One Year After

A very large man with a bushy moustache and a fiery determined stare, is standing proudly and strongly while carrying a basket full of flour towards a line of carts. Behind him there is a noblewoman with powdered white hair and immaculate white clothing, with a ornate fan in her hand and eyes deviously green like a cat's. She is negotiating with a man twice her size and height, and yet. He is the one bowing down to her.

"I am so very sorry m'lady, but you can't keep pushing the workers this hard, they need a break from the harvestin and producing" Said the worker pleading.

"And they'll get their vacation after they meet the quotas for the month" Said the green eyed woman haughtily.

"Bu-"

"No buts sir, do you even realize who we are dealing with!?"

"I know milady but still"

"No buts, either your workers finish it or we'll all disappear from accidents'" The lady said with an anger that is being held down.

"Yes madam Mecklenberg" The worker said reluctantly.

"Good, now get going now. You may be suicidal, but i still want to live a full life. Now, what's our progress here Fritz?" Mecklenburg

"Just one more a few more crat-" Suddenly Fritz stopped talking when he sees a skinny, long haired, child stuffing the flours in the crates into a small bag.

Fritz's first reaction was confusion, what's a thief going to do with a bag full of flours?. Then after a brief period of wondering he suddenly remembered his job and screamed "Thief!" while running towards the child.

when the MPs that was guarding the factory heard the call, and remembering that there was a noble visiting the factory to supervise the products was here. Immediately went into action.

The brown reddish haired child realising he's been caught ran, with a bag full of flour. Running out the factory grounds and going into the tight alleys of wall Sina

"Stop! you brat!" Fritz and the MPs are natives of Sina so they have the advantage of knowing where most alleyways goes. And yet they still had a hard time catching the child.

The child goes through alleyway after alleyway running as fast as possible, while making spur of the moment decisions.

Fritz seeing this realizes the child isn't a native or isn't as familiar with the city as him.

"we'll get you now brat! you two! Try to cut him off at that alley!" Fritz commanded the two MPs, being a former MP himself he's much more comfortable ordering them compared to the average noble bodyguard.

"Yes Sir!" The MPs complied, who knows what'll happen if they disobey the noble's guard dog.

Fritz confident in his decision became confident he had won, but when he had met up with the two MPs the child is nowhere to be found.

"God damnit! How'd you two miss him you were supposed to cut him off!" Fritz a massive man that towers over the soldiers, screamed at them.

"Now calm down Fritz it's only a mere bag of flour, we'll buy two bags from other producers that have grounds not as incompetently guarded as this one" Madam Mecklenburg said to the MPs while riding her horse, as a reminder of the fact and as a threat that they will pay for their failure.

The MPs started trembling, both from anger and shock. The fact that they were trained for three years, 2 years more for adjustment to their specific military branch, and reaching the top 10 in their trainee branch lost their career just like that. "Please milady just please forgive us this one time" One of the MPs reached into his pocket and pulled out 3 gold coins, the other realising this is their only chance of keeping their job gave 2 of his own gold. Almost the price for a small house in wall Rose, used to the fact that they can be freed just from simple bribery.

Madam Mecklenburg, always disgusted and frustrated by the unrelenting and constant corruption of the MPs started to become much more unforgiving. "Take the money Fritz"

"Yes Madam" Fritz takes the gold coins from the soldiers with his large hands, checks if it's fake or not by trying to bend it a little. Then gives it to Mecklenburg. The soldiers starts to feel relief until the Madam opens her mouth to speak.

"Now all you need to do is find that child" The Madam although used to the corruption, will not let these two get away both for their failure as guards and their attempts to bribe a noble. Whether they capture the child or not it doesn't matter to her, at the end of the day they'll still be fired from the job.

Sewers of wall Sina

Sieg is reading a guide on how to cook bread, there in the dirty sewers is where he's lived for the past year since passing through the gate. In the first few weeks he managed to eat and buy food from the money sister Maria gave him, and selling his skinny weak horse for a significant discount.

But the weeks turn into months, he managed to survive the first 3 months with some rationing and begging until the MPs started to kick him off the streets, then comes the 4th month he starts trying to steal from the food carts, but because he arrived at the part of wall Sina that is more guarded than the others his sudccess rate is very small. in the 7th to 10th month he starts taking rats and cats that happened to pass through his path.

It makes him feel disgusted, killing those animals, but the pain from hunger defeats the disgust from killing them. But cats and rats learn in time and they start to know his smell, so everytime he comes near them they immediately escape, running faster than the malnourished 9 year old Siegfried could.

In the 11th to 12th months he starts to get weak and desperate, even from the start when he rations his food and hunts rats and cats, he is still losing lots of weight and progressively starts to get weaker. In his desperation he once tried to beat a child in a fist fight to get his allowance, but the MPs arrived and managed to scare him off. While running he coincidentally passed through a factory that produces bread, although most of it isn't bread that's already formed, only the ingredients for it. He still remember the minor fact from his biology book that he lost, that he could still make bread only from flour and water.

So he started waiting for his chance, hungry as he is and desperate he still has some sanity left to hold on to. Then one day a noble wearing white immaculate dress and a man with a bushy moustache and the largest body he's seen, comes to take a large shipment, with most of the manpower to guard the carts helping with putting the ingredients in, he took his chance.

