It was late afternoon. A rowdy crowd covered all the noise in a small pub on the outskirts of the Imperium. The loud conversation, yelling performance, and music playing in the background were something one would expect from a pub.
Sometimes the pub's light flickered though it didn't stop two old men from discussing the recent happenings within the Imperium.
"It's been a while since the first crusade." An old man with a bald head said while chugging his alcohol in his mouth.
"This is the third one, and the Imperium of Avalon is growing by the minute." Another old man with a scar calmly stated, with his entire face red as a tomato.
"My son is joining the military soon. He says it has good pay, never realizing that such payments would never equal his life." The old bald man sighed to himself as he wanted to stop his son from joining the meat grinder.
"Weren't we the same? We were like that when we were young." The old man with a scar chuckled as he remarked afterward.
Before this moment, they were among the many who joined the first crusade. They had pride in their nation and wanted it to be great, so they entered the war. But what they saw in that war was as horrifying as it gets.
They watched people burn, cities crumble, nations collapse, and most of all, saw gods fight one another.
It was a unique war, though a deadly one.
"You have a point, but I still regret joining the military to this day." The old bald man shook his head and asserted.
The two of them were one of the few that survived the war. The myth that the first generation shoulders died was far from the truth, as many of them did survive. However, the horrors of war were too much for any of them to handle.
"There is nothing we can do about it. The young one wishes to fly amidst a war."
"Let him do what he wants. He will learn his consequence." The old man with a scar knew that no one would be able to stop the young one from joining, no matter how much they tried to stop him. He had already passed this phase with his daughter.
"I just can't do that. It is my son we are talking about. Not some random guy." The old bald man didn't want to give up on stopping his son from joining the military. The old man with a scar smirked and uttered. "Suit yourself."
"Anyhow, have you heard about the demoted general?" Then, the old man with a scar decided to change the subject, and the old man went along as he was curious about what the old man with the scar was talking about.
"Wait, the God Emperor demoted a General? That's the first time I have heard of this." The old bald man thought of the generals as the gods. But, with their supernatural abilities, they were disasters on the battlefield.
"Yes, it is unbelievable. But it did happen."
"A general got demoted and turned into a captain." The old man with a scar had the same thought process as the old bald man. So it was surprising for a general to be demoted.
"For what reason did the general get demoted?" The old bald man questioned, wondering what kind of heinous crime the general committed to get sentenced to demotion.
Even murder wouldn't be enough for a general to be demoted, so what got the demotion through?
"You might be surprised hearing this, but…."
"The demoted general is the youngest one in history."
"The reason for her demotion was disrespect towards the imperium family."
The old man with a scar explained while the old bald man furrowed his eyebrows upon hearing it. Next, his eyes narrowed as numerous thoughts passed through his head. Then, after a short while, he asked the most crucial question.
"How did she disrespect the imperium family? Did she do something against the God Emperor's will?"
"Well, she did go against the God Emperor's will. But the disrespect comes from her rejecting the Imperium's first prince. The heir of the golden throne." The old man with a scar answered as the other one narrowed his eyes even more.
"She rejected the crown imperium prince. That rich and selfish asshole."
"Hahahaha! Good for her, she avoided a bullet." The old bald man started laughing his ass off since it was a piece of good news.
The Imperium crown prince didn't have a good reputation amongst the Imperium. He was an asshole with power and stupidity. But, to be honest, how he could become the crown prince was a question of its own.
The Imperium would fall after the first day of his enthronement.
"Also, have you heard about the Astarte announcing the challenge of the lion's pride?"
"All children under the Astarte would have to go outside the world and gather power. They would soon fight for the seat of the house head, and whoever wins would be the heir of that guy." The old man with a scar continued while chugging his booze.
"This is the first I have heard about that. But tell me more." The old bald man wanted to hear more, so the other continued.
"There are seven children under the Astarte. Three who are men and four who are women."
"According to the news, that man said that he would give equal rights to the seat would be given to all."
"It doesn't matter if they were young, old, women, or men. They will have the right to enter the challenge of the lion's pride."
The old man with a scar explained as the old bald man calmly listened to every word that escaped his mouth.
"Hmm… Interesting."
"I heard that the first son is quite good."
The old bald man said since the first son might win the lion's pride.
The old man with a scar had the edges of his lips raised as he had an opposite opinion. "I think that the third daughter would be the one winning the lion's pride."
