Roman’s Swordsmanship Chapter 69

9. The God of Humans>“Huh…….”

Sian clicked his tongue as he looked at Ragaofe.“Don’t tell me…….”Over the long years, while searching for all sorts of information and for anything that might help create an Alpha, Ragaofe eventually gathered sufficient data and began focusing all his efforts on finding a way to cross over.

During that preparation process, Ragaofe gained a harvest he had never expected.

A miracle-like existence who had manifested the blood of the Lukra—an arrogant and petty race, yet one whose power was beyond measure.“Huh… 300, you say…….”

It was easy to say 300, but it meant being born with a potential growth rate three times that of humans. Considering that the humans of this place were born with talent sufficient to reach, without difficulty, the realm of those called superhumans on the La

-Sian Continent—the rank of nobles—that number was beyond imagination.“Huh…….”The human species grew stronger through training, Dragona through molting, and Krona by devouring their children to raise their realm. As far as he knew, the only race that grew abnormally stronger amid the danger of death was the Lukra.

“…….”But Sian spoke with an expression that said he still did not understand.

“Even so, isn’t that strange? Even if we say I manifested that race’s blood one hundred percent… shouldn’t 300 be the limit?”

At that, Ragaofe laughed even louder and said,“Hmm…….”“Hrm…….”“Huh…….”“Huh… Were you that curious?”

Ragaofe nodded.At first, Ragaofe had considered telling his companions about this, but he kept it a secret until Sian became strong. If they went to test his promise when he was still young and caused trouble, there was no telling how things might twist once he grew stronger later.

“You wanted to make me an Alpha.”

Sian was able to guess Ragaofe’s revised plan without difficulty.

Ragaofe nodded and said,“Hmm…….”“…

Did you perhaps secretly scheme something behind my back during my childhood to make me into an Alpha?”

Sian said, his expression slightly sullen. At that, Ragaofe shook his head.A secret he had never told anyone. Ragaofe even knew that he had crossed the wall at the age of twelve.

“Huh… You really did watch thoroughly.”“Hmm… That sounds suspicious.”

The plans Ragaofe had made had bound him far too well for that, so Sian looked at Ragaofe with a dubious expression.“…

Huh?”

Sian frowned, wondering what on earth he meant.☆ ☆ ☆Ragaofe had been watching Sian grow up so well with a truly pleased expression. An absurd level of talent. Even during the era of the Divine Nation, he had never seen such talent. If things continued as they were, perhaps Sian might break through the walls of the Betas one after another and become an Alpha entirely on his own, without needing anything Ragaofe had prepared. Thinking that, Ragaofe watched Sian with a fatherly smile. It did not matter if everything he had prepared became useless. Means could never replace the objective, after all.

If he could help Sian become an Alpha here, he even planned to postpone the migration that was nearly complete. Migration was a process for creating an Alpha, not the goal itself.

Ragaofe, who inwardly hoped that everything he had prepared to create an Alpha would become trash, was left flustered when he saw how Sian reacted at seventeen after running into a wall.It was an attitude impossible to imagine from someone born into a martial family and trained in arms. The even bigger problem was that this reaction was quite normal. Sian’s strength was more than enough—excessive, even—for living among the monkeys. The fact that he had reached the realm of a duke at seventeen and was blocked by the wall of the Betas was itself astonishing beyond belief.

But from Ragaofe’s perspective, it was truly nonsense. He felt sorry to Sian, but he absolutely had to give birth to an Alpha. If he had not known of Sian’s existence, perhaps it would have been one thing, but now that such jewel-like potential existed, he had no intention of leaving it alone. In truth, even if the migration succeeded and the things he had prepared were carried out successfully, there was no guarantee that any human species other than Duke Lorval would reach the realm of Alpha. Nor could he know what situation Duke Lorval, with whom contact had been lost, was in. In the midst of that, Sian had appeared as if bestowed by heaven, and Ragaofe could never give him up. Even if one strove madly to become an Alpha, success was uncertain—yet Sian had that attitude! Ragaofe could not stand it.

