...A long time ago, there lived a famous blacksmith. That blacksmith owned a store where he sold his handmade ironware and then one day, he got lucky enough to sell his equipment to the Cairo Kingdom. Amidst and endless war, it was an incredible chance for him to raise his status. After the war, that blacksmith was awarded the position of a Baron and that blacksmith became the lord of this land..
Hans, a servant of Baron Dmitry's family, could not hide his troubled face seeing the young master's abnormal behavior.
"So I am the eldest son of the Dmitry family?"
"And this is the Cairo Kingdom on the Salamander Continent and a world called Moorim doesn't even exist?"
It was strange, really strange. Young master Roman wasn't someone who people could call a smart person, but he didn't show his stupidity like this. Though he was never very bright, it was Hans's first time seeing him so off.
Hans wondered if he was stoned or not. Recently, it has become popular among the children of nobility and has become a quite a bad issue, and seeing his past behavior it was a problem bad enough to be suspicious of Master Roman Dmitry.
Dmitry's nerd or as people refer him to as "Dmitry's idiot".
While both of the younger brothers had already moved to the capital and grew up steadily, you could see the reality of Roman Dmitry just by looking at him rotting in the outskirts for the past 25 years and is thus called the Moron of Dmitry.
Hans said calmly "Young master. Today is the day the daughter of the Lawrence family, who promised to marry you, visits the estate of Dmitry. As you may have heard, the daughter of the Lawrence family is a person who values dignity, elegance, manners and courtesy as a nobleman. So, it is better to prepare ahead of time. It's the first time you will be seeing each other, so to make a good impression, it is good to...."
"There is something more important than that."
Hans stopped talking.
No matter how much you look at it, the young master, who didn't carry him with dignity, spoke in a voice with a different weight than usual.
"Take me to the eldest man here. It is more important for me to get to know the world in which I will live in the future than that person from Lawrence family, who I do not know."
'For young master who has lived in Dmitry's estate for 25 years, it's important to learn about the world in the future? It's really weird.' thought Hans.
But what to do?
"I understand, young master."
It was Hans' role to fulfill his duty as a servant.
* * *
The place Hans moved to was a village outside Dmitry Castle.
The castle could not accommodate all permanent residents, so a village was formed outside the castle.
At first, the villages were still quite good, but as they moved further , the number of shacks gradually increased.
*splash splash*
Hans frowned as he stepped on the muddy water.
At the stench creeping up from all directions, he glanced at Roman's eyes.
"Do you really want to meet the eldest person of Dmitry's estate? If it's related to the history of the territory we're talking about, it's better to use Dmitry's sage or the library. How about going back now?"
But Roman didn't care about his surroundings.
Like Hans, he stepped into the muddy water without hesitation, and the hem of his pants got wet in the splashing water.
'Hmmm, his pants are all wet.'
Hans was perplexed.
Naturally, he expected Roman with wet pants to make a fuss, but Roman did not show any special reaction.
It was a situation that Hans could not understand at all.
The Dmitry family was not a very prestigious family, but Roman was a person who reacted quite unusually about the fact that he was the son of a noble family. One could say he wasn't able to handle the pressure of Dmitry family transferring from a commoner status to a noble or it might be because of his lack of talent.
The appearance of Roman acting as a nobleman with no talent for a subject, when the permanent residents gathered here and there, they gossiped about Roman as Dmitry's idiot.
But now? Even at the command of the Roman, Hans doubted whether it was the same person who did not want to leave the castle at all.
'Did he have any head injuries?'
After walking without hesitation, they finally arrived at their destination.
They stopped in front of the shack that was being demolished, and Hans looked at Roman with a cautious look.
"It is here. He is an old man who followed the lord even before he was granted the Dmitry estate, and he once worked as a blacksmith in a blacksmith's shop. He's already ninety years old, so it wouldn't be strange if he died. the problem is he is a bit immobile, so you have to go inside to talk to him."
Slowly, he looked around.
The stench was so extreme that his nose was stuffed, and the cobwebs formed all over the shack made the viewer frown.
This was absolutely no place for the sons of noble families to enter.
So Hans kept asking for opinions on the way, but Roman moved on before he could finish speaking.
"Wait outside."
'Ugh...'
There was no hesitation to be found.
