

I didn’t like her weakness of being attached to the lives of mere slaves, but now I should be grateful for that weakness.

“Do you want to save them?”

Thanks to this, I could achieve my goal more easily than expected.

“Then become mine. I will raise you as my concubine.”

I thrust my broken crescent blade into the ground and grinned, showing my canines.

“What… did you say…?!”

Imelia’s face twisted strangely. It was quite an amusing expression.

“I like your talent. Unprecedented talent as a warrior. It would be a waste to cut it short here.”

It was a small whim.

For a woman, not even thirty years old, to have the talent to withstand dozens of exchanges against me. I coveted that talent.

I thought that if my blood mixed with such talent, perhaps a child stronger than me might be born.

Unlike Targiyan or Sahakal, who weren’t born with the “wolf’s blood.”