Female Warrior Prologue V1Prologue: In a Flash

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Female Warrior Prologue Volume 1: Light and Shadow

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


Prologue: In a Flash – translated by dahlys

If you could return to the day you met, what would the two of you do?

“Ah! Fate is unfathomable like that. Never would anyone be able to guess that such an ordinary encounter could lead to such an extraordinary future. Although our encounter that day contributed to a resplendent future, I sometimes find myself reminiscing about ordinary days. If time could be rewound, would I choose to step foot into that tavern where we met… Ah, no! Even if that tavern had not existed, we would definitely have met anyway, because our encounter was indispensable fate!”

–Bard

“With my blade, I’ll cut the tavern, destiny, and this bastard in half all at the same time.”

–Red Cloak

Dear Holy King…
May your radiance always shine upon the Kingdom of Holy Light.
Do you remember?
In this world where both light and darkness exist,
The one defending your back,
What was her name again?

When they first met…
The knight smiled a dazzling smile,
The swordsman bravely swung her dual blades,
The cleric gently healed all pains and wounds,
And the bard sang about their adventures.
When all your companions had gathered by your side,
Do you remember?
That blade that slew your enemies,
What was her name again?

Ah! Destiny…
The knight walked the path of a king;
A road filled with blood and danger.
When their eyes met, there was no need for speech.
Without any need for oath or pledge,
The companions fought countless battles.
Do you remember?
She who always followed you faithfully,
What was her name again?

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!

Dear Holy King…
May your radiance always shine upon the Kingdom of Holy Light.

The person wearing a red cloak sat quietly at the bar counter of the tavern, a seat specially meant for lonely people who had no acquaintances. Behind him, a wandering bard was singing the story of the Holy King. His voice was rather good, his tone clear and penetrating. His singing skills were also very good, so good that even Red Cloak, a person who had traveled all over the world, didn’t dare to say that he had heard a voice more beautiful than this bard’s.

However, it was obvious that the travelers in the tavern did not appreciate his singing. It was just one song, so it was fine even if it garnered no applause, but it actually attracted many shushing sounds and glares instead.

“Looks like you chose the wrong song…” muttered Red Cloak in a low and somewhat hoarse voice, making it quite impossible to tell whether the voice belonged to a man or woman.

“Is that so? But this is my favorite song, ‘Ballad of the Warrior Queen’!”

Red Cloak didn’t seem the least bit surprised to hear that clear and penetrating voice from behind him. Under his hood, the corners of Red Cloak’s mouth merely turned up a little and he plainly said, “To my knowledge, the ‘Ballad of the Warrior Queen’ is not sung like this.”

As if it were only natural, the bard said after sitting down next to Red Cloak, “The one that I sang is the real ‘Ballad of the Warrior Queen,’ definitely!”

Smiling, Red Cloak shook his head and softly sang.

The Warrior Queen, that is her title.
With one graceful movement, she glanced at the knight
And was forever entranced by his greatness and blond hair.
Following the man she loved, she fought an uphill battle.
For the man she loved, she brandished her weapon.
For the beautiful cleric, her good sister, she smiled
As she watched the cleric and the knight’s lovely union.
When the Holy King and Queen exchanged their vows,
The Warrior Queen raised her weapons and protected the couple,
Until the last of their enemies had retreated.
Together, the Holy King and Queen ruled their peaceful kingdom.
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.

After singing in a low voice, Red Cloak smiled and said, “This is the ‘Ballad of the Warrior Queen’ that everyone knows, right?”

Unexpectedly, the bard laughed and said, “Ha! She is indeed a good woman. One can send her to war, and then marry another beautiful wife, and she doesn’t even feel jealous. After one has no more use for her, one can just tell her to scram back to heaven. What a perfect woman indeed!”

Red Cloak was stunned for a moment. He had only intended to make a random comment, so he had not even had a good look at the bard’s face. However, he was now extremely curious about this bard who had dared to say something so outrageous, so he could not help but turn to look at him.

Seeing Red Cloak turn to look at him, the bard also turned and smiled charismatically at Red Cloak.

Red Cloak smiled faintly back at him.

