She was a rascal of a girl.

Even in her early teenage years, not a day went by that she didn’t get herself in some kind of trouble.

Children her age? She beat them up.

Guards and other adults much taller and stronger than her? She beat them up too.

She even secretly ventured into the Shadow Valley to beat up monsters on occasion.

The entire clan knew to watch out for her.

Even though her father was a well-respected member of the clan, she did not care.

Even when her friends were living it up, going to festivals and hot springs, she did not care.

Even when they were too busy falling in love and acting all lovey dovey in their teenage years, she did not care.

“Too boring!” She said repeatedly, seeking much higher thrills.

“Life’s too short ! I want glory no one has ever achieved!”

Once, she even snuck into the Royal Kage Castle to steal an ancient artifact, and had to be stopped by the Shadow Princess at the time.

When asked if she didn’t care if she ended up dead, she always said the same thing.

“That’s fine! If I die, I die! Death is just another part of life! Hahaha!”

She just did whatever she wanted, ignoring all the pleas of her father, friends or clan.

She was just a rascal of a girl.

Yes, and her name was…

“Sasaki Kage! That is my name! Remember it!”

Sasaki, just twenty years old at the time, had just defeated a couple of bat-like monsters called Umbra Bats.

Umbra Bats were one of the monster types that resided within the Shadow Valley, just like Umbra Wolves she had heard so much about. While the Umbra Wolves controlled the ground, the Umbra Bats reigned supreme over the entire sky within the Shadow’s Valley’s rocky cliff sides.

Even though they flew above the ground, throwing rocks at their prey below, Sasaki had used their strategy against them by turning those rocks into rising meteorites instead. While everyone she knew relied on some kind of weapon, she preferred to use her fists as a brawler instead.

And that’s what she had done. The moment a monster was struck by her throwing rocks, she made sure to punch and kick it to death.

They may have ruled part of the Shadow Valley, but they never stood a chance against the Shadow Clan’s Queen of Fury, Sasaki Kage.

“Hah, I guess you can’t remember it if you’re dead, huh?” Sasaki said, stepping on the last Umbra Bats’ head, “Oh well, don’t be too sad. Maybe in the next life.”

There she was, the rascal girl of the shadow clan, donning a dark red Keikogi, barely holding together by the shoulder straps going under her armpits. Her black Hakama covered most of her legs, but she had ripped about most of the lower half for better movement.

As for her hair, she never bothered to trim or tie it. She wore it long, making everyone see the blue gray color that was only complimented by the fiery blue pattern on its edges.

After making sure no other threats were around her, she took out a knife and carved out the pieces she needed from the monsters, mainly the wings and fangs.

She had made a living from trading those kinds of monster items with the Keymen. Her father had forbidden her to do whatever she wanted, even going as far as denying her any allowance, but that didn’t stop the rascal girl.

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“Take that Munisai! You old fart, you’re as good as old news!” She shouted as she punched the air in victory.

At the time, Munisai had already made quite a name for himself and earned the title Sword Saint.

Besides clearly being the strongest and most respectable in the clan, he had protected the village a couple of times from any threats that appeared, such as single handedly wiping out an entire race of monsters known as the Umbra Spiders. They had terrorized the Kage Clan for as long as it had existed within the Shadow Valley.

Just like Sasaki, he had similarly gone on expeditions within the valley, and eventually he ventured out to be an Adventurer for a few years. He had big plans for the future, but was still taking it easy in the clan now.

Sasaki saw it as her opportunity to show him up. Even if he was a few years older than her, it was now her time to shine.

With the goal of wiping out the Umbra Bats completely, she resumed her expedition, making sure to trail them all the way back to their caves.

When she managed to finally invade them, she found herself in an empty cave. The Umbra bats had moved out, as if they were warned.

“What the hell is going on?!” Sasaki asked, looking around.

“So, it’s been you who’s going around terrorizing these poor bats?”

“?!”

Sasaki immediately sprang back, landing opposite to where she heard the voice come from. Her entire body was on high alert, her fists up in front of her.

A voice?! This deep in the valley? Who could it be if not Munisai? She asked herself as she looked for the source of the voice.

“Please don’t be on alert, I’m injured and cannot bring you any kind of harm.” The voice said, coming from all directions, “Not that I really wish to…”

“Come on out then! Show your face!”

“If you wished to see my face, all you needed to do was ask.”

Then all of a sudden, Sasaki heard the voice right behind her ear.

