Broken Sword's
Ch. 05: A Brief History of the Lower Region

The house is not too noisy. The relieved Fang not seeing the figure of the father who liked to hug and hold her now opened his eyes. The feeling of being caught bedwetting last night is enough to leave a trauma.

Aira who had not recovered after giving birth was still soundly asleep beside Fang. Looking at the brightness from behind the window, it is thought that it is not yet time for lunch.

Fang sharpened his hearing, there was no sound whatsoever. Slowly trying to move both of his small thin hands, seeing its weak form, Fang clucked in admiration.

When he carried out the transfer of souls, he did say to be transferred to a weak body so as not to be suspected by his enemies when he was born in a new body. Yet this was no longer the land he knew or the same year before breaking free into the vortex.

If the guess is correct, the land of Gollum has only been formed for less than a hundred years. It's a thousand years before his old body was born!!

Fang is thrown a thousand years into the past

Perhaps because she was still a baby, Fang was unable to hold back her emotions and returned to crying. Aira woke up and tried to pat lightly.

Hiccups, Fang closed his eyes like a dead fish. His enemy has not yet been born, then revenge to whom?!

Aira who thought the baby had returned to sleep again lay sideways to Fang's back. Not looking at Fang who re-opened his eyes.

Thinking about his bad luck. Fang recalled about all the ancient books he had read before. From the description of the residence and the clothes worn by his two parents now, he must have been born into a family living in the lower region of Gollum.

The lower region of Gollum lies above fertile land. The people who live here live in peace. There was no war, as the humans living in the lower regions feared that their group would become extinct as a result of the civil war.

Their hopes are fulfilled. But in the end a simple and peaceful life regardless of strength must stop.

In the future after the protection rages were broken, most of the people living here were demon races whereas humans had to build refugee houses and live on the border to seek protection from the middle region soldiers.

The battle that the Demon King brought would be in two hundred years. The demon race originally lived within the valleys and mountains, but their greediness grew. The demon lord who had long been hiding in the darkness had secretly gathered an army.

For a long time the demon race was dissatisfied with their residence which was always in the periphery. They are also ostracized by most other kinds of beings, claiming that demons do not deserve to live together for being destructive. The hatred mixed with ambition and greed caused the increasingly powerful Demon King to damage the protection of Gollum's underworld.

After a weak protection rampage is broken, an old witch from the upper region comes with her two proteges to renew the arai, but the three are never seen again. The demon lord sets a trap and kills three witches who know how to repair and renew the protection.

Under the shade of the solar eclipse, demonic forces swept through every corner of the lower region, conducting attacks to repel humans and the elven races living side by side.

Many casualties have fallen. The middle regions adjacent to the lower regions did not dare to risk losing people or resources, just guarding the borders and not fighting back the demon race. Unopposed, the demon race cemented itself and grew stronger after many murders.

When the news reached the upper region, no one was able to take over the lower region because the number of demon race troops was endless. And secretly relinquishing the underworld of Gollum was taken over by the demon race.

***

Gana was back before lunch. Putting all the things he bought in the county town, Gana prepared to cook lunch.

Igniting the furnace of fire, Gana remembers Rahma's aunt who lived next door raising ducks. Taking the cloth wallet out of the pocket, there was still a lot of money left. Gana does what she wants and buys a duck from Rahma's aunt.

"The duck is young so the meat will be very soft when eaten. Your wife will quickly recover from drinking the soup or porridge you made with this duck."

Gana smiled widely. Carrying a duck and paying five copper coins, Gana slaughtered the duck upriver for easy cleaning. Pulling the fur clean, Gana also took a lot of spices that grew near the river.

Back in the kitchen, Gana plans on cooking a nutritious soup.

Aira who knew her husband was busy in the kitchen could not stop looking at Fang's birth certificate. Taking it out softly, Aira turned to look at her stupid baby.

Fang's bored. There were not many movements he could do with this small body so some of the time was used to continue eavesdropping on the conversations of his parents to speed up the understanding of the language used in the present or make balloons from salivary.

"I made duck soup. Eat first, I'll take care of Fang." Gana who came with the food tray told Aira to eat first.

Aira listened to her husband.

Fang who smelled the smell of drooling food. All his life in the past was drinking elixir. The teacher who teaches swordsmanship says elixir helps cultivators to level up faster. So Fang didn't think ordinary food was worth his time.

But the last two days when Gana brought food for Aira, Fang felt that wasting time eating was worth it! This scent, if he could talk and had teeth, Fang would also eat.

"Baby drooling. Is hungry?" Gana who was holding Fang took a cloth handkerchief to clean.

Aira slightly complained, "It seems so. I've given him milk but not much comes out. It seems necessary to keep sheep or hire nursing mothers.

She rejected the second suggestion. "The village chief kept two ewes, one of whom recently gave birth to a child. I'll buy her sheep milk every few days"

Aira chuckles. Gana must have remembered the events she had experienced before. Gana's family had hired a surrogate mother, who would have thought that Gana's father would elope with the surrogate mother when Gana was two/three years old. Gana's mother kept swearing and was angry.

Funny thing is, the woman who was taken elope just wanted money and treasure. Gana's eloped father brings nothing from home, leaving little conscience for the life of his ex-wife and the only son he lives in. Knowing she had not gotten what she wanted, the woman turned back with her husband.

Gana's father became a joke. Embarrassed to return to the house or village, Gana's father eventually built a house out of bamboo and lived on the edge of the forest. A year later Gana's father died because the bamboo roof of the house collapsed stabbing right in the head during a rainstorm.