The young man in front of Red Cloak looked just like a typical wandering bard. On his back, he carried a lute, the most common instrument for a bard. A fairly pretty bronze bell hung at his waist. The bard himself had a head of beautiful blond hair, which was carelessly draped over his shoulder, and his bright eyes were as blue as the azure sky. Judging by his youthful face, he was at most only slightly over twenty years of age. Also, he gave off the feeling that he was somewhere between a boy and a man. When he smiled, he seemed like a boy who had yet to mature, but if he became serious, even he would probably give off the feeling of a grown man then.

“You are so weird! Aren’t cloaks usually green or brown, so that you can use it to cover your tracks?” The blond bard looked at Red Cloak curiously. Although the cloak was not bright red but rather a darker shade of red, it would still stand out like a sore thumb in both forests and on grasslands.

“Perhaps it’s because I have no need to cover my tracks,” said Red Cloak plainly, without much explanation.

“Weirdo.” The bard wasn’t really bothered by this, and he simply grinned like a little boy.

After Red Cloak had finished admiring that innocent little boy smile, he did not speak any further. He just lowered his head and began to eat the food on his plate.

“How about treating me to a drink?” said the bard suddenly, although he did not really expect to get what he wanted. After all, every time he sang the “Ballad of the Warrior Queen,” the visitors in the tavern never appreciated it. Never mind throwing him some bronze ducats, if they didn’t chase him out of the tavern, it would already be considered an above average day.

This was because the Holy King and Queen’s excellent reputation was known far and wide, and many loved them. This “Ballad of the Warrior Queen,” with its defamatory nature, was not a song that could be arbitrarily sung. Thus, he only dared to sing it in small taverns located in remote areas. If he actually sang this song in the capital, it wouldn’t be strange even if he were killed, right?

Red Cloak raised his head slightly and asked, “Is ale and a bowl of minced meat noodles okay?”

“I wouldn’t mind an extra bowl of minced meat noodles.” The bard beamed. Today is my lucky day!

“With your voice, if you sang some normal ballads, getting enough food to eat wouldn’t be a problem,” said Red Cloak simply. Although the content of this statement seemed like advice, Red Cloak’s tone made it sound like a simple statement of fact.

“I do sing normal ballads.” The bard blinked, swallowed the minced meat noodles in his mouth, and said resolutely, “However, it is my self-imposed rule to sing the ‘Ballad of the Warrior Queen’ for three days after arriving at a city. Only then can I sing normal ballads.”

“If that is the case, then why is getting food to eat a problem?” Red Cloak was extremely puzzled about this. Although he was also curious as to why the bard must first sing the “Ballad of the Warrior Queen” for three days, he did not want to get too close to the bard, so he simply avoided asking about that.

A little embarrassed, the bard twirled a lock of his blond hair around a finger and said, “Well, I haven’t entered a large city in a long time, and it just so happened that I ran out of my favorite rose fragrance hair oil, so I decided to buy a little more of that. I spent all my money buying the hair oil, forgetting that I still had to sing the ‘Ballad of the Warrior Queen’ for three days…”

“After starving for three days, I bet that you would even drink hair oil,” replied Red Cloak in an annoyed tone after hearing the bard give such an explanation.

“How about this, if you let me stay with you in your room for three days, and buy me a tankard of ale and a bowl of minced meat noodles a day, I will sing the ‘Ballad of the Warrior Queen’ for you every single day, okay?” asked the bard, having made the decision to “freeload off this person for three days even if he got scolded for being shameless.” After all, being called shameless is much better than being hungry enough to drink hair oil!

“Just who wants to listen to the ‘Ballad of the Warrior Queen’?” Red Cloak secretly rolled his eyes.

“You!” As if the answer were obvious, the bard said, “If you didn’t like listening to the ‘Ballad of the Warrior Queen,’ would you have treated me to minced meat noodles?”

On hearing this, Red Cloak fell silent.

“How about this then, I’ll sing whatever song you want to hear! Don’t you like listening to my voice?” The bard really didn’t know what he had said wrong, to have caused Red Cloak to become so quiet. Afraid that he would have to drink hair oil for the next three days, the bard had no choice but to change his offer as a last resort.

