The Hero's Bloodline (3)
Time flew by quickly. Each day, watching the child grow at an astonishing pace, I felt a strange sense of wonder at how she increasingly resembled me. Life in a quiet rural village. It was full of inconveniences and shortages, but it was a life free from worries. Sometimes I'd listen to tales of the Hero's adventures and watch brave but reckless challengers get utterly crushed trying to take him on. Then those same broken challengers would fall for the Hero's daughter's kindness and propose marriage, only to get smashed again by the Hero himself. I watched this daily routine with a smile.
If this time could last forever, it wouldn't be so bad. But human life is finite and fleeting. The Hero's life began to wane little by little.
It was only natural. He'd passed fifty and was approaching sixty—an age where he could drop dead any moment without surprise. For an ordinary human, it was the same. Yet even at that age, the Hero moved without any frailty. Watching him, I let out a small sigh.
"How long do you plan to keep your daughter clutched in your arms? It's about time to let her stand on her own."
"Not until dirt's in my eyes!"
"Watch your words, or your wife really will put dirt in them."
The Hero's daughter had grown into an adult. The resemblance to me had matured, to the point where people mistook her for my older sister. Hmm. That face she made when some clueless traveler called her my sister... it was a masterpiece. I almost wished we had a camera. Her hair color was a bit different, but our facial features were so similar. Honestly, I could see why a first-time visitor got confused.
Anyway, I'd asked the now-adult girl the same question again.
'I'll ask you once more what I asked when you were little. Don't you want great power and a long life?'
'No thanks! Same as when I was a kid!'
Even as an adult, her mind hadn't changed. Human thoughts usually shift like flowing water, but hers was solid as rock. Stubborn? Steadfast? Headstrong? ...Well, it wasn't a bad thing.
Anyway, the Hero's daughter sealed away all the mana within her body. The mana mixed into her flesh wouldn't awaken unless her life was in mortal danger. Honestly, I was a bit worried. But it was her decision. As an adult, I had to respect it.
"She's grown well, and good marriage prospects are coming in steadily... All that's left is for you to let go."
"Even so, I don't want to! Honestly, I'd love to keep her by my side until I die of old age!"
"You hopeless daughter-con."
I smacked the Hero on the back.
Whack!!
"Gah!!"
"You can't block your daughter's future just to satisfy your greed. If you really care about her, you should consider letting her go."
"B-but..."
"No buts! You and your wife married late in life—do you want your daughter to follow suit?"
The Hero had no retort to that. Yeah, I figured. Marrying late was probably a complex for him. We couldn't let his daughter repeat it.
"And above all, if she doesn't marry and start a family... you won't have any grandkids calling you Grandpa. That okay with you?"
I tossed the question at him, laced with the implication that his bloodline should spread far and wide.
"Gr-Grandpa, huh..."
"Sixty's plenty old enough to be called that, right?"
In this era, people married in their mid-to-late teens sometimes. Quick marriages meant grandkids by his mid-thirties.
"If you keep hovering over her, her future stays uncertain. You cool with that?"
"Th-that's... no, but..."
"Then quit the daughter-con act. Parents blocking a grown daughter's path—what's the point?"
The Hero just hung his head, silent.
"I'll look into marriage prospects myself. I care about her too, so I'll find a good match."
A man with solid finances, good character, decent looks. Ideally, someone who could move here. A live-in son-in-law would be perfect. Not someone who'd live without getting hands dirty, but one who wouldn't make her suffer hardship. Such men weren't common, but the world was wide, and people plentiful. If I sent out pilgrims from the Life God's temples to search, we'd find someone eventually.
The Hero's daughter got married. Her partner was, surprisingly, the third son of Arcadia's king. No claim to the throne or anything, of course.
By then, Arcadia had grown into a powerhouse beyond compare. Solving food shortages with potatoes had let their population swell steadily.
I'd heard a neighboring country had picked a fight with them. Something about the first Beast, I think. Arcadia had been raising it like a pet, but it smashed a monster one day, blowing its cover. Rumors spread that it was no ordinary animal—exaggerated to "actually a god"—and tied to Arcadia's rapid prosperity as the Beast God's blessing.
That neighbor... what was their name? Eh, doesn't matter—they're gone now.
Anyway, they kept picking fights. Arcadia tried diplomacy at first, entertaining envoys and avoiding war. But human greed knows no bounds.
After enduring endless provocations and demands to hand over the god, war broke out. Naturally. Arcadia was overwhelmingly outmatched in national power. The neighbor was a veteran conqueror with superior population, food, land, resources, and troops.
Yet Arcadia fought—and won.
I'd thought the Unbeatable Flag I'd blessed made victory a given. But capturing the enemy's capital in just seven days? That I didn't expect!!
Apparently, they lured the main enemy force deep into Arcadia territory, feinted small skirmishes up front, and used the flag to indirectly command cavalry for a perfect strike. It severed their supply lines completely.
Desperate, the starving enemy tried foraging nearby, but Arcadia was a nomadic nation. They'd evacuated civilians from war zones in advance—no one to plunder. Plus, their staple was potatoes, buried underground. The enemy never realized food was right underfoot and fought on empty stomachs. Needless to say, they got wrecked.
Arcadia took most of the main force prisoner, then pushed forward to stab at the capital.
The king clearly minimized the flag's penalties... Instead of a direct assault, they routed through the Akad Wasteland—lawless barren land, no one's territory.
Akad's capital was farther from Arcadia but close from the wasteland. They knew the terrain from constant patrols, finding shortcuts to the enemy.
Hmm... Maybe the king planned this from the start? Patrolling empty wastes seemed odd, but it fits as prep for an invasion route.
I'd said the flag loses power on foreign soil, but wasteland? Loophole accepted. And it worked... Cheeky, but clever effort. I'll let it slide this once.
Arcadia's cavalry stormed the capital through the wasteland like a tempest. The neighbor never imagined their main force would be captured wholesale and never prepared, crumbling like a sandcastle before waves.
Obviously. No one expects the underdog to capture your army and counterattack your capital. David one-punching Goliath.
With no defenses, the capital fell. The neighbor's king was captured by a horse beastkin named Epona.
Arcadia's king entered the capital with troops left in the wasteland, beheaded the enemy king, harshly punished his officials, and cared well for the war-torn populace.
Thus, superpower Arcadia was born, swallowing the neighbor whole. The flag lost power crossing the border, but they didn't need it anymore.
The king reclaimed the Akad royal crown-treasure and gained vast lands—slightly smaller than old Akad, but a mighty nation nonetheless.
And now, that mighty nation's third prince had married the Hero's daughter.