Female Warrior Prologue V1C2: Light and Shadow Part 2

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Female Warrior Prologue Volume 1: Light and Shadow

Original novel in Chinese by: 御 我 (Yu Wo)


Chapter 2: Light and Shadow Part 2 – translated by raylight

The next morning, Red Cloak unhurriedly walked down the flight of stairs. Downstairs, it wasn’t very crowded or noisy. The price range of the inn was considered above average, so ordinary adventurers would not stay there. Rather, those staying at this inn were mostly merchants. Compared to adventurers who liked to shout in loud voices, merchants were usually more low-key and wouldn’t voluntarily cause trouble. Moreover, they were less likely to pay special attention to someone who liked to wear a red cloak, and they wouldn’t stubbornly want to lift that person’s cloak to see what was underneath it.

This was precisely the main reason why Red Cloak, although an adventurer, had chosen to stay at this inn.

He sat down in front of an empty table, and as he ate the rations that he had brought downstairs, he pondered over what he should do first. He had already used up what money he had, so it was high time he did some missions to earn money. Otherwise, if he were to travel far in the future, he wouldn’t have enough money to buy rations and basic equipment. On the other hand…

He suddenly stopped contemplating and eating, instead concentrating on listening to what the people sitting at the table beside him were saying. Three merchants sat there, and they were talking among themselves in hushed tones. Their expressions were extremely similar, as they appeared worried and were all frowning. They soon started exchanging information.

“Isn’t the tax for entering this city a bit too high? Last year, we only needed to pay twenty silver ducats to enter the city with a cart of cargo, right? Now, the cost has actually increased to one gold ducat! E-even the tax for entering the capital isn’t this expensive. If it were cheaper merchandise, the entire cart of goods could be bought with one gold ducat.”

“I think that I won’t be coming to this city again. I would rather hasten my journey a little more, and then rest at the next city.”

“Quit dreaming. I just came over from the next city, and the tax there has also just increased. For one cart of goods, you need to pay eighty silver ducats.”

“What?”

All of the merchants’ faces fell, and they exchanged glances. One of them couldn’t help but grumble in a low voice, “Looks like the lords of the cities around this area are actually pretty united!”

Another merchant, seemingly the oldest in the group, quickly whispered, “Don’t talk about it anymore. Compared to before, at least we can now live our days comfortably. Praise be to the Holy King!”

The other two immediately followed with the chant, “Praise be to the Holy King.” However, after saying that, the three merchants continued furrowing their brows. Having lost the mood to continue chatting, they finished eating in a hurry and then left to go about their own business.

At this moment, Red Cloak started eating his rations once more; he was no longer pondering over what he ought to do first, but rather over this whole country – the Kingdom of Holy Light.

The Holy King… His true name was in fact Lancel Ornister.1 Logically speaking, he ought to have been called King Lancel or King Ornister. However, in order to express their reverence toward him, the citizens usually addressed him as the Holy King.

King Lancel officially established the country in the first year of his reign during the first year of the Sacred Calendar. However, it was only in the third year of the Sacred Calendar that he finally managed to unify the entire continent. Now, the twelfth year of the Sacred Calendar was not even over, yet there were already corrupt city lords appearing?

Or perhaps it was Red Cloak who was asking for too much?

This place was really very far from the capital. The short nine years of governance may not have been enough to let King Lancel control everything within the country. Not to mention, within those nine years, there had been an invasion from another country, and they fought a war that lasted for one year and eight months.

After ending a long era of chaos, he has only been in power for nine years and even fought a two-year war within that timeframe. Despite all that, he was still able to let the citizens live comfortably. No matter how you said it, this is a truly incredible feat, and as such the citizens hold the Holy King in high esteem.

“You… The one wearing the red cloak!”

Hearing that, Red Cloak turned his head. As expected, he saw the bard, who was the only acquaintance of his who was around. The bard was walking down the stairs.

Eh? Red Cloak sized up the bard. Yesterday, the bard’s face was so swollen that it resembled a piece of bread, but the swelling had gone down by more than half today. What was left was only a large swelling on his forehead and a few bruises here and there.

“Your wounds sure recovered quickly.” He was a little astonished.

Hearing these words, the bard proudly said, “Well? I don’t look like a piece of bread anymore, right?”

“That is true.” Red Cloak said indifferently.

“Do you know why I can recover this quickly? You don’t know, right?” The bard started smiling foolishly, as though having a secret that Red Cloak knew nothing about was an unprecedented victory.

However, Red Cloak gave no reply. He only silently chewed on his own rations. He indeed found it strange, but he had no intention of asking about it. Every adventurer had his own secret, and knowing fewer of others’ secrets meant that he would be in less danger when adventuring. This was common knowledge that every experienced adventurer knew.

