Record of Lodoss War (ロードス島戦記)

To the south of the continent of Alecrast

lies an island known as Lodoss.

Forged in the fierce battle between Marfa,

the Goddess of Creation,

and Kardis, the Goddess of Destruction,

Lodoss has come to be known as "The Accursed Island."

And now, in a land whose history is painted with the hues of war,

new ambitions are stirred.

Why has a knight of Marmo

come to this far-off place?

What brings you to this holy temple of Marfa,

Goddess of the Earth?

You know about that sword, don't you?

From the very beginning,

it's brought nothing but suffering.

It was first used by the king of the demons.

The Soul Crusher should be locked away

where no one can ever retrieve it.

I did not come this far

for a history lesson about my sword, Priestess!

I have a question for you.

Will you answer me truthfully?

I will not lie, however--

Very well. A simple answer will reveal what I need to know.

I want you to tell me about

the treasure of the ice dragon, Bramd.

Why do you need to know about that?

I am a greedy man

who wishes to take Bramd's treasure for myself.

Long ago, the glorious kingdom of Sorcery

entrusted the five ancient dragons

with the Governor's Treasures,

appointing them guardians for all eternity.

However, the ice dragon Bramd had no treasure.

But... that means you must have seen him.

Indeed. He gave us a rather nasty welcome.

However, I'm absolutely certain the ice dragon regrets that now.

What have you done?!

I can't believe you'd actually attack and kill

a hibernating dragon, or would you...?

It's been rumored you are the one

who released Bramd from his terrible curse.

As a reward for his freedom,

he gave you one of his treasures. Is that so?

I sold off that treasure

to help pay for the upkeep of this holy temple of Marfa.

I see.

But any treasure that could be traded for money

would be of no use to me.

I apologize for disturbing you.

Who are you?!

I am Ashram,

loyal servant of Emperor Beld of Marmo,

the man who united this accursed island.

And now I have a question for you, Sir Ashram.

What will you do with the Governor's Treasures

when you finally acquire them?

My late emperor's wish is my only desire,

the meaning of my life;

for that, I must possess the greatest treasure of all,

The Scepter of Domination!

Times are changing once again...

And destiny threatens to leave us behind.

Mistress Neese,

who were they?

You must summon Leylia back from Zaxon right away.

Have her bring her husband and my granddaughter as well.

Again, I must entrust one so young...

...with the entire fate of Lodoss.

C'mon, Orson! You're holding us up!

Our enemies won't run away... As much as I wish they would.

Blood should not be shed needlessly.

Helluva thing for a mercenary to say!

He sounds like he's scared of fighting a--

a village full of hayseeds!

Now look, Orson. We are going to Zaxon to pick up

some overdue taxes that are rightly due to Duke Raster.

I doubt we'll have to fight anyone.

And if we do, it won't be a big job.

Either they all pay up, or we'll make them pay up!

You can save the tough-guy act for the job.

Are we clear on this, Orson?

Duke Raster is giving us a quarter

of everything we collect!

This is a sweet deal, and I'm not going to let you blow it.

So try to show a little enthusiasm for a change!

Why try? I'll never get through to him...

If he's not up for this, let's dump him!

But cowardly mercenaries are in such high demand nowadays!

You may laugh, but I'll warn you now not to rile him up.

When Orson gets mad,

he's not able to tell the difference friend and foe.

Huh?

Hm?

We're here.

Okay, now we stick to the plan. Right?

Cecil! Cecil! Trouble!

Cecil! Cecil!

What now, Arteen?

Strangers! I think they're soldiers! At the gate!

They wanna speak to a negotiator!

They want to see Slayn?

Yeah! They said they were from Alania!

The king ordered them to collect the taxes from us!

All right! I'll just have to send them away.

By yourself?!

Hm...

You're right about that... You'd better go get him, too.

Where's the village representative?

Don't you know it's rude to keep the king's agents waiting?

Sickles and hoes! You call those weapons?

How could they be so gutsy

with only one sorcerer in the village?

And a human one at that!

One little human sorcerer...

It's him.

Are you the one in charge here?

I am, and I'll get right to the point!

The village of Zaxon belongs to no kingdom!

And the people of our village govern themselves!

Duke Raster has no right to tax us.

And you have no right to be here.

Now then, please take your friends

and go back to where you came from.

Hmph! Pretty tough words for a phony sorcerer.

Now tell me, what kind of cheap tricks did you do

to win over these poor yokels?

What? Are you trying to insult me?!

Well, at least he's got enough brains

to know he's being insulted!

And if you do have brains, think about this.

It will be no trouble at all for us

to smash this two-bit village!

Okay, everyone. Here he comes. Get back!

"Manna of all creation...

Become the fires of destruction!"

Perhaps we should back off a bit more!

Yeah... like it'll reach.

Ah, fire!

So what's the big deal? He can make a fire spell.

They're not that much trouble if you don't attack them head on.

Follow my lead.

Well, now!

He-- He is a real sorcerer!

They didn't tell us anything about this!

Run for it, Orson!

Hah! You're mine!

Huh? Where'd they go?

Damn! It's a trap!

I didn't think you'd be stupid enough

to fall for one this simple.

Guess I was wrong.

What kind of magic spell is gonna

get you out of trouble this time?

Anyway, you're trapped now,

so why don't you drop that sorcerer's staff, Mr. Slayn?

Drop it, I said!

Huh? I'm not him.

My name is Cecil, and I'm the captain

of the village defense forces while Slayn is away.

Huh? But no one told us there'd be two of them.

Raster said there'd only be one.

It doesn't matter who you are then!

The fact of the matter is that you are still our hostage!

Even if you take me hostage,

the village of Zaxon will never pay taxes

to finance Alanian wars!

Kill me if you want to!

You've sure got guts. Whatever you wish.

Is it really necessary to kill him?

I'm sure of it!

There's no way we can let him get away with humiliating us!

Come on!

If you're going to beg for mercy, now's the time!

The wind spirit Sylph is protecting you.

You're safe now, Cecil.

Hey, come back!

Fire!

What the--?!

The wind spirits?!

But I didn't see him cast a spell!

The sorcerer didn't do it. The elf did.

An elf?!

Come now, Cecil. Why are you still so careless?

Deedlit!

Cecil! I'll take it from here!

Parn!

You two can stop this right now!

If you don't, I'll show no mercy!

Parn... I've heard of you!

Aren't you the famous free knight?

The great swordsman who travels with the high elf?

He's good. Don't fight.

You stay out of this!

Hey, Parn! If you really wanna fight me, you'd better hurry up!

And you guys, watch for his magical friends!

Keep 'em back!