Epilogue
On March 29, 3627, the First Princess Sellimea overthrew the corrupt government of her brother Suarez with the help of her people. In doing so, she started a new page in Seedrun’s history.
The battle wasn’t long enough to be considered a war. In fact, the conflict lasted for only a day.
That is an understatement, however. In fact, the uprising began and ended in a little under half a day.
Were the revolutionaries experienced combatants? No. Further research indicates that the massive mob that occurred was purely coincidental.
So were Suarez’s forces incompetent? Here, the facts are much clearer on the matter.
There weren’t enough soldiers to hold back the revolutionaries on the day of the uprising. This is a great deciding factor on why the uprising succeeded to begin with.
So what happened?
As a result of Suarez’s heavy taxation on his citizens, many of them left Seedrun to become pirates. Seedrun’s navy was kept busy keeping the pirates at bay. As a result, he didn’t have many soldiers left to defend the royal palace and the island of Seedrun itself.
Still, he should’ve been left with a few thousand soldiers, at worst. However, they proved helpless against the revolutionaries on the day of the uprising. Were they that weak? Or were the revolutionaries that strong?
The evidence of history suggests that defeat was inevitable for the leftover Seedrunian soldiers.
At the time, the majority of the Seedrunian military were made up of people who bought their way into the position and had likely never seen the heat of battle. Morale was low, to say the least. Meanwhile, the experienced officers with half a conscience had left the military of their volition after seeing the corruption of their superiors. Soon, the corruption of the kingdom trickled down to the training of their military, worsening the quality of their fighters. They were no match for the intensely motivated revolutionaries, no matter how well equipped they had been.
The story gets more interesting when you get to the rumors surrounding the uprising.
Some say that Sellimea enlisted the help of disgruntled adventurers who were planning to leave Seedrun because of Suarez’s corrupt government. There are even more absurd accounts of a great beam of light erupting out of the royal palace itself. Some claim that Princess Sellimea was the source of this great beam of light, although confirmation proves difficult because there seems to be some degree of concealment regarding the facts of the matter. Suffice it to say there were forces at work on the day of the uprising which helped the revolutionaries.
Sellimea was crowned queen soon after Suarez was captured. Members of the Phyllian royal family were present at the coronation, which implied their intervention and also led to speculation that this was Seedrun’s declaration of hostility towards Raydoss. The specifics remain unclear.
The one thing that is clear within this otherwise opaque revolution is the people’s reception to Queen Sellimea. She became a main pillar of government administration ever since that day.
Once seated on the throne, Queen Sellimea proceeded to not only restore Seedrun to her former glory, but actually surpassed it. That she did it with such amazing speed was beyond anyone’s speculation at the time.
She was a merciful ruler of her people, and her people worked hard for her in kind.
Commander Miriam took apart the corrupt military and bureaucracy. Known as the Blade of Queen Sellimea, she worked to get rid of unnecessary taxes and laws that previously served to oppress their people.
The impoverished revolutionaries who were at the front line of the uprising were elected as Seedrun’s soldiers and continue to guard the nation to this day.
Queen Sellimea’s rule marked a golden age for Seedrun. It was a time of great wealth, strength, and happiness. Perhaps the key to such a harmonious kingdom lies within the cooperation between a king and his people.
—Excerpt from “Records of the Maritime Nation,”
by Willow Magnus, High Elf historian.
“We’re almost there!”
“Wow, really?”
“Of course. I told you Water Dragons can go really fast.”
“I expected nothing less from a Water Dragon.”
“Indeed.”
The Seedrun revolution had settled down, and so we decided to resume our journey to Bulbola. At top speed, the Water Dragon was able to take us to Bulbola within a day. It was at least ten times faster than the ship we were on. Fult and Satya appreciated it since it meant they would make it there in time for the Festival of the Moons.
“Water Dragons are amazing.”