Though the bard looked conflicted, he continued chattering non-stop, “Want me to tell you? This is a secret, but since you treat me so well, not telling you would make me seem like I was being ungrateful to my benefactor… If you really want to know, then I can tell you! Do you want to know? You want to, right?”

This guy, would not talking kill him?! A little vexed, Red Cloak growled at him, “If you want to say it, then say it! Continue spouting rubbish and I’ll help you revert back to the way you looked yesterday!”

Despite hearing that, not only was the bard undaunted, he even revealed an extremely satisfied expression. Touched, he said, “I just knew that you really wanted to know this secret!”

This guy is beyond hope! Red Cloak used his hand to support his forehead, feeling a migraine coming on. He deeply regretted ever bothering about this fellow. He should have let him live on hair oil, giving himself peace and quiet.

The bard smiled mysteriously and said, “If I say that this is a blessing from God, would you believe it?”

“God?”

Red Cloak’s tone showed that he found it extremely strange. Rather than saying that he was surprised because he had heard the word “God” it was more that he was unable to cope with the bard making a random statement like that without giving an explanation. A little impatient, he asked, “When you say God, what exactly do you mean?”

The bard said with absolute certainty, “God is of course that kind of soft and squishy small thing that can be kneaded into different shapes and bounces around everywhere.”

Red Cloak fell silent for a while before he indifferently said, “Sounds more like a sort of mushy creature called a slime that crawls around in the forest. Not God.”

“Oh!” The bard seemed at a loss and said, “Now that you say that, they really are similar! However, slimes are green, but God is golden colored! Who knows… He might be the God of slimes?”

Saying it like this, don’t tell me you are a slime!

“Even if your injuries have healed, don’t run around aimlessly. If you get seen by the patrols, things will not turn out well for you.”

Red Cloak tried his best to suppress the urge to send this idiotic bard flying with a punch, and diverted the topic away from the slime god… If they were to continue talking about it, he really would violently beat the bard to a pulp, even if he didn’t like roughing up those without any fighting ability.

Instead, the bard revealed a troubled expression. Sobbing, he said, “Err… Nonetheless, I cannot do as you say! I still have to sing the Ballad of the Warrior Queen for one more day, so I must go out.”

Red Cloak furrowed his brows, remembering the strange rule that the bard had previously mentioned, that he had to sing the Ballad of the Warrior Queen for three days every time he arrived at a new place. He didn’t ask for the reason, but only asked indifferently, “You can’t even miss one day?”

The bard could only helplessly say, “I don’t have a choice. My teacher said that if I wanted him to accept me as his disciple, I had to agree to one condition. That is, once I became a proper bard, every time I visit a new place, I would have to sing the Ballad of the Warrior Queen for three days. This rule is very strict, but my teacher he… really is a superb bard!”

Seems like even if I don’t ask him the reason, he will still reveal it on his own… Seeing the bard’s eager eyes filled with anticipation and the “even if you don’t say anything, I will still talk about it” look on his face, Red Cloak felt another headache coming on. He could only do as the bard wished and ask him, “Who is your teacher?”

Hearing that, the bard’s anticipation-filled eyes immediately vanished. He put on an act of coughing loudly a few times, and then lifted his chin. In an extremely proud manner, he announced the answer, “Lorenzo Louis.”

“The bard nicknamed LL?”

Hearing this name, Red Cloak was truly a little surprised. He laughed, and then with a hint of disbelief, said, “LL is the imperial bard employed by the Holy King.”

“Used to be. However, when the Warrior Queen married the Holy King, he left the Holy City,” added the bard immediately, just to clarify.

There seemed to be a shadow of a smile on Red Cloak’s face as he said, “The imperial bard’s student has been reduced to a state where he would be beaten up by the city patrol until he looks like a pig head? Do you think that I would believe you?”

The bard quietly pulled an insignia from his shirt pocket. The insignia was made from interwoven gold and white threads, and was shaped like a white rose. In the golden portion at the center of the rose, there was a lute. The lute was even specially arranged into an L-shape.

As everyone knew, the white rose was the emblem of the Holy King. All the people who had a white rose insignia were direct subordinates of the Holy King. Also, just looking at the object that was crafted into the center of the rose, one could deduce what the subordinate’s profession was.

“Teacher said that he didn’t want this object anyway, so he gave it to me. If I was really lacking money during my journey, he said that I could sell it. I had tried to sell it in the past, but once the buyer saw that it was a white rose insignia, they refused to buy it.”

Of course they wouldn’t buy it. It’s the white rose insignia personally issued by the Holy King. All those who have them are renowned individuals. Who would dare to buy and keep such an insignia?

However, even though he had this insignia, Red Cloak was not swayed. He said, “This doesn’t prove much. He always loses his things.”

The bard sat stunned for a moment. Doubtful, he then asked, “What did you say?”

