TEN YEARS LATER
Near Cainstown, the green hills promise great adventure. Two lone figures, clad in a rusty suit of armor, and one in a long, black trench coat walk upon those hills. And not far away, a strange tavern awaits inspection…
The Boar Hat, famous for its good booze - not to mention it's terrible food. "Here you are, five steins! Thanks for waiting so long!" a young man says. He has tousled blonde hair, emerald green eyes that light up and sparkle at the very mention of adventure, and a rosy blush compliments his tanned, youthful face as well as his cheerful demeanor. Dressed in attire similar to a waiter's - a white button-up shirt and pants, a black sleeveless vest, and a loosely worn red tie - but with the exception of open-faced black and green boots. It's obvious that he doesn't wear socks, as well, but… Strapped to his back is a sword with a jade-colored serpentine hilt. It's obvious that this child is not who he seems to be. "Got room for more?" an incoming customer asks. Smiling, the child says, "Right over here!" but asks the occupants of a table, "Sorry, could you scoot over a bit?"
Once that's over and done, he takes four steins from yet another table, causing one of the people sitting there to say, "Man, for such a little fella, he's a hard working waiter." This catching the boy's attention, he replies, "I'm not a waiter, I'm the owner! This is my place!" Shaking his head and walking away, with one eye half closed, he appears the very image of cheeky. "The owner? A kid like him?" the man says, shocked. Ignoring those people, he goes to another table and cheerfully remarks, "Here you go, fresh from the oven! The Boar Hat's signature meat pie!" In front of the customer's eyes lays a steaming, golden-brown meat pie. "That looks good! Let's dig in!" the three sitting at the table say.
Not a moment later, they spit it out, vomiting in the process. "Figures. Our rep is for good booze and terrible food." the boy says casually. "You could have mentioned that earlier!" the three at the table shout at the child. "Are you messing with us?!" a large, burly man yells. A younger, weaker man taps his shoulder, stuttering, "H-hang on, this guy has a sword…" The young man's expression changes to one of discontent and mutters, "Oh, dear. We've got a difficult crowd tonight." Snapping his fingers as if to summon a bodyguard or a creature of terror, he states, "Clean up this mess."
Appearing from the shadows, a pig emerges and says, "Sheesh, you call that a mess? Why do you even need me for this job? Ugh." The three who rejected the food are shocked beyond belief, and the burly man stutters, "Th-the pig, it's talking!" Said pig looks up at him and sighs, "Don't get surprised by every little thing. This is why I hate hillbillies." Walking closer and closer to the spit-out food, the pig seems to anticipate the boy's request, "Hawk, I need you to clean the floor." Letting out a small tch sound, Hawk says, "What a hassle… Being in charge of scraps disposal ain't no picnic." Moments later, the floor is shimmering clean, and Hawk quietly complains, "Make sure there are better scraps next time."
When Hawk is leaving the room, the blonde-haired boy flatly tells the customers, "If you guys are interested, I could make a decent whole-hog roast." Hawk's demeanor quickly changes, chirping, "That was great! This place has the best scraps!" 'Hahaha, poor Hawk. I should apologize to him later for such a mean joke.' the boy thinks. The laughter in the room is contagious until a scared, middle-aged man bursts into the tavern. "I-I saw them! Honest, I saw them w-with my own two eyes! I'm positive that it was the Wandering Rust Knight and the Trenched Grim!" he says to a group of drunkards.
"Everybody's been talking about it lately." another man says at yet another table. Back at the scared man's table, a drunkie reassures him, "Come on, there's no such thing! It'sh just somethin' to scare children into behaving." Proceeding with his little lecture, he adds in a spooky tone, "'If you keep misbehaving, one of the Seven Deadly Sins will come for you in armor that's rusty from blood!'" Electing a chorus of laughs from the table, the owner asks from behind the bar in a curious tone, "Seven Deadly Sins?" The drunk looks shocked as he can be in that state, and says, "Yeah. You've never heard of them, our good underage owner?" Another man adds, "They're even on those wanted posters. Those over there. What was it, ten years ago…?" The young man looks at the posters on his cork board in curiosity and focuses in on one: Meliodas. The other man continues, "That big fracas where dozens of Holy Knights who had gathered from across the land were all butchered. These Seven Deadly Sins were the ones who did it. They say that the way the Holy Knights' Grand Master himself was killed was too gruesome to look at. And their captain, Meliodas, is the scariest of the bunch. They say that he's even brought down whole countries!" The conversation turns to the Seven Deadly sins.
"They haven't been caught yet, right?"
"Yeah, not a single one."
"Some of the rumors I've heard say they're all dead."
"The new Holy Knights wouldn't let them live."
"Even now, with the king bedridden, the Holy Knights are keeping the kingdom good and safe."
"But this wanted board is updated every year. Wouldn't that mean that they're not dead yet?" This statement stops the conversation dead cold. Everyone knows this statement is the blatant truth, and no one wants to mention. After mentioned drunkie nervously chuckles, and waves his hand in a dismissive way, "Anyway, this talk of a knight walking around in rusty armor, and the Grim in a dusty black trench coat is kinda farfetched. Right?" Just then, footsteps can be heard. One the tap, tap of leather boots, and the other clunk, clunk of rusty armor. All attention turns to the door.
The whole bar is trembling in fear and apprehension rises to new levels. Hawk sniffs the air, questioning, "Why do I smell rust… and leather?" The door opens like that of a horror movie, and surprise… A figure clad in a completely black trench coat with a large brimmed hat stumbles into the bar supporting another person completely covered in a rusty suit of armor says, "T-the Seven Deadly Sins… w-where…?"
The whole bar erupts into chaos, and everyone (except the owner) screams, "TH-THEY'RE HERE!" All the customers rush out in a panic, leaving just the four individuals in the dinky bar. Hawk trembles behind the counter, whilst the owner easily jumps the small obstacle between him and the two mysterious people. "Who are you?" he asks. As soon as he says this, though, the two keel over, losing their headgear. In the suit of armor, a pale, silver-haired girl can be found; in the trench coat, a slightly tan woman with auburn hair can be found. "These are the urban legends that are suspected to be part of the Seven Deadly Sins? They're just kids…" Hawk says, suspicious of their 'identities'. Just who are these girls? And do they have nice bodies… the bar owner wonders.