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A storm of shock hit Arcadia and the entire Avalon Empire. Unprecedented events were taking place. It all started with the imperial announcement posters hung everywhere in the castle.
“Wh-what is this?”
In the grand plaza was a big bulletin board used by the Imperial Family to make announcements about national events. Right now, it was swarmed by the citizens of the Avalon Empire.
“O-oh, my god. Emperor…?”
“What is the poster about? Why are you that surprised? Tell us too! We don't know how to read!”
“I-it says… we have to choose our own emperor.”
“What the hell are you saying?!”
The people's reaction was understandable—the contents of the announcement were just that shocking. Asking the people of the country themselves to choose who would lead the Empire? Who would have dared to think about it? Even thinking about it was grounds for treason and would only invite cursing. Besides, until just a while ago, it had been the age of the tyrant Marcus ben Britten, and the Emperor’s order was law…
“This day of Year 728 of the continental calendar…”
“Shhh! Be quiet.”
When someone started to read the announcement poster, the crowd quickly quieted.
“Just as peace came to the continent, we, the Imperial Family of the Avalon Empire, declare that we have put an end to our senseless infighting and that the civil war is officially over. To restore the power of our nation and to provide our fullest aid to the citizenry in recovering from the ravages of the civil war, we have decided to crown a new emperor… The citizens are encouraged to speak freely—”
“Woahhhhh!”
The reader, a merchant, was cut off by a wave of roaring excitement sweeping over the grand plaza.
“Quiet! Wh-what does it say at the end?”
“Cough…” After clearing his throat, the merchant reluctantly continued. “A week from today, an event will be held to choose the next emperor. The three princes will be present then.”
“Wowwww!”
“Wait! Wait!” A middle-aged man quelled the crowd’s excited shouting. “Three princes?”
“Come to think of it…”
“Huh? Why does it say three princes?”
“The first prince would be His Highness Kiser ben Britten, first in line to the throne, and the second is His Highness Kaizen…”
“His Highness the Fourth Prince Kaiser passed away… so isn’t it two, not three?”
“Does the poster say anything about that?”
All the people turned to the merchant.
“…It’s Joshua Sanders,” he muttered. “The last prince is him, Joshua Sanders.”
Someone gasped, unable to hold back their shock. There was one person that the citizens of the empire currently talked about the most, and that was Joshua Sanders, the war hero. Since his popularity already reached a zenith, the people felt no need to ask why he was included.
“Wooowwwwwwww!”
Of course, the people shouted even louder in joy.
“Oh my god! Joshua Sanders is our emperor!”
“The pride of the Empire!”
“Hurrah for the Hero King! No, hurray for the Martial God!”
Some were so thrilled that they hugged one another.
Meanwhile, a group of people were watching the citizens from a faraway corner of the plaza.
“Sir, it doesn’t look like we need to keep watching them.”
“Mmmm…” Cazes grunted from beneath the hood of his robe.
The group of people was composed of knights from the Auxiliary Battalion who’d come out to the street in order to find out the public’s opinion.
“There is no need to promote national glory, after all.”
“I’m not surprised by their reaction.”
“Even if I put aside the fact that he’s our captain, I would also be damn proud as a citizen of this country.”
“How dare you call him captain! He’s the great emperor of this Empire!”
“My bad. Wait, then are we His Majesty’s guards?”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. Even if he becomes the emperor, he’ll be guarding us at this rate.”
“…Well, yeah, His Majesty is freakishly strong.”
“So keep improving yourself.”
“But did they not say anything?” Viper suddenly interjected.
“‘They’?” Ranger repeated, tilting his head in confusion.
“The people from the Five Dukes and Twelve Families,” Viper clarified. “The ones of high social status.”
“I don’t know. Captain—no, His Highness Joshua didn’t say anything,” Ranger replied.
“Hmmm….”
“I'm guessing they couldn’t say anything. If they have a brain, they’ll have learned from Marquess Crombell…”
Viper shook his head. “Just like you said, the Twelve Families will be busy tiptoeing around His Highness, but what about the Five Dukes?”
“Why would they react any differently?” Ranger asked.
“They have a reason to react a lot differently,” Cazes interrupted.
“…Huh?”
“The Five Dukes have played a major role in keeping the Imperial Family in check, so if they act too servile, then the other noble families would belittle them.”
“The retired old people’s pride would be hurt?” Ranger assumed.
Cazes nodded. “On the other hand, if His Highness can make them his allies… he can rule like the iron-blooded Emperor Marcus.”
Ranger’s eyes widened as he understood.
“They must have started to make a move in secret, good or bad,” Cazes assumed.
“Bu-but the Five Ducal Families can’t afford to do so,” Ranger protested, baffled. “First of all, the Duke of Prius from the West has always been neutral. They never showed up during the three years of civil war, so it’s highly unlikely for them to make an appearance and interfere with His Highness achieving his goal now of all times.”
