Grimgal of Ashes and Illusion - Volume 16 - Chapter 10

10. The Two Kings

This is a story from long, long ago.

There’s a certain “myth.”

Yes, this is purely a myth...

It may contain some truths, or the seeds of them, but it can’t be exactly what happened.

Think of it as a story that people wanted to believe in, or at least believed in up until a certain point.

Long, long, long ago, there was a land named Arabankia.

In terms of what Arabankia was, it’s been said to be an island floating in a vast lake; a continent sunk beneath a great flood; a place far to the west, beyond the red sea; or perhaps a green paradise, spreading out on the other side of the frozen lands of the north.

There are many stories, you see. Nobody has any way of knowing what’s right.

Setting that all aside, the legend that there was once a land named Arabankia has been told in Grimgar since ancient times.

Arabankia was a temperate land, never too cold, or too hot. The verdant forests were filled with birds and beasts, and the wind sang across vast plains that stretched out endlessly. Grimgar was laid to waste in the terrifying battle of the gods, but Arabankia alone was always peaceful.

One day, a certain family moved to Arabankia.

The father was named George, and he had three sons: Theodore, Ishmahr, and Nahnanka. He had a number of daughters, too, but their names are long forgotten, washed away in the flow of time. Their mother apparently died soon after the family arrived in Arabankia. When they buried her in the soil of that land, a great tree arose before their eyes; flowers bloomed on it, and eventually turned into fruit. They also say that this tree collapsed to become the Kuaron Mountains, but that’s another story, and not that important right now, so let’s not get into it.

George and the three brothers worked together in the land of Arabankia and lived in harmony. Well, actually, the climate was temperate, the occasional rain showers felt warm on the skin, there were endless beasts to hunt, all the fruit in the world to pick, limitless clean water in the streams, and even springs of alcohol if they went looking, so they didn’t have a single trouble.

Arabankia was so idyllic it seemed like a lie, or a joke.

The family spent most of their time fooling around.

However, at some point the youngest son, Nahnanka, realized a mysterious thing.

“We’ve lived here for quite a long time, but how long has it actually been? None of you seem to have aged in the slightest. Is that possible?”

“Now that you mention it, you could be right.” The second son, Ishmahr, was carefree. “But, even if that’s true, well, what’s the harm? It means we can live in peace and quiet forever.”

However, the eldest son, Theodore, was of a different opinion.

“I wonder about that. Perhaps we’re living in a dream. We think we all reached Arabankia, tragically lost our mother, and buried her together, but is it true? Isn’t all of this just a dream?”

“Mother’s tree is right there, isn’t it?” Ishmahr pointed to the great tree. “This isn’t a dream. You say the strangest things.”

“What did you say?!”

Theodore got angry. He and Ishmahr quarreled like this occasionally.

“Wait, wait, children. You mustn’t fight,” their father, George, chided them in a dignified tone of voice. “I don’t think this is a dream, like Theodore was saying, but it is odd that none of us have aged. Because you’re such good sons, always fetching food for me, I do nothing but eat and sleep, then eat and sleep again, and yet I haven’t gained any weight. That’s strange, too, now that I bring it up.”

“I’m going to go on a little trip and see what things are like outside,” the youngest son, Nahnanka, said. Nobody stopped him, and so Nahnanka left on his journey immediately.

The family continued their carefree life in Arabankia, but no matter how much time passed, Nahnanka did not return. The oldest brother, Theodore, grew worried.

“I think I’ll go search for Nahnanka.”

“No, you stay here, Brother. I’ll go for you.”

This was how Ishmahr came to leave Arabankia, too.

With two of his sons gone, and no sign of their return, their father, George, could wait no longer. But, oh, get this. This is one of those parts that makes you realize this story is a myth, but after all the time the father had spent doing nothing but eat and sleep in Arabankia, he could no longer move away. It was as if he had put down roots.

Like their dead mother, George turned into a great tree.

In one theory, they say that the father gorged himself while fretting over the safety of his boys, and was buried by Theodore after he died of food poisoning.

Whatever the case, the eldest, Theodore, was left with no choice but to go in search of his little brothers.

Well, he had little sisters who were even younger, and there are some fascinating and incestuous stories about the things he did with them, but it would take too long to get into that, so let’s not.

