# 21 - Chapter Twenty-One: A Commoner Infuriated
Source: [Crunchyroll](https://www.crunchyroll.com/series/GYGG7GD4Y/hero-tales)
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(Please feel free to edit the speaker names if incomplete or inaccurate. Names are handled on a best-effort basis depending on the info on the source file. Dialogue is left as is.)
**[00:29] ---**
My lord! What is happening?!
**[00:32] ---**
My lord!
**[00:33] ---**
You've drawn the Xian Jia Lan Wu!
**[00:36] ---**
The Xian Jia Lan Wu has
acknowledged me as the emperor!
**[00:46] ---**
Lord Keiro has pulled the Xian Jia Lan Wu?!
**[00:49] ---**
Yes. Why is he able to draw it now,
when he couldn't do so before?
**[00:55] ---**
He who draws the Xian Jia
Lan Wu shall rule all.
**[00:59] ---**
Did the heavens wish for this,
**[01:01] ---**
or did he change the heavens' will by force?
**[01:06] ---**
*My father... emperor?!*
**[01:11] ---**
*Yes, unsure of ourselves,
we'll again set forth*
**[01:16] ---**
*on our paths, even though they never cross*
**[01:21] ---**
*It wouldn't matter if we
ran into each other anyway*
**[01:26] ---**
*in order to obtain it*
**[01:33] ---**
*I was lost in the void*
**[01:37] ---**
*between truth and lies*
**[01:43] ---**
*I was betrayed by a kind smile*
**[01:48] ---**
*that never doubted our pictured future*
**[01:56] ---**
*Yes, unsure of ourselves,
we'll again race along*
**[02:01] ---**
*our paths, even though they never cross*
**[02:06] ---**
*It wouldn't matter if we
ran into each other anyway*
**[02:11] ---**
*in order to get it back*
**[02:13] ---**
*The reason I always chased
after you without forgetting*
**[02:18] ---**
*can't be expressed with words,*
**[02:21] ---**
*because it's invisible to the eye*
**[02:23] ---**
*feel my soul believe my heart*
**[02:26] ---**
*Even now, the future from back then*
**[02:28] ---**
*is shining inside our hearts*
**[02:53] ---**
Dammit! Bastard keeps hanging
around me all the time!
**[02:59] ---**
What the hell's he up to?!
**[03:00] ---**
I'm gonna catch him and make
him spill his guts! Spill his guts!
**[03:05] ---**
Taito! Don't let him provoke you!
**[03:07] ---**
Don't follow him! Come back, Taito!
**[03:12] ---**
This is gonna take forever
if I leave it to the boy.
**[03:15] ---**
It is the karma of the stars
that the Alkaid and Dubhe clash.
**[03:19] ---**
I'm just going to set the stage for 'em.
**[03:24] ---**
Get back here, Shimei!
**[03:26] ---**
"Chapter Twenty-One:
A Commoner Infuriated"
**[03:37] ---**
That clothing...!
**[03:55] ---**
My lord. Please reconsider.
**[03:58] ---**
Going into the mountains unaccompanied...
**[04:01] ---**
You should focus on your priorities!
**[04:03] ---**
Please do not go!
**[04:05] ---**
This *is* a priority.
**[04:07] ---**
It is something that can only
be done once a year on this day.
**[04:11] ---**
But...!
**[04:12] ---**
I am going. No matter what.
**[04:15] ---**
Very well. In that case,
at least take us two with you!
**[04:21] ---**
Do as you wish.
**[04:24] ---**
Yes, my lord!
**[04:28] ---**
Let's go, Ryuko.
**[04:30] ---**
Y-Yes.
**[05:22] ---**
I will return.
**[05:24] ---**
Please be careful.
**[05:43] ---**
This is thick fog.
**[05:46] ---**
Sir Kocho.
**[05:47] ---**
Yes?
**[05:48] ---**
That clothing Lord Keiro
is wearing... Is it...?
**[06:13] ---**
A year has passed, Chosu.
Time flies like an arrow.
**[06:19] ---**
It has already been 16 years since then...
**[06:27] ---**
Shimei! Where the hell did you go?!
**[06:31] ---**
That voice!
**[06:32] ---**
Shimei!