Although he only took a small bag full of the flour it is still worth a few days worth of food. As he is reading the book and trying to figure out the steps he suddenly hears the sewer grates open. Two MPs the ones that was chasing him that morning had apparently found him.

Sieg shocked and already too weak from the extreme fatigue after running away from them that morning with a malnourished body could only try to crawl away, tripping trying to get up.

The MPs sees him and immediately ran towards him and kicks him in the stomach. Sieg, having only drank water from the river used by the boats that day, puked it all out. The MPs proceed to beat him relentlessly with ther thick knee high boots, and rifle butts.

"Damned brat, making us run around the whole day"

"Aye, thankfully one of the local children saw where you had gone, you little brat!" The MP picked Sieg up and slams him down on the hard stone sewers.

Sieg briefly lost consciousness from the excruciating pain.

"Alright let's take him to the Madam"

"Better to sell him off in my opinion, or even sell his eyes, pretty sure some nobles would want that as decorations" The MPs already decensitized from their experience starts to joke around on what they should have done to a child.

The MPs brought him out the sewers and laid him out in front of the Madam and Fritz, thinking they're being let off scott free after this.

Fritz looks on apathetically at the child, and seeing the wounds caused by the MPs. "Alright you two can go now" Fritz hears the madam say to the MPs, not missing the scheming smile and condescending green eyes she gave them.

"Thak you milady! This experience will not be repeated again!" The MPs saluted best as they can, but most can tell their salute is rusty and clunky from never having to do it after graduating.

After the MPs is gone Fritz looks to the madam. "Oh don't you worry, they'll come back to their homes without their military boots today" The Madam with her dark green eyes is looking condescendingly to the two MPs, Then to curiosity to the child.

The child, tall for his age but extremely skinny due to the malnourished life he's lived, with long unkempt brown reddish hair and a face that doesn't look handsome nor ugly under those wounds. But his most defining feature, his bright blue eyes. like those of a starry sky at night, and the largest and prettiest blue lakes at day.

"My, whey don't you look at that eyes Fritz, isn't it beautiful?" Fritz, not expecting much since the last he's seen beautiful eyes, she left him for another man. Was pleasantly surprised.

As Mecklenburg was inspecting him, she sees he is holding a bright green brooch that looks expensive but not in the monetary aspect, and she also sees a necklace of a upside down sword. As she tried to grab it to inspect it more the child wakes up, and tries to run away from them. But Fritz was already blocking him from his only way out.

Sieg realising there is no way out starts to begin to feel resignation, "So this is it" He thought and closed his eyes and clasped the sword of the martyr necklace given to him by Maria and the brooch by Holda. Being the only two things he still holds close to his heart.

He waited, and prayed, yet nothing happened, he opened his eyes and saw the lady's green eyes looking at him with amusement and fascination. "Say child, what is that sword you hold so close to your heart?" Asked Mecklenburg.

Sieg hesitates but knowing he has no choice but to answer, he does. "It's the sword of the martyr, he rebelled against the tyranny of an empire so his small village can be free and live"

"And what did the martyr do, if i may ask?" Mecklenburg seeing the child is on the defensive tries to ask in a more friendly manner due to her curiosity.

"He managed to brilliantly beat back wave after wave of the empire's troops and becoming the rallying point for all the people's that is stuck under their tyranny"

"Then what happened to this martyr if i may ask?"

"Died, in one of the many sieges that happened to his village, then a large castle after being rebuilt and made as the capital of the rebellion"

"How did he die?" The madam asked, giddy with curiosity.

"Died trying to save the towns folk of the walls from enemy troops that managed to pass through the defenses, stabbed by a sword through his heart and head cut off, paraded by the empire's troops past the gates that weren't destroyed"

"If he failed in his rebellion then why do you pray to him?"

"He didn't fail the rebellion. Although dying, his actions weakened a strong empire and making the rebellion that followed him to succeed" Sieg says

"We the followers of the martyr, believe in freedom, it is said that if you die for it. You can join the martyr himself in the battles ahead to free the all the slaves of the empires everywhere in the world. And if you reach sainthood, you could command your own army right besides the martyr himself."

Sieg says with passion, his bright blue eyes shining and regaining hope that was lost from the previous experience.

"My oh my, i see, so a religious child in this day and age, isn't that a rarity right Fritz?"

"It is as you say milady"

"What is your name boy?" The lady asked curious about a different matter now.

"Siegfried" Sieg says confidently, after reaffirming his beliefs.

"Hmm, a common commoners name, And your last name?"

Siegfried thinks, he has never been given a last name, only a first given to him by Mother Holda. And he never heard of her last name either, so he took Sister Maria's last name. "Bauer, Siegfried Bauer"

"Bauer, Siegfried is already an extremely common name, now you have two? My that's impressive" Mecklenburg says amused.

"My name is Katerina Von Mecklenburg, and from this day onwards you shall be a footman in training dear boy" Katerina says, seeing the potential for him to become a footman, a servant, a bodyguard for her and her children. Said it with utmost confidence and a spur of the moment decision.

Fritz hearing this, sighs, the madam had always had an eye for potential talent, so he already accepted the fact that there'll be someone new he'll have to train again.

Sieg confused and baffled wondering as to why the lady suddenly offered him a job. Accepted after brief deliberation, knowing he'll die if he declines. Now he wonders, where his life will go next.