Red Cloak was silent for a while before he said nonchalantly, “I said, people are always losing things, so maybe you just picked it up.”

“It’s true that my teacher gave it to me!”

The bard was extremely anxious, but he himself also didn’t know how to convince Red Cloak… His teacher was indeed very good at losing his things. If anyone holding onto his teacher’s items came and told him that he was also LL’s student, even the bard himself would suspect that the item had been picked up.

“If you say it’s so, then so be it.” Red Cloak neither voiced whether he believed him nor whether he recognized him as LL’s student. He only made an offhanded remark and then returned to the main topic. “Under this kind of situation, your teacher would forgive you for not singing for one day. I believe that he also wouldn’t want to see you get beaten to death.”

“No, he wouldn’t forgive me.”

The bard was unexpectedly calm as he said, “He would only scold me, ‘To think that at that time, outside the gate of the Valley of the Crimson Blades and with just five thousand men, the Warrior Queen actually managed to defend the invasion from the demon army of fifty thousand soldiers. She even held them off for no less than three months. You, on the other hand, can’t even manage to merely sing the Ballad of the Warrior Queen for three days. Why don’t you just simply go hit your head and die under the statue of the Warrior Queen?’”

“Your teacher is wrong.” Red Cloak said coolly, “Comparing you to the Warrior Queen is like hitting a rock with a loaf of bread. From the start, it wouldn’t be a fair battle.”

The bard looked like he was about to cry as he said in grief, “You’re even more ruthless than my teacher…”

At this point in time, Red Cloak swallowed the last of his rations. With a swish from his cloak, he stood up and simply said, “Let’s go!”

“To where?” The bard lifted his head to look at him, puzzled.

Red Cloak said to him nonchalantly, “Aren’t you going to sing? Coincidentally, I also want to listen to a song, so let’s go together.”

Hearing that, the bard’s azure eyes instantly lit up in hope.

Red Cloak must be really strong!

This was not intuition, but an inference. A person who wore an eye-catching red cloak everywhere was either a reckless novice at adventuring, or a strong person who could settle any kind of trouble!

Judging from Red Cloak’s actions up until now, he was definitely not new to adventuring.

Even before the bard could spit out half a word, Red Cloak immediately cut in, coldly saying, “If you say anything that I feel contains redundant words, I will use a more direct method to make you unable to go out today— I’ll beat you up so badly that you can only lie in bed and then you wouldn’t need to sing anymore.”

“Redundant words?” The bard immediately gave a shout of astonishment. “How is it possible for me to speak redundant words? I have never said any unnecessary words before. On this, you can relax, for I am a bard! Being excessively particular about wording is my forte. I can guarantee that my every line is as elegant as singing birds and as clear as running water in a brook…”

Hearing this, Red Cloak seized the bard’s collar with one fist and then lifted him off the ground, forcibly dragging him from a sitting position to being suspended in mid-air.

The bard shut his mouth and blinked innocently. He didn’t dare move a single muscle and was completely in the dark as to why Red Cloak was angry again… But then again, his strength is really impressive. As expected, he’s a strong person!

With Red Cloak here, he would definitely not be beaten into a piece of bread by the patrol… The prerequisite being that Red Cloak could control his rage and leave him alive to go and sing.

Red Cloak held him there for quite a while. It was unclear whether he was trying to suppress his anger, or was considering which part he should start beating up first. It lasted until several of the inn’s waiters walked over. Without waiting for them to speak, Red Cloak had already put down the bard and turned around to tell them, “It’s fine.”

Turning around, Red Cloak lowered his head. The bard saw his pair of black pupils that radiated killing intent and severity from under the hood of his cloak. Red Cloak growled at the bard word-by-word, “Other than ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ all others are redundant words!”

After roaring at the bard, Red Cloak walked out of the inn without even looking back. Seeing Red Cloak’s shadow, the stunned bard mumbled, “Just like burning ebony flames.” Afterward, he immediately got to his feet and chased after Red Cloak.

After catching up with Red Cloak, he slowed down to walk beside Red Cloak. Though they were still quite far from the tavern, he had already started to hum softly.

Seasons change, time flows on
Gazing into the distance
The wandering minstrel reminisces about the past…

Oh minstrel!
The corners of your lips are always pulled into a brilliant smile.
Oh minstrel!
Your deep and distant eyes gaze beyond the people in front of you
Oh minstrel!
You who are so far out of reach
What exactly are you looking at?

Softly, the minstrel sings
Regardless of the distance
My eyes remain fixed upon that woman of legend

Oh Warrior Queen!
Have the Holy King and Queen destroyed your capacity for love?
Oh Warrior Queen!
Can the ebony flames in your eyes be lit only by battle?
Oh Warrior Queen!
With your cold and indifferent eyes,
What exactly are you looking at?

