"Where the hell am I now?"
Amamiya Raizen ran across the scorched expanse of the Land of Fire, each step crunching through cracked earth. The familiar green mountains and winding rivers of his home country had vanished behind him, replaced by a barren, wind-swept desert.
"Ahem… shouldn't I be out of the Land of Fire by now?" he muttered, his lips twitching. Fire Country was blessed with fertile valleys and rivers, not wastelands like this. The landscape shifting to desert meant he had likely crossed the border into the territory of the Wind Country.
"The Wind Country?" Raizen frowned, scanning the horizon. Still, he pressed forward. After what felt like hours, a glimmer of green appeared—a massive oasis shimmering in the heat haze. Raizen blinked.
"An oasis… here? In the Wind Country?"
Drawing closer, he realized the oasis harbored more than water. Nestled within it was a city, strange and foreign, yet unmistakably human. Its buildings rose taller than most Raizen had seen in the Land of Fire, reaching toward the sky like humble towers rather than fortresses. The city wasn't bustling or ostentatious—it radiated a serene, almost unnatural calm. For the first time in days, Raizen felt the faintest flicker of relief.
"Where… exactly is this?" he whispered. The Wind Country certainly didn't have anything like this.
He ducked into a quiet wine shop at the edge of the city. The patrons sipped silently, their calm demeanor a stark contrast to the chaotic taverns of Fire Country. Raizen approached the owner, a stout man polishing a wooden counter, and asked about the city's name.
"Loulan," the man said without hesitation. "A small vassal of the Wind Country. The city and this surrounding desert make up its entire territory. War doesn't touch Loulan. People who hate conflict come here to live in peace. That's why it thrives."
Raizen's eyebrows shot up. "Loulan… the Loulan of later generations?" he muttered. Memories of Loulan's history swirled in his mind. The oasis city before him matched nearly perfectly with the Loulan he knew from texts and legends.
Still curious, Raizen wandered the streets, noting soldiers patrolling silently but attentively. The city's calm was deliberate—its defenses disciplined.
Meanwhile, inside Loulan's palace, tension simmered. A woman in her thirties with fiery red hair and a golden crown—Queen Loulan—glared at a bald minister, perhaps in his forties.
"Minister Lishi," she said, her voice sharp. "Did you not hear me? That power must never be touched. Loulan cannot control it."
The minister immediately protested, his tone insistent. "Your Majesty, if Loulan wields this power, we could become untouchable—even the Wind Country would hesitate to challenge us. Has your memory failed you? A year ago, the Wind Country seized half our land on a whim. That humiliation cannot repeat!"
"But…" the Queen hesitated, recalling the delicate balance Loulan had maintained with the previous Wind Country ruler. The new generation had been aggressive, taking lands by force. Resistance would only mean annihilation. So, for months, she had remained silent.
"Your Majesty, if we fail to act, what chance do we have against the Wind Country's next demand?" another minister urged, standing alongside Lishi. Soon, all four ministers voiced their support, pressing the Queen.
Finally, she clenched her jaw and nodded. "Very well. This matter is entrusted to you. Execute it in secret. Let none know."
"Yes!" the ministers chorused, anticipation lighting their eyes. If they succeeded, Loulan would rise stronger than ever.
The ministers dispersed, plotting how to harness the mysterious power—a dragon vein discovered the previous year. Loulan had resisted before; the Queen had deemed the force too dangerous. But the Wind Country's aggression reignited their ambition. The ministers' resolve hardened, and Loulan's destiny began to shift.
Queen Loulan watched them go, her fists tightening. The memory of last year's humiliation burned in her chest. Loulan would grow stronger—enough that the Wind Country would remember the sting it had inflicted.
And somewhere outside the palace walls, Raizen walked silently through the streets of Loulan, unaware that the desert city was poised on the edge of change.