The destruction of Flare was a sign of retreat. Roman and his men withdrew as quickly as they appeared and became dogs chasing chickens for Barco’s men.
“Huff… Huff…”
With the current series of situations, Chris let out a shaky breath and reached for his chin. His condition was a complete mess. He was frantically swinging his sword to follow Roman, and Barco’s men running behind him were being cut down constantly. That’s why his golden hair, which looked like a nobleman’s, was now soaked in blood.
Chris wiped away the droplets, whether they were sweat or blood, and laughed.
’I am sure now—My liege’s method was right.’
In this battle, Chris was using his Aura differently than earlier. In this world, it was normal to maximize the power of the Aura with an explosive force, but after dealing with Roman, he realized that maximizing Aura wasn’t the correct answer. Thus, after much thought, he reduced the size of his Aura.
Instead, he tried to condense the Aura as much as possible, and thanks to that, the mana consumption wasn’t too much in such a battle. Eventually, he started laughing even more—Despite being ignored by those around him as to why he was following Roman, Chris was slowly finding the possibility of growth.
He calmed his breathing. And as he looked around, Chris found everyone’s condition was a mess.
“Huff, huff, huff…”
“I might really die.”
“Wahh…”
Roman’s soldiers—They all fell to the ground and lay down.
A person like Chris was about to follow the pace of Roman, but the others had to clench their teeth just to not get left behind. The duration of the battle was short. However, the extremely intense battle completely depleted their stamina, and some of those who fell to the ground even puked. Fortunately, no one had died. Of all the soldiers, no one was left behind, and no one seemed seriously injured either. They knew it—Why they were able to survive. Although all the soldiers had troubled faces, they couldn’t take their eyes off Roman, who was standing alone.
‘Isn’t he tired?’
‘He is a monster for real!’
Roman—He hadn’t even stopped to breathe. Even though he took the lead and was obviously in a dangerous situation, he didn’t even seem to be gasping for air. And such a sight terrified them. Roman had slaughtered more than a dozen soldiers by himself, and even when the mercenaries’ captain, who was extremely skilled, fought with him, Roman dealt with him as if he was dealing with a regular soldier.
A monster—There was no other way to express him. They had already experienced Roman’s strength in private, but today’s battle gave them a different perspective—beyond common sense.
They were all in awe at Roman’s existence. The soldiers looked up at Roman, drenched in blood. Rather than appearing cruel, the fact that their lord was so strong made them feel good.
When everyone’s condition stabled, Roman said, “Our role is over. Now, let’s head back to Lawrence.”
Time to head back—As a hero who heralded a triumph, now it was his turn to return to a homecoming.
Thud.
The gates were opened.
At the sight of Roman and his soldiers entering dignifiedly, the people of Lawrence, who were lined up on both sides of the gate, cheered.
“Waahhhhh!”
“Roman! Roman!”
“Roman! Roman!”
“Hero of Dmitry!”
Now, Roman’s reputation had changed. Seeing Roman Dmitry, who was once known as Dmitry’s Fool, people cheered as if they were welcoming a great man. They couldn’t help it. Their perception hadn’t changed due to this incident alone. At least in Lawrence, their perception of Roman was changing little by little due to the subjugation of Blood Fang.
Hero of Dmitry—A fitting expression. Appearing like a prince riding on a white horse and destroying the Flare had left a strong impression on the people of Lawrence.
“Thanks to you, we live! Thank you very much!”
“From now, Lawrence will never forget the grace of Roman Dmitry!”
“I love you!”
Women were screaming. Viscount Lawrence smiled bitterly at the sight of them crowding into the streets just to touch Roman.
‘It’s unfortunate.’
Roman—A man with outstanding talent. From the moment they first met, he knew that Roman was an unusual one, but today’s scene of destroying the Flare proved to be a greater talent than he had ever imagined.
It was far away, so he couldn’t see it clearly, but he did see the scene of Barco’s soldiers being slaughtered, and the Aura which destroyed the Flare.
Dmitry had given birth to a tiger. And if things hadn’t gone wrong, that tiger would have been his son-in-law.
He gulped. Seeing Roman Dmitry’s imposing gait made him thirsty, but Viscount Lawrence struggled to turn away from the new reality.
‘I promised to respect the life choices of Flora. No matter how attractive and coveting Roman may be, marrying him is a choice Flora should have. Thus, I will not try to push her to marry him.’
He suppressed his desire. And when he saw Roman approaching in front of him, he greeted him with a smile.
“Hero of Dmitry! Nice to see you again!”—It was a brief welcome ceremony. The war wasn’t over yet, and Roman walked into the gates facing the cheers and applause of people.
Just then, from behind him, a familiar voice was heard.
“…Thank you.”
It was Flora. A fierce battle had turned her into a mess. Her skirt was torn, and her face was tanned, but Flora didn’t seem to care.