Footnotes

1 “Lancel Ornister”: Originally named Lancero Ornister by Yu Wo, as stated in the Female Warrior artbook. Both Lancel and Lancero are equally valid names, but we felt Lancel was more suiting a name for a king. Lancero is a type of military course, a type of soldier, and also less frequently used as a name.

84 Responses

  1. myself

    Am i the first to comment? Oh well…. Thanks for this new ‘prologue’ ! !

  2. yarizakura

    “Red Cloak used his hand to support his forehead..” or in short, facepalm XD
    thanks as always PR! *offers hot chocolate*

  3. Rgal

    I am starting to think that the bard is not Grisia’s predecessor but is Grisia himself. That, or his former reincarnation.

    • EliSan

      @Rgal
      It would be funny if they’ll be really related
      They are just toooooo similar
      Thanks PR !!!!!!

    • ChocolateCosmo

      @Rgal
      Impossible!!!!! Grisia really hates using redundant words like that, and will definitely curse the first generation Sun Knight for his love of redundant words that forced Grisia to have to mention the God of light in every sentence! Every girl he chats up gives him money because they think he is preaching them, which means his resentment has grown to the point of him becoming a vengeful ghost.

    • @Rgal
      I was thinking that too, though I hadn’t considered the bard was Grisia himself. So far their appearances and personalities seem close to identical. Perhaps we’ll find out more if we ever hear about Grisia’s background.

  4. Allania

    Yay! I’ve been looking forward to more of this.

    Quick question… is “when the Warrior Queen married the Holy King” supposed to be “when the Holy Queen married the Holy King”? (or something similar). Correct me if I’m wrong, but I didn’t think the Warrior Queen was married to the Holy King? (it’s even mentioned in the prologue)

    • [PR]lucathia

      I believe they did marry, but she left at some point in time.

    • @[PR]lucathia
      She left? Did you get that from the second Warrior Queen ballad:

      The Warrior Queen gazed far into the distance, saying
      “My mission has been accomplished.
      It is time for me to return to God’s side.”
      Thus a beautiful silhouette turned into a shooting star,
      And flew into the horizon.

      or some place else? I thought that part of the ballad made it sound like she died.

    • [PR]lucathia

      Oh, that’s true. That part of the song does make it sound like she died…

    • Krash

      @Allania
      I believe that the Warrior queen was a martyr who gave her love to someone else.

    • @Allania
      The prologue confused me. Especially the last stanza in the ballad:

      Please marry me…
      As time passed the knight became king,
      And the companions scattered apart.
      Even then, that woman never changed.
      On the throne, the Holy King and Queen.
      On the red carpet, she who knelt loyally.
      Do you remember?
      After that three word request was asked of her,
      She was named the Warrior Queen!

      It kind of sounds like the Holy King proposed to the Warrior Queen… even though the Holy Queen was already on the throne beside him. @_@ Does anyone have another explanation?

    • [PR]lucathia

      The Holy King indeed proposed. Which means he has two wives!

  5. AntloAvina

    Red Cloak must be really strong to lift the bard and hold him there for a long time or is it that the bard is really light?

  6. Lucifer

    Wonderful, Many thanks for working on this.

    At the end:
    Red Cloak growled at the bard word-by-word, “Other than ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ all others are redundant words!”

    Followed by:
    After roaring at the bard,…

    I don’t think ‘roaring’ is a fitting word, using simply ‘growling’ would be better.

  7. ely

    I assume that the Female Warrior artbook has not been translated into english – me want

  8. Xeraphina

    Thanks PR for another Female Warrior chapter.
    I love the interactions between the Bard and Red Cloak. :D
    The Warrior Queen songs are lovely. I wonder what they would sound like with music.

  9. AC

    “God is of course that kind of soft and squishy small thing that can be kneaded into different shapes and bounces around everywhere.”
    Am I the only one to think this is a very weird statement, and perhaps the reason for – many generations after – Grisia saying “this is continent filled with religions”?
    Also, this chapter made think about lots of theories…

    • Jasae Bushae

      @AC
      ‘The sun knight only has love in his heart for god who he will always speak his love and appreciation for~’

    • Nali

      @AC
      It kind of sounded to me that he was describing magic…. but yours makes sense too o_o

    • 15B

      @Nali
      I think he was describing magic too. The God of Light may not have taken on a form, but may have just given him some holy magic slime he could play with and use to heal himself.

    • Alyss

      @15B
      Huh. Really? I thought that maybe the Bard was just describing the God of Light’s true form or something, seeing as we don’t KNOW what a god’s true form would be (assuming that they have them). It COULD be something soft and squishy or whatever, and just not be common knowledge (cuz a god that’s slimy and bounces around sounds almost hilariously misleading XP ).

