Chapter 119 – While Staying In The Capital (3)

Lauren said, “I accidentally overheard people talking about the rumors that Brother defeated the Hector Kingdom and saved the Southern Front.
I didn’t quite believe it at first.
The Brother I remember wasn’t interested in swordsmanship, and in the first place, even if he were asked to go for military duty, he would avoid it.”

Was it a year ago?

It wasn’t that old of a memory.
Roman contacted Lauren and asked if the youngest could take the burden of the family in the place of the eldest, and he felt a bit sad then.

Actually, other noble families did not entrust their eldest sons with military duty.
If they had the power, they would have solved the problem, or compelled another brother, such as a second son, to replace him.

But Baron Romero pushed Roman out of it.
Rodwell was selected as the successor hoping that Roman, who was creating trouble for the family, would come to his senses once he got enlisted in the army.
Because of this, Roman Dmitry stopped talking to Rodwell and complained to Lauren about it.

Pathetic older brother.

He wasn’t the type of brother whom Lauren could brag about like Rodwell, but he didn’t think too badly of Roman, who was in a similar situation as himself.

As they were originally commoners, Roman and Lauren Dmitry had to grow up with fierce competition against Rodwell, who was a strong competitor.
So Lauren thought he understood why Roman had to go on military duty instead.

“But while we didn’t meet, you changed.
The Roman Dmitry, who was in a similar situation to me, has disappeared and been reborn into a new being called Cairo’s Hero.
How can you be this different? I am aware of my Brother and myself.
It is well known that people from the outskirts do not have the same talent as Brother Rodwell and do not achieve success.
At the very least, my Brother and I were the types of people who couldn’t live up to the expectations of those around us.”

He found it hard to talk about his feelings for the first time.
The emotions that he had bottled up for a long time overflowed.

“I am the shy kind.
I followed my Brother Rodwell to the capital to live up to my Father’s expectations, but I couldn’t do anything until he was promoted to Class S, and to be honest, I still don’t understand what mana is.
Others have good mana and get promoted in a month or two, but as I get older and take more classes, I moved to Class D, and I don’t know when I will be pushed to Class E.”

He cried.
He couldn’t tell this truth at home, and he looked at Roman with earnest eyes.

“So I came to meet my Brother.
My Brother was in the same situation as me.
How did you become stronger than me? I also want to be a son that my Father is proud of.
Always pretending to be fine and pretending to be good, it isn’t that I am forced to smile, but I really want to show some results.”

Finally, he couldn’t stop crying.

He cried with his head bowed and shoulders dropping in a sorrowful manner.
It was a look that even the original Roman wouldn’t have expected.

The people in Lauren Dmitry’s family thought he was doing well in the capital, just like his brother Rodwell.
Of course, his progress wasn’t as great as that of his brother Rodwell, but unlike Roman, who was a fool, he attended the classes diligently.

But the truth was different.
Lauren knew how his father, Baron Romero, was having a hard time with Roman Dmitry, so Lauren never said anything.
He hated how he had to live so hard, but he thought that one problem child was enough in a family.

The conversation couldn’t go any longer, as he didn’t stop crying.
Roman said nothing as he continued to watch him cry to the point where he couldn’t breathe.

Just like that, until Lauren calmed down, Roman just looked at Lauren and waited for him to stop crying.

Lauren cried for a long time.
He was a sensitive child.
He was still 18 years old and wasn’t ready to handle the weight of reality.

‘How should I treat Lauren?’

There was no ill feeling.
It wasn’t that he had any bad memories of Lauren, but then, the second son, Rodwell wasn’t bad either.

A new life—even though he took over Roman Dmitry’s life, Roman didn’t want to keep the same kinds of relationships.
The original Roman had a lot of karma.
Everyone that Roman met displayed a hostile attitude toward him, and he was shown hatred despite not doing anything.
Despite this, he didn’t look at them with prejudiced eyes.

Baron Romero, who had given up on his eldest son after being disappointed over and over again, became his biggest fan.

Chris, who despised Roman, tried to attack him in front of the Baron, but now he was so loyal that he would jump into the fire pit if Roman ordered it.

Most of the people he met were like that.
Besides these two, many others, like the blacksmith and more, who were hostile to him at first, now shared a tight-knit bond.

He thought the opposite.
Just as other people accepted his new self, he didn’t discriminate against the new relationship they now had.

