TGS - Chapter 61
Chapter 61: Testing the Gifts and Attending the Banquet
On the training grounds in the early morning, a group of Royal Guards had neglected even their daily training, all gathered around to watch the Princess practice archery.
The last time they had gathered to watch like this was when they had just arrived in Kadera, staring dumbfounded every day at the Princess who never missed a shot, making them question their own lives.
Later, they grew accustomed to it. At most, one person would stay on the other side to pull the moving target and call out the scores, while the others did their own training. In any case, they knew she would hit the bullseye every time without even looking.
What, an arrow missed the red center?
Quick, look! Was Her Highness's teacher by her side, or had she just appeared at the entrance to the training grounds? That had to be it. Only that could distract Her Highness.
This time, however, the Princess's situation was different from before.
"Another hit—"
"Move it back, move the target further back!"
Amidst the surrounding clamor, a guard held up the wooden target and gestured, moving it back another ten meters.
Alyuin drew her bow again. Her arms and waist, tightly wrapped in leather armor, tensed, forming a beautiful, fluid curve.
She narrowed her eyes, releasing an arrow at the most stable moment. The waxed bowstring vibrated, and the arrow shot toward the wooden target like chasing the wind and lightning.
This arrow didn't land squarely in the red center, but the onlookers showed no signs of regret.
Compared to the distance of the wooden target during her usual long-range practice, today's target had already been moved back fifty meters before she showed any sign of faltering.
The powerful bows commonly used in the Solancian army had an effective range of only one hundred and twenty meters when aiming for precision. For suppressive fire in the form of an arrow volley, the maximum range wouldn't exceed five hundred.
What did an increase of fifty meters in range mean?
It meant progress. It meant more hope of defeating the enemy and increasing their own chances of survival on the battlefield.
Not just the range, but also the penetrating power...
Among the Royal Guards, not many were skilled in archery, but Motis was one of them.
He stared at the bow in the Princess's hands, his eyes shining brightly. "Your Highness, where did this bow come from? Can I have a look?"
He said "have a look," but his hands were already raised, ready to receive the bow at any moment.
Alyuin raised an eyebrow slightly and said coldly, "No."
"I promise I won't mess with it!"
"Would you let someone else hold your sword?"
Alyuin gave a half-smile, her eyes filled with threat.
Motis immediately placed a hand on his own sword and shook his head, no longer mentioning his desire to see the Princess's bow.
For someone like him, a weapon used for years held the same deep affection as a beloved horse. He treasured it immensely; how could he possibly let another touch it?
But then he turned his head and saw the Princess placing the bow into Lotus's palm, teaching her archery hand over hand.
Motis: "..."
The contrast truly pained the captain of the Royal Guard. He couldn't help but recall how, several years ago, he had competed with Lena, both openly and secretly, for the position of "Her Highness's trustworthy and reliable elder."
At the time, Lena had suddenly given up the fight. He had thought his rival had voluntarily withdrawn, but before he could feel smug, he realized it was useless to compete. The sole victor had never even joined the battle from the start.
Suddenly, Motis remembered something and asked hesitantly, "This bow, and the new sword Your Highness acquired, where did they come from?"
He hadn't heard anything about it before!
Alyuin had been waiting for someone to ask this.
She cleared her throat, her tone proud. "Teacher Lorja gave them to me. They're gifts."
The emphasis was clearly on the last word.
Motis glanced at Lotus.
The black-haired woman, dressed as a lady-in-waiting, was looking down and fiddling with the bow and arrow. The Princess stood behind her, seemingly about to place her hands over the lady-in-waiting's arms to guide her in drawing the bow correctly.
But it wasn't necessary—the young lady-in-waiting's stance and movements were very standard, not at all mechanical, with a discernible skillfulness that a novice who had never touched a bow could not possibly achieve.
He didn't know what the Princess whispered to the lady-in-waiting, but the indifference on the latter's beautiful face suddenly faded, replaced by a gentle smile.
Gifts, from the lady-in-waiting...
Motis couldn't help but recall the speculation circulating among his men: that this "teacher" was a confidante left to the Princess by the late king.
He had previously dismissed this rumor, but now he felt there might be some truth to it.
Perhaps the two weapons had been prepared in advance by the late king, who had instructed the lady-in-waiting to deliver them when the Princess turned eighteen. It wasn't impossible; didn't royalty and nobility love these kinds of rituals?
Motis was fundamentally mistaken, and he didn't even realize it.
Alyuin didn't know what random thoughts were running through her loyal subordinate's mind. Her attention was entirely on Lotus.
—Lotus knew archery.
This fact filled Alyuin with both admiration and a little disappointment, much like how she felt years ago when she discovered Lotus could also ride a horse. She was disappointed that she couldn't repay the goddess by teaching her a skill she herself excelled at, just as the goddess had taught her.
Then again, why would a river goddess master horsemanship and archery? Although it was a required course for mortal youths, a goddess shouldn't need a bow, arrows, or a warhorse.
The Princess increasingly wanted to know everything about Lotus before they met. What kind of experiences had shaped such a goddess... or were gods different from humans, born with mature minds and abilities?
