Tragic Tale Of The Last Royalty

For sure, this was one piece of information that they haven't heard in any versions of the Beast Knights legends at all. It was truly a surprising piece of information.

"A Beast Spirit that can only be controlled and used by the Maoh? I thought only the Esovian Mazoku chosen to become a Beast Knight could do that," Yuri said as soon as he recovered.

But Yozak just shrugged while still maintaining his serious expression. "There wasn't a clear reference for this part of the legend, though. Besides, even verbal accounts about this particular Beast Spirit were completely scarce, so it could still be just folklore and nothing more."

"Unless we encounter an Esovian Mazoku who was knowledgeable about the Beast Spirits and its true story, we can't fully rely on that information for now. Although we couldn't also remove the possibility that it's true," Murata suggested in a serious tone. "I'm not sure if we could analyze the movement of the island with these little references we have right now—" he stopped, glancing for a few moments at the books that he, Shori, and Günter brought from Shinou Temple. "—but we have no other choice. We have to do this if we want to protect Shin Makoku from these dangerous puppets."

The rest agreed with the Daikenja's suggestion and immediately began reading those books to garner at least some important information that they needed. But Yuri's attention shifted to Conrad soon after when he noticed the said soldier looking rather melancholic on the book that he was holding.

Conrad hadn't noticed his godson's look on him as his attention was focused on the book he immediately picked as soon as he saw the title engraved on its leather cover's spine.

'Tale Of The Last Esovian Royalty'

But instead of starting to read it as soon as he picked it up, his mind traveled back to a certain time in his life when one person sadly told him the truth about that tale. That book could've held another story that was different from what he knew. For now, he couldn't tell.

And then Conrad opened it so he could read the contents, only to frown at what he had read on the first page.

~' This is the life I chose for the sake of my people, despite the curse that will kill us because of turning our backs on Shinou. My brother, I hope you'd be able to forgive me someday. If this would reach you or your retainers somehow, please remember these words I'm going to utter on my deathbed. The Beast Spirit that only obeys the true king chosen by the Beast Knights can the world be saved from impending destruction that all of us had feared since we obtained these powers. Choose the strongest king, my brother. Choose the rightful king who will save you and the other warriors from the dreadful curse that bound you all to ultimate darkness.

~' I, Yunsoo of the Min clan, will do what it takes in my remaining life to make it all happen. We can't let it all end as mere legends.'~

Before Conrad could even comprehend the words he had read from that book, he was soon surprised when Murata spoke beside him.

"No wonder you're caught up reading this. The way Lady Yunsoo had written these words will truly make you want to discover the truth behind this."

Conrad couldn't utter a word, however. So this book wasn't about the tale he knew. Nevertheless, Murata had a point. The words were true enough to raise someone's curiosity as soon as the words on the first page were read.

"Yunsoo? Who's that? The name sounds Korean to me," Yuri inquired as soon as he heard it from Murata.

"People from the ancient Esovia do have names which sound Korean to us who came from Earth. But about 3,000 years ago, their diplomatic relations with other countries, though scarcely selected, soon changed the way people in that kingdom were named. The Esovian royal and noble families never adopted Shin Makoku's way of naming themselves and their families even during Shinou's time, though."

Conrad silently handed the book he was holding to Murata as soon as the man asked his permission. "This book tells of an Esovian royalty that lived and ruled peacefully since the kingdom's foundation... until a deadly curse suddenly wiped them all out of existence. It happened more than a century after Shinou's death and that curse was said to be quite similar to how the Soushu corrupted Shinou's soul."

When Conrad heard that, it was no doubt that he was surprised. It was similar to the tale he knew about another last Esovian royalty from 25 years ago. Was it just a coincidence or was there a certain period that the curse (whatever that was) would take effect to wipe out an entire family?

"Then how come it was given such a title if the Esovian royalty still exists?" Günter asked as soon as the thought hit him.