“Just when have I said that I liked listening to your voice, huh?” Red Cloak secretly rolled his eyes again. This bard seems to have a hobby of “guessing other people’s thoughts.”

Feeling extremely wounded, the bard said, “But not too long ago, you said, ‘With your voice, if you sang some normal ballads, getting enough food to eat wouldn’t be a problem.’ Doesn’t that mean that you like listening to my voice?”

Annoyed, Red Cloak said, “No.”

After speaking, and not wanting to get himself further involved with the bard, Red Cloak left enough money to pay for two people’s food and beverages and turned to leave… when a corner of his cloak was grabbed.

A little angry, Red Cloak turned and was about to make the bard let go, but instead saw him pathetically tugging on his cloak, his large, watery, blue eyes looking like they were about to burst into tears. The bard begged softly, “Please! You really can’t bear to see me become hungry enough to drink hair oil, right? Just take care of me for three days! Pretty please?”

“…”

89 Responses

  1. quanta

    I absolutely love this! The bard seems like a very fitting Sun Knight XD I can’t wait for more!!!

  2. DellyYuki

    Wa… New update. Thank’s for all the hard work…….
    This is the story for first generation right…….
    I must read it now but i must go to collage right nowww
    Damn annoying. Why must I have class today…..

  3. Toullaty

    I didn’t know how it would be. But, visibly, even at the time of the first generation, they had problems.

  4. Ooooooh this is going to be such win. XD Can’t wait to see the first chapter. <3

    (And looks like the first Sun Knight was just as 'despicable' as Grisia. X'D Looks like Neo really chose the perfect student, lol.)

  5. shadowofzo

    Red Cloak, you better have very dark hair. As for you Bard, you damned the whole line of them.

  6. Karin

    LOL :D Somehow the bard reminds me of Sun… even though he isn’t really like him at all.

  7. Doodle Bot

    What a shameless bard…
    Looking forward to this story.
    Thanks for translating!

  8. MPToki

    Thank You for uploading!!! =D
    Wow…
    So that was a song…
    This is interesting!
    I guess Red Cloak is a female, the Bard is no doubt the future Sun Knight~
    He really cares about his looks, eh?
    Thank You =D

    • Alya

      @MPToki There’s word of …. “The person wearing a red cloak sat quietly at the bar counter of the tavern, a seat specially meant for lonely people who had no acquaintances. Behind (him), a wandering bard was singing the story of the Holy King. His voice was rather good, his tone clear and penetrating.” So that guy MUST be future Judgment Knight Captain, he event promised to slash the whole Tavern altogether with the Bard if he can go back to the day and knowing what happen to him after he met the Bard. THAT a promising Judgment Knight Captain character….

  9. qing630

    nice the first sun seem interesting with a nice sense of humor
    red cloak is the first judgement i believe

  10. Sakura Hyuga

    HAHAHA! OMG! I can’t believe this is out! I checked non-stop for this! Woot Woot!

  11. AC

    I wonder, how did the future generations managed to get everything wrong?
    I mean, if the bard is the precursor of the Sun Knight, then the logical description for him would be “the whole continent knows that the Sun Knight is a shameless profiteer of the goodwill of others, yet good-looking and good-natured”.
    This just proves Grisia is great, because he is actually a return to the original!

    • Alya

      @AC XDD rofl Adair should know this…. Since his first impression of Grisia was this future Sun Knight Captain is the closest among all the Sun Knight Captains for generations that REALLY represent the first Sun Knight Captain, and it is believe that the first Sun Knight Captain also become Hell Knight Captain to do his duty as spy which is even Grisia pretend to be (Roland) Hell Knight Captain whenever he need to get the eyes away from him [at the time Leithe lock Grisia with guard]

  12. Andi

    I think the bards song is confusing me a little. Is it implying that the Holy King forgot the Warrior Queen’s name? Or that she forgot her own name?
    “After that three word request was asked of HER She was named the Warrior Queen”
    This would imply that the Warrior Queen herself was asked “do you remember” (what your name is) and she replied “Warrior Queen”? Though I feel like it would make more sense if it was “After that three word request was asked of him She was named the Warrior Queen” pointing out that after all they had been through, he never cared enough to learn her name, so, when asked what her name is, he said “Warrior Queen” as it was the best he could come up with. I feel though like the song should be implying he couldn’t remember her name if it was defamatory. Am I missing something? >.<;;

    • [PR]lucathia

      @Andi
      I believe the three word request was “Please marry me.” After that, she was named the Warrior Queen.

