Auna’s Origins

The elves had remarkable skill when it came to healing. With restorative magic used in combination with the Spring of Life, wounded humans were soon able to move around again.

Lola, however, focused on treating Julian, as it seemed his injuries were more difficult to handle.

Taking advantage of this time, Serea found a quiet spot and sat down with Auna. Serea couldn’t wait any longer and asked eagerly.

“Come on, tell me about yourself and those humans.”

“Alright, but you can’t tell Dad I was the one who said it.”

“Of course.”

After receiving Serea’s assurance, auna took a moment to compose herself, then began to tell her tale…

Time flashed back twelve years. Back then, the chief of the Bloodfang Tribe was Amro, Aruka’s older brother. He led the Bloodfang Tribe, living in this stretch of jungle.

At the same time, the ‘Qili’ noble family of the Holy Dragon Empire established the Xiyun Merchant Guild.

Because using non-humans as slaves had become popular in the Ailera Empire at the time, almost every merchant guild, big or small, was secretly involved in such business. The Xiyun Merchant Guild was no exception.

Although the old patriarch of the ‘Qili’ family had strictly forbidden his guild from trading slaves, many simply couldn’t resist the huge profits, so it was common for branch guilds to clandestinely sell slaves for profit.

Coincidentally, the branch of the Xiyun Merchant Guild in the Otto Kingdom had its eyes on the Bloodfang Tribe—the very same wolf-men tribe led by Amro.

It must be said: materials from a wolf-man’s body were rare magic components, and as slaves, wolf-men were tougher than regular slaves, making them highly sought-after ‘goods’.

After locating the Bloodfang Tribe, the Xiyun Merchant Guild dispatched a slave-hunting squad to ambush them. During the attack, the chief Amro gave his life to cover the escape of his tribespeople.

That battle came at a horrific cost to the slave-hunters, but in the end, they still managed to capture a dozen or so wolf-men. As long as they resold them to the Ailera Empire, it would be a substantial haul.

However, they didn’t expect that the wolf-men, instead of fleeing in the wake of the human attack, would regroup under Aruka, who’d returned from a hunt to become the new chief of the Bloodfang Tribe. Determined to rescue his captured tribespeople from the humans, Aruka rallied the survivors.

Aruka succeeded!

He led the tribe’s wolf riders in a fearless charge, breaking the Xiyun Merchant Guild’s slave-hunting squad in one fell swoop and rescuing the captured tribespeople.

Those who had secretly trafficked in slaves paid the ultimate price: their lives!

  But not everyone in the Xiyun Merchant Guild was blinded by greed. Avril Qili—on orders from her family to investigate the illicit slave trading—was also present at the branch office.

Originally, she had intended to report the slave-trading crimes to her family, but what she didn’t expect was that her “cousin,” the branch president of the Xiyun Merchant Guild, would try to kill her to silence her and avoid exposure.

Avril was captured, and just as she was about to be murdered, Aruka arrived with the wolf-men.

Inside the branch, Aruka’s rage led the wolf-men to slaughter every human member of the guild. In Aruka’s mind, those greedy humans had to pay for the death of Amro, his beloved brother.

To him, ‘greedy humans’ included Avril Qili. As a part of the merchant guild, she knew if the wolf-men discovered her identity, they would never listen to her explanation—she’d only face death.

In this crisis, avril had a flash of inspiration. She pretended to be one of the ‘human slaves’ and deceived Aruka.

The kind-hearted wolf-men believed her story, and not only did they rescue their own tribespeople, they also freed other slaves—among them, avril, masquerading as a slave.

Aruka was even badly wounded in the process of saving Avril.

Out of guilt, avril didn’t flee after being rescued. Instead, she stayed by Aruka’s side, using restorative magic to tend his wounds. To escape human pursuers, they fled deep into the jungle and met Lola.

Seeing Aruka was badly injured, Lola offered her aid and healed him. This became the reason for the alliance between the Bloodfang Tribe and the Darkmoon clan.

Once Aruka’s wounds healed and the Bloodfang Tribe was safe, avril, by all rights, should have left.

But she didn’t. At only sixteen, avril was moved by Aruka’s bravery and kindness. She hid her real identity and stayed at Aruka’s side as a human slave, bearing him a daughter—a baby girl named…

Auna!

  This should have been a beautiful love story. But when Auna grew to age eleven, a problem arose.

Avril didn’t want Auna to spend her life in the forest. She hoped Auna could receive a proper human education and attend a magic academy, becoming a noble mage.

But Aruka maintained that humans would only harm them and insisted Auna stay to succeed the Bloodfang Tribe.

This was the first real disagreement between Avril and Aruka.

Facing Aruka’s stubbornness, avril had to resort to her last resort.

She used the excuse of visiting her only surviving grandfather to bring Aruka and Auna to Dole City of the Holy Dragon Empire—where the headquarters of the Xiyun Merchant Guild were located.

And finally, avril confessed. She was the eldest daughter of the ‘Qili’ family, and she asked Aruka to bring his tribespeople to live in Dole City. Auna would become heir to the ‘Qili’ family and inherit the Xiyun Merchant Guild.

But this created a problem…

The Xiyun Merchant Guild had been the very enemy responsible for the death of Aruka’s elder brother and countless tribespeople!

Although Avril Qili’s grandfather—former Sword Saint of the Holy Dragon Empire, talilo Qili—accepted Aruka and Auna, Aruka would never forget the crime the merchant guild committed against his tribe.

Thus, Aruka attempted to leave with Auna, but he was no match for Talilo. Even if Talilo was now retired, his strength was beyond Aruka’s ability to resist.

Aruka was utterly defeated. By the laws of humanity, assaulting a noble was a grave crime. Thanks to Avril’s pleas, Aruka kept his life, but for assaulting the Sword Saint, he was imprisoned by the Qili family. For three months, with the help of Avril’s attendant Julian, he escaped.

Though he managed to escape, Aruka lost both his wife and daughter. He would never let the matter go…

Another half year passed. Seizing an opportunity while Auna was at a human academy, Aruka struck.

Once he confirmed Auna was willing to leave with him, Aruka made the decisive move: he escaped with his daughter. To evade the Sword Saint, Aruka led his daughter and tribespeople out of the Holy Dragon Empire and to the border of the Ailera Empire, seeking Lola.

Afterwards, he met Serea and the others.

“To think, that ever-joking Aruka has such a story.”

“Mm, that’s just Dad for you. But Grandpa is so stubborn—always forcing Father to leave the tribe to inherit some merchant guild, even though they were the ones who killed Uncle Amro. No one ever considered Dad’s feelings. And as for Mom, she’s always so fierce with Dad, but has no temper at all in front of Grandpa. If it weren’t for that, dad wouldn’t have been forced away.”

“Tsk tsk, not bad, you know quite a lot for your age.”

“Why do you all always treat me like a kid? I’m already an adult.”

“You’re an adult at twelve? Truly a wolf-man through and through.”

“Of course!”

Auna spoke, but then showed a look of sadness.

Serea understood that look. Though Auna had left willingly, being suddenly separated from her mother must have caused some sorrow.

(To be continued…)

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