Juuni Kokuki - Guren no Shirobe, Koujin no Michi Japan

The Twelve Kingdoms is a Japanese series of light novels written by Fuyumi Ono and illustrated by Akihiro Yamada. The first entry in the series ('The Shadow of the Moon, The Sea of Shadow') was published by Kodansha in Japan in 1992; the last Kodansha volume was released in 2001. In 2012 the series was resumed under the Shincho Bunko line from Shinchosha. Shinchosha has also begun reprinting the older volumes with new cover and interior art from Akihiro Yamada.