This puppeteer is a bit... well...

Chapter 43 The Demise of Loulan

The light rising high above Loulan

A mix of emotions

The dragon veins that must be protected!

A blade flashes as it shoots into the sky...

The inner courtyard is an abandoned tower, overgrown with weeds and filled with architectural ruins.

Ryuji and Gin arrived here and followed the sound of the song.

After winding their way through the maze of rooms, the two arrived at the doorway of a room where the floor had completely collapsed and the roof had a large hole in it.

The bright sun shone through the hole in the roof, illuminating the ground... a girl kneeling on a boulder.

She clasped her hands to her chest, looked up at the sky, and sang, her voice filled with loneliness and helplessness.

Ryuji did not disturb the girl, and stood quietly waiting on it, while Gin stayed by his master's side.

After a while, the singing stopped.

The girl stood up from the boulder, slowly turned around, and looked directly at the boy.

"My mother taught me this song when I was a child."

Ryuji didn't interrupt, quietly waiting for what would happen next.

"My mother told me that as the princess and queen of Loulan, I had the responsibility to protect the people of Loulan."

At this point, the girl couldn't help but smile bitterly, "Although my mother told me this, how can a weak woman like me protect them?"

Whenever I showed these feelings, my mother would comfort me, saying, "If you feel it's difficult, sing this song."

Ryuji remained silent, watching without saying a word.

Seeing this, the girl laughed in despair, "I know what my mother meant. She wanted me to feel the responsibility of being the Queen of Loulan through this song. She said: Once a person has responsibility, they will become strong."

But how can I be strong when I don't even understand what happened?

Every time I sing this song, I only feel the loneliness of my mother leaving me, leaving me all alone.

"I see!" Ryuji paused, then continued, "...It seems you still retain memories from before the time-space correction."

"Time-space correction..." The girl gave another bitter laugh, and even slumped weakly onto the boulder. "I don't even know what time-space correction is. I just feel like I had a real dream... In the dream, I was kidnapped by you and held hostage by you to seal the dragon vein; in the dream, An Lushan's puppet army launched an attack without regard for my safety, and all my people were puppets in disguise."

I don't even know if I'm dreaming or awake right now.

It turned out to be the case.

Because of his memories from before the time-space correction, he knew that An Lushan was a problem, so he hid in the inner court.

The inner courtyard was the original residence of the Loulan Queen. The dragon vein could not affect this place, nor could An Lushan's puppets come here.

But that's the limit of what a girl can do.

Without the help of ninjas, she could do nothing.

Without Naruto's persistent encouragement and even his exemplary role modeling, she wouldn't have had the courage to take on everything.

(This might be the best ending for her.)

A thought flashed through Long Er's mind, then he looked up at her and said, "In this era of war, weakness is a sin. You possess such powerful dragon veins, yet you don't use them to strengthen yourselves, which means you are destined for destruction."

"..." The girl opened her mouth, as if to say something, but in the end it all turned into a helpless sigh. "I know we can't resist you. I will lead the people of Loulan to migrate. I hope you can spare us."

"My only goal is the dragon vein. I won't attack you unless you get in my way."

"Thank you for your kindness." The girl bowed to the boy with a bitter expression on her face.

"Your thanks only make me feel like I'm being mocked." Ryuji jumped down from upstairs and slowly walked to the girl. "I know the nature of what I did, and I don't want to hypocritically glorify my despicable behavior."

"Is that so?"

The girl forced a smile onto her face.

Despite what the other party said, she was now just a fish on the chopping block, to be slaughtered however they pleased.

He has the right to make fun of himself, but he doesn't dare to laugh along with himself.

Ryuji didn't pay any attention.

He shook his head slightly and said, "Actually, you didn't need to take the people of Loulan away from this city."

"what?"

The girl looked at Ryuji in surprise, somewhat confused.

"My purpose in seizing the dragon vein is to build a city that can protect everyone in the village."

"What...does this have to do with whether we leave or not?"

"Dragon veins are chakra veins born from the natural workings of the earth, and they will continue to grow and thrive with the natural cycle. As long as this planet is alive, the chakra of the dragon veins will continue to be generated."

A hasty relocation might disrupt the natural flow of energy, preventing the dragon vein's chakra from being generated again.

"So you want to build the city on Loulan?" the girl asked through gritted teeth.

It's understandable that she would have such feelings.

Although Loulan was a small country with only one city, it was built up little by little by all the people of that country over a hundred years.

Now that someone is trying to take over her place, how could she possibly accept that!

"That's right, the city will be rebuilt and expanded based on the tower of Loulan." Ryuji ignored the girl's expression and said to himself, "Not to mention the concern about disrupting the natural flow, even without that concern, the massive amount of chakra in the dragon vein can't be moved away, so the city can only be built here."

"But aren't you a ninja village from the Land of Wind?"

"Once the city is built, we can just transport it back."

"ha?"

The girl opened her mouth slightly.

She really wanted to say: Are you out of your mind?!

Since the dragon vein couldn't be moved, a city was built on it, and then the city was moved away.

This doesn't sound plausible at all.

"That's none of your concern. What I want to say is that you can stay in the city I've built," Long Er persuaded. "Although the Loulan Kingdom will no longer exist, and you will no longer be a queen, the people of Loulan will live happily in the new city."

"this……"

The girl hesitated.

The murderer who destroyed Loulan invited the people of Loulan to live in their new city... Any Loulan person would be suspicious of this!

but.

Although the ninja village was established by ninjas, many ordinary families also moved in because it was a stable and safe place to live.

These ordinary families, who work or run businesses in the village, can provide the ninjas with practical conveniences in their lives.

An increased population will provide the ninja village with more soldiers, allowing the village to grow stronger.

Therefore, the ninja village does not refuse ordinary people from moving in.

However, since the other party was, after all, the murderer who destroyed her country, the girl naturally could not join him without any reservations.

However, this era was plagued by constant wars, and the desert was a difficult place to live in.

If she leads her people away from Loulan, it will be difficult for her to find a stable and safe new place to live in a short period of time.

How many people will die in this process?

(I am the Queen of Loulan, and it is my responsibility to protect the safety of my people.)

The girl raised her head and looked directly at Long Er. "If you can guarantee that the people of Loulan will not be discriminated against in your village, I will accept your invitation."

(End of this chapter)