The Fat God System

The commander had a straight face as he stared at the latter in front of him. He first inspected the quality and the paper, thinking that the paper came from a rival kingdom.

However, there was not even a wax seal on the letter, just a plain and simple letter.

The commander opened the letter with confusion as he looked at the knight who brought him this letter.

He parsed through the letter without much thought, but a smile formed on his face as he realized who the letter came from.

"Hahaha…," the commander chuckled.

Then, with one swift movement, he tore the letter in half and threw it into the fire next to him.

The knight flinched as he saw the letter being thrown into flames. He was worried that the commander was mad at him for bringing the letter to his face.

"I'm sorry commander, my comrades are currently being held captive unless I brought this letter to you."

However, the commander was not even listening to the knight's pleads. He slowly stood up and showed his massive height to everyone in the throne room.

He wore lavish robes and accessories, but none of them were for protection. He wore silk and other gold-laced cloth, evidence of his proud and commanding presence.

Everyone in the room bent to their knees as they saw their commander stand up. They did not dare look at him in the eyes.

The knight who brought the letter was trembling in his knees. He was afraid for his life because he knew how brutal and strict the commander was.

The knight saw the commander's feet slowly walk over towards him. Then, he suddenly felt a warm hand in his head. He was beyond scared to know that the commander was grabbing his head.

However, contrary to his expectations, the commander praised him and rubbed his head.

"You have done well in protecting your fellow knight."

The knight could not believe what he heard. He felt fear, ecstasy, and anxiousness all together as he felt the hand of the commander.

"Thank you, commander!" the knight shouted.

The commander smiled as he saw the knight's proud shout.

"However, you dared to give this letter right to my face." Then, the commander's voice suddenly turned lower and lower.

The knight suddenly felt the room turn cold as the commander's voice got colder. At this point, the knight was confused. One second, he was being praised, then the next second, he was being berated.

"Ow!" the knight shouted in pain. He could feel the commander's grip start to tighten and crush his skull.

"For that crime, you must pay with your life," the commander said as he crushed the knight's head with his one fist.

The explosion let out blood and brain matter all over the throne room. Even the lavish robes of the commander were left dirtied by the remains of the knight.

The guards around the room did not bat an eye as they saw the headless knight fall to the floor. Their experience told them that this happened often.

Without the commander even speaking, the door opened and a man carrying gold robes came in. The man had three other assistants as they entered the room.

The commander spread his arms wide open as the man and his assistants replaced the commander's dirtied robes.

"Why would I let my future wife go? How preposterous! She is my only key to being the legal king of this land. Ha…haha…hahaha….hahahahahahaha!"

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As Hugh and the others waited for the commander's response, Hugh and the others lived a normal life.

For food, Hugh and the others went into expeditions into the woods and hunted for deer and other animals while Miser grabbed some medicinal mushrooms and herbs.

The knights that were captured were fed, but they were kept on a tight leash.

Hugh and Jane would occasionally question the knights about the Cheroque kingdom. On the first day, the knights would not give them anything.

However, once Hugh applied the hunger tactic, the knights soon followed.

The kingdom of Cheroque was a medium-sized kingdom that was in the middle of the Eastern Sea and the Sizzling Dry Desert.

In summation, the kingdom was isolated from the other kingdoms. This was a perfect placement since their kingdom had nature as their defenses.

The desert prevented large armies from coming towards them, and the sea led nowhere. It was a gift from the gods, as most of the locals there were taught.

There was no current king or queen in the kingdom, but a commander that oversaw everything in the kingdom. That commander was the one that led the kingdom to its current prosperity and peace.

However, the commander could never legally be king. If someone with royal blood came along, they could strip the commander of his power and make him a peasant.

Fortunately for the commander, there was a royal decree back then for this kind of situation.

If no royal blood showed up for twenty years, then the highest-ranking official could take up the throne and become the first lineage of the new royal blood.

As most of the citizens of Cheroque believed, there was no living royal blood left. However, unbeknownst to their knowledge, Mia was born.

Hugh and Miser were the only ones who knew that Mia was the only person that could threaten the commander's rise to power. She was currently 17 years old, which meant that there were only three years left until the commander could become king.

—————

Hugh and Miser talked to each other outside deep in the night. They both held beer bottles in their hands as they stared at the night sky.

"Do you think I should tell her?" Miser asked.

Hugh looked at the sky and thought deeply about the question. Telling Mia the truth could backfire on them.

"It's up to you," Hugh said. "It's better if she doesn't know it since there will be fewer variables to consider. However…"

Hugh took one sip from the beer bottle.

"It's only a matter of time until she figures out that something is wrong," Hugh continued.

"It's better to hear it from her father rather than the army that will assassinate her."

Miser sighed as he looked at his beer bottle. He also knew that lying to Mia was a bad idea, but he could not help but shield her from the truth.

"What am I supposed to tell her? That she's a long-lost princess of a kingdom? And that she is being hunted down by that very kingdom?" Miser sighed.

*CRASH*

Then, Miser and Mia heard a glass shatter from behind. They both looked back and saw Mia standing there with a deadpan expression as two shattered beer bottles spilled in the ground.

"Mia, wait!" Miser said, but Mia quickly turned around and ran away from them. 

Miser quickly left the beer bottle in the ground and ran after Mia. He wanted to explain the situation to Mia.

Hugh just kept sipping his beer as he looked up at the sky. It was not his place to interfere with their family business.

Twenty minutes passed, and Hugh was still staring at the sky. The night was quiet, and the wind did not blow in any direction. However, Hugh had a bad feeling in his stomach.

"Hugh!" Miser shouted out as he ran towards Hugh while panting.

"Stop Mia, please. She wants to go to the Cheroque kingdom by herself!"

Hugh did not wait for another second as he rushed towards the direction where Miser pointed at.

He used his eagle eyes to see the small footprints in the ground to search for Mia. He did not have to look king as he heard crying from a certain tree.

Hugh approached the tree and saw Mia crying on her knees.

Hugh squatted down and sat next to her while he let her cry it out. He waited for her to calm down and think rationally.

"It's my fault. They only want me, right? They will leave my father alone if I surrender myself!" Mia cried.

Hugh patted Mia's back and spoke. "I don't think your father would like that. I know for a fact that he would sacrifice his life to save yours."

Then, Mia cried even harder as she heard Hugh's words. It seemed that it was not the words that she wanted to hear at this time.

Hugh felt awkward as he made things worse. He was not good at these kinds of things, so he just kept quiet and let her cry it out.

"Do you love your father?" a feminine voice said. Hugh turned around and saw Jane peeking her head towards them.

Mia stopped crying and looked at Jane. Then, she nodded her head.

"Then, you both fight. Your father sacrificed a lot to get you out of that prison. It would be an injustice to him if you just surrender your life like that."

Mia lessened her crying after that. She wiped her tears and tried to put on a tough face.