"What do you mean the third daughter? How could she possibly win against the first son? He's good at ruling and has a better personality than most nobles. He's already popular even without introducing the lion's pride."
The old bald man explained the reasoning why he thought the first son of the Astarte. But the old man with a scar still wasn't convinced by the words of the old bald man and explained his reasons.
"You underestimate the third daughter so much, old man."
"The first time I saw her, my instincts told me this girl would be exceptional. Her cold attitude, logical thinking, and strategic intellect make me think she is gathering power in the background. Not in an open way like the first son, but in a hidden way."
"She's a dark horse waiting to be unleashed." The old man with a scar grins after uttering such words.
"Nah, you're just drunk."
"Drink some water to awaken yourself, man." The old bald man dismissed the words of the other one, and this resulted in the old man with a scar countering.
"You're still blind with pretentious politicians."
"You never change, don't you?"
"Huh, what did you say, you f*ck?" The old bald man cursed as the two began arguing about who was the best candidate for the seat of pride.
"No, you're the f*ck!"
"Shut it, no you!"
"Oy, oy, speaking of the third daughter, have you heard about the news regarding the third son?" Another voice sounded out, stopping the two from arguing with each other.
They turned their gaze toward where the voice came from and saw a fat man who seemed to be a sailor. The two old men raised their eyebrows as the old bald man calmly questioned.
"Did something happen to the third son?" The old bald man was curious about what had happened to the bastard.
"Did he get assassinated or something? Well, I expected this though it took longer than expected." The old man with a scar remarked with some prejudice toward the third son of Astarte.
"Nah, one could only hope."
"That fat pig was exiled from the household and was sent to a military fortress in the outskirts. That man seems to be highly disappointed with the pig, though I'm still wondering why that guy hadn't killed the pig." The fat sailor explained the news and gave his opinion regarding it.
"Yeah, that pig had been tarnishing the Astarte's reputation. He's the definition of an asshole and is the only one beyond the Imperium crown prince in being infamous."
"Other noble families would have that guy killed the very second he decides to tarnish the household reputation." The old bald man shook his head in disappointment. The old man with a scar and the fat sailor looked at each other and continued.
"He's considered to be the treasured pig of Astarte. I wonder what that man sees in a failure like him. I mean, his sister is exceptional."
"Though, from the looks of it, all good genes went to his sister." The old man with a scar said with a saddened tone. He was disappointed that the third daughter was related to the fat pig.
"Anyhow, how did that pig get exiled? That man has always been lenient to the bastard, so why change?" The old bald man was curious about the reason for the exile. The old man with a scar also wondered the same thing and wanted answers.
"Well, the first thing that happened is the same as always. That fat pig is seeking girls for pleasure, but now, he's looking at the imperium princess."
"When his father disagreed with him, he threw a tantrum in the Astarte hall. His father didn't care, resulting in him charging out of the hall with fuming anger."
"But the fat bastard wasn't stopping there. He wanted the imperium princess, so he went to her room, only to get stopped by the guards. He kept announcing himself as an Astarte and wanted to meet the princess. Fortunately, the guards didn't bother following his family name."
"In the end, he was captured and was pardoned by the imperium family."
"In a rage, that man exiled him from the Astarte until he became a better version of himself. He would continue being an exile and train in a military fortress until then."
"That's how the rumors grow at the moment." So the sailor explained as he could hear numerous stories regarding the exile of the third son of Astarte.
"Not gonna lie, he is an asshole." The old bald man was appalled as only the third son could do it without being executed in the main square.
"That guy threw the Astarte's reputation down the mud. In this situation, he might get killed by his brothers and sisters soon." The old man with a scar remarked.
"Hope he dies."
"Yeah."
"Agreed."
―――<●>―――
Meanwhile, within a transport airship heading towards the outer borders of the Imperium, a fat young man was in deep slumber, surrounded by onyx darkness. He slept as if he had worked for a day, though he was awakened by rumbling thunder.
*BANG!*
His eyes immediately opened upon the loud rumble.
The fat young man's body shook as he looked around, only to find himself surrounded by many people sleeping just like him. His eyes widened in shock as he was dismayed.
"W-What am I doing here?" The fat young man questioned with confusion until realizing his voice sounded strange.
"Wait, wait! T-This isn't my voice." He tried touching his neck only to feel more flesh than usual. He surveyed every part of his body and noticed they were fatter than usual. At this moment, he realized that he wasn't in his body.
Then, an old and hoarse uttered to him.
"Hey, you. You're finally awake."