    • NowImHungry

      @AC
      It sounded like cute pet that he named ‘God’. LOL it reminds me of meatbun(although he’s not squishy nor slimy)

    • @NowImHungry
      Haha, that’s what I was thinking. He probably picked up a cute slime-like pet of the holy element who he started calling ‘God’ since he heals him, lol. It’d be hilarious if this was the reason for the Sun Knight praising the God of Light in every sentence. XD

    • Anonymous

      @黒

      It would also be amazing if the God of Light started out as a generic holy-element slime and gradually became an overwhelmingly powerful existence through the spread of people’s worship, starting with the bard. O.O

    • Brisingr1109

      @AC
      Shouldn’t it be holy light? Kind of fits the description…

  10. kayue

    Yup. Definitely the future first Sun Knight.
    It’s frightening whet a clone Grisia is… Except that he has more brains than the bard

    • kayue

      Er, “whet” = “what”
      Are all teachers that strict? The bard’s teacher sure sounds like Neo (in attitude)

      And is the Bard’s God… Meatbun?

    • Karen

      @kayue
      LOL!!! :D I was thinking the same thing! Though I’m not too sure how many shapes Meatbun can be made into. XD

    • ChocolateCosmo

      @kayue
      I think he is referring to a squishy god that is golden and resembles slimes, so maybe it is the god of light that likes acting cute? I’ve seen worse.

    • foreverotaku11

      Who knows, maybe Grisia is the reincarnation of the bard, Judgement the reincarnation of the read cloak and the teacher the reincarnation of LL >W< I mean the red cloak had ebony eyes, coudn't he have beenthe future judgement knight? It'd be funny if they were really their reincarnations though, since that means judgement has signed up for the position of Grisia's nanny since their previous life.

  11. Jasae Bushae

    oh gosh i just had this thought…
    what if the reason the sun knight speaks in a flowery manner is because the original insisted on teaching all of his knight decendants to be bards? XD

  12. dollytzw

    Does anyone suspect the Red Cloak as the Warrior Queen?? ‘cuz Red Cloak seems to know Bard’s teacher…
    . * + ( ‘ v ‘ ) + * .

    • @dollytzw
      Red Cloak seems to be around the same age as the bard. If that’s the case, maybe Red Cloak was the apprentice of the Warrior Queen, like how the bard was LL’s apprentice. After all, if the kingdom was formed 12 years ago, Red Cloak would’ve probably still been a kid.

  13. AnnieTi

    PR! thanks to you!!!
    Don’t know why but the last song touched some strings of my heart. I wonder whether that was the bard who composed the Warrior Queen songs or his teacher.

    “How is it possible for me to speak redundant words? I have never said any unnecessary words before. On this, you can relax, for I am a bard! Being excessively particular about wording is my forte. I can guarantee that my every line is as elegant as singing birds and as clear as running water in a brook…”
    Hmm… It seems the expected personalities of the 12 Holly Knight had some true points underneath but were exaggerated (by followers?!) to the extreme.

  14. Nattie

    you know I hate the oddest thought, Red Cloak = Warrior Queen? I mean Female Warrior = MC, I’m guessing the bard isn’t a girl seeing as how he didn’t cover his appearance like Red Cloak. RC knows LL since she mentions that LL looses his things but only close friend will know that. It hasn’t been that long since the knight became a king and RC is hiding herself with a big red cloak and all. But that’s only a guess, RC could be the Warrior Queen’s student but I bet they are related!

    • Krash

      @Nattie
      I have the same prediction as you are. YuWo dropped some hints for us :)) but I think the warrior queen and the red cloak have same identity.

      Anyway, this line made me confused.
      “Used to be. However, when the Warrior Queen married the Holy King, he left the Holy City,” added the bard immediately, just to clarify.
      -I thought that the Warrior queen was a martyr who gave up her love to someone else.

  15. Jan

    Thanks PR!
    I wonder if the future Knights know about the first generation of knights.
    I hope they do.
    Anyways good luck!

  16. Adrimiz7

    I’m thinking Red Cloak was a high ranking palace guard who left for one reason or another. Maybe around the same time Warrior Queen left the kingdom. I guess having teachers is a must in this world. Bard had LL, Grasia has Neo, etc etc. I do not see how the Bard didn’t earn a reputation for being talkative…

  17. MPToki

    Thank You for Uploading!!!
    I think Red Cloak and the Warrior Queen are related, if not the same person~
    But its only a guess.
    Can’t wait for the next upload!
    Thank You Again =D

  18. Pandamanda

    Lancel Ornister -> Lancel Lannister. Ha ha. Was Yu Wo making a game of thrones reference?