“I know. Aren’t they just?” Miriam puffed out her chest, proud of her birthright. Sellimea had appointed her chief of the Water Dragons the other day. She had always wanted to be captain of a Water Dragon ever since she was a child, and she excitedly told Fran all about it last night. Fran listened to everything Miriam knew about Water Dragons as she treated the beastgirl to her favorite island strawberries that she’d promised. She told her about how Gladio took her Water Dragon from her, which I supposed was the root of the bad blood between the two.
“Yes, indeed. My Aqouis is the best there is!”
“Kuooo.”
“Aah, you adorable creature, you!”
She was so close with her Water Dragon that it was almost enviable.
“But that means we have to say goodbye soon…”
Fran had been asked whether she wanted to stay in Seedrun as a fighter. Upon hearing this, Fult and Satya raised their complaints that it wasn’t fair that Seedrun got to keep Fran all to themselves. Had Fran chosen to stay, I would’ve agreed, but she refused every offer she received.
Her encounter with Valuza had invigorated her desire to increase her abilities.
“I need more training to get stronger. For that, I’ll need to go to Ulmutt.”
Considering how unfitting Fran was for a desk job, I thought that was the right choice.
“I’ll come visit.”
“You will?”
“Mhmm.”
“You promise?”
“Of course. I don’t lie to my friends.”
Fran considered Miriam one of her friends now, and Sellimea, too, by extension. Her brazen ignorance of their status didn’t upset Miriam, unlike the first time they met.
“Friends… I suppose you’re right. We are friends.”
“Hm. So I’ll come again.”
“We’ll be waiting for you.”
“Hm.”
“Well, what about us?”
“Friends.”
“Heehee. Good. I’m sure my brother is happy to hear that, too.”
“Wha—No, I’m not.”
“What are you getting embarrassed about, Brother?”
“I’m not embarrassed!”
“Hehe.”
“Hahaha! Even you are no match for Lady Satya!”
Fran made a lot of friends today, and I thought it was good for her. I hoped she would continue making more friends down the road.
Teacher.
What’s up?
Bulbola’s going to be fun.
Sure sounds like it. It’s a port city. I’m sure there’s tons of good food there.
Yeah. And I can’t wait to see what the people there are like.
Heh, you said it. I hope you make friends with them, too, Fran.
Fran really had grown up. She was still excited about food and killing monsters, but now she had gained an appreciation for human contact. Our detour at Seedrun was well worth it.
Still, her appreciation for human contact also meant that goodbyes were going to be that much more difficult.
I knew she was crying as she lay in bed last night.
But encounters like these were what made people grow. I hoped that goodbyes wouldn’t discourage her from saying hello.
Speaking of last night, I had to explain to Fran who the mysterious voice was. It was difficult considering I didn’t know anything about it, either. I couldn’t answer any of her questions if I tried.
So I settled with telling her that the voice was something that helped me seal something dangerous inside of me. She was satisfied with it. Satisfied enough for now, anyway.
I asked her then whether she wanted to keep using me. I was a sword which held a dangerous secret, after all. I wouldn’t want to use myself, if it came down to it.
Fran hit me when I said that. She hit me so hard that it left a slight dent in my wolf crest. Blood trickled from her knuckles as she told me with a straight face, “I trust you, Teacher. I won’t let you go no matter what.”
But…
“We’ll be fine.”
No, but…
“We’ll be fine. If you go out of control, I’ll stop you. You just need to make me strong enough to do that,” Fran said as she hugged me. Any more of that and I might have cried and rusted myself to pieces.
All right, if you say so. It’s going to be hard from here on out, so you better hold on tight.
“Of course! We’re the ultimate team, Teacher. We’ll be fine no matter what happens.”
Remembering our conversation made my imaginary eyes water. Then, Miriam’s voice boomed from the deck.
“I can see Bulbola now!”
“Oooh, where is it?”
“Really?”
“We’re finally there.”
Fran and the royal twins stood side by side by the railing and looked towards the spot Miriam pointed at.
“Right there!”
She pointed to a city on top of an island. It was quite a big city, too. That must be Bulbola.
What adventure awaited us this time?
Man, I’m getting excited!
You too?
I guess that means you’re as excited as I am, Fran.
Yeah!
We really were the ultimate team!
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