**[06:36] ---**
It's you, mustached bastard!
**[06:39] ---**
Alkaid...!
**[06:41] ---**
I've finally caught you! I'm gonna
settle this once and for all today!
**[06:49] ---**
There will be no killing tonight.
**[06:52] ---**
Wh-What?!
**[06:57] ---**
You're wearing a prayer shroud!
**[06:59] ---**
Which means...
**[07:03] ---**
Whose grave is it?
**[07:05] ---**
My wife's.
**[07:09] ---**
She was slain by the Xian
imperial army 16 years ago.
**[07:15] ---**
I-Is that true, Sir Kocho?!
**[07:18] ---**
Yes. Every year, without fail,
he visits his late wife's grave
**[07:23] ---**
on the anniversary of her
death and prays for her soul.
**[07:28] ---**
He purifies his body, abstains from
killing, and dons a prayer shroud.
**[07:32] ---**
Today is that day.
**[07:34] ---**
*My mother is in this forest...?*
**[07:38] ---**
Ryuko.
**[07:40] ---**
Yes?
**[07:41] ---**
It might be all right to tell
you about Lord Keiro's past.
**[07:46] ---**
No, I think you *should* know about it.
**[07:53] ---**
She was killed by the Xian imperial army?!
**[08:01] ---**
Damn!
**[08:03] ---**
Forget it, then! Even I know
it's wrong to kill a guy
**[08:07] ---**
who's visiting someone's grave
on the anniversary of their death!
**[08:11] ---**
As a man, I can't fight someone like that!
**[08:16] ---**
But answer me one thing!
**[08:19] ---**
Why did you attack Lian Tong Temple twice?!
**[08:21] ---**
Why did you kill my dad?!
**[08:24] ---**
What are you talking about?
**[08:26] ---**
Don't play dumb! You know full well
**[08:29] ---**
that Shimei and Choka killed my dad, Soei!
**[08:33] ---**
Curse them. They killed without cause...
**[08:37] ---**
I had heard that Soei, the leader
of the Qing Long Platoon,
**[08:40] ---**
was a good man, dauntless
and full of integrity,
**[08:45] ---**
but I had no idea he had died...
**[08:48] ---**
Y-You're saying *you* didn't send them?!
**[08:54] ---**
Alkaid.
**[08:55] ---**
Long ago, I, too, fought to protect my people
**[08:58] ---**
from the empire's tyranny, just as Soei did.
**[09:02] ---**
Wh-What?!
**[09:04] ---**
I suppose telling this to the
Alkaid before my late wife's grave
**[09:07] ---**
is also the karma of the stars...
**[09:12] ---**
It was some 22 years ago already,
**[09:16] ---**
during the reign of Miyo,
the previous emperor.
**[09:23] ---**
Lord Keiro's hometown was
in the Ling Fan region,
**[09:26] ---**
on the outskirts of the Xian Empire.
**[09:34] ---**
He was born into the feudal lord's family.
**[09:37] ---**
He took after his father Lord
Keito, a virtuous ruler,
**[09:43] ---**
and the people of his fiefdom
had great faith in him.
**[09:46] ---**
--Oh, it's Lord Keiro!
**[09:47] ---**
--Lord Keiro!
**[09:49] ---**
Lord Keiro!
**[09:51] ---**
However, the peace did not last long.
**[09:57] ---**
A governor-general serving
directly under the empire
**[09:59] ---**
set his sights on the rich land and
attempted to seize control of it.
**[10:04] ---**
K-Keiro...
**[10:07] ---**
The time to make use of your inner-channel
Energy Manipulation has come...
**[10:12] ---**
Father!
**[10:14] ---**
Slay the governor-general... for our people!
**[10:59] ---**
D-Don't kill me... Don't kill me!
**[11:02] ---**
My mother, my father, my
kin, and even my people,
**[11:07] ---**
all because of you...!
**[11:10] ---**
Now you will pay!
**[11:24] ---**
What the hell?!
**[11:26] ---**
That would make you a wanted
criminal then! Not a general!
**[11:29] ---**
Yes.
**[11:30] ---**
Having left my homeland, I wandered
aimlessly throughout the empire.
**[11:36] ---**
For many years.