That was why Ragaofe took action. Having investigated Sian with absolute thoroughness, Ragaofe also thoroughly investigated Count Kervel, with whom Sian was staying, and the people around him, and as a result found a way to make Sian stronger. Then, after agonizing over various things, Ragaofe gave up in disappointment.Sian, who had reached the wall, was already at a level where the likes of them could not touch him. Perhaps if the former Con

-rad or Nekra were there… But Con

-rad had not yet undergone soul transfer, and Nekra was not in his active period.

But he did not give up completely. In this place, there was no existence that could threaten Sian, who had reached the wall, but if they crossed over, there would be enough beings of that level to trip over. He could gently coax Sian there, then torment him.

Having made his judgment, Ragaofe first stopped paying attention to Sian and proceeded with the plan he had originally been carrying out.

But while opening the Apental in Kervel, Ragaofe was flustered when he saw Sian lodged inside it.No matter how weakly he had opened it, the Apental was far too dangerous for someone merely blocked by the wall. Because of that, he was restless with worry, but Sian returned alive, truly splendidly. Having evolved into Beta 1. Ragaofe pretended not to know, but inwardly, he had no idea how delighted he was.

The fact that a new user had connected to Aksarai was not particularly surprising in itself. It was only necessary that the user of Aksarai not become an Alpha. After the soul of the Aksarai user flew away, Ragaofe was uneasy, but in the end he resolved to resurrect Con

-rad.

Here, Ragaofe considered indulging in a little greed. If he could make Sian stronger, it was better to make him as strong as possible here. The method he considered for that was the Great Warrior, Nekra. Though blocked by the wall, with his grand sorcery, Nekra should be able to drive Sian, who had reached the realm of Beta 1, splendidly into the danger of death.

But Ragaofe had no need to agonize over it at all. He had been pondering how to connect Nekra to him when Sian disappeared somewhere. Flustered, Ragaofe searched everywhere for Sian, but could not find any trace of him anywhere. To make matters worse, even Steel, who seemed likely to know Sian’s whereabouts, had gone missing. When he searched in alarm, fortunately, Steel had informed his surrounding family and King Narasha, and after investigating carefully, Ragaofe realized that Sian had commendably walked into a place where he might die on his own.

Since there was no particular countermeasure no matter how anxiously he waited, Ragaofe simply waited with a relaxed heart, and as a result, Sian splendidly evolved into Beta 2 and returned. How could Ragaofe not take a liking to Sian, who always showed results beyond expectation? Ragaofe came to like Sian very much. After that, Ragaofe lavished generosity upon Sian, even making soul-transfer jades for Sian’s family members, whom he had no real interest in. He could not endure wanting to do something for Sian, who had done even better than he had expected.

And he realized it. In this place, there was no longer anything that could pose a threat to Sian. There was nothing on La

-Sian that could threaten Sian, who had reached the second stage of Beta. He was no fool, and there was no way he would fall into the Apental again.

But that was a story limited to this continent. On that continent, there were means enough to trouble even someone around Beta 2.

And so, Ragaofe La

-After obtaining everything there was to obtain on the Sian Continent, he set the migration preparations in motion.

Apental, too, had not been prepared in order to put Sian in danger. He was no fool—who would willingly enter such a dangerous place? Especially when he had already gone in once before. That had truly been prepared to lure in Crona, and in truth, Ragaofe had intended to install La-Shar-Roa later, tempt Sian over to the Don-Nasian Continent by promising to make him a Soul Jade, then throw him into Aksarum. If it was there, even Sian, who had reached Beta 2, would be in sufficient danger.

That was why, when he revealed the migration plan to Bisa, he did not reveal everything. If he did, he would have to speak of the Rukra and the Drakun as well, and if Sian heard such things, then no matter how much he was tempted with a Soul Jade, he would never cross over to the continent.

Thinking that he would have to bring Sian over later, Ragaofe carried out the migration plan, and stopped by the Mountain of Extremes along the way. He needed to wash away his blessing, and at the same time learn how the situation was unfolding.

