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Side Story Chapter 1

The news came as a shock—it had only been five days since the rebellion had broken out in the southern region. Nevertheless, the woman on the throne remained silent. The Imperial Knight in front of her waited for her instructions without saying anything either.

“How big is the rebel army?” the woman finally asked.

“The estimated number is one hundred thousand, currently led by Marquess Suspen, who is calling himself the Southern King.”

It was truly an arrogant title. Would they have still been able to act like this if he was still here?

“…Any news on His Majesty?”

“I’m afraid not. Sir Cain is looking everywhere…” The Imperial Knight trailed off.

“It won’t be easy to scour this vast continent on his own. Besides, he has gotten old.”

“He always says that he’s still hale and hearty. Commander—no, Cain, the ex-commander, will find His Majesty for sure.” The Imperial Knight nodded.

“…There is something that His Majesty also used to say to Sir Cain,” the woman muttered.

“Pardon?”

“‘Use that energy to get married.’”

“Cough…” The Imperial Knight tried desperately to not laugh.

“It’s going to look like Sir Cain didn’t get to marry because of His Majesty.” The woman quietly heaved a sigh. “Where is Sir Cain right now?”

“He… is training the knights.”

“Isn’t it a scolding?” the woman flippantly remarked.

The Imperial Knight didn’t answer, but his silence was answer enough.

Ten years passed since the disappearance of the Emperor of Avalon, and it had been two years since civil war had broken out within the great Avalon Empire, dividing the vast territory into five parts: the central region, where the woman and the Imperial Knights were right now, the east, the west, the south, and the north.

The current emperor’s reign had a rocky start. Although the Emperor had the right to take the throne, the process with which he had done so was closer to a coup than an inheritance. However, the Emperor had suppressed all forms of resistance with his overwhelming power. And yes, that was the very emperor who was missing now…

“How are the situations in the other regions?” the woman asked.

“They aren’t good.”

Of course they weren’t. The rebel army’s key forces had spread to all five regions in an attempt to overthrow the government by starting simultaneous uprisings all over the Empire.

“The other countries won’t stay still if the civil war stretches any further.”

“We’ll never let it happen,” the Imperial Knight said with determination.

The Avalon Empire was no longer the overwhelmingly strongest empire like it was before. It wasn’t that the Empire had weakened, but that the other countries had made remarkable progress. In the past, there were three strong countries, seven mediocre countries, and two weak countries. However, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that there was now one superpower country and eleven other countries; the entire continent was in chaos right now.

“…The Hubalt Empire.”

The three empires were the main cause of this chaos. The Swallow Empire, which had been one of the three strong countries, self-destructed. Although the Swallow Empire and Thran Kingdom had equal status now, it was just all show and no substance because of the discriminating elitist citizens of the Swallow Empire.

Those citizens didn’t try to accept the people of the Thran Kingdom as their equals. The problem was nominal autonomy. It might have been different if the two countries’ governments were united, but the idea of one country, two systems was ridiculous to them. Their culture, policy, heritage, race, rulers… The citizens of these two countries shared no similarities, but the governments put them together by force…

After a long moment, the woman heaved a sigh. “It really is a shame. It would have been great if they could help us.”

Cerona bel Grace was the female emperor of the Swallow Empire, and Ulabis was the king of the Thran Kingdom. Both were allies of the Avalon Empire. The two of them had come up with the one country, two systems plan, but that plan had turned out to be an utter failure. Afterward, civil war also broke out within the Swallow Empire. The conflict continued to go on. While the other two empires were busy fighting within themselves, the Hubalt Empire had increased its power drastically.

The Avalon Empire’s foreign affairs alone was a great source of trouble, but the state of affairs within the Avalon Empire had become even more serious over time.

“Who is the leader of these rebels? Who is their symbol right now?” the woman asked.

“Their nominal head is Carmen von Agnus.”

“…I knew it…” the woman bitterly muttered.

The Ducal Family of Agnus had been the most prestigious noble family within the empire, but after the death of Aden von Agnus, the family became irreparably maligned. The family existed for the Dark God and for him only, so with their god gone, their demise was only a matter of time. Of course, while sympathetic, the woman had no intention of going easy on them.

She came to a decision.

“I, Sersiarin Sanders, order you.”

The Imperial Knight straightened. “Yes, I’m listening.”

The woman’s name was Sersiarin Sanders. The current members of the Imperial Family of the Avalon Empire had no middle name—which was surprising since the whole concept of a middle name was to show how special one was. However, the Imperial Family, the people with the noblest blood in the Empire, gave up their middle names.

Of course, it was done by the current emperor, who always hated anything authoritative. He said that the highest ranking person should lead by example, and kept his name as it had been before he ascended to the throne.

“The southern region is important. Her Majesty’s family is there, and that place is the breadbasket of the Empire. Therefore, I’ll dispatch the First Battalion knights and one hundred thousand soldiers.”

