"Is this the kind of place a father should be? His child is really suffering."
The elderly man, dressed in a neatly pressed butler's uniform, looked at the brightly lit shop in front of him. He heard faint music and shouting from inside and watched the men and women going in, but never coming out. He shook his head.
Then, the elderly man walked toward the entrance. The doorman, who was standing by the door trying to attract customers, saw the old man, who stood in stark contrast to the style of the guests entering. He was about to reach out to stop him, but in the next instant, his expression changed.
He noticed a very subtle badge on the old man's collar. It was one of the four well-known badges that everyone in the Federation recognized. The doorman quickly stepped aside and even gave his colleague a meaningful glance.
"Don't worry, I'm just here to find an incompetent member of our family. It has nothing to do with your establishment."
The elderly man smiled and patted the doorman on the back, who had noticed the signal from his colleague. The other doorman also stopped in his tracks.
After this small exchange, the elderly man entered the bar. As soon as he stepped through the door, a blast of deafening music and the sounds of men and women screaming and shouting filled his ears.
Looking at the colorful lights and the chaotic dance floor, where people were gyrating wildly, the elderly man's brows furrowed slightly as he began searching for his target.
It didn't take long before he spotted a young man on the dance floor, hugging a voluptuous woman and twisting his body in a crazed manner.
Upon seeing this, the elderly man's frown deepened, and he walked over, grabbing the young man by the arm and forcibly pulling him off the dance floor before he could react.
"You little..." The young man turned around, about to curse, but when he saw the elderly man's attire, his expression immediately fell.
"The family butler?" the young man asked carefully after being thrown into a booth.
"Correct. You haven't even gotten so drunk you can't recognize people. It's good, saves me the trouble of waking you up."
"You're looking for me, but what's this about?" The young man, who had been enjoying himself in the bar, asked cautiously, puzzled about why the butler was looking for him.
"You have a child who's not even a year old yet. At a time like this, instead of staying at home taking care of your child, you come to a place like this to fool around. Do you think this is appropriate?"
"Well... you don't know how troublesome that child is. I couldn't stand the noise, so I came here to relax," the young man explained with an awkward smile, aware that his actions weren't exactly proper.
"Enough, the family is currently implementing a policy. Your situation fits exactly within the criteria. You are not qualified to be a father according to our family's standards, so I'm here to inform you."
"Your child will be taken by the family and raised. As the father, you will have the right to visit and communicate with your child anytime, but you will no longer have any say in their education and upbringing."
"The family will take my child and raise them? That's perfect." Upon hearing the old man's words, the young man, who had been drunkenly swaying, suddenly shouted with excitement.
"Don't you feel any reluctance?" The butler asked, frowning at the young man's reaction.
He remembered that when notifying other disqualified parents, many of them were reluctant, even trying to hold on to their children for a long time. The young man's reaction was something new.
"Heh, butler, you saw my actions earlier. I'm a failure. If I raised my child, they'd probably turn out just as bad as I am. So, it's actually better for the family to take care of them."
"You have some self-awareness," the butler said with a wry smile. This young man was a self-aware failure.
...
"Since the pilot program started, our family has already adopted 117 children from both our core and peripheral members."
"We've hired the best teachers, nutritionists, and psychologists for these children, providing them with the best conditions. They will grow up healthy and happy without their parents around."
"Mm, very good," Muria said with satisfaction after hearing the reports from the elders. "Let's continue with this policy. Let's show our family members how exceptional children raised under our family's guidance can become."
...
Roar!
A powerful beast roared through the city, its roar shaking the buildings around it and shattering windows. It displayed the imposing and terrifying form of a high-level predator.
Around this beast, the terrified cries of men and women echoed. The appearance of this creature had been so sudden that many were caught off guard.
The beast had blue and yellow armor-like shells on its limbs, chest, and back, with sporadic yellow fur scattered across its body. It paid no attention to the tiny creatures beneath it. In its eyes, these small bipeds weren't even worthy of being food. It was more concerned with figuring out why it had suddenly appeared in this steel jungle after coming from a lush forest filled with life.
Confused, the beast, now in a state of rage, began tearing apart the buildings around it as it vented its anger.
However, it wasn't long before the city's defense forces arrived. The star-armored soldiers of the defense force immediately opened fire on the enormous monster.
But the creature wasn't defenseless. A crystal on its head emitted a faint glow, and a bright yellow energy shield expanded around it, enveloping its body.
Despite the fierce bombardment, the energy shield flickered but did not break, though it appeared as if it might collapse at any moment. The city's defense forces couldn't penetrate it.
Some brave star-armored soldiers then took out close-combat weapons and charged directly at the beast, hoping to defeat it in hand-to-hand combat.
"Again, it's one of these sudden monsters. Could the rumors be true? Is this the punishment from the gods for abandoning our original faith?" A young officer in the command center, his eyes filled with fear, wondered aloud.
Such incidents had been happening ever since the belief in the Star Goddess had spread like a virus across the church's territory, and strange creatures had begun appearing in the city one after another.
"Hmph, so because we abandoned faith, they send down an envoy to destroy us? What kind of god would do that? This is just a demon," the commanding officer sneered when he heard his subordinate's fearful words.
...
In a building on the verge of collapse, there were cries and desperate shouts for help. The building had just been struck by the tail of the leader-class monster, causing the entire structure to tilt. People inside were frantically trying to escape.
However, with the building tilting so severely, the emergency descent routes couldn't be used, and jumping from such a height meant certain death.
"To stop my faith from spreading, they would even resort to such methods? These people must be out of options. It's laughable," a voice murmured as the disaster unfolded.
At that moment, the tragic scene of the city reflected in the golden eyes of a graceful and composed woman. She smiled calmly, then extended her hand.
In the building about to collapse, a woman trapped by a fallen bookshelf, her legs pinned, felt an unusual sensation coming from the pendant around her neck. The pendant began glowing faintly.
The woman, who had been feeling excruciating pain in her legs, immediately realized something was happening. She quickly grabbed the glowing pendant around her neck, and her face lit up with excitement and joy.
She could feel strength pouring into her body from the light emitted by the pendant. She kicked with all her might, and to her surprise, the heavy bookshelf pinning her legs was kicked away.
The elegant woman stood up, stunned to find that her legs, which had been broken earlier, were now completely healed.
"This is the work of the great Star Goddess, Raya?" the woman asked, her voice full of awe as she gazed at the pendant in her hand.
"Follower Hira, do you wish to become my apostle?" a soft, ethereal voice echoed in her mind.
"Yes!" the woman, who had narrowly escaped death, shouted in excitement.
"Then I grant you courage and strength to become the light of hope that will save your city!"
The pendant in her hand suddenly blazed with brilliant light, enveloping her, and lifted her out of the collapsing building...
_________________________
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