Theodore was quite partial to his life in paradise, so in order to quell his lingering affection for the place, he repeatedly told himself not to look back. He must have had some sense that he’d never return. He was right.

He walked for some time before thinking, It should be fine now. When he turned to look back, there was a milky white haze hanging in the air, and he couldn’t see anything. And, hey, wasn’t that haze rushing towards him? Dunno what’s up with that, but Theodore was in serious danger.

Run, run, Theodore. This is no time to dawdle. Run like the wind. Go. Keep moving forward.

Theodore raced for days and days. Okay, sure, that seems like it would kill him, but he’s a character in a myth, so he could pull this kind of thing off. When he reached the edge of a lake, he decided to stop and rest.

That lake, surrounded by the Rinstorm, Dioze, and Kurogane Mountains, was so incredibly beautiful that it stole Theodore’s heart. You might think, “Hey, what about his brothers?” But this is a myth. Poking fun at this stuff would just be rude.

“High mountains, like the walls of a house. A lake more wonderful than any I knew in paradise. How could I not build a kingdom here? I will have to recruit workers. Let those who would live in my kingdom gather to me. I will become king, and name this country Arabakia.”

Hey, it’s not cool to say things like, “Oh, come on. That came out of nowhere,” either. You’re free to think it, but keep your mouth shut. A man by the lakeside shouts, “I’m gonna be king, and I’ll let you be my peasants, so gather here.” It’s pretty surreal to imagine it, but for whatever reason, people responded to his call. They came from the north, west, and east, bowing before Theodore one after another, and pledging their allegiance. It is said that Theodore would bless each of their foreheads with his kiss, and pompously declare, “I recognize you as one of my people.” This makes no sense to you? Yeah, that figures. But that’s the myth, so live with it.

The myth of what, you ask? It’s the origin myth of our Kingdom of Arabakia.

Theodore George, the one we call George I, created the Kingdom of Arabakia six hundred and sixty years ago now.

That’s how the story is told.

Now, get this.

There are actually two George Is.

Huh?

Say what?

Yeah, you would think that, wouldn’t you?

This gets just a wee bit complicated, so let’s try to sum it up succinctly.

The truth is, the one who founded the Kingdom of Arabakia was not, in fact, Theodore George. It is possible that a man named Theodore existed, but he wasn’t the first to name himself the King of Arabakia.

That story about the Kingdom of Arabakia being founded six hundred and sixty years ago is nonsense, too. Or there’s no record of it, at least.

It happened one day about three hundred and sixty years ago.

This guy called Enad loudly declared, “Starting today I’m the king. You got a problem with that? Well, then bring it. I’ll kill the lot of ya!”

At the time, hard as this is to imagine with all the human kingdoms gone now, there were apparently a lot of guys like Enad out there. Folks with the charisma to bring the people of an area together, along with connections and strength of arms. They called themselves kings but, well, they were more like gang bosses. The world was so chaotic that you couldn’t sleep at night without the backing of a group of ruffians. That being the case, it’s human nature that those ruffians would side with the toughest and most generous boss they could find.

Enad was the face of a certain town on the lakeside, and was fully established as the leader of a massive gang. Three centuries and a couple decades ago, he was living in an era where people in that sort of position were becoming kings one after another.

The incredible thing about Enad, and maybe he learned this from someone else, was the way that he set out to prove he wasn’t just any old Enad.

Everyone knows the story about the paradise of Arabankia, right? Where George’s son Theodore built a kingdom on the lake. That famous legend. The truth is, this is the town in that legend, and I, Enad, am descended from Theodore. I am Enad George, descendant of George’s son Theodore, and I will name our kingdom Arabakia. How’s that? Pretty sweet, huh?

The truth of the matter is, Enad was a capable man. He brought the nearby villages, towns, gangs, and their bosses under his control. The expansion of the Kingdom of Arabakia knew no limits.

But no matter where you go, you always have to watch out for threats from within. The Kingdom of Arabakia that had so rapidly expanded under Enad was, in some ways, an alliance of gangs. Some people followed him out of adoration, while others swore loyalty only because they couldn’t fight against the big wave that he represented.

However, Enad must never have suspected that of all people, Ishidua Zaemoon, the king’s right hand, the closest of his close associates, would be the one to betray him.