    • [PR]raylight

      No, I don’t think she was. The original name that she gave was “Lancero Ornister”, but we changed the name to “Lancel” >.>

  19. pang

    The only difference between bard and grisia as far as I can see is that one likes dessert while the other don’t. Even the way they are scared of their own teacher is the same!
    At first I thought that Red Cloak is Warrior Queen, too. But now I think differently. If I recall correctly, it had been mentioned that the king and queens had a bunch of people helping them found the country and then drift apart. I suspect that one of them is Red Cloak, and maybe LL too. Which, if true, means that Red Cloak is older than Bard quite a lot.
    Also, I can’t help but think that maybe Bard is a girl but use magic or some thing to change from a him into a her. Afterall, the series is called ‘Female’ Warrior, so the main lead should be a female, right?

    • Jasae Bushae

      @pang
      Eh, theres several differences between bard and Grisla. Firstly, the bard has far less attention to his surroundings and lacks any of the tact and sense of self preservation that so skillfully allowed Grisla to manipulate people and know when not to play his role.
      Also, im not sure Grisla would have ran in to the rescue of a woman like that XD (putting aside that his magical ability allows him to take care of himself far better than bard has thus far)
      Bard just generally seems far more dense than Grisla XD

    • pang

      @Jasae Bushae
      Grisia would go and help random people (when he was young). There is one extra that say so. The one that had grisia beaten to death and Neo choosing him as next Sun.
      But I can’t refuse about the dense part, though.

    • Jasae Bushae

      @pang
      Yeah~ but he definitely wouldn’t have done it like that ^^; Grisla is sneaky and devious and isnt the sort to just charge in blindly XD
      In that extra, Grisla went and fetched another canidates to help, not relying on his own abilities because he has the philosophy ‘If I cannot be 100% certain I should be 200% confident’
      Theres no doubt that Grisla would help a random individual but he would never act like that bard XD He would either do what he did with those three knights and get the drop on and ambush them in an effort to spirit away the victim
      Or when the son of the god of war harassed his ‘dog’ and tried to steal the wife of his ‘brother’ where he proceeded to go through a long complicated plan that put the son of the god of war through a humiliation conga so he would learn to regret his actions from the bottom of his heart without realizing grisla was even behind his misfortune.
      Charging in blindly to help someone with need and not planning ahead is as far from grislas nature as it gets XD
      The only arguable exception is when leaf and judgment died and even then he seemed to be fully aware of what he was doing and accepted those choices with full knowledge of the consequences and thought things through fully.
      Bard is more…Emotionally. An open and honest spirit from what ive seen so far who seems to wear his heart on his sleeve and speaks his mind and all the faults found within him are due to his open and honest nature. From openly leeching red cloak to his outburst of shock when red cloak revealed he was broke.
      Bards more like a combination of blazes blunt honesty and leafs kindness

    • @Jasae Bushae
      Well, LSK is written from Grisia’s point of view, so we get to see all his tricks and schemes first hand. We have yet to see what the bard is thinking and if his actions have ulterior motives. Though so far it does seem that he’s far less underhanded than Grisia, Grisia can get away with a lot more because of his high position and loyal subordinates.

    • Jasae Bushae

      @黒
      Its true that most of the story has been seen from Suns point of view but even in the side stories you aquire a pretty strong impression of Grisla. He is never the sort to state a blunt opinion (Unlike Bard who voiced his negative opinion of the ‘proper warrior queen song’ He is shameless towards people he considers family but would NEVER act like he does to cloud or earth towards other people. Facade aside, Grisla dared to threaten Pink in Blaze’s story, Ice noted that Grisla mutters under his breath so as not to voice his dissatisfaction aloud, Through Earth we had a perfect example of Grislas vindictiveness and through Judgment and Neo we saw Grislas kindness.

      There is a saying ‘How others see us shapes who we are’ and while its not the most accurate of sayings, comparing how we saw Grisla from other peoples point of view and how we are seeing Bardy from Red Cloaks point of view show them to be radically different in a mariad of ways.
      In fact, I dare say Bard bears a closer resemblance to Prince or *insert whatever name PR decides for the younger solaris here* than he does with Grisla. Which is REALLY neato since they have similar appearances and share many habits (due to Grislas training) Yet are very different when it comes to personality.

    • @Jasae Bushae
      I think the blunt opinion part has a lot to do with Grisia’s Sun Knight training. In the side story where Grisia gets picked as the next Sun Knight, he’s pretty blunt when he talks to Neo even though he doesn’t know him very well yet. He’s also pretty open with his opinion when he loses his memory. Red Cloak and the bard have only just met, so there’s still time to see what traits Grisia and the bard share or don’t share.