"The reason this book was given such a title was probably that they thought no one among the members of the royal family survived the curse's outbreak. Lady Yunsoo, at the time, was a member of the Esovian royal court and the head scribe of the kingdom. She also served as a bodyguard to Lady Hyorin who was the queen of the Esovian Mazoku at the time. From the words she had written here, I could say that she was the one who found a survivor among the royal family after this book was published."

"If that was the case, she would've pulled the books out after finding the survivor and retracted the information she put in there," Shori said.

"Maybe she didn't do that to keep the survivor safe and protected. Besides, Lady Yunsoo was Queen Hyorin's bodyguard, which means it was also her duty to guard the people close and important to the queen. I don't know what happened after she died as soon as her duty was fulfilled to keep the royal survivor protected from various threats. But it seemed that another royal family was established after that. I don't know when it began but from what I can see, something had protected this new royal family from whatever curse that was powerful enough to wipe them out again," Murata explained in a response to Shori's words.

No words were said after that. Well, it was obvious that they had been pretty much absorbed by that extraordinary story of the Esovian royalty. It didn't take them long to recover from that. All of them soon returned to their task to read the book that could hopefully help them locate the island that became the Esovian Mazoku's home.

Or at least almost all of them returned to doing so. Conrad, however, had a different task set in his mind after hearing Murata's story based on Lady Yunsoo's book. The word "brother" was the one thing that bothered him to some extent. Who was the brother she was talking about in this book?

"Would you mind if I take this book from you after you're done reading it? I want to show this to Shinou since I know he hadn't read anything related to the Esovian Mazoku even before he died," Murata ventured with that smile stuck on his face.

Of course, it told Conrad that something was truly interesting about this book. And the smile on Murata's face... Somehow, he had a feeling that the Daikenja knew something he couldn't quite place yet. He wanted to know what it was without looking disgraceful.

"Your Grace, was it possible that Lady Yunsoo knew His Majesty Shinou personally?" Conrad ventured in the softest tone possible.

It seemed that Murata understood his intention to do that. The Daikenja nodded. "Shinou personally knew not just Lady Yunsoo, but also the other five founders of the Kingdom of Esovia. They were his friends, after all. Lady Hyorin of the Yi clan, Lord Namgi of the Han clan, Lady Jihae of the Shim clan, Lord Chunho of the Lee clan, Lady Yunsoo of the Min clan, and Lord Taewon of the Ryo clan—these are the six founders of the Kingdom of Esovia. They were also the original Beast Knights. Those six people also helped with the war against Soushu 4,000 years ago. But the reason why they weren't mentioned in any of Shin Makoku's history books was because of a selfish request on Lady Yunsoo and Lord Chunho's parts. They feared that the powers of the Beast Spirits that they had acquired before the final confrontation would only destroy their fellow Mazoku. And so they left Shinou dealing with his predicament about Soushu inhabiting him all on his own." The sad look on Murata's eyes was undeniable.

Conrad, however, couldn't say anything to console the Daikenja. He knew that words weren't enough to ease the pain that he had felt and had haunted him for 4,000 years.

"Possessing the power of the Beast Spirits and combining with that of a Mazoku's maryoku was like combining both maryoku and houryoku in one single vessel, which was completely lethal if not fully controlled. It was a questionable magic art at the time both in terms of power and safety, as well. That was what the six Knights had feared all this time, which forced them to leave Shinou and Shin Makoku. But soon after, during the later stages of the construction of Blood Pledge Castle, Shinou and I learned that the six Beast Knights were dealing with another war that nearly took their lives if it wasn't for Shinou helping them. As to how he'd helped them that time, I had no idea until now," Murata continued and looked at the book that Conrad had opened on a certain page where a portrait of the woman with long mahogany brown hair tied in a single braid and red eyes was drawn on full page. She was wearing quasi-Chinese silk robes in pastel blue and pink colors. "Even now, Shinou admired Yunsoo's style in clothing. If she hadn't been officially adopted by his family when she became an orphan, she would've been his wife, he said."

Now that had caught Conrad's attention, which made him face the young man. "Adopted? Then, Your Grace... You're saying that Lady Yunsoo was—"

Murata cut him off with a firm nod. "Lady Yunsoo was Shinou's adopted sister."