The priest he saw after so long looked exactly as he had before. And yet, he was different from before. A towering height of over two meters, golden tentacle-like hair, and clothing made of some unknown material, yet overflowing with dignity. He had felt it before, but the figure was truly majestic. If Ragaofe himself had been stronger, he might have been able to sense even the priest’s overwhelming might before him, but he could feel nothing at all. In the past, he had at least been able to sense something.

Most likely, he had become an Alpha in the meantime. Considering the nature of the Rukra, who only grew stronger after crossing the brink of death, it seemed this place, the Mountain of Extremes, had not been entirely peaceful.

Looking at the priest, Ragaofe asked the question he was most curious about first. Judging by the continent, which was at least relatively peaceful, it did not seem that anything major had happened, but beings like him could not know the world of Alphas. One never knew what might be happening where.At that, Ragaofe grinned broadly.At those words, the priest also smiled and said,And the priest washed away the blessing and drew the blood out of his body. Ragaofe felt something begin to flow inside him. It was probably the frozen time being released. If he trained from now on, he could become stronger, but… there was no meaning in it. It would be far more beneficial to spend that time on research.

The priest looked at Ragaofe and spoke.Feeling his body begin to slowly flow within time, Ragaofe left the Mountain of Extremes. Perhaps because there was no blood, he was indeed able to pass through safely on the way. Once he arrived, Ragaofe immediately went to find Lorval first. Lorval still remained at Beta.He had anticipated it from the moment he heard the priest’s words, and it was a project that should not have succeeded anyway, but now that it had come to this, it left an extremely bitter taste in his mouth. It felt as though his years had been denied. But Ragaofe soon recovered his strength. After all, he had discovered something even greater than that.Seeing Ragaofe appear before him after transcending years in which he should rightfully have died, Lorval could not hide his astonishment. Ragaofe told him everything that had happened.

After hearing the story, Lorval wore a bitter expression.<…Please take heart. Even so, I obtained many things there.>And Ragaofe laid out all the research results he had achieved, as well as the story about Sian. The moment Lorval heard it, he immediately said one thing.Because he keenly understood how sorrowful it was to exist without a god, Lorval did not hesitate twice. In any case, he was no good. They had to pour every remaining possibility into that man.

In order to install La-Shar-Roa to summon Sian, they first had to erect a barrier and prepare against Gerna. Thus, while they were diligently making preparations against Gerna, astonishing news reached them. And it came from Kon-Rad, who was repairing the barrier.When he heard the full story, it seemed Sian had been unlucky enough to fall into Apental, which they had left open in order to flee. Then he had broken through all of it and climbed back up, becoming Beta 3. At this point, Ragaofe could not help but be impressed.Seeing how he kept wandering into deadly crises here and there, it was almost as if he had been cursed. It was astonishing how well he managed to find places where he might die. Just in case, they sent him to Aksarum, and as expected, he returned with ease. In truth, as a researcher of that place, Ragaofe could enter it at any time and bring out the core. But he had been saving it for Sian, and it ended up being used unintentionally for an experiment.

After confirming that Sian had reached Beta 3, Ragaofe fell into thought. He could not think of what to do next. Sian had become too strong, making it awkward to do anything to him now. But if they showed Sian to the Drakun bastards, he would be killed at once.

Just as he was agonizing over it, Sian did something again. To be precise, Sian’s blood did.

Murakan, who had refused to evolve no matter how much they were driven to do so, evolved to Beta 2 in an instant. And they attacked Sian in droves. It was a completely unexpected situation, but Duke Lorval’s quest windows, which kept appearing without pause, showed them the path they had to take immediately. The ability he had cursed so much was now showing him the way.Indeed, just as Aksarai had taught them, the Murakan forcibly made Sian into Beta 4. Even more astonishing was that, in the process, they obtained the essence of a Murakan that had reached Beta 3. The problems they had agonized over for three thousand years were all solved at once not long after Sian arrived.

