1058 I Am The Emperor; Ruler And Guardian Of The Human Race

"The military is undergoing a major restructuring! The armies would be shifted from the inner planets to Pluto. There will be no armies on planetoids anymore."

In the banquet after the coronation ceremony, Olivia's team chatted with other academy students about what they'd overheard from the top military officials.

"Not just that, entire planetoids would be shifted beyond Pluto and be used as military outposts and garrisons." Ashtarh's team joined their conversation with the man himself taking the lead.

"Senior Ashtarh, you knew this beforehand?" Ivy looked at him in admiration.

"I'm getting enlisted in a few weeks, so I do." Ashtarh smiled and sipped some wine from the glass goblet in hand.

With a smack of his lips at the strong taste, he narrowed his eyes. "It's just, I never imagined I'd fighting outside the solar system. It's really 'border'."

"Who could've imagined?" Sighing beside him, Maissa emptied her cup and glanced at the Earth's team wistfully. "One guy from earth changed everything. No, not just him. Even the two beside him are at the threshold of becoming sovereigns.  Do you guys eat elixirs for breakfast on Earth?"

"Mff?" Ivy downed another dessert and shook her head. "We're normal. Normal, normal people. Only the people around that man are weird."

"Who are you calling weird?"

"Ehh! Mommy!" Ivy screamed as she jumped onto Olivia and clung to her like a kola. Her gaze was fixed on the man that suddenly appeared behind her.

He's in an elegant 3-piece formal suit in white and black. Nothing luxurious or showy compared to the luxurious clothes other men wore for the banquet.

Yet, he had a dangerous charm and a regal air that drew everyone in.

"Yes? Who're you calling you weird?" Varian pursed his lips and stared at the petite girl who was once his teammate.

"I—I didn't—" Ivy stammered as she tried to find an excuse. Her head was blank as her heart thrashed against her chest, both scared and curious about him at the same time. But most of all, her survival instincts went overdrive as they tried to find a way to get her away from this dangerous man.

"Please forgive her, Your Majesty." Olivia pulled her teammate behind her and apologized in a sincere tone. "She had no intention to disrespect yo—"

"Ahh!" Ivy cried in surprise as she appeared in front of Varian.

Varian raised his hand and Ivy slammed her eyes shut. Olivia was about to rush forward when Ashtarh grabbed her arm and stopped her.

'No!' Under Olivia's terrified eyes, Varian's hand touched Ivy's head.

"…Huh?" Feeling the warm hand patting her head, Ivy raised her head in confusion.

The Emperor, no, Varian, was looking at her with sadness and regret. "I'm sorry, I heard you lost your father in Neptune. He saved so many lives. He's a hero."

Ivy opened her mouth to reply but her throat seemed to be clogged. Not a single word came out.

All these days, she's been doing her best to just forget the incident by focusing on other things. She wanted to treat it like it had never happened. Because her father, her biggest hero, couldn't just die. For that reason, she stopped Olivia and others from bringing up the topic.

But when this guy who she hadn't seen for months and had no reason to care for her given his strength expressed his condolences, her shoulders shook and tears rained out from her eyes.

"I…Var…Your Maj…" Ivy wiped her tears furiously but they just kept coming.

Varian rubbed her head in pity and said to the Sarah team. "I'm glad I can see you all today. Being alive is a really great thing."

Olivia and others nodded with complex eyes. It felt…weird talking to him. He's not as aloof as they expected him to be. But even though he's being friendly to them, he felt different. Perhaps it got something to do with the level of maturity.

"You too," Varian turned to Ashtarh's team. "Neptune has suffered the most in this war. The losses cannot be undone. But I'll do my best to make you all strong and prevent another tragedy. Neptune will get the priority for special resources."

"Thank You," Ashtarh said through gritted teeth. His home planet's slaughter would forever remain his scar.

"And you—" Varian addressed the lady in the purple gown who was slowly slipping away.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" Maissa turned around with a smile that looked no different from crying.

Varian smiled in amusement. "Didn't you say you wanted to fight the next time we met? Come on, you can fight."

"Eh? I said that? I can't remember though~" Maissa sweated profusely.

"Lying to the Emperor is a capital crime, you know?" Varian's voice cooled down.

"Please forgive me! I don't want to die!" Maissa obediently confessed.

"Forgiven," Varian waved his hand and turned to Olivia with a serene smile. "Sarah wanted to invite you to help her out. But you know her, she didn't want to disturb your preparation for the tournament."

Olivia was about to respond when her comm rang. Her eyes lit up as she saw it was indeed a message from Sarah, giving an address, "Then I'll get going. I miss  her too."