Without wasting a breath, she punched whatever appeared behind her in the face, then quickly jumped away.

“Ow!” The voice cried out, “Mind the face, woman!”

Sasaki landed, this time keeping her eye on the silhouette in front of her. It had somehow appeared from behind, despite her specifically positioning herself in front of it.

“What are you? Step into the light!” She demanded.

“Fine, just keep those things away from my face, I beseech you.”

As Sasaki heard that, the silhouette stepped forward, revealing a tall man with broad shoulders. Despite his body not being too wide, it was just muscular enough to be noticeable through the clothes, which seemed too formal for anyone in his current situation.

His light red hair surrounded his head, as if flowing around him from all directions, his face glistened in the lights coming out of the luminescent rocks surrounding them.

If Sasaki had to describe him, she would just call him…

“Woww, you’re such a pretty boy! Ahahahaha!” She mocked and laughed, “I’ve never seen one before, hahaha!”

“Hey! That’s rude!” The man shot back, then introduced himself, “I’m Hadeon Sonnenblut, the seventh! A proud member of the Royal Sonnenblut Clan!”

“So… you’re seven?” Sasaki asked, only remembering that part of the introduction.

“Agh, whatever! Please help, I’m looking for shelter!” Hadeon fell to his knees, finally revealing a gaping wound on his back.

“Woww! That’s a big one! You might be done for man.” Sasaki said, not fazed, “That’s okay, don’t be too sad. Death is just another part of life, after all!”

“Could you take this more seriously please?”

“Fine fine, but make a single move and you’re seriously dead, you hear?”

“Blood… I need blood…” He murmured, turning more pale by the second, “If you couldn’t guess… I’m a vampire…”

“Huh?! Seriously?” Sasaki asked, baffled, “Well man, you’re not getting any of my precious blood. I’ll drag some of the monsters in here for you.”

That was their first meeting, a meeting no one knew would kick off many events in the future.

After helping him recover over the course of many weeks, Sasaki finally had to come clean about him to the Kage Clan. Although scared and outraged at first for sheltering an outsider, they eventually took him in until he could recover.

“We cannot simply turn away a member of a Royal Clan! We might be hiding, but if they were to find out, they would surely seek us out and annihilate us!”

“Exactly! Let him recover and then the Keymen would surely help him get back to his home!”

Those were some of the reasons the higher ups argued with, and eventually the twenty first Shadow Queen at the time gave in and allowed him to stay.

And so, Hadeon stayed in the Kage Clan, the first real guest in decades, perhaps centuries.

Without realizing it, Sasaki began to dress more modestly around him, even tying her hair up. Perhaps she had simply grown more mature in that time, or perhaps…

“Wow! You don’t look so bad when you try, Lady Sasaki!” Hadeon said, wearing a smirk on his face, “tying your hair up really suits you, you should do it more often!”

“You little-! Are you mocking me?” Sasaki said, elbowing him hard in his side, “Want me to tell everyone how many bats you had to suck for blood?”

“Ow! Ow! Have mercy…I’m only here for a little while longer…”

The two spent many days together, simply bantering or walking around the clan. Sasaki eventually introduced him to Munisai, his sister, Terumi, and the rest of her friends.

However, not long after, the Kage Clan suddenly came under attack from a Royal Clan, one they had not expected.

“Why?! Why is the Oriol Clan attacking us?”

“They’re the Royal Clan of the Gold Manipulation Sign, right?! What could we possibly have that they don’t already own?!”

The villagers demanded an answer from their guards, for what reason were they being invaded now after so many years?

When no one could give them an answer, their guest stepped up to the occasion.

“There is but one thing the Oriol Clan is here for! I heard their demands clearly!” He raised his voice, making sure everyone around the central square heard him.

“Well, what is it?! Spill it!” Sasaki demanded.

“They are here for a member of your clan, for she was born without the Shadow Manipulation Sign! In accordance with the Absolute Law created by the first Kings and Queens, this person must join the clan that represents their Sign!”

“What?! There was such a person in our clan?!”

“I never knew!”

Amidst the chaos around her, Sasaki’s eyes went wide as everything she knew about her friends began to make sense.

It can’t be… don’t tell me…!

Sasaki looked around hysterically, searching for two specific friends.

“Who is it?!” The villagers demanded an answer to end the war.

“I regret to be the one to deliver this kind of news, especially when the person is so dear to all of you!”

“The name of this person is…”

“Terumi Kage!”

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image [https://i.imgur.com/KQmIY8F.png]