Sansekiro Fortress, Harukami Shogunate.


    August 8th, 1427. 6:10 AM


    “I’m here to see his Majesty.” Senki said to the pair of guards standing in front of her father’s room. “Open this door.”


    “My apologies, Hime-sama.” The guards continued to stand firmly. “His Majesty, Hiroto Shōgun-sama, has forbidden anyone to enter this room for fear of spreading disease.”


    Determined to see her father, she continued to pressure the guards. “I said ‘open this door’. That is an order!”


    The pair of guards kneeled down respectfully. “Ojō-sama!(1) You must understand. His Majesty’s order is absolute! We are deeply sorry! For your safety, please, do not proceed further!”


    “You-!” Senki breathed in, ready for another outburst at the guard’s unwillingness to follow her order.


    “Milady.” Hauke called for the Princess. “Continuing to pressure the two men will not work, you already knew that.”


    “...”


    “It is time for breakfast, perhaps you should return.”


    “But-”


    “I understand it is hard, milady. However, it is the Shōgun-sama''s wish and nobody can overrule it.”


    Senki bit her tongue, making a pained expression. “Fine… So be it then.”


    “Then I’ll be returning to my duties,” Hauke gives a respectful bow before quietly making his way outside. “I wish you good health, Princess.”


    Senki observed the middle-aged Azurian man and sigh internally. “What would I do without you…” She mumbled.


    The Azurian man has been on this island for about 20 years already, before she was even born. She vividly remembers the time when he was more cheerful, when he played with her in the gardens after her father took an interest in him, and when he still had a reason to look forwards to the future where he could go back home.


    Now with each day gone by, the situation seemed more and more and desperate. It casted itself onto lieutenant Hauke, making him more depressed and exhausted both mentally and physically. The Onibane and Kibaōkami monsters, horrifically mutated birds and wolves respectively, are pushing ever closer while increasing in number. Millions of citizens once populated the three great islands now dwindle down to less than five hundred thousands on Kōyōjima Island, where the capital of the Shogunate is now located.


    The Shogunate has been living on borrowed time by throwing more soldiers and materials into endless skirmishes through the decades to prevent them from breaking through into what’s left of the capital city of Kyode. Her father had tried to encourage the citizenry to have more children to replace the losses, but as the situation seemed more and more hopeless so did the birthrate, exacerbating the manpower shortage even more.


    Senki took a seat on the soft Zabuton before having her breakfast - a simple bowl of rice, Miso soup and a dry fish. A meager breakfast compared to the luxurious feast she once had a decade ago. She couldn’t complain, really. Most people in the capital can hardly fend for themselves with the growing food shortage, disease is also spreading and morale is at an all time low.


    As Senki had her meal, she kept looking back and forth between the meal and her Kodachi sitting across the room, thinking of the day when she would have to face death instead of being devoured by monsters.


    Finishing her small breakfast, she looked back to the room where her father is now laying ill. Thoughts and worries running through her mind, it has been more than a week since she had seen her father herself though she can still talk to him through the thin paper walls from time to time.


    Determined to see her father at least one last time, she stood up and addressed the servants sitting with her in the room.


    “I need some privacy in the garden, do not disturb me.”


    “As you wish, Hime-sama.”


    Making sure that the servants were all gone, she quickly made her way around a small pond to a large boulder in the garden. Pulling a small lever hidden beneath the stone, the side of the boulder slid open, revealing a hidden tunnel entrance leading down below the fortress.


    Staring into the dark tunnel below, she smiles. “I’ll be there with you, father. At least one last time.”


    <hr>


    7:15 AM


    A frail, old man in a plain Hakama sat solemnly in the garden. His face half scarred by the encroaching poison from his time leading countless men into battle against dreadful monsters. The eye which sat on the poisoned, left side of his face had gone blind, forcing him to use his last eye to admire the beautiful garden that he had helped nurture ever since he was young. However, his pose remained dignified despite the poison running through his body.


    Taking in the cool, fresh morning air, he contemplated as he closed his eyes before sighing. “What did I tell you about playing in the tunnels, Senki?”


    The Tatami straw mat in the far corner of the room plops open as Senki crawls out, covered in dirt and dust. “Father!” She yelled out.


    The two guards from before suddenly barge in from overhearing the sudden yelp, finding Senki standing there next to the secret tunnel entrance.


    “Ojō-sama! You must not-“


    “HALT!” The Shōgun yelled out to the two guards, causing them to stand still. “If my daughter is so determined to see me despite knowing about my illness, then shall allow her.” If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    The two guards bowed respectfully before leaving the room, returning a serene atmosphere to the room.


    Her father walked to his Futon as he began laying on it, taking a rest due to his deteriorating health condition. “From leading a grand army to this… what a fall from grace.”


    “Father, you must rest, lest the illness take you away from me like Mother.” Senki said worryingly, sitting on her knees next to him.


    “Senki…” he reaches for her cheeks, carefully caressing it. “I have failed you. All of this is my fault…” He said with a dry voice.


    After giving her father some water, she tried to look for medicine before being stopped by her father.


    “Don’t.” He coughs slightly, “My time on this realm is but moments left, I can feel it. So please, listen to what I’m about to say before I reunite with your mother.”


    Senki widened her eyes in dread as her heart sank further. “y-yes, father.”