Grabbing Ivy, Oliva departed from the banquet hall.

"Your Majesty, do you need any help with your wedding? You know, guys and guys." Crimson said with a cheerful expression.

"Yeah, I can help too, I guess?" Lucas added.

Ashtarh also nodded.

Varian looked at them as if they were retarded. "Why the fuck would I need so much help? All I need is to dress up and get married. Someone else will take care of the rest."

"...Fuck. So carefree," Crimson said with an envious face.

"That I am," Varian admitted without any hesitation. "If I still have to worry about everything, then I don't need to be an Emperor, I can go become a wedding planner."

"I heard that girls care about this a lot. It might be hard if the Queens hold grudge against you because of this." Ashtarh looked at him with pity.

"Heard?" Varian laughed and slapped the man on the shoulder. "You should really get a girlfriend and speak from first-hand experience."

Ashtarh turned stiff at those words. He's very famous in Neptune for his prowess but a girl? Nah, forget it.

"He's a wood, Your Majesty. I've seen droves of women flock to him and he rejected them to watch some weapon exhibition." Maissa sold out her friend.

Varian looked at Ashtarh with a weird expression. Somehow, he felt like he was staring at himself.  'No, I'm not a wood. Never was.'

"Speaking of," Varian rubbed his forehead. "I should get some policies to increase the birthrate. We lost too many in the war."

"Paid leaves should work?"

"Cash rewards for more children?"

"Lower the age of marriage to 16."

Varian, Ashtarh, and Maissa all turned to Lucas.

"What? I read in some novels that it keeps the birthrate high." Lucas scratched his head and explained.

"Young parents who can't take care of themselves would be terrible role models and guardians for children." Varian rejected the idea outright but wondered how he'd feel about having a child.

'If I can't even guarantee safety of my civilization, should I bring a new life into the world and risk its life?' Shaking his head out of that thought, Varian joined in the brainstorming.

People were pleasantly surprised that Varian spoke to them in such a casual tone. In their opinion, Sovereigns felt more aloof than him.

Varian didn't bother with pretenses either. Humanity had enough problems. He wanted to solve the existing problems, not add to them.

Of course, he's not a harmless guy that'd tolerate everything.

"Wilson," Varian walked to a thin middle-aged man wearing a black suit and golden spectacles.

"Ah, Your Majesty, what a pleasant day it is," The man greeted with a smile.

Varian smiled back but something about the smile seemed off. "One of the richest industrialists of Neptune, and owner to some of the best housing societies in the whole empire."

"Y-Yes?" Wilson blinked in confusion before he said in a friendly tone. "If you need something, please orde—"

"When the abyssals attacked Neptune, they killed indiscriminately. But they killed none of your people even when they could and in fact, escorted you to safety. In exchange, you revealed the information about children and grandchildren of the military officers whom the abyssals brutally killed."

Wilson's face paled and his eyes bulged. Looking at Varian's cold eyes, he knew any excuse was useless.

"I didn't have a choice. They'd have killed my children and wife if I didn't do that! In fact, if the military did their job properly, things wouldn't have come to this point!" Wilson yelled with a redneck.

"Hm," Varian gestured in the air and Blue Flash appeared next to him in a blink. "Your Majesty?"

"What would his punishment be if this happened before my coronation?"

"The court would…grant him a short prison sentence at worst or declare him innocent since he did it to save his family at best. The people that died weren't descendants of strong awakeners. So, it's not uncommon for people like him to get away with it," Alison explained. "There is an entire segment of lawyers who train solely for such criminal cases."

"I see." Varian rubbed his chin and nodded.

"Your Majesty, I want to appeal my case in court. I didn't cause major damage to the military, only some kids—in exchange, my service is enormous. I pay a lot of taxes every yea—"

"Give him a public execution. Investigate all the betrayers in the war and do the same. Unless it's a special case, such bugs don't need to exist. Just report after it's done." Varian said in a casual tone and walked away.

"No! Your Majesty! Stop! Varian! You fucking bastard, who do you think you are?" Wilson's screams grew more and more hysterical.

The banquet went still and everyone held their breath in fear and anticipation.

Varian's steps paused and his eyes flashed lightly. "I?"

His voice was bone chilling and completely different from the friendly and casual tone he conversed them with.

"Who am I?" Varian turned to Wilson.

Looking at those star-like eyes, Wilson froze and kneeled in reflex and Varian's voice reverberated throughout the banquet hall and beyond.

"I am the Emperor; the Ruler and Guardian of the Human Race."