“We didn’t even act as proper bait, as we had planned. If you abandoned Lawrence, we wouldn’t have even had a right to blame you for it, but I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for not abandoning us in a crisis.”
Her face was red. Her first meeting with Roman wasn’t good, so she was a little embarrassed to show her gratitude. Nevertheless, she had to speak. Without that man’s help, Lawrence would have been captured.
Roman said calmly, “I just did what I promised. And Lawrence just did what I had expected it to do.”
“…!”
Roman’s words broke Flora’s heart. He was someone she didn’t know well. She moved a step and thanked the guy, but he coldly drew the line, telling her he was only keeping his side of the promise. Still, she wasn’t angry. No matter what Roman said, it didn’t change the fact that she got help from him. Roman was a benefactor of Lawrence, and Flora was grateful for his decision to help them.
“I am glad that Lawrence managed to do what you wanted. You might think you don’t need to be thanked, but as the representative of Lawrence, I need to repay you. So, if you want to say something or want something, you can say it. Even if my father might feel troubled by it, I will unconditionally stand by your side and make sure you get that reward.”—Those were sincere words. By firing arrows from above the wall, Flora understood how difficult war was. Thus, she felt thankful to Roman for saving Lawrence from danger. It must have been a difficult choice to keep his side of the deal until the end.
Roman looked at Flora. The height difference between the two was huge, so, naturally, Flora was looking up to him.
“Let’s head to the conference room. No matter what I say, if you have no intention to go back on the words of reward, then I will speak comfortably.”
Lawrence’s conference room—The advisors were gathered there. Viscount Lawrence was sitting at the top, and the vassals of the family were on both sides and were expressing their opinions.
“We need to send a messenger to Barco right now. They have lost their momentum and intention of conducting any more sieges as their Flare was destroyed. Now is our chance. I think it will be a good idea to suggest appropriate conditions and end the war with Barco!”
“That’s right. There are a lot of troops on Barco’s side. Rather than causing a crisis and starting war again, we should bury the past and find peace in this situation. That is the only way Lawrence can survive.”
All the vassals seemed to have the same opinion.
Peace—They wanted the war to end already. When they thought of the moment the wall almost collapsed, their legs started shaking, just from the thought of it. Their pride didn’t matter now. They wanted to avoid the next battle as they confirmed what Barco’s power was like.
Viscount Lawrence said, “Your opinions are correct. Although we were able to win the first battle with the help of Roman Dmitry, Lawrence’s strength will not be enough to stop the attacks of Barco. So prepare the messenger now—”
“Can I speak?” Roman asked.
Normally, the vassals would have been angry in the current situation, but now, they were too shocked by the achievements that man had made.
In Lawrence’s meeting, actually, Roman had only attended as a courtesy, but was not in a position to argue over what Lawrence was supposed to do.
“Speak up.”
“Thank you.”
Roman stood up. With everyone’s attention focused on him, he slowly walked around the table and opened his mouth.
“Looking at the siege from Barco, I think Viscount Lawrence knows exactly what advantages we have if we extend the war. Barco is probably under massive financial pressure right now. They have to get Lawrence under any situation to pay off their huge debt, and that turned worse when their Flare was destroyed. If we send a messenger for the sake of peace, I dare to expect that in exchange, we will only receive the head of the person and not a message of peace.”
“Ahem.” Everyone coughed.
Although they struggled to run from it, it was the reality. As Roman said, Barco wouldn’t accept peace.
“Actually, that isn’t even the point.” Roman’s voice changed. The hoarse voice felt suffocating to the vassals.
“Barco falsified the documents and attacked Lawrence, and many people had to die despite Lawrence not being at fault. And even now, the soldiers are carrying corpses of their friends and family from outside the wall. Can’t you feel anything when you look at it? We cannot forgive Barco. In order to live a peaceful life within the wall of Lawrence, we have to show the world how to take revenge on the heinous people who dared to touch Lawrence.”
Roman’s speech was an absolute rebuke to the vassals. He was straightforwardly pointing his finger at them, who were acting like cowards.
The corpses of your soldiers—Why aren’t you angry after seeing that?!—At Roman’s words brimming with emotions, Lawrence’s vassals felt ashamed.
However, only one person—the lord representing Lawrence, felt different.
“It isn’t as if we don’t know that. Obviously, we want revenge, as well. We want Barco to pay for touching Lawrence. However, what about the lack of power we have? Barco has hundreds of soldiers and the Berge mercenaries, as well. Thus, continuing to fight is naught but an act of suicide.”
The lack of power was a cold reality. Even after winning, they couldn’t get their revenge, so Roman said, “One—We have one way.” At that time, he looked at Flora. As if a drop of water fell into a still lake, it felt as if a big ripple was created within her pupils.
“Battle of Great Warriors—That is the only way to get revenge on Barco while ignoring the difference in our forces.”
Battle of Great Warriors—A battle to win or lose on behalf of the family.
At Roman’s suggestion, the conference room was entirely stunned.