“B-by the First Battalion, you mean…?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Sersiarin nodded determinedly. “Tell Sir Cain to put a pause on his search for His Majesty and head to the south immediately.”

***

At the southern region of the Avalon Empire, Marquess Suspen looked at the scorched castle wall and recalled his old memories.

“We finally reclaimed the south,” he muttered.

“Things are going easier than I expected. I definitely did not expect them to willingly abandon the castle.”

“They’re trying to join forces since they know that we need to go through Fortress Raymond to get to Arcadia from here,” Suspen explained.

“They were also certain that we wouldn’t harm the citizens. They’re really arrogant.”

“They’re also citizens of the Avalon Empire. I’m saying this just in case, but don’t do anything rash,” Suspen warned him.

“I’ll keep in mind that our priority is winning the people’s hearts.”

Suspen nodded in reply. The other man was really quick on the uptake, and Suspen didn’t think that way just because the man was his son. In addition, his sword skills were also exceptional, so Suspen had no reason to not keep the man by his side on the battlefield.

“It has been ten years since Joshua Sanders went missing,” Suspen murmured.

“Yes, my lord.”

“No one knows why he went missing yet. What could have happened to him?” Suspen wondered.

“We’ve already conquered eighty percent of the empire, so even if the Emperor shows up again, what can he do?”

Suspen frowned. “You only say that because you didn’t get to meet him.”

“Pardon?”

“Argo, remember that Joshua Sanders is a man with an immeasurable amount of power. He’s the only man in the continent who has slayed a god.”

“Rumors are always exaggerated. I’m confident about my chances and also don’t think the Emperor will be able to defeat you, my lord,” Argo replied.

“I’m not talking about that. You’re more talented than I am, and you became an expert when you were twenty, right?” Suspen asked.

“That’s correct, my lord,” Argo proudly replied.

Becoming an expert at the age of twenty was something one could brag about for their entire life. There were less than ten people in the continent who had made such an achievement, after all. But…

“Joshua Sanders was a Class A at your age,” Suspen said.

“Pardon? By Class A, you mean…?”

“If I remember correctly, all of them are now called Masters.”

Argo’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “I-is that true?”

“Yes, it is.”

“That’s impossible! The Flame Emperor, who is currently considered the strongest Star among the Nine, isn’t at that level…” Argo trailed off.

“That very Flame Emperor lost to Joshua Sanders too.”

Argo, startled, shut his mouth.

Come to think of it, Argo had read about that in a biography entitled 《Joshua Sanders, the Reigning Emperor’s Life》, but he didn’t really want to read or hear stories about the current emperor. History was written by the winners, so he thought it was definitely exaggerated. Argo had struggled to keep his morale up, so he didn’t wish to kill it with an absurd rumor.

Suspen firmly shook his head. “You need to hear this. In order to win a war, you need to know your enemy.”

“B-but… I have confidence in myself!”

“…In that case, do you want to test it?” Suspen asked.

“What? What are you—?”

“Over there.” Suspen pointed north.

Of course, Argo knew exactly what lay in that direction.

“Fortress Raymond…?”

“All the loyalist remnants from the south must be in there, along with the child of the Emperor you were wondering about.”

“…Are you talking about Kireua Sanders?” Argo quietly asked.

“Yeah, he’s the same age as you, right?”

Argo’s face darkened. Kireua Sanders was one of a few people in the entire Empire that Argo considered his rival. Kireua had been taught by the Knight of Red Flame, the Star who still shone brilliantly.

“…Someone told me that the current emperor intentionally led the situation to turn out like this,” Suspen mumbled.

“What do you mean?”

“He’s trying to sort out bad seeds. It has already been twenty years since the current emperor took the throne. The children born at the time have become adults, so it’s the perfect opportunity for the rebels to come back out of hiding.”

“Th-the are you saying that Joshua Sanders saw everything coming and started this to arrest all the rebels?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll find out soon.” Suspen’s eyes turned sharp.

The Emperor was surely a monster, but he was still a human like them. If he had the slightest amount of affection for his children and something bad hadn’t happened to him, Joshua Sanders was going to show up soon.

“After the death of the Dark God, many nobles weren’t happy about the current emperor taking the throne, but no one dared to say it out aloud. That was how overwhelmingly strong the Emperor was—but no longer,” Suspen declared. “Over the past twenty years, we’ve gotten remarkably stronger than before, and that monstrous Emperor is still out in the wild. Even if he shows up like you say… we’ll be able to take the Avalon Empire because we, the four Kings of the rebel army, have become as strong as a Star.”

His eyes gleamed as he drew his sword.

“Let’s go,” he said. “We won’t be able to achieve anything without taking risks. We’ll march over our dead comrades and drink our enemies’ blood after slitting their throats. That is how we will build our own little world.”

“We’ll follow you to the end of hell!” Argo shouted.

Suspen released his radiant aura and clad his upheld sword in it.

“Let the main story begin.”