**[11:39] ---**
After journeying alone for a long time,
**[11:42] ---**
Lord Keiro reached a turning
point in his life...
**[12:03] ---**
...his encounter with Lady Chosu.
**[12:12] ---**
Lady Chosu soothed his broken heart.
**[12:17] ---**
She was a treasure to him.
**[12:21] ---**
During his travels, he saved people
from corrupt officials and scoundrels,
**[12:25] ---**
and people who revered his strength
and virtues began to follow him.
**[12:32] ---**
Together, they then carved out a mountain
**[12:35] ---**
and constructed an isolated
village for refugees.
**[12:43] ---**
He also formed the Xuan Lang Platoon
**[12:46] ---**
and strived to protect the village himself.
**[12:53] ---**
A village for refugees...
That sounds just like Tai Shan!
**[12:59] ---**
My heart was fulfilled,
and I then had a child.
**[13:10] ---**
Keiko! Your name will be Keiko!
**[13:14] ---**
Grow up to be strong, just,
and spiritually rich, Keiko!
**[13:22] ---**
*That was me...!*
**[13:27] ---**
About the same time his heir was born,
**[13:29] ---**
Lord Keiro left to purge
nearby corrupt officials.
**[13:33] ---**
Purge?!
**[13:34] ---**
He lopped off rotten branches and leaves
**[13:38] ---**
to try to make the Xian Empire right again.
**[13:40] ---**
He did so completely free of personal greed.
**[13:44] ---**
However, the empire instead
branded him a traitor!
**[14:00] ---**
It was the imperial army's doing.
**[14:05] ---**
I had been mistaken.
**[14:09] ---**
The branches and leaves of
the empire were not rotten.
**[14:14] ---**
Its very roots were!
**[14:17] ---**
Chosu! Keiko!
**[14:20] ---**
Chosu!
**[14:22] ---**
Chosu!
**[14:27] ---**
Chosu!
**[14:29] ---**
Say something, Chosu!
**[14:53] ---**
Chosu!
**[14:56] ---**
I grieved, raged, and cursed.
**[15:00] ---**
I cursed the Xian Empire,
**[15:01] ---**
as well as my powerlessness
to save my own wife...
**[15:04] ---**
That is when it happened!
**[15:13] ---**
My karma... The karma of
the star of Dubhe awoke!
**[15:46] ---**
The Dipper Bearers are seven
heroes born during times of turmoil
**[15:49] ---**
who will guide the people.
**[15:51] ---**
Of them, Dubhe, one of the
Two Celestial Deities,
**[15:54] ---**
bears the karma of authority and fighting.
**[15:57] ---**
In this way, Lord Keiro came to
realize that the karma of Dubhe
**[16:02] ---**
orders him to return the Xian Empire
to its proper form by force.
**[16:13] ---**
That is everything I know about him.
**[16:17] ---**
How epic...
**[16:20] ---**
I don't understand! How did you
wind up as a crony for the empire?
**[16:25] ---**
How did you become a general?!
**[16:27] ---**
After I constructed Chosu's grave,
**[16:30] ---**
I surrendered to the empire
and pledged my lifelong loyalty.
**[16:34] ---**
You surrendered?!
**[16:35] ---**
Yes. In order to infiltrate
the center of command
**[16:39] ---**
and seize control from the inside.
**[16:42] ---**
Revolts and rebellions have no
effect on the enormous Xian Empire.
**[16:47] ---**
Therefore, I decided to become
a member of the court,
**[16:50] ---**
gain absolute power and military might,
**[16:52] ---**
and then make the entire empire my own.
**[16:55] ---**
The stars have decreed that
I rule the world by force!
**[17:02] ---**
Rule by force?!
**[17:12] ---**
I'll admit that you have your own
good reasons for what you're doing.
**[17:17] ---**
But I refuse to accept the
idea of ruling by force!
**[17:23] ---**
Next time we meet, I *will* finish this.
**[17:29] ---**
Wait.
**[17:30] ---**
What? Is there something else you--?
**[17:35] ---**
That's the Xian Jia Lan Wu!
**[17:44] ---**
Do you understand what this means?
**[17:47] ---**
When next we meet, Alkaid,
I will be the emperor.