Maybe the king pushed him around too much. Maybe he couldn’t stand to see the king grow more arrogant every time his stature rose. Or maybe he just wished the guy had shown some sympathy for his position, stuck between the king and those beneath him. Ishidua must have had his reasons, but there’s no questioning that he sought to end Enad’s life.

But Enad was no ordinary guy. This was a man who’d clawed his way to the top.

He was like, “Mrrgh! I smell bloodlust!” and detected the creeping assassin. He tried to go on the counterattack. But Ishidua was pretty impressive in his own right, and he reacted immediately. He sent pursuers to finish off Enad, who had fled for his life, but they say every one of them was struck down.

Nice one, Enad. You’re awesome, Enad. You weren’t just acting full of yourself, you were actually super strong, huh?

Now, it was plain as day that this incident was an act of treason by Ishidua Zaemoon. Yet many people had helped him, and there weren’t many who had remained as bystanders. Maybe Enad really was especially bad about pushing his underlings around? Even if the people supported him, the members of his government seemed to hate his guts.

Ishidua and his fellow conspirators wanted Enad dead, no matter what it took. But as much as they wanted it, it seemed Enad had already fled outside the Kingdom of Arabakia. They say that he was on the verge of death, but the guy still had the skill to massacre everyone who’d gone after him. Even if they did manage to find him, how long would that take? With that in mind, Ishidua made a grand proclamation.

“Though it saddens us, our king has gone mad and run away. As his retainers, we have searched with all our power, but no matter what we do, we simply cannot seem to locate him. Because things cannot remain like this forever, I would like to have another ruler in his place. As you are all aware, King Enad George has no wife nor children, and yet he does have a distant relative. She, like King Enad, must be a descendant of the Kingdom of Arabakia’s founder, Theodore George. Let us have her become our queen, and come together to support her.”

Was the young girl, Friau, who ascended the throne truly a relative of Enad? You have to assume that was a fabrication, but Ishidua Zaemoon rapidly instituted a system where he would be supporting a queen who was descended from Theodore George as her regent. Queen Friau was a direct descendant of Theodore of the House of George, so she could carry on the House of the Founder.

Incidentally, Enad had a sworn brother by the name of Steech. Not a brother-in-law, a sworn brother. The two of them swore an oath of brotherhood, despite not being related by blood at all, so they must have been really close. Steech was Enad’s top flunky when he was a gang boss, but Enad had gradually alienated him. As more talented people like Ishidua Zaemoon joined him, Steech’s relative value dropped. Enad started to look at him and think, “You’re not actually that useful, huh?” Ishidua even called out to Steech and got his cooperation, then continued to treat him well after the revolution. He handled the situation nicely. Never missed a beat, you know? Ishidua Zaemoon. He was a man who could get things done.

Steech’s family held power in the north of the Kingdom, and at some point succeeded in suggesting that they, too, had some hint of the founder Theodore’s blood in their veins. They came to be called the House of the North. This was despite the fact that, obviously, since Steech was only Enad’s sworn brother, they had no connection to Theodore George whatsoever.

After that chaotic beginning, the Kingdom of Arabakia saw more cruel scheming, feuding, bloody power struggles, and internecine violence as they rose to become the greatest power in all of Grimgar.

There’s the House of the Founder and the House of the North repeatedly assassinating each other’s members; forbidden love between a young prince of the House of Ishidua and the daughter of its rival, the House of Mogis; the fall of the House of Mogis; the crisis caused by the scandalous deviancy of the head of the House of Vedoy; the House of Water, which was always receiving some windfall or another; and more. The history of the Kingdom of Arabakia has any number of amusing topics to discuss, but let’s turn to the year 503 in the kingdom’s calendar. That would be 157 years ago now, wouldn’t it? In the Kingdom of Arabakia, and other states all over, there was a rash of bizarre incidents where hordes of moving corpses appeared and ran rampant. You see where we’re going with this. That’s right.

The infamous No-Life King appeared.

The dead rising and attacking the living was a crisis in itself. It really stirred up a hornet’s nest of trouble, but it was the outrageous incident which followed in the year 505 that truly sent shock waves through the Kingdom of Arabakia.

Ishidua Rohro was a descendant of Ishidua Zaemoon, and an important vassal of the Kingdom of Arabakia. Because he was young and still unmarried, not a day passed without the ladies seeking his affection. However, this incredibly famous person vanished all of a sudden.