Thanks to that, Lorval reached Beta 4. Seeing him deliberately remain stagnant, then grow stronger without hesitation, Ragaofe realized what the duke was thinking.Ragaofe looked at him with worried eyes, but the duke shook his head.The duke opened his mouth with an expression that said there was no particular problem.<…Is that intuition again?>The priest had been like that too… From the standpoint of Ragaofe, a scientist, it was not something he found particularly pleasing. Seeing Ragaofe grumble, the duke smiled and said,With those words as his last, the duke smiled and entered the core for his final evolution.☆ ☆ ☆“…….”

Sian’s expression was complicated and subtle. These people had spent three thousand years suffering and running forward, all to create a single Alpha.

“What is it you want? And even if I become an Alpha… I might not fulfill that role as your ally, might I? You must know me quite well. Then shouldn’t you, well… try to get on my good side?”

At that, Ragaofe smiled and said,“…….”“What……?”

At the words “another method,” Sian grew curious and opened his mouth.“Hmm…….”“…….”“But the south remains, does it not? In truth, that is likely why the Rukra are telling me to fulfill my duty as an ally.”

According to Ragaofe’s words, everything seemed to have gone well, but the biggest problem remained. A problem so great that all the others combined could not compare to it. In Sian’s opinion, the south was the most threatening. Harijan, Rukra, and even Drakun… Right now, the three were too busy fiercely keeping one another in check to pay attention, but if the human race were to grow threatening enough, they would surely not stand by and watch.“…

I believe I misheard you?”

Wondering whether he had heard wrong, Sian looked at the screen, but Ragaofe coldly threw out another sentence.“Heh heh… heh heh heh heh heh heh… heh heh heh…….”

Sian felt the blood pressure in his entire body surge violently.“…….”‘I have to chase him down.’Sian decided that he had to find Ragaofe, even if he had to search the entire continent. But perhaps Ragaofe had already anticipated even that, for he said one more thing.“…

What did you say?”“So I could go home…….”And Ragaofe told Sian of a conversation he had with the priest at the Mountain of Extremes after making their pact, before he departed for the land of beasts.Seeing Ragaofe look regretfully at the continent he had come from as he departed, the priest added one sentence.<…

When Ragaofe asked, curiosity stirring despite his anger, the priest instead asked him a question in return.

Damn it.> Ragaofe was utterly irritated by this damned situation, where they could survive precisely because they were weak.

Then what are you telling me to do?>

Ragaofe asked in a drained voice. The priest answered him.

Hearing that, Sian looked utterly dumbfounded.

“No, then you should have solved it on the La-Sian Continent. Why here……?”

Even if they had to fight, if both of them spatially moved and it was born there, wouldn’t those Drakuns be unable to chase after them? At least, that was what Sian thought.

But Ragaofe, beyond the video device, shook his head.

“Insane…….”

“…….”

“…….”

“Damn it… why didn’t you tell me that sooner…….”

Before Sian even finished speaking, he began pouring an enormous amount of energy into the magic circle. It was not because of Ragaofe’s words. It was because, from far, far away, he could feel three absurd presences flying toward him at tremendous speed.

“Ha…….”

“Miss Steel! This way!”

Sian’s body, having reached Alpha, supplied by himself all the tremendous energy that Kiculus should have supplied to the magic circle.

Vwoooooong!

At last, immense energy surged up and the magic circle began to activate. As soon as it did, Sian completely concealed his presence, pulled Steel in, and leaped into it. In the next instant, Sian and Steel vanished in a flash.

Boooom!

And the Drakuns who had flown in from afar, boasting massive bodies and ten sleek wings, landed on the ground and examined the magic circle that now left no trace behind.

It is the place where those beast bastards live…….>

Of all places, there…….> One of the Drakuns frowned. If they tore through the dimensional veil and entered now, those mad beasts would come rushing from every direction to rip them apart. With the combat strength of just the three of them, dealing with the beasts would be too much. Even among Alphas, there were differences. While they and the Lukra had been fighting and exhausting their strength, those beasts had steadily grown stronger. Now, they were not at a level that could be ignored.