    • Alya

      @Andi All the Bard song meaning is that the female Warrior is like the one mention by Red Cloak, she fight along side the Knight whom latter become the King. The one who asked about the female warrior should be the Bard itself and he asked the World (people) by implying it to the King, “do you (people or King) remember (about her)?” And after the King married the Cleric (the warrior sister) the King called the female Warrior as Warrior Queen, since he become call the Holy King and the Cleric then called the Holy Queen. So that make the other companion of the Holy King and Queen shall be another Queen or King in title so they stay on same lines, that makes her called the Warrior Queen.

  13. Ai

    When I read the summaries for Female Warrior, I never thought that “Warrior Queen” would have such a sad beginning.

  14. Andianco

    Oh, thank you for the hard work!
    In the start I was like: “its finally here, its finally here!”
    But after readding it was like: “He is just like Grisia! This is going to be really interesting…”

  15. KuranNita

    Okay, now I know why all the future Sun Knights have to speak in such a way that could make one headache… *Laugh* How can it not be when the first generation is a bard (Shameless to boot..)… XD

  16. lilliiputianapolis

    out of curiousness were the pronouns gender neutral before it was translated?

  17. Jhay

    Ah thanks love the beginning so far.
    This bard really is similar to Grisia, I love it!
    Can’t wait to read more. ^^

  18. SnowStorm

    A lovely, yet confusing chapter, as always~ xD
    This is supposed to be the tale of how the knights met and were formed, right? >.<"
    Then who is the "Dear Holy King" whose "radiance always shine upon the Kingdom of Holy Light."?? o-o
    Is this the God of Light?? Or a random character…? Or…???? "<..<

  19. Adrimiz7

    Red Hood is called he, but is that just a translation difficulty due to the lack of ungendered words in the english language??
    Didn’t realize this was the first gen, but those similariteis still shine threw. Future holy knights, you never had a chance.

    • Alya

      @EliSan
      Oh my dear EliSan, you open the knowledge of me so that even I remember it with heart and mind that even after the separated of generation of Sun Knight Captain that the smile always shine upon the whole Kingdom by the blessing of God of Light, our Sun Knight Captain from the 38th generation is inseparable with the real Sun Knight Captain for only the God of Light and the first Twelve Holy Knight knows…….

    • crosszeria

      @Alya
      woot,,,it’s the first generation ‘_’,,,
      and that tongue twister is epic too XD
      yu wo is really good at this,,,and thx too PR for the translations

  20. d1r31

    Thank you for the translation!
    Oh! The vanity! & the uncanny ability to get others to willingly do stuff for him!

  21. EliSan

    Can’t wait to met the other Twelve Holy Knights!!! I am so curious… I want to know wether they will be like twins with 38th generation (bard & Grisia) or some of them might be really different from the future knights… I mean Earth should be a REALLY nice guy and Metal should have a REALLY sharp tongue

  22. dollyfishe

    grisia and lesus ??? somehow … me keep thinking of them both while reading ….

  23. DellyYuki

    With that Grisia is the most fitting sun knight in history for real.
    They all messed up…………

  24. Noomico

    well !!coz I love gresia a lot XD!! I will consider this bard is gresia in his Previous life :P !!! It’s gona be amazing vol can’t wait for the update for both LSK and this one

  25. Dessert Lover

    hahaha its grisia the first! Now I wonder who this red cloak fellow is? boy or girl? Im hoping that its a girl with the temperament of judgement

  26. NanoLaughing

    This bard, his description is strangely close to Grisia, and the Warrior Queen, her description of long blonde hair is also suspicious! Could it be… They could be ancestors or SUN!?! totally a wild guess :) but it would be weird right?

