Episode Intermission 3 (1/2)
Yufu is a beautiful town.
Surrounded by towering mountains, hugged by a forest and a lake, its serenity is almost otherwordly.
Overlooking the castle town, Mountain Yufu where the dungeon lies is wrapped in ice and snow, hence despite how far in the south Yufu is, it has a chilly climate.
Yufu Castle has 12 towers and four castles, whereas the vast castle town of Yufonia is a home to more than 20,000 people. Then to the north is a fertile basin split into three districts with a population of more than 800,000 people, coupled with nine villages in the circumference, the total population is close to one million.
As one lord can only rule over one city under Kingdom Law, the whole Yufu Territory is formally seen as one city. A special privilege in all but name.
Marquis of Yufu, House of Shadrest has three viscountcies under them. Each of these viscounts own assets that surpass many earl households, yet none of them is regarded as independent entities, all of them serves House of Shadrest. This is another special privilege compared to other territories.
And while other territories are obliged to send their army in times of emergency in accordance to their court rank, there's no such obligation to House of Shadrest.
In other word, despite being a marquisdom in Zaka Kingdom, Yufu is a near independent state in practice. Naturally there's a specific circumstance that brought that about.
In the past, this land was where Holy Kingdom of Yufu stood. Yufonia was its metropolis with three district cities. The nine villages had a near city level scale as well. Nothing ever put Holy Kingdom of Yufu's peace in peril even during the height of Wapud Kingdom's prosperity in the center of the continent and the warring period between lords that followed.
One day, a young man who would later become the Founder King of Zaka Kingdom visited Holy Kingdom of Yufu. Yufu lent their army to him in the founding war of Zaka Kingdom in accordance to a covenant they agreed upon.
When the young man left Yufu, with him fled a young woman yearning for the young man.
The young woman was called Orie, she was the <Maiden of Solace> to Raikores Temple of Holy Kingdom of Yufu.
The kingdom worshiped god Raikores and prospered under her blessing. Long in the past even before the founding of Holy Kingdom of Yufu, a <Maiden of Prophecy> emerged in the temple, bringing with her a blessing of prophecy from god Raikores. The final prophecy the maiden left was as such, [The kingdom shall prosper for as long as you revere the maiden blessed by god Raikores.]
After the death of <Maiden of Prophecy>, a maiden in the temple awoke to
. The temple head believing that maiden was the prophesied maiden revered her as <Maiden of Solace>. <Maiden of Solace> would perform the <Rite of Harvest> every year, bringing the kingdom to prosperity. Afterward, every time a <Maiden of Solace> was nearing her life span, another Maiden would emerge to take her place, this cycle would continue.
The temple head and the king at the time were aware of the young Orie awakening to
while the present <Maiden of Solace> was nearing her end of life. However, as signs of
could even escape the user themselves, Orie deserted her country while being unaware that she was the <Maiden of Solace>.
The king and the temple head took light of the gravity of the situation. They believed another maiden would awake to
soon anyway.
But no new maiden would emerge, and once the elderly maiden passed away after several years, Holy Kingdom of Yufu suffered famine. The poor crops continued on for many years and epidemics broke out, laying waste to the kingdom.
The temple head risked his life fasting praying to god. Then on the verge of death, he received a prophecy, 'Peace and prosperity lie in the new kingdom. Protect the lineage of maiden.'
The only new kingdom then was Zaka Kingdom. The king of Holy Kingdom of Yufu abdicated his throne and submitted to Zaka King.
During the early years of Zaka Kingdom, Holy Kingdom of Yufu was an independent and rich country, they never had to ask help from other kingdoms so there was no reason for them to submit. That continued on for years but then they wanted to submit all of a sudden. Naturally they would be given special privileges.
By this point, Kingdom Law had been established in Zaka Kingdom, following the law would mean either splitting Yufu or turning them into a barondom. Barondom is a self-governing territory, permitted to govern several cities yet they don't have to bring tributes to the king but in exchange they cannot ask Zaka Kingdom for help in time of emergency.
Naturally, Yufu declined to split.
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But Zaka Kingdom was eager to have Yufu under their flag. The objects they could get from Yufu starting from God Cure was to good to pass up, and most importantly having Yufu submit would bolster the king's authority. Thus it was decided that the whole of Yufu was to be regarded as one territory as a marquisdom. It was the birth of Marquis of Yufu, House of Shadrest.
The famine and epidemic ended, and with it came good harvest.
By this point, Orie was no longer alive. She always had a frail body, she left the world giving birth to her daughter. She left behind a Guardian Jewel in her death bed
The existence of this daughter was kept secret. They were likely worried, Yufu would come to take her back. The daughter was named Zana, and awakened to
once she grew up. Lady Zana would hide her origin and helped to pacify the chaos post kingdom founding from behind the scene.
On the other hand, the Guardian Jewel left by Orie was a great help to the founder king, but he would give it to Lady Zana when she got married. The founder king must have believed that the guardian jewel came to be for the sake of protecting Zana. Even Yufu was in the dark on this Guardian Jewel's existence, and neither Founder King's aides were aware the jewel's significance.