The capital of Cairo.
What was the most luxurious place in Cairo? People from other nations would say it would undoubtedly be the Royal Palace, but those who had themselves experienced it said something different.
"The mansion of Marquis Benedict is the most famous attraction in Cairo."
Benedict—He was called the living power of the Central Government, and he had built a mansion, not far from the Royal Palace, that symbolized his power. It was a place one would naturally see when they headed to the Royal Palace. It was to the extent that if one needed to go to the Royal Palace, they needed to stay away from Marquis Benedict. He was certainly the core power of the Central Government.
And on that particular day, he received some news from the outskirts.
"Is that true?"
Tuk.
He put down the pen that was in his hand.
The middle-aged man, with his gray hair handsomely pushed back, looked at the assistant.
"Yes, from what I have learned, it seems to be true. Willas from Valhalla Temple went to Dmitry himself and confirmed that he was a 3-Star Aura Swordsman. As a result of collecting the testimonies of those at the site of the battle with Barco, Roman Dmitry indeed defeated Homer. However, some also said that Homer wasn't able to use his 4-Star Aura and was defeated because of his carelessness."
"How old is Roman Dmitry?"
"25."
"At the age of just 25, he is already at the 3-Star level. What a great talent from the outskirts."
3-Star in one's 20s—That was unusual growth. The swordsmen who had historically shown such growth always broke through the wall known as 5-Star and became famous throughout the continent.
As Marquis Benedict, he couldn't help but want to covet it. In particular, his desire for a competent swordsman was great. It was because the best swordsman in Cairo belonged to the Royal Knights of the Royal Family.
Now, it didn't matter who Roman Dmitry was. If he really had the talent as the rumors said, Benedict had to take him into his household.
"What are the actions of the other forces?"
"Everyone seems to be moving fast. In particular, the movements of both of the Empires are the most dynamic."
"Damn those bastards of the Empires. One talented person appears in Cairo, and they try to take them away before we can even get in contact with him."
As of now, the Cairo Kingdom was divided into four factions—There was the Royal Family that followed the King, the nobles centered around the King's uncle, Marquis Benedict, and the pro-Kronos and pro-Valhalla forces, who were born in Cairo but attached to foreign powers.
That was the reality of the small nation of Cairo. Even though there were forces that openly supported the Empires, Cairo had no particular way to sanction them.
Then, Marquis Benedict continued, "Roman Dmitry is an Aura Swordsman who can even rise to the level of 5-Star in the future. Send in someone to immediately recruit him so that no other side can take him. If we need anything in the process of recruiting him, I will give my support, so make sure to bring him over. Roman Dmitry should never get into the hands of anyone else, especially the Royal Family.."
"I understand."
The assistant bowed his head.
Now, the war to recruit the talent that everyone wanted had begun. To obtain Roman, all the powers of Cairo turned toward Dmitry.
At the same time, Dmitry was in a festive mood daily.
"Roman Dmitry has become a Ranker in the Cairo Kingdom!"
He was still an Unofficial Ranker. Nevertheless, once they heard that a Ranker was born in the North-East region, everyone in the North-East region flocked to Dmitry to celebrate it.
Baron Romero gladly opened up his pockets. Dmitry welcomed guests by hosting a party full of seafood and delicacies, and everyone enjoyed the festival so much that the sound of laughter didn't stop until night.
Still, in such an atmosphere, there was only one person who didn't like the current situation.
"Haah…" Viscount Lawrence sighed.
He didn't want to go to this party, but he had no choice because he wanted to be friends with Dmitry. The result was this situation. It would have been great if only the achievements of Roman were spoken of, but the nobles' talks were scratching up his stomach.
"Hahah, this is the right of the North-East. Finally, we have a Ranker!"
"…But are you fine, Viscount Lawrence? If Flora and Roman's marriage proceeded as it was, wouldn't you have had a brilliant man like Roman Dmitry as your son-in-law? Speaking of which, I would have been so sick if I had been in your position that I couldn't have come here today, Viscount Lawrence."
Contrary to the cautious voice, he was only mocking him.
Nevertheless, even at that moment, Viscount Lawrence said with his face that was as casual as always, "Why would I be sick? Although the marriage was canceled because things didn't work, I am happy to see the Dmitry family reiving and elevating. Shouldn't there be enough families to exercise their say in the Central Government from the North-East as well? I think Dmitry can stand for all of us with this force."
"Is that so?"
"As expected, Viscount Lawrence is a great person, hahahahaa!"
Everyone smiled and continued talking. On the outside, he was showing a warm atmosphere, but the truth was quite different. Viscount Lawrence, as those around him said, had a sick stomach.
'Roman Dmitry could have been my son-in-law.'
It had been just a few months. When he thought of the time of the annulment of the marriage and now, Roman's status was literally entirely opposite. Back then, he was known as Dmitry's Fool, so he thought the annulment was fine. However, now, he had become the youngest Ranker and was almost certainly the successor of Dmitry as well. Thus, whenever he heard people admiring Roman now, he felt heartbroken as the grim reality of Lawrence came into view.
Initially, he thought it could be changed. However, Viscount Lawrence couldn't hide the tragic feelings within him when he saw Roman improving his value through unbelievable steps every time he heard about him.
Gulp. Gulp.
He drank wine like water. He wanted to forget his regret.