‘I have no feelings for Lauren.
If he distanced himself from me, I wouldn’t even consider him good as a swordsman or even as a sibling.
The same goes for Rodwell.
The identity of the eldest and second son is always complicated, but even so, it isn’t good to be hostile to Rodwell.
Lauren or Rodwell, my evaluation of them will be based on my own experience and not on the original memories.’

This was Roman’s way of living a new life.
It was a new standard.
Since this life wasn’t originally his, Roman showed tolerance for accepting a new life.

“Lauren.”

“…Yes?”

He called his sibling.
Still, he had no affection for him.
Just because he had gone through the same hardships as Roman, there was no need to give him special care.

But…

“I don’t want to see people with the same last name as I ignored.
That would undermine the reputation of the family and mine.
You said you were wondering how I got to where I am.
If you want an answer, prove that you are worthy of knowing.
I heard that there would be a swordsmanship test soon.
In that test, show what happens when one ignores the name Lauren Dmitry.”

For once, he gave him a chance.
Unlike in his previous life, where his siblings were killed for having the same last name, Roman gave Lauren a chance.
It was up to him now.
If he proved himself, he would accept him as his brother.
But if he didn’t, there would not be many opportunities to talk to Roman in the future.

The day was bright, and Lauren’s eyes were swollen.
His face was messed up because he had cried for a long time, and his mind had been full of complicated thoughts since last night.

‘I was told to prove myself if I want an answer.’

It was strange.

Lauren felt brave when he heard those words.
All this while, he felt like he was wandering in this endless open sea, but then a person who had overcome it offered to tell him the way out.
Then what was there to be afraid of? He had to prove his qualifications.
His brother, who was admired by the people of the Cairo Kingdom, would tell him how to change.

His head felt clear.
It had been a long time since he had felt this way.
Even though he didn’t get any answers, his mind felt at peace.

The time had come for the swordsmanship test.
The students gathered at the training ground, and the professor looked at their faces before proceeding with the test.

“I’m starting the test right now.
First…”

The students, who were called one after another, competed against each other.
Happiness was divided.
Some rejoiced, and some were saddened.

How much time had passed before the professor turned to Lauren?

“Lauren.”

He got up and,

“William.”

He faced his opponent.
Even as William Castro got up with a smile, Lauren didn’t feel the least bit anxious.

“Ha! Life sure is funny to be put up against you again.”

William had a conversation with his friends before the test.
They didn’t know who was going to fight Lauren, but it meant that they would get a free pass to Class C.

And now William faced Lauren.
It wasn’t fun to see him not answering, but it was fine.

‘I will make sure you are done for good this time.’

The Castro family was the elite of the Central Government.
William Castro’s father was a supporter of nobles, and having lived in the capital from a young age, he had been elite.

There was something his father always said.
It was that a person had a limit since birth, and their use was determined based on where they were born.

Hearing those words, William Castro felt disgusted at the Dmitry family.
The Cairo Royal Academy was a place for the elite.
Then what was this son of a commoner-born family doing here as his classmate? He could appreciate someone talented like Rodwell, but not Lauren.

‘It feels disgusting.’

This time he decided to send Lauren back home.

The professor said, “The evaluation criteria for the test isn’t victory or defeat.
We will evaluate how well the teachings have melted into your body, so refrain from making extreme attacks.
Now then, I will start the test.”

Beep.

The signal was given.
As soon as the test started, William Castro aimed at him, and there was no time to think.
Lauren couldn’t even respond to normal attacks, so he decided to end this with a bold move.

Tak!

“Kuak!”

The attack was blocked.
Lauren raised his sword.
His expression was distorted due to the overwhelming physical difference.

Even though he could block the attack, it wasn’t easy for his body to take in the shock of the attack.

William Castro didn’t stop.

He continued to attack, and Lauren got pushed.

Tak!

Tak!

Tak!

“Cowardly bastard!”

It was an overwhelming power.
There was no way Lauren, the weakest person here, could handle William’s attack.

This was expected.
Not once did he fight back.

William Castro backed his opponent into a corner and immediately saw that Lauren’s stance was off.

‘It is over.’

His chest was open.
He was thinking of hitting him down.
If any bones were broken, Lauren wouldn’t think about staying in the academy any longer.

“Huk!”

He lowered his sword.

And it was then that Lauren tilted his head forward.

Even though the wooden sword would hit his head at this rate, he looked up at William Castro with determined eyes.

Lauren clenched his teeth at the tense situation.

Pak!

The wooden sword struck him.

Even though he turned his head slightly to avoid it, blood appeared in his shock-filled eyes.

At the same time.

Tak!

Lauren managed to hit William Castro in the jaw.