Britain's winter wind blew with a ferocity that threatened to rip the flesh from a child's bones.
But the small figure trudging through the blizzard did not stop.
His name was Kay.
He was only five years old.
At that age, most children would be snuggled in their mother's arms, drifting off to sleep while listening to old folktales. But in Kay's hand was a rusty dagger, a discarded piece of scrap from his father, Black Knight Ector.
"Damn it... damn it all..."
The short legs of a five-year-old were far too small to easily navigate snow that piled up to his knees. He staggered with every single step.
But he couldn't turn back.
Waiting for him at home were eight monster siblings with stomachs like gaping black holes.
'Big brother... food...'
He could almost hear the hallucinations—the haunting calls of those eight pairs of terrible eyes.
If he returned empty-handed?
He was dead meat.
Deep in the forest, before a massive rocky cave.
This was the territory of a bear, a place even the village elders avoided. It wasn't quite a magical beast, but it was a ferocious predator nonetheless.
Kay hid behind a boulder, gasping for breath.
His heart hammered against his ribs, and he was terrified. He wanted to run so badly that he felt he might actually wet himself.
Just then, a stomach growled. It wasn't his own. It was the hunger of his siblings back at the cabin, transmitting to him like a telepathic broadcast.
Grrrr~
A brown bear the size of a house lumbered out of the cave. It had been awakened from its winter slumber by an empty stomach. The bear reared up on its hind legs, towering at a staggering three meters.
"Holy hell..."
The bear turned its head. Missing one eye to an old scar, the beast's lone eye locked onto the tiny human child hiding behind the rock.
To the bear, Kay wasn't even prey. He was nothing more than a frog that would pop if stepped on. That utter dismissal was exactly his opportunity.
The moment the bear carelessly stepped forward, Kay lunged.
"Eat this, you overgrown pig!"
Flash!
Moving with a speed unbelievable for a five-year-old, Kay grabbed the bear's fur and clung to it like a cicada. He drove the rusty dagger with all his might into the bear's scruff.
Clang!
But the strength of a five-year-old was insufficient to pierce the bear's thick hide and layers of fat. The dagger simply bounced off.
"Gah!"
The bear gave a dismissive shudder of its body.
That simple movement sent Kay flying like a dried leaf, slamming him hard into the rock wall.
Crunch!
"Cough!"
Pain flared as if his spine had shattered, and a spray of blood erupted from his mouth.
His vision went white. Any ordinary child would have died instantly. But Kay had the blood of a hero flowing through his veins. More importantly, the sheer mental fortitude of an eldest son who knew the consequences of returning empty-handed kept him conscious.
The bear raised a massive paw. If that came down, he would be reduced to pulp.
Kay crawled desperately along the ground. The only thing his hand found was a sharp, jagged stone.
'I'm gonna die. I'm actually gonna die! I haven't even had a girlfriend yet!'
At that moment, the bear roared, opening its maw wide.
ROOOAAAR!
A red throat, soft and exposed. Kay acted on instinct. If he couldn't dodge, he would go inside.
"Die!!"
Kay threw himself into the bear's embrace, plunging the stone and the broken shard of the dagger into the roof of the bear's open mouth with everything he had.
The small, frail arm of a five-year-old sank deep into the beast's throat.
Squelch!
The bear shrieked. It thrashed violently, trying to bite him, but Kay gripped the bear's tongue and held on for dear life.
The bear went berserk, smashing into trees and boulders. Kay was tossed around like a ragdoll, but he refused to let go.
"Die! Just die and turn into meat!!"
The struggle felt like hours, though only minutes had passed.
Finally, the mountain of fur collapsed.
Silence returned to the snowfield. Blood and foam leaked from the bear's mouth.
And from that bloody maw, a small Kay, drenched in saliva and blood, crawled out.
He stood up on trembling legs.
His left arm hung limp and dislocated, and his body was a map of bruises. Yet, his eyes burned with a fierce intensity.
"I won..."
He looked at the corpse and spat.
"Meat."
A short while later, the cabin door opened.
"F-father..."
Ector nearly fainted from shock.
Standing before him was his five-year-old son, covered in blood and frozen solid like a snowman.
And behind the small boy lay a massive bear, tied with ropes and dragged all the way home. The fact that he had hauled back a bear that had gorged itself for hibernation proved that Kay was extraordinary from the start.
"Kay! Kay!! Did you... did a bear do this to you?! When I was your age, I was already slaying wyverns!"
Kay didn't even have the strength to answer.
"Damn it... just give them... food. Those brats..."
Before he could finish, the eight baby beasts crawling on the floor caught the scent of meat and charged.
They looked ready to chew through raw flesh with their toothless gums.
"You crazy monsters! You have to cook it first!"
Kay screamed, clutching his dislocated arm.
While Ector scrambled to grill the meat, Kay slumped against the wall and slid down to the floor.
As the warmth of the fire reached him, the tension broke, and tears suddenly burst forth.
'I'm only five. Tom next door is probably playing with a hobby horse right now, and I'm out here hunting bears...'
Kay staggered back up. His body was already recovering to some extent; he was, after all, the son of the Black Knight, the man known as the Immortal.
Ector brought over the grilled meat, and Kay tore it into small pieces, feeding them to the babies.
Munch munch, chomp chomp.
It was a mealtime storm.
Artoria swallowed the meat as if she were drinking it, while Artoria Alter crunched through the bones. Artoria Lancer pretended to be refined while clutching heaps of meat in both hands, and Artoria X performed the eccentricity of tossing meat into the air to catch it in her mouth.
In an instant, an entire bear leg vanished.
Once their bellies were full, the little ones grew docile. One by one, they sprawled across the floor and fell fast asleep.
With their tummies rounded and full, their soft breathing made them look almost like angels.
"Sigh..."
Kay leaned back against the wall.
Sir Ector flopped down beside him.
"Kay. You did well."
"Father... do I have to do this every day?"
"According to Merlin, until you reach adulthood..."
Adulthood? Fifteen more years?
Kay stared up at the ceiling. His future looked bleak.
"That bear... it'll last two days, right?"
"And after that?"
"After that... I guess I'll go annihilate a herd of wild boars."
Kay looked down at the eight sleeping infants.
Among them, the smallest, Lily, tossed in her sleep and rested her head on Kay's knee.
She was warm.
"...Damn it. Why do they have to be so cute?"
Kay grumbled, reaching out to pat Lily's head.
At that moment, a heavy, wet sound echoed from Lily's diaper area.
Squish, pffft!
The touching moment lasted less than three seconds.
Something heavy and warm spread across Lily's diaper—and Kay's knee.
It was the signal flare.
Pbbbt! Rumble! Pshhh! Splash!
Eight simultaneous eruptions.
The cabin was instantly transformed into a chemical warfare training ground.
The scent of roasted meat vanished, replaced by the suffocating stench of ammonia from hell.
"Aaaah! Dad! Diapers! Get the diapers!!"
"We're out of cloth! Take off your underwear!"
"GOD DAMN IT ALL!!!"
Kay, who hadn't shed a single tear while fighting a bear, finally broke down into loud, sobbing wails in the face of eight dirty diapers.
Thus began the great prologue of the Hero of Britain, Sir Kay—a beginning stained with the blood of bears and the filth of babies.
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