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The marketplace was bustling with noise.
Even though it was located on the outskirts of the empire, it was a place where many gathered, filled with the heat of life.
As Ichigo was out from his cabin buying groceries as usual, a merchant struck up a casual conversation with him.
"Hey, Ichigo. Buying only bread and meat again today? You should eat some vegetables, too."
"Nah, I’m good. I’m healthy enough even without that stuff, right?"
Ichigo replied with a grin and pulled four copper coins from his pocket, handing them to the merchant.
He wondered if he was spending the inheritance his grandfather left him too freely, but since one of his grandfather's last instructions was not to go hungry, he used the money without much hesitation.
"Mister, the streets are unusually noisy today. It feels like there are more people than usual."
As Ichigo spoke while chewing on a piece of the warm bread he had just bought, the merchant shrugged.
"I heard some high-ranking official from the army is visiting. I don't know much about it myself. I’m not interested, anyway. Why don't you go take a look? They might welcome a talented Quincy like you."
The merchant gestured toward a spot where people were crowded together, whispering amongst themselves.
Beyond them, a flag bearing the Quincy Cross—the symbol of their race—was raised high.
The high-ranking official seemed to be addressing the crowd from atop a horse.
"Hmm... really?"
For a moment, Ichigo felt a spark of curiosity and considered going to see the official, but he quickly dismissed the thought. Shaking his head, he began walking back toward his cabin.
"I’m not interested. I hate places like the army—stiff and full of strict rules."
"Ha, I figured you'd say that."
The merchant laughed and waved his hand as if telling him to get going.
It was then.
"Guh...?!"
Suddenly, the merchant fell to his knees, panicked by a crushing sensation weighing down on his body.
"Mister?"
As a startled Ichigo looked around, he saw that everyone else who had been talking just moments ago was now collapsed on their knees.
And at the center of it all, a man with pitch-black hair and a black cloak sat atop a horse, looking down in silence.
'That man is...'
Ichigo held his breath. He stared at the figure his grandfather had talked about until his ears were sore, feeling a strange sense of dissonance.
"M-My deepest apologies, Lord Yhwach! To think I would engage in such a petty squabble with a monkey...!"
The man who had been speechifying to the crowd moments ago bowed hurriedly and shouted. A red-haired boy, whom the man had called a 'monkey,' gritted his teeth and trembled as he looked up at Yhwach.
"It is fine. I have come to pick up the things I was looking for.
To gather those who will become my two arms."
Yhwach spoke slowly, his eyes fixed on the figure standing properly before him.
A beautiful blonde boy who still looked quite young.
"It is you. I know your name, Jugram Haschwalth. My other half."
"...Pardon? Um... me? What do you...? I don't quite understand..."
As Haschwalth asked in a trembling voice while looking up at Yhwach, Yhwach cut him off with a firm tone.
"You do not need to understand. From now on, you shall join the Sternritter as my close aide."
"..."
While Haschwalth’s eyes widened, shaking with agitation, Yhwach turned his head and shifted his gaze.
Toward the boy who was also withstanding his spiritual pressure.
"The other is you. I have finally found you, my son."
"...Huh?"
Ichigo took a step back instinctively, caught off guard.
"M-Me?"
"Yes, you, Ichigo. You shall also join the Sternritter alongside Haschwalth."
The only training he had ever done was chopping firewood.
His grandfather had occasionally shown him how to gather Reishi, but he had never tried it himself even once.
And someone like him was supposed to join the army?
While Ichigo stared blankly at Yhwach, unable to process the situation, Haschwalth murmured in a trembling voice.
"Um... perhaps there has been some mistake."
"...What? I cannot simply let that slide, brat.
You, who have been chosen by His Majesty—how dare you suggest His Majesty has made a mistake?"
At Haschwalth’s words, Hubert, who had been watching from beside Yhwach, let out a hollow laugh and tilted his head as if the boy were pathetic.
Nevertheless, Haschwalth pushed on with his words.
"I have almost no talent as a Quincy. I can't make a bow or arrows...
I believe Bazz-B over there... is far more suitable to be His Majesty's aide than someone like me!"
"Are you still talking?! You brat!"
Unaware that Bazzard was gritting his teeth, Haschwalth kept his head bowed and shouted his opinion toward Yhwach. Just as Hubert was about to draw his sword, the sound of Yhwach dismounting his horse echoed through the area.
"As I thought, you seem to know nothing.
It is only natural that you cannot create a Heilig Bogen.
Because you are a Quincy who possesses the same 'power to share' as I do."
Yhwach then explained to Haschwalth that, unlike other Quincies, he could not absorb Reishi to make it his own power. He coldly told Bazzard to be grateful to Haschwalth, who had turned a talentless boy like him into a genius.
While Bazzard stared at Yhwach and Haschwalth with a frozen expression, another voice spoke up from the other side.
"W-Wait a minute! Then what about me? I can't make Reishi arrows either, or a bow, or a Heilig Bogen...!!"
"T-This guy, too...!"
While Hubert gnashed his teeth, Yhwach quietly watched Ichigo, who was blurting out words as if making excuses in the chaotic situation, and spoke as if wondering why he didn't realize it.
"Because you are my biological son."
At that moment, the bread in Ichigo's hand dropped with a thud onto the muddy ground.
Haschwalth, who had been listening quietly beside Yhwach.
Bazz-B, who was sweating and trembling as he tried to push himself up against Yhwach's spiritual pressure.
The expressions of everyone present turned into masks of pure stupidity.
"....Pardon???"
Hubert’s usual composed demeanor vanished, replaced by a look of utter horror.
.
.
.
"The Emperor of Lichtreich is my dad...? Then does that make me a prince...?"
"Quiet, kid. Based on your age, there's absolutely no way that's true, so stop spouting such arrogant nonsense."
As Ichigo muttered while staring blankly out the window of the jolting carriage, Hubert snapped back at him.
"Even at a generous estimate, you look barely fifteen. The only woman His Majesty has kept as a close aide recently is that Nikita girl who became a member of the Schutzstaffel five years ago. Stop having such absurd thoughts and stay quiet like that blonde kid."
Hubert glared menacingly at Ichigo, speaking rapidly as if trying to convince himself that Ichigo couldn't possibly be Yhwach's biological son.
"Yeah... well..."
Ichigo looked him up and down, feeling slightly flustered. Just then, the carriage stopped moving, and Hubert muttered softly.
"We've arrived."
At those words, Haschwalth spoke for the first time since getting into the carriage.
"Um... where have we been brought to?"
"Where else?"
Hubert finally flashed a refreshing—though in Ichigo's eyes, somewhat sinister—smile as he flung the carriage door open.
"The place where you'll be beaten into shape."
Beyond the carriage door, the towering spires of a massive, silver-shining fortress came into view.
It was Silbern, the residence of Yhwach.
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