Or so people thought, then he popped back up at the palace, looking awfully pale.

“I am not who I was until yesterday. I urge you all to surrender. To he who was forsaken by death, and rules it. To he who is the King of Death, and the Undying King. Submit to my master, the No-Life King. Accept death, and I will guarantee you will live forever. Just like me.”

Well, that caused quite the uproar. Things got out of hand. It was a real mess. In the chaos, the elite guards skewered and stabbed Ishidua Rohro with a whole 27 spears and swords, and yet he still didn’t die.

“I take it that’s your answer, is it? I will pass it on to my master.”

Ishidua Rohro left the palace, dragging along the many swords and spears that were still stuck in him and bleeding dark blood. The very next day, the moving corpses that would come to be called the undead began a major offensive.

The undead didn’t just attack the Kingdom of Arabakia. The other smaller human nations were affected, too. It’s not like nobody tried to bring the kingdoms together to overcome the great crisis they all faced, but everyone had their hands full with their own problems, and they didn’t like each other much to begin with, so it was kind of impossible. The elf and dwarf kingdoms, which had built up relatively good relations with the human race, were struggling with the undead attacks, too.

In the year 513 of the kingdom’s calendar, responding to the call of the No-Life King, the orcs, goblins, and kobolds that had long been oppressed by the humans came together with the gray elves who had been estranged from the elves of the Shadow Forest, as well as the undead, obviously, to form the Alliance of Kings.

Setting the gray elves and orcs aside for the moment, the goblins and kobolds had never had a king before. When the No-Life King suggested that they might be better off with a king, that it would help to unite them as a race and increase their power, the goblins and kobolds accepted it.

As the leader of the Alliance of Kings, the No-Life King had five close associates, including Ishidua Rohro, called the five princes, but it is said that those five would kneel before the other kings as if they were their vassals, too. Though he was the head of the alliance, he took the position that the kings were equal. He was trying to lead by example and show that the undead, orcs, goblins, kobolds, and gray elves were all different, and all wonderful, so they should work to be the best they could be together.

The human kingdoms were at a total disadvantage. Powerful nations like Ishmar and Nananka, and small but robust states like Kuzen were destroyed one after another. The elves mostly shut themselves inside the Shadow Forest, hoping the calamity would pass them by. The bearded, barrel-like dwarves fought valiantly, but faced a series of defeats against superior numbers. It was all they could do to gather their strength in the Ironblood Kingdom of the Kurogane Mountains and harden their defenses.

The Kingdom of Arabakia had superior military and economic power to all of these countries. However, the reason that the Kingdom of Arabakia became the last bastion of the human race was not because of their vast domain, large population, or powerful soldiers. It was simply that they were the farthest south. The No-Life King came from the north. The undead traveled southward, attacking humans, elves, and dwarves, constantly adding to their ranks. The King of Arabakia, the government officials, the generals, and the people all fled farther and farther south.

It was the year 521 of the kingdom’s calendar, 139 years ago.

The southernmost city of the Kingdom of Arabakia, Damuro, fell.

King Gary, who ruled the Kingdom of Arabakia at the time, had snuck out of Damuro long before then. He evacuated south of the Tenryu Mountains through the Earth Dragon’s Aorta Road.

They say that the head of the House of the North, Giske, who bore the blood of Enad George’s sworn brother Steech, fought to the end, trying to let as many people escape as possible. There’s theories that because King Gary was from the House of the Founder, and he had an intensely antagonistic relationship with Giske of the House of the North, he may have deliberately left him there, though.

Having brilliantly run for his life, and made it to the new lands to the south, King Gary and his people decided to take advantage of the fact that the House of the North had died out as an opportunity to rewrite history. As far as they were concerned, the story of how Enad George, who built the Kingdom of Arabakia, vanished after Ishidua Zaemoon sought his life, and the traitor put some girl named Friau, a total nobody, on the throne so that he could control her... never happened.

The one who established the kingdom was the legendary Theodore George. He was the true founder and George I. The foundational myth of the kingdom became official history.

If you think about it, you could kind of say that it was that bloody first act of betrayal which turned the Kingdom of Arabakia into the scheming hell it became. We should let go of the past here, they probably thought. In these savage new lands, we need to come together.

Well, they must have been desperate in their own way.

If we interpret their actions in a positive light, that is.