One of the Drakuns spoke with a sneer. To think his comrade wanted to act against ground-ant vermin like those. If it were the one who had fled earlier, that would be one thing, but a comrade who wanted to act against such creatures was nothing but laughable.

At another Drakun’s words, one Drakun frowned.

With those words as the last, the ones who had descended from the sky began flying back to where they had originally been.

☆ ☆ ☆

“Whew…….”

Ragaofe, who had been communicating from within the Aksarum where he lived, cut off the transmission and let out a sigh.

“How… did it go well?”

“It seems to have gone reasonably well. As expected, their arrogance is truly something to behold.”

In truth, what Ragaofe had worried about most was whether the Drakuns might harm humankind. Fortunately, however, they had done no harm and had flown straight back to the Lukra.

“By the way… I am an Aksarai user. Is that all right? According to what you said… am I not in danger too?”

At that, Ragaofe spoke with a look of derision.

“Ha… do you think becoming an Alpha is so easy? If users became that strong just by being users, why have you not even become a Beta yet?”

“…

You hit where it hurts. By the way… do you really only have five years left to live?”

Grumbling, Kon-Rad looked at Ragaofe with worried eyes and asked.

“That is correct. I have about five years left in my lifespan.”

“Ha…….”

“But what of it? I can just perform a soul transfer, can I not? Hahahahaha!”

“…….”

Kon-Rad stared at Ragaofe with an expression of utter disbelief. That bit about five years at the end had probably been to buy Sian’s sympathy, but if he was ever found out, he would likely be beaten until he was truly on the verge of death.

“I have done all I can now. Mr. Sian will take care of the rest on his own. Whew…….”

“You trust him that much. But I do not think he is the sort to fight for humanity… what will you do if he keeps hiding?”

From what Kon-Rad had seen of Sian so far, he truly seemed to hate fighting. Especially if there was a danger of dying. He did not seem likely to stand against the Drakuns or Harijan and protect humanity. At that, Ragaofe smiled and said,

“There will be a limit. The reason I made Mr. Sian into an Alpha was not because I wanted him to rush out the moment he became stronger and beat down the Drakuns, the Lukra, the Harijan, and everything else.”

“Ha… then?”

“For a while, it will be peaceful. The balance of power has been established. But how long will it last? If the balance of power breaks… the entire continent will be swept up in war. As I said earlier… if that happens, do you think Mr. Sian, who cherishes his family, will be able to avoid fighting? Humankind, including his family, will be driven to extinction.”

“That is true.”

“That is why I made the Soul Transfer Orb as well. So his family will not die sudden, tragic deaths before then… and I also extended Miss Steel’s lifespan. Even if only to protect them, he will not be able to endure without fighting. That much of a role is enough for Mr. Sian. When those calamity-like beings cause havoc, he need only fight in our stead… I never expected him to embrace and protect us from the beginning. Lord Broxian did not do that either.”

“Ha…….”

“It is enough for a monster’s role to be dealing with monsters. And…….”

“Mm?”

When it seemed there was something more, Kon-Rad looked at Ragaofe with curiosity. Looking back at Kon-Rad, Ragaofe smiled and opened his mouth.

“This is not something a man of science should say, but… Mr. Sian’s fate is not like that. His luck is truly atrocious. Even if he does not want to fight, he will probably end up fighting.”

“…

True.”

Kon-Rad, who had also examined that man’s records, had been astonished. It was hard to be so unlucky even if one tried.

“For now, we have turned their attention that way, so forget about it… and while Mr. Sian buys us time, we will reorganize this place.”

They had returned here because they had found, in that place, the possibility of creating an Alpha besides Sian as well. But that would be a story for much later. First, they had to reorganize humankind and lay the foundation. After that, they had to grow explosively. The ducal house of Rorbal, which had ruled them, was now gone. But it was in preparation for this moment that he had brought Kon-Rad. If it was Kon-Rad, he would be able to govern the humans with ease.

“Well… I suppose we must.”

Kon-Rad nodded. They could leave the affairs of monsters for monsters to handle. They simply had to do what they could.

Kon-Rad began thinking about the future, about how they would fill this continent where only humans now remained.