  27. whitecloud

    so…basically the red cloak is the warrior queen right? so if the 1st generation sun knight “stole” her from the king by making her a judgement knight and MAKING her his girl…isnt it would be NTR?

  28. jasmin

    When I read the translations of the char. info, I thought, ‘this bard is nothing like grisia…’. Now, ‘never mind. they’re one and the same.’

  29. Anonymous

    Very eager to see how everything connects!

    These words echo others, but letting them forth anyway.

    The bard definitely gives off the ‘Sun Knight’ smell we’re familiar with, plus the hair matter. The cloak implies secret femaleness; unless the bard is (also?) female, this would shatter the ‘the first Sun Knight was female’ idea however. In any case, there should be at least one female somewhere, by the title…

    Most parts of the two songs paint a rather tragic picture of the King not caring much about the woman who fought for him; the ‘please marry me’ however goes directly against that. If she refused, then it reverses the picture and portrays the King as besotted with her, but her not caring for him.

    Though unlikely to have that pattern, I’m reminded of the Alanna female-knight stories, in which she and the prince fall in love, her proposes marriage, she’s conflicted, he assumes her request for time to think is a ‘yes’, she gets angry, they fight and drift apart, he happens meet a completely different (but good-hearted) person through her and falls for the new person, proposes again to her out of a sense of duty and lingering affection, but is good-naturedly turned down and also seen through, the main character giving her blessing without bearing a grudge.

    That’s a sort-of-matching situation in which the prince/King can ask for marriage without his heart being wholly in it, but… hm. Maybe if he felt obligated to do it, and she turned him down because she saw he wasn’t really in love with her, but this fiction’s swordswoman /was/ bitter about him being in love with someone else… and/or bards easily imagining her to be bitter…

    Assuming that there’s a consistent narrative behind everything, {the more twisty and confusing something like this is on the surface} the more complex and interesting it’s bound to be once it starts being revealed. (And, as known, this author writes wonderous prose.) Significantly looking forward to seeing what developes and is expounded!

    –Hmm, it occurs to me to wonder about the interactions with ‘Gods’, and how one /starts/ a Church… definitely lots of interesting things to potentially learn about this fictional world. *excitement/anticipation/glee*

    • Aqualens

      @Anonymous
      I might note that in ancient chinese society, a man can have more than one wife, so I’m guessing that the knight actually proposed to BOTH the warrior AND the cleric and married both of them. Thus we have the Warrior Queen and the Holy Queen. If they didn’t marry, the Warrior Queen would probably have been named Warrior Goddess or something along those lines rather than ‘Queen’. The matter here is whether he proposed to the Warrior Queen first or the cleric first (my guess is that she got proposed to first, if she was second I bet she never would have agreed).

    • [PR]dahlys

      Yes, he has two wives. Their actual titles are Holy Queen and Warrior Concubine, but Warrior Concubine just sounds bad. He proposed to the cleric first.

    • Raylight

      @Aqualens
      Actually, a man can have more than one wife not just in ancient chinese society, but in ancient European society as well, so it works out XD

    • AngelZWolf

      I was skimming through and saw he married both, I couldn’t really tell from the poems though…

  30. Sandal Hat

    I wonder how they keep it out of the legends how the Sun Knight mooches favors off everyone he meets, seems like each generation of them do it

    • SnowStorm

      @Jasae Bushae
      Oh yes… I almost forgot that they were supposed to be rivals if not enemies… Dx
      I don’t think I can get used to this. Earth, though, is gonna be a bundle of laughs. >w<

    • Jasae Bushae

      @SnowStorm
      im looking forward to the storm knight who rebels and refuses to do what anyone tells him and spends his time fluttering around cute girls instead of paperwork XD

    • Sweet Lemon

      @Sandal Hat
      Oh! I just remembered something. Grisia said theres a rumor that the 1st Gen. Hell Knight is the 1st gen. Sun Knight in disguise. I wonder if that is true. :D

  31. Krash

    Thanks for translating!