Reaching out and clearing the spider's web, Roman went inside and checked the surroundings.
"Are you the owner of this house?"
"How did you come to this shabby place, young master?"
The old man lying inside was startled.
He sat up hurriedly on the floor wearing a blanket, but he couldn't get up because he couldn't use his legs.
"Let's first sit down."
Roman sat down in front of him.
The old man didn't know what to do as he sat down on the dirty ground, so he only looked at Roman's eyes.
"I want to know everything about Dmitry's estate. What kind of land is this place and what kind of history has it been made? It's probably going to be a long story, so why don't we talk slowly while drenching your throat with the alcohol I brought?"
*thud*
Roman showed the bottle hanging from his waist as he put it down.
Seeing the look of the old man bewildered with wide-open eyes, Roman smiled to melt his vigilance.
He didn't know anything about this world or himself right now.
Roman chose to adapt to the world in his own way.
At first, the old man could not speak properly.
However, when the drunkenness started to rise, and Roman showed a serious listening attitude, his vigilance was relieved.
"Lord Dmitry was originally a famous blacksmith. He was running a business that made a profit by selling his own iron works, but then got the chance to supply weapons to the Cairo Kingdom by chance. Since there was a war going on for a while, it was a great opportunity to go beyond the limits of one's status. After the war, the lord who received the rank of baron according to his merits... ."
The talk was long.
Most of what Dmitry's eldest son should have known was being told, but the unbridled old man narrated all the stories he knew at length.
Roman's judgment was correct.
He asked Hans what the old man likes, and he replied that alcohol might be a good option, so he purposely prepared a drink to suit his taste.
'Thanks to you, I was able to get all the information I wanted.'
He, who was not yet familiar with the person named Roman Dmitry, gradually built up new information in his head.
'Roman Dmitry.'
Roman Dmitry.
No, his original name was Baek Joong-hyuk.
It was also his life that Baek Jung-hyuk lived as the Cheonma, also referred to as the Demon God, of the Heavenly Demon Cult who unified Moorim.
Baek Joong-hyeok, who lived a fierce life as a warrior.
Having accomplished everything, he calmly accepted death.
It was a great blessing to enjoy all the heavenly beasts and die, but when I opened my eyes, it was Roman Dmitry's body.
It was absurd.
In fact, at the moment of his death, Baek Jung-hyuk entered the realm of immortal.
Although there was a holy energy that enveloped his soul, Baek Joong-hyuk did not want a life where he could not live as a human being.
So he refused to climb.
Most of the warriors ultimately want to reach the top, but Baek Jung-hyuk wanted to die as a human.
And now.
At the crossroads of a new choice, Baek Joong-hyuk quickly accepted reality.
'Is this the will of the heavens, or is it God's punishment for refusing to rise to the top?'
Whatever it is, new life, new environment, for Baek Joong-hyuk, that was important.
His last years as Cheonma were boring and more boring, but now, the scenery around him gave a new feeling to him.
'People must live with a purpose. Having accomplished everything, even though I could do everything, I could not live as a human being. Rather, it's a good thing. Roman Dmitry, Kingdom of Cairo. This world full of unknowns will be a new challenge for me.'
His heart raced.
Baek Joong-hyeok lived a life that will remain in the history of Moorim, but looking back now, his life before that, when his life was at risk and fierce every day, made him truly live as a person rather than in his last peaceful years.
A person who cannot live normally.
Baek Joong-hyuk was such a person.
"This is all I know."
The talk was all over.
It must have been a long time, and the old man, who was the first face he met after Hans, felt familiar now.
"Thank you, it has been a great help to me. I will compensate for this separately later."
"No, young master. Just having a conversation with someone as precious as you was a great blessing to me."
Baek Joong-hyuk, no, Roman laughed.
It was time to get up and move out.
But at that moment.
*bang!*
*Kwadang!*
"You bastard!"
There were loud noises from outside.
It seemed like something was going on.
It was as expected.
When he went outside, he saw a group of men beating a boy who was not yet an adult.
*puck!*
*Puck puck!*
"You poor bastard."
"Just fucking die you filthy brat!"
The boy did not shed a single moan despite the intense beatings.
Perhaps that incited the men's anger even more, and the men indiscriminately beat the boy with the intent to kill him.
