Igneel's POV
It's been a long time, and the moment has finally come. My army is ready. I have over ten thousand men at the 2nd rank and just over a thousand at rank 3. Though it might not seem like much compared to my father's forces, I've already researched the next kingdom. To say the least, it is not a military kingdom.
Their men are not up to standard. But what worries me most is that my father told me there was an artifact—part of the Wicked Nine—there. Every time I've seen these artifacts, they seemed weak and nothing special. But if they could release a powerful sealed witch, then it must be powerful.
As I stood on a tall podium overlooking my army, I released a bit of my presence. Book 101 of being king: always show your power and aura when giving a speech or announcement.
"I am Igneel Horrendous Haddock, your emperor," I said with a powerful voice. "Today marks the beginning of what you've trained for so long. I initially wanted to start earlier, but your strengths were unsatisfactory."
Many frowned at my words but stayed silent.
"But throughout the years of my intense training regime, you've proved yourself. I thought maybe I would have only three thousand at most, but I guess I underestimated you. I, the emperor, declare you all elite of the empire. Your ranks will be increased," I added.
They roared in happiness and joy. After a while, feeling they had celebrated enough, I raised a hand. They all quieted down.
"Though I have much to say, I'll get straight to the point. When I became emperor, my father gave me multiple tasks to complete. The first was to improve the empire to his standards. The second was to raise an army. And lastly—to conquer other kingdoms and, if possible, other empires," I said.
They all looked at each other and didn't know what to say.
"But as I thought about it, I realized something. When my father started his campaign, he only had over a hundred men from our tribe, and somehow he managed to conquer over a hundred islands within just two years."
All their eyes widened in shock.
"But then again, we were a tribe of dragon hunters who fought dragons to survive. Now I see something different," I said, leaving a pause.
"All of you," I said, waving my hand slowly across the crowd. "You have reached their power. And not only that—there are over ten thousand of you. If my father, starting with just over a hundred men, could conquer a whole archipelago, how much could we achieve?" I added.
I stopped talking and let the question hang in the air. As I looked across my army, I smiled. Technically, my father did start with our tribe when he became chief, so I didn't lie. But there was nothing to worry about since their training was maddening and pushed them to their limits. With my medicinal knowledge, I made medicine that quickened their recovery.
I stepped off the platform and headed towards my personal tent. Sensing someone inside, I sighed. I entered and greeted him.
"Father," I said.
"Not bad," he smiled.
I nodded, but then I noticed more people behind him.
"Clyde, Claude, Fergus, Rune," I smiled.
"What's up, Igneel," they said—except for one.
I sighed as I looked at all of them.
Clyde: an adventurous and sea-loving idiot.
Fergus: He was named after our grandfather, and they seem to be similar as well. Fergus was a battle-hungry maniac.
Rune: He is extremely intellectual and mostly spends his time in the royal library. I even heard that he's read every book there.
Claude: the only son of my second mother. He is extremely indifferent to most things. He only shows emotion around us, and even then it isn't much.
As I kept thinking of their uniqueness, I couldn't help but feel sorry for my father. He had spent the last three years having children, and all of them were not to his expectation. Not in the sense that he wanted them to be perfect, but in the fact that they all caused him a headache because of their traits.
I shook my head.
"So what are you doing here?" I asked.
He waved me off.
"I'll just be watching your performance. I've already conquered the territory surrounding mine. Now I'm waiting for you to start," he added.
I nodded.
"But what are they doing here?"
"I want them to gain experience in this field, especially Fergus, since he'll become a general in the future. I don't want him charging in and thinking he'll win somehow. I want him to learn strategy and planning," he explained.
I nodded. This would be great experience for Fergus, but for the other three, it's hard to say.
"So where is Yao?" he asked.
"She's visiting her grandparents with her mother," I replied.
He sighed.
"I guess I have to settle with you guys," he said.
A few days later
I sat on the throne of Aldoria. I couldn't believe the conquest would be so easy, but I guess it was for the better. (The kingdom in Cinderella didn't have a name, so I had to improvise.)
While I focused on integrating and stabilizing my new kingdom, I couldn't help but sigh.
Father and my brothers had left. He took them to scout the area since he sensed an artifact of the Wicked Nine was here.
The war ended quickly because I decided to transform, rush into the castle of Aldoria, and summon my army before they could react.
When I teleported them in, all my siblings were uninterested—except for one. Fergus started running around and attacking the opposing men like a madman.