    I think the Bard is the Sun Knight because his appearance matches the First Gen. Sun Knight.
    There is a hint that the red cloak is a woman ” muttered Red Cloak in a low and somewhat hoarse voice, making it quite impossible to tell whether the voice belonged to a man or woman.”
    I think the story will revolve about the song. Why did the bard changed the lyrics of the song? Is there any connection bet. him and the warrior queen? Why does the bard wanted to justify the warrior queen’s love story?

    Well anyway, I am looking forward about the appearances and esp. the personalities! of the first generation 12 holy knights because they became the sole basis of the preceding generation of holy knights!

  32. CrazyCat

    This is probably how the Churches were made and who the first people were to be those knights. But in the picture I saw on facebook of the character drawing for “Female Warrior,” there was a blond in the middle and the blond was a girl… so does this mean the bard is a girl actually…? I’m a little confused now… Never mind what i said… It just might confuse you. Unless you have something you can add on to my prediction, please do!

  33. CrazyCat

    I went back to look at the picture… It looks like i was wrong about the bard being a girl (secretly). But I don’t see any “females” in there; they’re all guys.

  34. Rockmosis

    If I had to guess from the title, I’d say that the bard is the future Sun Knight, but also a girl, which sprouts out all the long blond hair, pure white skin and basically all the beauty the Sun Knights are known for. Basically cursed around 38 males to apply facial masks every day for 30 years each.

  35. Sweet Lemon

    LOL at the way he answered the question, almost gaves me a headache. So that’s why the succeeding sun knight must speak in a long and confusing sentences ;P.

    Anyway, the 38th gen Sun Knight really is the perfect replica of the 1st gen Sun knight, both were shameless hehe(with a little bit of 37th gen Sun knight with his prodigal expenditure)

  36. gymzim

    Personally I’ve been feeling the vibe that Red Cloak will be the first Sun Knight also female and the reason that the Sun Knight grew so popular was because of the bards singing for her.

  37. Shiro

    ….using all your money on hair oil only to freeload on a total stranger….Wow And I thought Grisia was shameless!XD in the end the bard resorted to begging. Remind of what Sun does when Judgement wont do what he wants. Im enjoying it so much! Cant wait for Hell to come out. I wonder if its another person or Sun in disguise

  38. monica

    If this story about first generation of Twelve Hole Knights and if the bard will become one of the Twelve Holy Knights,
    I just remember this words..
    “Shameless, shameless! You are not fit to be an holy knight!” said Roland Hell XP

    Can’t wait to read them all >”<
    Thanks PR! for translating~

  39. Paopu

    I don’t know what I enjoy more. Reading the awesome start to Female Warrior or reading the comments afterward xD

  40. MnelG

    Thanks for another brillian new series translation!

    hmmmm! do i sense some love triangle in there?…

  41. HikariMikomi

    Yea~ Yuwo herself comfirmed that this is the story of the 1st generation of the Holy Knights.
    I didn’t get to read the complete Chinese version so I hope I’ll get to read it here.

    Waiting for the next chapter~

  42. Ruirui

    The bard isn’t as cheap as grisia or as evil, i bet.
    No ONE can beat Grisia at that.

  43. Ruirui

    But the Warrior Queen is sad.
    She fought for the man she loved and smiled for her sister and in the end, she only had title to show for her hard work.
    i bet the holy king is evil, hes mean

  44. pang

    If this guy is Sun, where does the legend says Sun has great swordsmanship come from?

    • Jasae Bushae

      @pang
      Well we haven’t actually seen this guy fight yet and theres loads of legends about warrior poets (both in europe and in asia)

    • MnelG

      @pang
      As my memory serves, i do not think there is any mention in the legends that the Sun Knight has good sword skills. its just that Neo is an abnormally strong swordsman

  45. ShiroKuroMokona

    The first sunknight wasn’t even a knight! Since the red cloaked warrior has black hair and eyes (character intro), she’s probably judgement (already giving into the sunknight’s pleas) or the mysterious Hell knight that no one knew about (cloak). Yup.

  46. sidana

    hahaha!!! story is really good!!! (sorry for awful English) and thank you for your hard work!!!

    [[spoiler removed]]

  47. AngelZWolf

    Ah, is the Bard female, kinda thought it was switched from the synopsis till reading the chapter. Haven’t read the next book in line though.

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