    “The cause of the monsters'' appearances, the disease, it’s all because of me. I caused him to do it…”


    “…what?”


    “You’re not my firstborn, Senki.”


    “That’s-“


    Knowing that he does not have much time left, he ignores Senki’s shocked reaction. “I was a fool back then when I was young. I played around with maidens, abusing my power as a son of the late Taikō. What I ended up creating… is a son through an Oiran.”


    He reached up to his daughter once again, wiping away her tears. “I don’t deserve a good child like you, Senki. I was a terrible father to your brother.”


    “Where is he now?” She continued to push through despite the heartbreaking circumstances.


    “Hōshōjima Island… he disappeared there 40 years ago… after I had rejected his claim to the throne for being a lowborn and son of a courtesan. I casted him away, never to step foot in the capital again.”


    “That place… is also where the Onibanes and Kibaōkami came from!” She yelped. “But how is that possible? Why do you think he was the cause?”


    “There is an ancient alien structure there, far older than the Shogunate… I had explored the place with the late Taikō to find out what it is but to no avail, so we took everything from that place for study and… collection.” He looked over to the oddly shaped Saya displayed near his old armor. “He snuck inside our home, murdered the servants and stole all the artifacts that we took from the alien structure that he could carry before making his way to Hōshōjima. We tried searching for him but eventually gave up. One of those artifacts… is a key to operate the mechanism in the structure. We didn’t understand how it worked, but maybe he did. That was 40 years ago.”


    “He hates me.” He continues, coughing heavily. “No… he despises me. If you were to meet him, Senki. Tell him that I’m sorry for everything.”


    Her father began sweating profusely as he breathed rapidly. The scar made by the poison on his face began to move rapidly across his face, signifying that his time had come.


    He used all his remaining strength to sit up, handing his daughter a scroll. “This is my will… you will be the Jotei… of this realm. Your brother’s family name is Akatsuki… and his name…” He struggles to remember. “I had forgotten long ago...”


    Her father collapses down as the poison covers his entire face, turning his pale skin into a bruise-like dark blue. His life began to flash in front of him, all the countless regrets and all the joy swept through his mind as he let out a single tear.


    “I love you, Senki… you’re my proudest creation. You didn’t deserve this, this fate of ruling over a dying realm…”


    “If that is my fate,” she wipes away her tears. “Then I’ll gladly take it, because it is from you, father.”


    “A good child… to the end.” He chuckles before losing consciousness. “Maybe the gods have had pity on me all this time…”


    <hr>


    7:42 AM


    “Give me your hand.” Boris reached down below, attempting to grab Rita’s hand so he could pulled her up from a small boulder.


    “I got it, sir.” She scaled up the boulder herself. “I didn’t pass training for no reason.”


    The company had been walking for a long while now, making their way through treacherous terrains and many wildlives that just seemed to want to devour them whole.


    Boris is still disgruntled at his Captain, the cause is still unknown to the rest of his squad.


    “Hey Sarge,” Richard and Joker sprinted to their leader before walking beside him. “What’s with-“


    “Don’t.” Boris shuts them down before they even finish their sentences.


    “Okay then, I won’t ask again.”


    “From now on, you will address me as Staff Sergeant, is that clear? Full title. I got promoted before being shipped here with you beanheads.”


    “Yes… Staff Sergeant Boris Tsarvelovsky.” Joker said sarcastically before being knocked slightly in the head by the elbow.


    “Make it serious.”


    Joker gulps slightly before switching his tone to a more respectful one with Richard following suit. “…Yes, Staff Sergeant.”


    The company continued to march on before passing by a small empty village, its warped structures and burnt out homes suggested that it had been raided. Traces of blood can be seen dragging on the ground in long trails mixed in with the mud, leading up further into the direction of the maple forest that they had exited the night before.


    “Guess I know what happened to this place.” Lewis comments as he took a picture of the scene with his personal camera.


    Boris flipped the safety of his rifle off. “Eyes up, they might still be around here.”


    “The blood here is very old already, whatever happened here happened a long, long time ago.” Rita comments as she examines the blood trail, using her medical training to back up her claim.


    “Hey Richie,” Joker patted Richard’s back. “What do ya think about Staff Sergeant?”


    “Dunno man… I just wanna go back to Arden already.”


    “Why?”


    “Got some hot babe waitin’ for me.”


    Joker nearly did a double take. “You’re kiddin’? You ”


    “Of course I am. Ha!” Richard began to laugh, which annoyed Joker.


    “Figured. Tsk.”


    “Anyway, I got a job lined up for me. Tank factory, Factoria District. They expanded arms procurement and production so I’ll be fine when I drop out of the Marine Corps. I’ve been here long enough to get a free Fourth Class apartment issued already.”


    “Yeah… if you make it home in the first place.” Joker said as he picked up a piece of bone next to a tree, examining it before tossing the thing to the side of the trail.


    “Let’s keep moving, we’re still a day march away.” Lewis passes by, tapping them both in the shoulder. “Also, fuck you Joker.” He knocks his rifle against Joker’s back.


    “Ow. Guess I deserved that.” Joker patted his back to recover from the sudden knock.


    Richard patted Joker’s shoulder before pushing him towards the marching line. “You might want to stop messing with someone else’s girlfriend, buddy.”


    “Roger that…”