Swordmeister of Rome

"Wow… it really has been a long time."

Sian was reading through the letters after renting a room. He wanted to see his family, but he decided to read the letters to find out what happened since he had gone missing.

There were so many letters that Sian had to reorganize them in order that they were sent first. Most of the letters were from his family. Next was Celine, King Narasha, and then Stiel. Stiel only had one letter that she initially wrote and stopped, seemingly embarrassed from doing such an action. Meanwhile, the King only had four letters, but all of them were really long so Sian put them aside to read later.

After reading those letters, Sian learned that a lot of things had happened during those five years.

Celine had returned to Dragona and Stiel mentioned she had taken care of everything regarding his brother…

"Huh? Married?"

Sian was shocked, but he nodded understandingly.

Warriors had a different age standard than regular people. The more powerful they were, the healthier they were, so it allowed them to look young. Stiel, for instance, was over two hundred years old but she only looked like she was barely twenty years old.

If Sian was asleep for five years, his brother was now twenty-nine years old. It was about time for him to be married and have babies.

"I see… well, I should get married someday. So he got married to… Kora-duum?"

Sian was curious about the name he had never heard of before. He read through some more and became shocked.

"…he was married three years ago… and she was fourteen? Only seventeen now?"

But it was just the start.

<Dear Sian. It has been three years since you've been gone. I wish you come back soon… <Skipped> I have a second wife… her name is…>

<Dear Sian. I miss you so much. It has been four years… <Skipped> Third wife… she is…>

"He has… three wives?"

Sian was dumbfounded. He wanted to congratulate his brother, but it was too much for him to handle. He then laid down on the bed and picked up the letter again.

The letter had a lot of information that he needed. How his family was doing, where Stiel was, how busy Celine was… the letter sent by King Narasha looked so complicated that Sian decided to skip it.

After reading everything, Sian began thinking about what to do next.

He didn't think for long. The people he wanted to meet were gathered in one place. He missed them so much. Except King Narasha.

The last letter that came from Rian two weeks ago said where they were staying currently. Sian moved to the Ra-Shar-Roa. The pillar had enough money and he had his identification plaque so it was no problem for him to move.

"Hm… why are you guys here?" Sian asked Mirian and Ron who were waiting outside the door. They should have no business with him anymore. Ron hesitated and Mirian said, "When are you going to meet with your brother?"

"I was on my way, actually. I'm going to use the Ra-Shar-Roa."

One would have to take Ra-Shar-Roa to arrive at <Lavilan>, the place where Rian was. Sian decided to move to Count Celaine's estate by using the Ra-Shar-Roa and start walking from there. Mirian then brightened up and grabbed onto Sian.

"Wow! Great. We can go together!"

"No."

Mirian was dumbfounded at such a quick rejection.

Sian had his reasons. Lavilan and Celaine Estate were not close. His speed would allow him to arrive at once, but taking these young students would take too long. He wasn't in hurry, but he wanted to meet up with his brother fast.

"Come on. You should listen to our story first. You're related too."

Sian was interested in Mirian's words.

"Do you know my brother?"

"Uh… it's complicated but…"

Mirian and Ron began to explain.

Gron-Pilah's vacation was actually placed for the instructors. Unless they were full-time faculty, the season during March through April was too busy for instructors to concentrate on teaching. That was why academy closed down for one to two months to have instructors focus on their original jobs and send the students back home.

Mirian and Ron had to return home also. They already had their next destination. They were offered by their friend to visit her.

"A friend…?"

"Your brother's wife. Kora-duum. She's my friend. Isn't it wonderful that we met you at this time?"

"Uh… oh…"

Sian understood what his brother had done after looking at the young student standing in front of him. He didn't realize how young a seventeen-year-old girl could be and Sian himself started working as Guarran-Tia when he was seventeen. So he didn't think it was absurd that his brother married such a young girl.

'What have you done, brother?'

Sian felt the need to change his plans. If they were friends of his brother's wife, it seemed like a good idea to take them along. Sian thought it would be bad to be rude toward his brother's wife, as she was family, so he nodded.

"Okay… we'll go together. You can pack… or you did already."

Sian nodded approvingly as he saw packs that Mirian and Ron were picking up that they had put aside. They were quick on what they had to do. They would not hinder his travel too much.

Sian also thought it was a good chance to know why Rian had married such a young girl. Rian did not describe in detail in his letters, but this girl next to him would surely know if she were a friend.

Three of them used the Ra-Shar-Roa and arrived at the Celaine Estate. It was being chased fiercely by the Logadis Estate, but the Celine Estate was still the largest and wealthiest estate in Western Tian. The rising of the Logadis Estate actually helped Celine Estate as it was located between Taran and Logadis, making a trading hub for the two places.

Because of this, there were hundreds of people using the expensive Ra-Shar-Roa every day.

After they walked past the Ra-Shar-Roa post, Mirian and Ron looked at Sian admiringly.

"Wow… so the Roman family uses Ra-Shar-Roa for free?"

"It wasn't like this before… It's good, but it's interesting," Sian answered as he thought about what just happened. When he showed money and the identification plaque, the post was shocked. The knight that was at the post began calling somewhere and allowed Sian to use the Ra-Shar-Roa for free. Even Mirian and Ron managed to use it for free.

Sian soon realized what was behind all that.

'So, old man Narasha did something to my plaque. It's convenient, but what did he do?'

Sian then took out his identification plaque and examined it. There was something engraved behind it. Five red lions. It wasn't there when he was traveling around.

Sian didn't know what it was, but it was made specially for Sian. It was created by King Narasha to find Sian who might show up all of a sudden.

<If you see anyone with this engraving on the identification plaque, call and make everything convienent for the user as best as possible.>

Sian didn't know all that, but he decided to not think about it.

"So… how did my brother meet his wife? If she is the same age as you…" Sian asked Mirian.

"Hehe. What do you think? I told you, she's a friend of mine."

"You mean…"

"Hehe. Who would've guessed that Instructor Rian would marry his student?"

Sian shook his head.