Eric Aretoze

"“I never forgot about my promise for you, Lotte. I always remembered that day.” —Eric" Eric I of the House of Aretoze (アレトゼー家のエリク一世), or Eric Aretoze (エリク・アレトゼー) was the prince of the Kingdom of Aretoze who ascended to the throne as the new King after his father Gregor voluntarily abdicated. He was a skilled magician and war general known for his combat skills and intelligence that won his kingdom's armies many battles and campaigns from six-thousand years ago. He is the lover of Lotte Birenkofen and together, they founded the Six Shields Empire as Emperor and Empress and have a son who they named Kunimi Birenkofen-Aretoze and would become known as Hajime Hinobori in the present day. Along with Lotte, they would ascend as Grandwalkers after sealing away Romanov I in the Underworld.

Personality
As a prince and general, Eric was wise and intelligent, recognizing every possibility that their enemy could use and composing successful strategies in war, though he acknowledged that he would prevail alone and often sought help from his friends and allies such as his aide Burckhardt Breitner and his right-hand magician Keela. To his opponents, he would show no mercy and no hesitation to eliminate his enemies. As a person on his own, outside of the battlefield, he has a gentle and laid-back personality, and at first glance he looks more like a nice shepherd than an adult.

Background
Eric was born the only child of the King Gregor IV of Aretoze and the Queen, who was a Magi human with supernatural abilities, from whom he inherited his ability to cast magical powers soon in life. Unfortunately, his mother died when he was just an infant and growing up, he and his father worked hard to manage the small country, as heir and ruler respectively.

When Eric was a child, he grew up in the Grand Nation of Birenkofen as a hostage because of the rivalry between it and the Aretoze kingdom over dominance of the Land of the Six Shields. He spent most of his childhood in his homeland's rival country. There, he had a fateful encounter with Lotte Birenkofen, the princess of the kingdom, who was about the same age. The two young heirs spent lots of time with each other and formed a relationship. They vowed to one another that they would always remember and marry each other when they grew up. A negotiation between the kings of the two rival nations resulted in Eric returning home to his kingdom.

Eric became well-renowned as an undefeated general who was wise and calculating, and was feared by his eccentric strategies and his own corps known as the "Wizards of Aretoze" (アレトゼーの魔術師). Another reason why he was feared was not only because of his outstanding martial arts and combat skills, but he was also the first person to bring magical arts and train his army in that skill, and he would summon demons and beasts such as orcs and goblins through magic and use them as soldiers or recruits. As a result, he became a very controversial figure from home and abroad, and even if he boasted a series of consecutive victories, his position was always in jeopardy due to strong ethical opposition to the point where a secret opposition group was formed by his uncle Karl.

With his abilities, he led his armies to numerous victories across the Land of the Six Shields, conquering territory after territory, land and land and expanding the borders of his father's kingdom. Eventually, he led his armies in a war against the Birenkofen kingdom. The war was one-sided in favor of the Aretoze forces and most of the Birenkofen nation was besieged and sacked, including its Royal Capital. Eric ordered his forces to just capture Lotte alive, hoping that she wasn't killed in the ensuing fight.

Lotte Birenkofen
Eric and Lotte first met in the latter's home kingdom as children. The two spent a lot of time together, and Eric became Lotte's first love, and even though she was young, she vowed to marry him. It sounded like a beautiful memory, but he said that the relationship between the two was like the master (Lotte) and her attendant (Eric). After that, even after returning to his home country, his thoughts continued to linger, and for that reason, all the beautiful princesses that his father promoted to be his bride are invisible to him. He made a valiant effort to become a man suitable to be Lotte's groom, meaning to become a good prince and a defender of the kingdom.



Lord-Dragon
During Eric and Lotte's campaigns in the south, they met up with a righteous dragon warrior kaiju known as Lord-Dragon. The kaiju would become Eric's new partner in battle and help the prince in more battles to victory.