“In contrast, there is a high possibility of the Duchy of Reye from the North trying to pull off something. Since the old fox, the Military Advisor Zegar, leads that family and it’s safe to assume that the next emperor has already been decided, they’ll try to weaken the power of the emperor as much as possible,” Cazes said.
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“We don’t have to worry about the East, right?” Viper asked. “The area is under the Tremblins’ control.”
“Yes, it’ll be safe to assume that the Tremblin family is our ally since the Sword Emperor has decided to support His Majesty.”
“Then it's the remaining dukes in the South and central areas that we have to think about?” Ranger mumbled quietly and then heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank god.”
“What?” Cazes asked.
“Why are you pretending like you don’t know what I’m talking about? The Pontier Duchy in the South is currently led by Lady Charles; she’s basically the head of the family at this point.”
“So what?” Viper asked back in an uncharacteristically innocent voice.
Ranger was dumbfounded. “You really don’t know?”
“I know Lady Charles and His Highness are childhood friends, but we have to consider that separately from politics.”
“I’m not talking about that.” Ranger pounded his chest in frustration. “Love.”
“Love…” Viper trailed off, unable to grasp Ranger’s meaning.
“Lady Charles is in love with His Highness Joshua!”
Viper blinked in surprise, and he wasn’t the only one.
“Whaaatttt?”
“What is up with everyone? Wait, did no one know?” Ranger’s jaw dropped.
“Vi-Vice Commander Ranger, are you serious?”
“You really didn’t know. I even heard a rumor that she confessed her love to His Highness in the palace.”
“A lo-love confession?”
Now the entire group was in a furor.
“The Iron Empress?”
“S-so what happened? Did His Highness say yes?”
“His Highness finally has a life partner…!”
“She herself is a good person, and she’s also from a good family. So she’s really perfect to be His Highness’ life partner. Perfect.”
As if they were the main characters in this romance story, the Auxiliary Battalion knights were thrilled, but most of them were actually bachelors. Still, the knights paid zero attention to their bitter reality.
“Yeah, she couldn’t afford to get married until now, but she’s twenty-one. So it’s about time for her to think about marriage.”
“Wasn’t she twenty-two?”
“Same difference. Anyhow, the average age of people getting married is around twenty in the Empire.”
“It’s actually unusual for a woman of that age to be still unmarried. A person from a prestigious noble family tends to have a partner as soon as they’re born.”
The murmuring among the knights got louder over time.
“Enough!” Cazes shouted, unable to bear listening to them anymore. “Now is not the time to talk about such a matter!”
“This is the most important matter…” Ranger pouted.
“Ranger!” Cazes growled.
“Ah, alright, alright.” Ranger raised his arms in defeat and took a step backward.
“…All else aside, you mean that there is a low possibility of the Pontier Family becoming His Highness’s enemy,” Viper summarized.
Ranger grinned. “That’s right, Viper.”
“Then how about the last one?” Viper asked.
All the knights came to a halt.
“...The Duke of Agnus in the central region,” Viper concluded.
“…Is His Grace Babel von Agnus still recovering?” Ranger wondered.
“We have a bigger problem.” Cazes’s face darkened. “A rumor recently started to spread among some noble families.”
“What rumor?”
Ranger glanced at Cazes, who nodded. Ranger stepped closer to the other knight. “Why is your expression so grim? Is it juicier gossip than the one I had?”
“…Probably.”
“Huh?”
“There are witness accounts of…” Cazes paused and looked around warily. “…a person resembling His Grace Aden von Agnus here in Arcadia.”
Ranger and the knights stared at Cazes silently for a moment, unable to understand what he meant.
“…What?” Ranger eventually asked.
In the other corner of the plaza, there was another person watching the knights. This mysterious person was beyond the castle gate, to the outskirts of Arcadia.
* * *
In the meantime, another place turned quiet—but the difference was that the people were rendered speechless because of their opponent’s overwhelming strength, not an unexpected story.
“Oh my god. The Arietta died even before he could attack…?” Marco, Heimdall’s third apostle, mumbled.
Jabel, the second apostle, stared speechlessly at Joshua, but the young man hadn’t even turned his head.
“…Tsk, this is why I said we should attack together,” the First Irregular quietly complained.
“I-Irregular?” The apostles gave him wide-eyed looks.
Joshua’s eyes turned darker than the abyss. He eyed the First Irregular over the heads of the other apostles, and asked, “Were you in on this from the start?”
Joshua took a step forward, his energy bursting out of his body. The First Irregular? No, that wasn’t his name. The moniker might make sense because of his ability, which was strong enough to be called a Celestial, but Joshua knew that man’s real identity.
“Darkness Emperor.”