**[17:59] ---**
Sir Kocho. What happened to
Lord Keiro's son after that?
**[18:05] ---**
I'm told he abandoned him.
**[18:08] ---**
Abandoned?!
**[18:09] ---**
The path of a conqueror
is filled with carnage.
**[18:11] ---**
He probably didn't want his
own son to be dragged into it.
**[18:16] ---**
Then what about his daughter, Lady Taki?!
**[18:21] ---**
Lady Taki... is not his true daughter.
**[18:26] ---**
What?!
**[18:31] ---**
I used to think that the heavens
wished for the Alkaid and Dubhe
**[18:36] ---**
to clash and bring about a calamity, but...
**[18:43] ---**
That's all? After I went to all the
trouble of bringing the Alkaid here?
**[18:55] ---**
Light the fire!
**[19:12] ---**
What is that?!
**[19:15] ---**
I'll go see!
**[19:17] ---**
Where did those flames come from?!
**[19:20] ---**
I ordered it.
**[19:23] ---**
Lord Keiro!
**[19:25] ---**
Now that I can draw the Xian Jia Lan Wu,
the Alkaid is of no use to me.
**[19:32] ---**
Keiro!
**[19:35] ---**
Who are you?! A Divine Warrior?!
**[19:38] ---**
Correct!
**[19:39] ---**
Koyo! You handle things
here! I'll go help Taito!
**[19:43] ---**
Got it!
**[19:47] ---**
What?! With his bare hands?!
**[19:55] ---**
Burn to death, Alkaid!
**[19:58] ---**
So it's not against the rules
**[20:00] ---**
as long as you don't get
your own hands dirty?!
**[20:03] ---**
That's low! That's really
low, mustached bastard!
**[20:36] ---**
Wh-What the...?!
**[20:46] ---**
That's the Alkaid's energy...
**[20:48] ---**
Looks like ol' Taito took care of things.
**[20:51] ---**
So long!
**[20:53] ---**
D-Damn you...!
**[21:06] ---**
*He wasn't consumed by the Alkaid's energy...*
**[21:10] ---**
*Taito has improved. He's
as strong as Father now...*
**[21:32] ---**
I haven't much time left...
**[21:39] ---**
Struggle! Struggle!
**[21:40] ---**
After all, people are nothing but
puppets to the karma of the stars!
**[21:45] ---**
Your lives are all limited. So try
your hardest to give me some fun.
**[22:07] ---**
*When the birds that forgot
their song even lost the ability to fly*
**[22:17] ---**
*the sun through the trees
shed its light and cried loudly*
**[22:27] ---**
*What will the morning sun
be telling us by shining again?*
**[22:33] ---**
*Now, then...*
**[22:38] ---**
*I'll clap my hands,
so that it will reach you*
**[22:44] ---**
*I'll clap my hands,
it's still not quite enough*
**[22:49] ---**
*I'll clap my hands,
with feelings of love welling up*
**[22:55] ---**
*I'll clap my hands,
even if time comes to an end*
**[23:00] ---**
*My feelings for you that I never
got to say I will now speak out!*
**[23:05] ---**
*Every go every where,
arrive aboard this song, feel now!*
**[23:13] ---**
*I'll clap my hands*
**[23:18] ---**
*Every go every where,
arrive aboard this song, feel now!*
**[23:33] ---**
*Will the Xian Jia Lan Wu's shine
tear even the Xian Empire apart?*
**[23:37] ---**
*Everything about our imperial
court has been a falsehood!*
**[23:42] ---**
*It's beginning. A new era of the
Xian Empire, led by Lord Keiro!*
**[23:47] ---**
*If he becomes emperor,
what'll happen to Emperor Taiga?!*
**[23:50] ---**
*Keiro will probably kill
him without hesitation.*
**[23:51] ---**
*Look! This is the will of the heavens!*
**[23:54] ---**
*This era will now be thrown
into violent upheaval!*
**[23:58] ---**
*On Hero Tales, "Chapter Twenty-Two:
The Imperial Capital in Confusion."*
**[24:12] ---**
*The Xian Jia Lan Wu has
already chosen a new emperor!*
**[24:12] ---**
"See you next time!"