The boy's body shook with the beating.
The skin exposed on the outside of his clothes was already stained red with blood bruises, and his face was also messed up and his nose was dripping with blood.
People gathered around the chaotic situation.
But when they saw the fang tattoos on the men's bodies, they looked away in horror.
"What's going on?"
'young master!'
Roman stood next to Hans.
Hans was watching the scene, and noticing the fangs tattoo, he said in a cautious voice when Roman appeared.
"They seem to be part of the blood fangs. It is a usury group that is active not only in the Dmitry estate but also in the surrounding estates, and seeing what they are doing, it seems that the boy owes a great debt to Blood Fang. You should just pretend you don't know anything. There is nothing good about being tangled up with them."
Roman's gaze looked at the Blood Fang crew.
Despite the high interest, the violence occurred because, in this case, the boy borrowed money and did not pay it back.
The problem is 'Giving out punishment is not the responsibility of ordinary people.'
This is the land of Dmitry.
As explained by the old man, they are obliged to judge and solve any problem by the lord.
Roman Dmitry.
He still hasn't quite figured out how to act as Roman.
What is certain is that Roman is dead.
The first thing he found when he woke up were a suicide note written by Roman and drugs scattered on the floor.
The contents of the will showed how weak Roman was.
The Cairo Kingdom is a kingdom that is always under the threat of war, and for that reason, there is a law that requires each family to select a certain military force and one person to represent the family and forcibly perform national defense duties for two years.
Roman was included.
Since he couldn't force his two younger brothers to die, Dmitry's head, his father made the decision to send Roman to the battlefield.
So Roman chose death.
Trembling with all kinds of horrific rumors about the battlefield, he decided to take his own life on the day he got drunk.
'From now on, I am Roman Dmitry.'
The previous life was gone.
No matter what kind of life Roman has lived, as long as he owns this body, he will believe and follow the 'values of Baek Joong-hyuk' from now on.
"Stop."
"Y-young master!"
At Roman's sudden action, Hans was startled and stopped Roman.
But it's already too late.
Roman's voice was loud, and the Blood Fang gang, who had stopped beating, looked at Roman with puzzled eyes.
"Roman Dmitry?"
It was a sight to behold.
The problem was that Roman's reputation couldn't restrain them.
The man with a ferocious face, who seemed to be the leader of the gang, spit out his words with a smile on his face.
"Don't mind this Dmitry's young master. This is our business."
"Pwahahahaha stepping up because you are nobility!?"
"Stop it, you bastard kekekeke"
The gang whispered from behind and laughed.
Hearing a rather loud voice of the Blood Fang gang, Hans spoke in a quiet voice, fearing that Roman might make a mistake.
"Master Roman. You just have to step back. The Blood Fang gang are back-alley bastards. If a problem arises, outside the castle, the protection of the Dmitry family cannot do anything about it. So calm down... ."
"Hans."
Roman looked at Hans.
The strong, low-pitched voice caught the attention of Hans, who was trembling in fear at once.
"I don't know the laws of this place very well yet. So explain. Who broke Dmitry's law here? And for breaking the law, what kind of punishment is appropriate?"
Hans was out of breath.
He felt like he was being sucked into Roman's eyes.
Dmitry's nerd.
The unsightly man who lived in pleasure every day caught him with a powerful force from which he could not escape now.
In the current situation, it is right to run away.
However, Hans unwittingly told the 'truth'.
"The boy was guilty of not paying the debt on time. It certainly deserves punishment, but the Blood Fang gang has no right to punish it directly. Above all, they dared to speak insulting words against the eldest son of the Dmitry family in Dmitry's domain. It is a felony that cannot be forgiven even with life. According to the law, it is not at all strange that they receive the death penalty."
Hans bowed his head.
His heart was pounding and his legs were trembling, but now he felt like he had to speak politely to Roman.
A space where silence is settled.
The onlookers held their breath, and a smirk appearing on the faces of the Blood Fang gang.
'OK.'
"Did you hear that? You have violated Dmitry's law."
Roman stepped forward.
In front of everyone watching, he picked up a common branch from the ground and pointed it at the Blood Fang gang members like a sword.
"From now on, I, the eldest son of the Dmitry family, Roman Dmitry will bestow punishment upon you all who have broken the law."