Lotus released her hand, and the feathered arrow shot out, embedding itself in a closer target. It also pierced the red-painted center, though it was slightly off.
The result was quite good. Lotus looked at the longbow thoughtfully.
Compared to when she was learning to ride, she knew more now. She wouldn't guess, as she had last time, that horsemanship and archery were bonus skills inherent to a goddess.
Although she had no memories, it was a certainty that the era she had truly transmigrated from was earlier than the present.
According to Adia, the Goddess of Love, it was an era of war.
Was the ability of horsemanship and archery also learned back then?
Each lost in their own thoughts, one gazed at the goddess, the other at the bow.
After a moment, Alyuin also shifted her gaze gloomily to the longbow she had just received.
This bow was very good, but she knew it was only good from a human perspective.
But what charm did it possess that made Lotus stare at it so intently?
Perhaps it was because she cared for its owner?
At this thought, Alyuin's mood strangely improved, and the earlier disappointment vanished into thin air.
For the entire morning, the Princess familiarized herself with her two new gifts on the training grounds.
If the longsword weren't so sharp that the consequences of not holding back would be severe, she might have taken it to spar properly with the guards.
Of course, watching the Princess's sharp and imposing figure as she practiced her sword forms alone in the center of the field, the guards wouldn't have approached anyway.
—Even if they had absolute faith in Her Highness's control over the sword, no one wanted to experience the near-death illusion of a sword tip pressed against a vital point.
On the field, the Princess brandished her sword freely.
Wherever the blade passed, a whistling sound cut through the air. She was displaying the goddess's gift to everyone.
Lotus watched quietly for a long time before slipping away unnoticed.
She walked to a secluded, deserted spot not far away, stopped, and, with the ease of practice, split off an avatar.
Lotus hadn't forgotten the message Adia had sent via her messenger.
In the Kingdom of the Gods, a banquet of great importance awaited her.
Oh, "of great importance" should probably have a question mark next to it.
Given the personality Adia had shown, Lotus found it hard to tell if this was another prank. However, the Goddess of Love probably wouldn't joke about something like this.
The Snow Goddess avatar opened its eyes and sighed along with her main body, its breath carrying the unique chill of winter.
The main body would stay to accompany Alyuin, while the avatar would go back to attend the banquet.
Lotus had arranged the duties for her two divine bodies perfectly clearly.
She felt two different kinds of guilt in her heart.
One was toward the Princess. She had promised not to leave, but in the end, she was secretly sending out an avatar... Wasn't this behavior just like an adult who says they'll skip the social obligations and overtime to stay home and play with their child?
On the surface, they're settled at home, but in reality, they're constantly handling work on their phone or computer. It was remarkably similar to a goddess sending an avatar back to the divine kingdom for a banquet.
Lotus managed to overcome this feeling of guilt, like she was deceiving a child. After all, it wasn't the first time she had fooled Alyuin.
But as for the other sense of guilt, the River Goddess frowned and searched her mind, but couldn't find its origin.
It wasn't until the Snow Goddess avatar had flown some distance through the air that Lotus suddenly realized.
This guilt was toward the other gods.
She had grumbled internally about the Sun and Moon twins and the Goddess of Love being unreliable, but on second thought, she herself hadn't returned to the Kingdom of the Gods immediately after awakening. Then, after stabilizing her divine position, she had returned to the mortal realm without a word, not even saying hello. In the eyes of the other gods, she was probably the truly unreliable one.
Especially as a major god, it seemed she had never even met her subordinate gods.
What willful behavior!
In any case, she should apologize first when she arrived.
With this thought in mind, Lotus approached the floating island where the Kingdom of the Gods was located.
Just as she entered that space without sun or moon, only eternal daylight, she saw a young man in a black robe flying slowly from the other side.
To say he was flying wasn't entirely accurate.
He was surrounded by a flock of pitch-black ravens. It was unclear whether the young man himself was flying, or if the black ravens were carrying him forward.
A faint, ethereal melody drifted through the air, sounding much like a harp.
The scene before her immediately made Lotus think of the Death God from the myths.
His full title was the God of Life and Death, but people were accustomed to calling him the Death God, emphasizing his function related to death.
The Death God rarely returned to his own temple. He spent his years in a hidden region near the Kingdom of the Gods, a place most deities could not reach.
Legend had it that this place was connected to the celestial source of the Yilu River. It was there that the souls of the dead were judged, cleansed of their sins, and ultimately reborn in the mortal world.
Around the Death God, the music of the harp, symbolizing solace and reincarnation, echoed ceaselessly.
And the Death God's most loyal servants were the pitch-black ravens that surrounded him. When the spirits of the dead came before him, these ravens would place wreaths on the virtuous and mercilessly peck at the souls of the wicked.
Although the myths described it this way, Lotus hadn't expected the harp music and the ravens to be real.
The ones responsible for playing the harps were these very ravens.
Lotus: "..."
So why could ravens play the harp?
Get instant access to all the chapters now.
Comments
Post a Comment