      To me, the bard seems like a younger, more naive version of Grisia, before his training. But I do think that if it had been Grisia who was beaten up by the guards, he would’ve found some way to get back at them. And while Grisia would sacrifice anything for his friends, I’m not sure he’d do the same for a stranger. (But if the stranger happens to be a pretty girl…)

      Up till now, the bard has been portrayed as something of a dunce, but I’m really curious to see if he’s actually smart. After all, how does a bard with no fighting skills become the leader of the Twelve Holy Knights?

    • Jasae Bushae

      @黒
      Ah right, i forgot about the amnesia volume XD
      …Wherin Grisla was groped by pretty girls in his sleep and he immediately tried to extort more out of it…
      And where he came up a plan that involved kidnapping a virgin girl to catch a unicorn…
      and where he merrily cut up and tortured both ice and blaze with no remorse for since they were not someone he cared about he didnt much care for their survival…
      You make a good point though XD this bard is most probably the sun knight and if he cant beat a group of guards theres got to be SOME reason he is in charge XD Though grisla did describe it as being the church’s billboard and figurehead…

    • Alyss

      @pang
      I have to say: there’s no guarantee that Red Cloak is a girl. Just because it says Female Warrior doesn’t necessarily mean that one of the two characters we know is a girl; thie IS only the prologue. (Not that I don’t agree with you, but still ;P )

      Also, to last comment that I can’t reply directly to at the end of the freakishly long debate of Bard vs. Grisia, where it basically asks how a bard with no fighting skills can be the leader of the Twelve Holy Knights: Take a look at the current leader of the Holy Knights in LSK. Take a good, loooooooong look. Seriously.

    • @Alyss
      That was my point. ^_^ Grisia is able to lead the Holy Knights without any swordsmanship skills because he uses his head. So even though the bard hasn’t been shown to be particularly smart yet, there’s a good chance he is, since he probably becomes the first Sun Knight.

      (Btw, I’m surprised someone actually went through that whole discussion. Though I guess you could’ve just read the last post too. XP )

  20. claire

    i assume the red cloak is the warrior queen…does she become the hell knight? or judgement? i think the bard ends up being the sun knight…and the slime god is a bit too ridiculous to speculate about
    thanks pr!

  21. Andi

    *while reading chapter* “OH! I wonder if he has met The God of Light yet? :D” …”God is a ….slime?? >.<;;; You lost me." Hrmm… He says that it is the small squishy things that bounce around everywhere… That REALLY sounds like Grisia's description of magic (it is everywhere, he can mold it into different shapes for different purposes, and there are different colors corresponding to the element). Now I am wondering IS light element the true form of the God of Light..? Or is Bard just able to see elements, can use the gold ones (most ppl are limited to being able to use 1 right? XD) and decided that this omnipotent amazing thing must be a god? Then again, I guess we really don't know how magic use was changed in the world when the gods left (I assume that the gods should still be in this realm if the first generation of their most devout followers haven't been picked yet..?)

    • @Andi
      Ooh, I never thought of it like that. Maybe the gods were originally just manifestations of different elements. Since FW starts before the different religions were formed, the gods must still be in the world. According to the V1 prologue of LSK:

      In order to avoid such a situation, the mightiest gods among them all established “the Contract of the Gods”. All of the gods were thus forbidden from directly using their divine powers on the continent itself. Their only option was to invest their powers in some of their followers, who would then wield that power in their stead.

      So before the gods gave powers to their followers, could people even do magic?

  22. Cupcake

    Lol XD There first generation of holy knights, eh? I wonder if some of the knights are true to their personality, how did the future knights become one more generation of corrupt after another to the point where it’s all backwards? I mean if the Earth knight really is a genuinely good person, how did he go corrupt and become the current Earth knight who should’ve been the Storm knight? XD This is so hilarious.

    And a lot of people are saying that the Bard and Grisia are similar, which I only kind of agree to…. I mean the Bard seems a lot less clever than Grisia and more on the ditzy and somewhat clueless side. The Bard definitely seems slow to the point he doesn’t realize what’s actually happening when he tries to do a good deed until someone points it out to him. Lol But I love him already, he’s definitely going to make for another interesting Sun knight that we’ll be reading about. It’s so exciting, first it was the 38th generation Sun knight, then the retired 37th generation Sun knight, and Yu Wo is also writing about the future 39th generation Sun knight, and now we are going to know how it all started and get to meet the very first generation Sun knight.

    Another question I have is, how did the Bard get to become the leader of the twelve holy knights when he’s a singer and carries an instrument? I am so interested and curious to see how this will turn out. How will all of the first generation holy knights meet each other and what will they be like? Wouldn’t it be so cool if the prophecy of the Demon King came to be known because of a big battle between the Demon King and the first generation twelve holy knights.

    ……… I wonder who the Bard will be friends, but not friends with, like Grisia is with Earth XD Sooooooo excited!!!!!!!!