Looking around, I couldn't help but sigh. The castle had multiple craters and a huge amount of damage from Fergus's rampage.
Hopefully Father can control him. I don't want him destroying anything else.
Knock knock.
I looked to the door. Who could it be at this time?
"Come in."
The door opened as two of my men followed behind the king and prince of this kingdom.
"What is it?"
The old king fell to his knees.
"Though I have no right to ask this of you, I beg you to spare my son," he said, bowing his head to the floor.
"F-Father," the prince stuttered, pain in his voice.
I raised a hand.
"Unless the person deserves death, I don't kill them. You don't have to worry about that," I assured him.
He bowed several times and thanked me. After that, he slowly got up and looked like he wanted to ask something but seemed hesitant.
"Speak up," I commanded.
He got serious.
"What do you plan to do with the civilians?" he asked.
I raised an eyebrow. I took out a book from my storage ring and threw it at him.
"This book has all the information I want you to review. All the laws and rules will be enforced in this kingdom. I've already sent some of my men to scout the kingdom for any wrongdoings," I added.
They gulped and nodded. I waved them off and watched as they left.
Well, I guess that's it.
"Shang," I called.
He walked over and knelt down.
"Stabilize the kingdom," I ordered.
"Yes, your majesty," he answered.
I stood up and teleported.
Erik's POV
I looked around at the town and couldn't help but smile. This place wasn't bad—it looked great. Merida and Elsa would love this.
Maybe I should bring the girls too. But they're still grounded. Damn, was I too harsh? Well whatever, I'll figure that out when I return.
Walking around with my sons following, I couldn't help but sigh. What should I do with these guys?
I slowly turned to the boys. Clyde looked around in wonder. Fergus walked around the food stalls. Rune was quiet, reading his book and not paying attention. Claude looked almost detached.
Staring at Claude, I couldn't help but sigh again. He was the most difficult child I fostered. For some reason, he's extremely cold to people.
He almost killed a maid after they disturbed his sleep. Though he's usually calm and indifferent, he's easily irritated.
And because of that, I put my strongest guards around him to prevent him from doing bad things. So far, it's been working. I shook my head and turned back towards my objective.
Using my full senses, I saw where the artifact was located. It seemed to be in a manor. Should I just charge in and take it?
I mean, I could, but I'm too lazy to do it. I turned back to Rune.
"Rune, can you summon a monster to take the artifact?" I asked.
He looked up from his book for only a moment and gave me a look of dissatisfaction.
My mouth twitched. Why was he giving me that look? He turned back to his book and started turning the pages.
He waved his hand and a monster formed. The monster was small—as small as a toddler—but its eyes looked sharp.
I turned to him, but after seeing that he wasn't going to explain, I turned back to the monster. A thought came to mind.
Diastasi, give me a picture of the artifact.
"That will be 10 points."
Just give it, I thought.
A picture appeared in my hand and I gave it to the monster. The monster looked at it for a moment, then nodded and disappeared into the darkness, heading towards the manor.
"Sigh, ok. You can do whatever you want, but make sure to return to the castle within a week. There's gonna be a ball or something in the castle for the previous prince," I said.
Fergus and Clyde nodded before leaving, but Rune and Claude just walked away.
Sigh, I'm gonna have to do something about those two. I mean, they're all pretty hard to deal with, but those two are the most difficult.
I then used teleport to head back to Novus.
Fergus's POV
After Father said we could do our own things, I started walking around the town. This place was pretty nice, but I hadn't seen anyone selling pie.
I suddenly smelled something good and walked toward it. Getting closer, I noticed it was a stall. I gulped as the smell wafted into my nose.
But I had to wait since someone was in front of me. As they talked, I slowly walked up behind her. The stall owner noticed me first, and his eyes widened.
He moved his hand in shock and pointed at me. The girl, confused, turned around and jumped when she saw me.
"Uh, can I get some food?" I asked.
The man quickly nodded and moved out of the way. But the woman stayed still. I was confused about why she didn't move.
"Is something wrong?"
She gulped.
"A—are you not a kidnapper?" she asked.
I scratched my head.
"Why would I be a kidnapper?" I asked.
She pointed at me.
"You're wearing a cloak, you're wearing a mask, and you're extremely huge," she explained.
I paused at her words. Father had told me to wear these because my brothers and I all had unique appearances that would draw attention.
But did it really matter? I mean, I didn't really care. With that thought in mind, I moved my hand to my cloak and took it off, revealing my red and almost golden hair. Then I slowly took off my mask.