In just a few minutes, the rebellion had been quelled, corpses of both Valhannas and sect members laying on the hard pavement, soaked in pools of blood. Meanwhile, the knights stood at the side, shivering all over—their lives were bound to the words of the demonic child who ended it all. And as expected, they got summoned by him.

“You’ve collaborated with the traitors, and that means you should all get executed. Are there any words you wish to say?” Himo eyed at each of them. Even if they were hundreds, they dared not to unsheathe their swords.

They all knelt down, many of them still trembling. Some glanced at each other as if speaking with their eyes. A moment later, a young knight opened his mouth. “Your highness, while it’s true that we stood by their side, we had no choice—with our weakness, we would’ve got killed had we done otherwise. Furthermore, we never grabbed our swords, they did all by themselves.” Lowering his head even further, he added, “But it’s true that even that doesn’t pardon us from our faults.” When he said those words, the others knights frowned, but they said nothing. He continued, “It’s an absolute truth that we sided with them, failing to protect who we are supposed to protect—the royal family. As knights, we are failures. Your highness, please punish us however you deem necessary.”

Himo raised an eyebrow and walked closer to the knight who just spoke. “Well said!” He patted the man’s shoulder, showing a faint smile.

The knights heaved a sigh of relief, feeling that the child wasn’t as demonic as they feared.

And Himo kept speaking. “I understand your plight, but I also can’t let you get off scot-free, so I will think of an appropriate punishment—but don’t worry, nothing too harsh!” Failing to restrain the smile that kept getting bigger, Himo announced their first ‘punishment’. “For now, clean all the mess in this plaza. I want to see it as good as new by tomorrow. Once you’ve done that, report it to me and I’ll tell you your next job.”

Hearing those words, the knights rose to their feet and made haste to follow his order. None of them complained—the punishment was lenient to say the least. Even between the bloodstains, the corpses, and the two holes Himo had done by throwing logs, it wasn’t much to fix for the hundreds of them.

“Ah, you two, wait a second.” Himo stopped two knights and pointed at the plaza’s borders. “Summon the citizens here, I have an announcement to make.” Glancing at the two knights as they ran off, Himo barely managed to hold back from raising his fists in victory. With their help, it’ll be possible to clean the mess I've done in that forest!

[The user turned that forest into a wasteland.]

I didn’t mean to! And anyway, with four or five months of hard work, they should be able to restore it to its former shape, so it’s no problem. Himo nodded to himself, not feeling any guilt whatsoever. Seeing that the two knights were returning followed by the crowd of worried mortals, he waved to the dragon he had come on, who then jumped before him. The Shus stared at him blankly, but he took no note of that; he instead stepped over the red dragon’s head as Phylia sat over its back, her legs dangling once again.

Many in the crowd hesitated, some fearful about the dragon, others intimidated by the child. But under the reassurance of the knights, they gradually filled the plaza yet again, leaving only an empty space for the child and his family.

Once all the eyes pointed at him, the child stood up and rose a fist. “As you’ve been informed before, the Arsia Family has perished. They fell by the hands of the Valhannas, who, blinded by greed, resorted to asking the help of a corrupt sect.” Closing his eyes, he let a few seconds pass before he continued, “In exchange of the throne, they planned to gift our kingdom to a sect whose specialty is stealing people’s life-force—they planned to sacrifice you for their plans!” As proof of his words, he revealed the emblem of the Arasura sect. “This belonged to one of their leaders, one of those who conspired against us!”

Those words were akin to a deadly mist of oppression creeping in the plaza. Men, women, old, young—everyone paled at those words, with no exception. They imagined a life of slavery, where they were powerless as the strong consumed them like snacks. A life of poverty, where those in power cared not of their well-being. A life of death, where they might lose their dears at any moment.

“But that future is no more!” The child’s words echoed through the plaza, their might beating on the hearts of both young and old. “While the other nobles closed their eyes and did nothing, I, Shu Himo, took responsibility and stopped this tyranny—for I am against it!” He swung his raised fist, banishing the deadly mist forever.

The eyes of the crowd regained their light. They stopped trembling, feeling strengthened by an intangible force. They silently repeated ‘Shu Himo’, gluing his name to the back of their mind. As the one who had saved them.

“To not allow this to happen again, I took a decision. Instead of relying on someone else, instead of bowing to external forces, and instead of waiting for help from the nobles, I announce that from now on, this kingdom will be ruled by the Shu Family and will become the Shu Kingdom! We won’t submit to foes, and we will halt internal conflicts! From now on, our kingdom will enter a new chapter—a chapter of glory!”

Many were taken aback by his statement, but since the royal family had fallen and the other nobles had ignored their plight, no one complained about it. They even cherished it. Though, having lived in the Arsia Kingdom for all their life, most were initially reluctant about the change of the name, but they found their feelings change the more they thought about the avoided destiny, until they began to cheer for it.

The child then grabbed a dark violin. Moving the bow close to the cords, he gave a warm smile to his audience. “As today is the beginning of our new kingdom, I will play a melody for everyone.” Following those words, the bow slumped upon the cords, then it slid, it moved, and it thrust itself over them, throwing a melody of peaceful valiance to the ears of the listeners.

The dragons partied with roars, then flew to the blue as they performed. They flew in a loop, they spun upon themselves, all the while coordinating with each other. They danced. And it wasn’t only them; the blue sky chased after them, changing color from blue to red and from red to green and from green to yet more shades. It was like a painting in the sky that drew itself.

Even under those happenings, the crowd wasn’t scared. Some watched the sky in wonder, feeling something warm growing within their chests. Others closed their eyes, swaying to the tempo of the melody as if in a trance. If they had to describe that moment, they would describe it with just two words; a "mesmerizing witchery".

Gradually, the sky painted itself of various colors as various characters began to take form. Circled by the dragons, they grouped up, forming three distinct words.

Most of the crowd couldn’t read nor write, had never seen a book, and had never gone to school. And yet, as if by magic, they all knew what those words meant. With fervor escaping from their throats, they all murmured three words together.

“The Shu Kingdom…”