    • Jasae Bushae

      @Cupcake
      to answer that question on the end, way back in the first book, grisla did mention that the sun knight ‘famously’ didnt get along with the ice knight which is a good hint

    • Cupcake

      @Jasae Bushae
      Lol, now I’ll have to go scrounging around to find the chapter that said that. Thanks for the info- it’ll definitely help with my future predictions….. but maybe I should also reread some stuff to freshen up XD

    • Jasae Bushae

      @Cupcake
      the first book and the first chapter of the second book helped to give a fair idea of how the sun knight is supposed to respond to certain people XD (Tragically, Stone Knight who pops up in book 3 doesnt really tell us much about his surface relationship with sun, only that he is a cold dark factioneer and that he is famed for stuborness)
      One interesting thing though, the first chapter of the second book specifically mentions that the warm kind hearted faction were full of holy light while the knights of the dark glum faction were much weaker in that regard. Combine that with knowledge that at least two of them (ice and judgment) specialize in swordplay and combat, and it might mean that the warm side is more in touch with bard god XD

      Oh, and the ice knight tidbit was in chapter 2 of book 1

    • Alyss

      @Cupcake
      I feel that, before you wonder how a bard with nothing but his voice and his instrument becomes the leader of the Holy Knights, you should wonder how a knight who can’t hold his sword, can’t ride a horse, and makes friends with necromancers and death lords and dark elves and possibly dark knights can become the leader of the Church of the God of LIGHT. But then again, we don’t have to wonder because Yu WO is a genius that way and the PR crew is awesome ;P

    • Cupcake

      @Alyss
      Lol I just replied to Jasae Bushae before realizing I didn’t use the reply button XD… definitely true…….. Grisia’s definitely got a skill in making powerful allies despite his… err….. fatally tragic sword skills. I’d say he’s lucky he’s clever and corrupt because if he were actually nice and kind and gentle, he’d probably get himself really killed because he’d be unwilling to plot his schemes. After all, Grisia’s a trouble magnet and can’t go or do anything without causing a flurry of trouble that usually others have to clean up XD And yes the PR! crew and Yu Wo are phenomenal and amazing. These novels are so awe-inspiring.

  23. I just saw the new pictures on the character page for Lancel Ornister and Lorenzo Louis! Does anyone else think Lancel looks a bit sinister?

  24. Maddy

    Maybe God refers to the holy magic he can use. That might explain the gold color n maybe the being able to mold it.

  25. Cupcake

    :O Is that so? You are very observant, I praise you for that lol XD Thanks for the chapters and info once again. Still…. despite the fact there are hints regarding the first generation holy knights…. I wonder if they came to be because of the king of their time or something….. The Bard definitely is more clumsy than Grisia in respects of cleverness; lol but he seems borderline innocent, much different from the corrupt Grisia, but yet, in a way, still similar, and becoming the Sun Knight would not of been an easy feat for him. Also, I think the first generation Judgement knight is a girl because it says Female Warrior and the picture of Red Cloak seems feminine but androgynous. Lol another funny thing is if my theory were true, all the future Judgement knights all suddenly became male XD

    • Jasae Bushae

      @Cupcake
      One thing im most looking forward to is the sight of bard drinking alchohol since the sun knight is plastered by the third sip XD
      I confess I honestly expected Bard to really be some sorta talented swordfighter since there are real world and mythological examples of bards who kicked as and took names like Cu Chulain, cao cao, bruce lee and Cyrano de Bergerac

  26. NeoWarrior

    Ok, I took my time commenting here, but after reading the other comments on the Warrior Queen, I feel I simply must comment. Does anyone else remember the first part of this series where Red Cloak sings the real ballad of the warrior queen? She sang that the warrior queen fought alongside the holy king and deeply loved him, but that he married her sister, the cleric. After the king and cleric married, the warrior queen left. This easily means that she was in love with the king, but he chose her sister rather than her.

    Also, if RedCloak is the warrior queen, that means that her previous companions who travelled with her were: her sister (cleric), the king (knight?), the bard’s teacher (bard), and who knows who else. I think the king must have neen a knight because he is the Holy King and in thevpresent there are Holy Knights, also because a defensive class such as a knight would be necesary to defend a place so long…

  27. 15B

    Awww…~ On the second cover, there’s a picture of *spoiler* and the bard! *spoiler* is so cute!~

  28. Blackcat

    Does anyone notice a problem with the money system here? The merchants’ conversation implies that a gold ducat is worth 100 silver ducats (from 20 silver ducats to a gold ducat is a big rise in tax), as does the LSK side story “Unbeatable”, but the previous chapter says a gold ducat is 10 silver ducats).

  29. AngelZWolf

    Ah, is this not the first book? Anyways, I think Red Cloak has met Lorenzo and Lorenzo definitely loved the Warrior, which I don’t think Red Cloak is.

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