'Let's just think of it as making the right choice for Flora.'
He had no intention of pushing his daughter into unhappiness. Viscount Lawrence said he respected the choice of Flora and hoped she would be happy. Also, she had already left for the capital to fulfill her dreams.
Nevertheless, it wasn't as if wounds healed so soon. He was still hurting. Viscount Lawrence, suffering, used Magic Communicator as soon as he came back home.
"Sylvia?"
Even now, Viscount Lawrence couldn't give up on his feelings of wanting Roman.
The Western Front, Cairo Kingdom.
The ensuing battle left a trail of corpses and blood all around the fortifications Cairo had erected.
"Fucking bastards of the Empire."
"I always chew the flesh of those Kronos bastards."
While clearing the battlefield, the soldiers of the Cairo Kingdom were angry.
The Cairo Kingdom was bordered by Kronos Empire to the East and the Hector Kingdom to the South.
Although there was not much direct confrontation with the Hector Kingdom, the Kronos Empire demanded that the Cairo Kingdom become a vassal of the Empire and had even tried to attack Cairo several times near the borders over the years.
Kronos Empire—Like Valhalla, it was one of the two major mountain ranges of the continent, and it was also the country where Emperor Alexander1 was born.
If they wanted to destroy Cairo, they could have walked in and destroyed them, but they didn't do that due to their interest in the nation. Kronos troops would cross borders from time to time. At the forefront, Cairo's soldiers would die, and insidely, the ones who followed Kronos would ask Cairo to surrender. It was the shabby reality of a small nation. In addition to that, Cairo never had a peaceful day with foreign powers targeting them.
The soldiers were moving the corpses. No matter how much time passed, they couldn't get used to the situation where their colleagues were dying due to the nation being weak. They set fire to the corpses piled up like mountains in the wide plain. This was the most polite thing they could do for the dead on the frontlines, where even a proper funeral couldn't be held.
"Rodwell, are you fine?"
On the one hand, a man spoke to his colleague, who was looking at the corpses.
There was a mark on his chest, and the man called Rodwell said, "I am used to this now. It isn't something I have experienced for only a day or two."
"I never knew that the reality on the frontlines would be this bad. Even when I was sent to the training camp for actual combat, I thought that a pink2 future was waiting for me. But it seems that sometimes reality is like this. Dozens of times a day, I worry about thoughts of giving up and then going back home."
Grin.
Rodwell smiled. He could understand it. When he was promoted to S-Class at the Cairo Royal Academy, he and his classmates all had the same thoughts.
Nevertheless, the reality was worse than that. They spent hellish time at the frontlines in the name of training camp to obtain real-world experience, and he finally got the qualifications of a commander on the Western Front.
One year—If they managed to gain experience for that much time and then headed back to the academy, they would be honored by others for it. However, even though not even half a year had passed, their mentality was already falling apart.
His colleague said, "Did you hear the news? I heard that Roman Dmitry, your brother, became a Ranker."
At that moment, Rodwell frowned. He had also heard the rumors about Roman. The title of the Youngest Ranker was such a huge achievement that even those on the frontlines knew it. Also, because of that reason, he was asked questions about Roman by his superiors.
What kind of person is Roman, and what does he like?
His interest in his older brother, who he was never even curious about, exploded.
'Roman.'
That brother in my memory reached 3-Star? No, it cannot be.
No matter how hard he thought, Roman was nothing more than trash.
"It is just bullshit. I don't know what tricks the family used, but Roman isn't someone who can even protect himself, let alone become a Ranker. Maybe he's an unofficial one? I am sure the truth will come out soon."
He turned away, not wanting to talk more. It didn't matter even if Roman was his brother. Now, to rise higher, he had to be faithful to the reality that was in front of him.
Back to the protagonist of this story.
Unlike the atmosphere around him, which was noisy because of his actions, Roman only devoted himself to training with a calm face.
"Huff…"
He took a deep breath.
His whole body was drenched in sweat due to the training he started right in the morning, and because he raised his sharp sensations to the fullest, he was even more exhausted. Even when he trained, he gave it his all. It would still take him time to reach the level of efficiency that he had in his previous life, but at least his growth was steady.
"What is it?"
Still, as his senses had become quite sharp and sensitive by now, he could hear other people's voices.
Hans said with a face like he wasn't even surprised by such things anymore, "We have guests waiting outside."3
"Guests?"
"Yes. Shall I guide you?"
There were no guests scheduled to come today.
Roman postponed the meeting and took a shower. Then, he moved to the waiting room.
"Nice to meet you. I am Bentner."
"I am Roman Dmitry."
The man smiled brightly and shook hands. It was a face Roman was seeing for the first time. Only when Roman blinked and asked everyone to leave the room did Bentner reveal his true identity.
"I will be straight with you. I am a servant of His Majesty, the King of Cairo. I've come to Dmitry in order to appoint you, Roman Dmitry, as a Royal Knight of Cairo."
Among the four factions of Cairo, Bentner was a member of the Royal Family.
People had finally begun to move earnestly to secure Roman Dmitry, a dragon who was sleeping within the nation of Cairo.
1.Just in case anyone forgot, Alexander was the one who had founded Aura on the Salamander Continent. ↩️
2.Pink symbolizes youth, good health, and playfulness. ↩️
3.Hans has just become tired and used to Roman's extraordinary actions now lol. ↩️