Swordmeister of Rome

Krasant yawned as he watched the skies from the southern watchtower of Lavilan.

"I don't know what those Tarans are thinking."

Taran had been standing guard against the Tian Border, and there were no signs of any attacks. They might have been watching out for Granines, but they were gone now so it didn't make sense.

Krasant, after his five years of duty in this tower, had never seen any signs of hostility. But he was involved in the war that allowed Tian to attack the unsuspecting Taran, thus acquiring the Lagran Region, so he did not let down his guard.

As he looked up into the skies, he saw something shiny coming from the east side. He first thought he had caught a glimpse of a light, but it wasn't. It was approaching at an incredible speed.

"What the… DAMMIT!"

A mysterious object flying at such speed meant absolute destruction if it crash landed. Krasant frantically started ringing the emergency bell.

'What is that? Why is it coming from Tian's side? Was Celaine attacked? Or is it some new magic from the enemy?'

The red object was approaching too quickly. It didn't seem like it was big, but the speed was too threatening.

"It's coming directly here!"

Krasan closed his eyes and crouched on the ground. It was what he was trained to do to withstand explosions.

"…Huh?"

There was a loud thud, which Krasant expected to erupt into an explosion, but nothing happened. He then opened his eyes and looked at the landing site. Dust clouds rose, but there was no explosion. As the dust cloud subsided, a large figure came out from it.

'What is that? Is it a monster?'

Krasant mistook the two people on each shoulder as the figure's actual shoulders. Two people were vomiting. Krasant then came back to his senses and sprang up to his feet. The other guards were already circling the intruder.

"Ugh… you should've told us!"

"What was this! Couldn't we have just come normally?"

"Uh… But…"

The intruder was quarreling with the two people he had been carrying on each shoulder. Krasant wanted to jump in and apprehend the intruder, but he couldn't. No one couldn't when they just saw a man fly down from the sky at an unbelievable speed.

Then Krasant realized the intruder had a familiar face. The face reminded him of Tian's greatest general, Count Roman. Then he remembered the face he saw when he was at war more than five years ago. The intruder had grown taller and bigger, but he couldn't forget his face.

"Sian! Aren't you sir Sian von Roman?"

"Huh? Do you know me?"

"Yes. I participated in the war in the Lagran Region."

"Oh! I see. Nice to meet you."

Sian looked at Krasant curiously.

"I thought you had gone missing…"

"Yes, but I'm back. Can you call my brother?"

"Of course. Please wait here."

Krasant turned to call upon Rian, but there was no need.

"Hahaha! Sian! It's been so long! What a grand entrance you just made. I won't need to let Father know about it," Rian laughed. There was no way Grand Bander would miss what Sian just did.

"Hehe. I missed you, Brother."

They hugged each other for a while. Rian then said, "We have a lot to talk about. Come, come."

"Yeah, we sure do. I want to know about your three wives."

"Oh… haha. It's a long story. Hahaha… and who are these friends?"

"They're your wife's friends. I took them along with me. Hey, can you walk?"

"Ugh… yeah. I'll walk."

Sian and the group went into the castle and guards went back to their post.

"Sian, this is my wife, Kora-duum. She is the daughter of a Dekon."

"Dekon! I met a Dekon before. Greetings. I'm Sian."

"Hello. I'm Kora-duum."

Sian introduced himself, thinking about the Dekon he met in Kulan Province. Kora-duum looked closely at her husband's brother. What Rian had been telling her was unbelievable at best.

<You know that crater behind Lagran? That's the result of my brother's fight. He destroyed four peaks of the mountain range.>

<My brother… sacrificed himself to protect us. I am sad that my brother made such a choice, but I believe him. And I know that he will not be beaten… by anyone.>

<People say I'm a genius, but that's because they don't know my brother.>

Rian was a genius for sure. It was just that Sian should not even be considered as a human if the stories were true. Even if only half of the stories were true, it would mean Sian was like a reincarnation of the War God himself.

Hence, she was always curious.

Dekon eyes could see through everything. She wanted to check on her husband's brother. To see if he was real.

She thought she would know right at the moment she laid her eye upon him, but it did not work as she planned.

"So I had to fight that stupid husk that tried to eat me as a whole…"

"By the gods… you must have gone through so much pain."

'…What is it?'

Kora-duum became confused as she watched Sian who was talking with her husband. She saw something, but it was weird. It was a giant, yellow something. It was moving about but she couldn't understand what it was. Then Rian turned to Kora-duum.

"Haha, my brother is shy so he will get embarrassed if you keep staring at him like that."

At that moment, her question was answered. The yellow thing turned to Kora-duum and she saw what it was. Within the middle cross-shaped opening was a red burning light. As Sian turned to watch Kora-duum, its powerful, ominous eye looked directly into Kora-duum and she felt all her energy and the hope of resistance failing.

"Ah… ah…."

"Huh? What is it, darling?"

"Ah… n-no. It's nothing."

Kora-duum instantly fell onto the ground, panting.

"Maybe she's tired."

"I… I just got nervous. I'll talk to my friends and leave you two here."

Rian looked concerned, but Kora-duum slowly walked away with her friends.

"I'm not sure what happened to her."

"You should check on her first."

"I'm sorry, Sian. I'll be back soon. Go to your room and have some rest. We'll talk again when Father comes back."

Rian then followed his wife and Sian moved up to his room. On the way, Sian mumbled to himself.

"So, Dekons really are something. I thought she would not see it."

Superhumans were different beings that were governed by different laws of the world. It meant that they were separate from the current dimension. This separation grew distinct as the person became stronger, so Sian would have been too different to even feel he was different. Yet Kora-duum managed to see something.

Sian decided to be careful so he would not scare his brother's wife anymore and moved to his room.

"He looked happy… I wonder when will I get married," Sian sighed.

"Sian! I'm glad you are back!"

"Haha, me too, Father. How have you been?"

"It's been the same old in this place."

Count Roman seemed to be really relieved to see his son back in one piece. Sian and Count talked among themselves as Rian hadn't come back yet. After talking on different topics for a while, they came to the issue Sian was most curious about.

"So… you know about your brother, I assume?"

"Yes. I read the letters. It's shame that I couldn't attend his wedding."

"Right. So, did you meet all three of his wives?"

"No, I just met his first wife. Where are other two?"

"They're at another place, training. I'm sure they saw you flying in, so they will come soon."

Count Roman also saw the meteor flying in, so his daughter-in-laws must have seen it too. Sian had a lot of questions, but he decided to ask about two people that sent him letters.

"Where's Lady Celine and Miss Stiel? The letters said they were here."

"Celine is training with the other two wives so she will come with them. And… by Stiel, do you mean Stantahl the First?"

"Yeah. The letter…"

"What do you mean? Is she here?"

"Huh?"

Sian and Count Roman exchanged confused glances.