Chapter 74: Gathering Interest (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 74: Gathering Interest (3)
It wasn't a prearranged meeting.
Having finished his training, Roman was catching his breath when he noticed a servant approaching him—one who wasn't Hans.
"I was sent by Valhalla."
Clearly, the man was a servant of the Dmitry family.
His face was unfamiliar, suggesting he hadn't worked there long, but he wore the standard Dmitry uniform. He had intentionally disguised his identity. While an ordinary person would have been flustered and made a fuss, Roman simply spoke with an indifferent expression.
"What business does Valhalla have with me? If I recall correctly, I met someone from Valhalla just a few days ago."
The Denver Family.
They were part of the Valhalla Empire Faction.
He remembered them offering their own terms to recruit him, but he hadn't expected them to seek him out again in this manner.
The servant flinched at Roman's reaction. Roman was far calmer than expected, but more than that, his eyes—which seemed to pierce right through the man's innermost thoughts—sent a cold sweat running down his spine.
How can a person's gaze be like this...?
He swallowed hard.
Entrusted with a grave task, the servant checked to ensure no one else was around before speaking in a hushed voice.
"First, I apologize for seeking you out in such an insolent manner. As you mentioned, Lord Roman, Valhalla did send someone through the Denver Family a few days ago. At that time, we had no choice but to act formally, conscious of the eyes watching us. You may consider today's meeting as Valhalla's true sincerity."
Currently, all eyes were focused on Dmitry.
They knew that if they delivered their main proposal through the Denver Family, there was a high chance the information would leak. Yet, if they showed no outward movement at all, it would arouse the suspicion of hostile factions. That was why the Denver Family had requested a purely formal meeting. If Roman had accepted based on those initial terms, it would have been the icing on the cake, but they knew his worth and expected him not to accept so easily.
Immediately after the Great Warrior Battle, Valhalla had planted a servant in Dmitry.
All for the sake of today's meeting.
Once they relocated from the open training ground to an enclosed space, the man from Valhalla got straight to the point.
"Allow me to introduce myself once more. I am Mackin of the Valhalla Intelligence Bureau. Taking this opportunity, I would like to make a proposal to bring Lord Roman Dmitry to Valhalla. This proposal represents Valhalla's true sincerity."
An unexpected meeting.
Valhalla.
They were the first to make a decisive move.
Following Willas's report, Roman's evaluation had been upgraded to A-rank.
Valhalla had already been preparing to recruit Roman, but the impact of him officially becoming a ranker was far greater than anticipated.
Faced with the rapidly changing situation, Willas had contacted his home country once again.
"It seems we must approach Roman sooner than planned. I briefly overlooked what kind of country Cairo is. I assumed we could buy some time by not revealing that he is a 4-Star Swordsman in his twenties, but everyone in this kingdom is frantic to snatch up even lesser talents. The Royal Faction, the Noble Faction, and the Kronos Empire Faction—they are all moving swiftly to contact Roman Dmitry. If Roman underestimates his own worth and accepts one of their proposals first, we might face the worst-case scenario of losing him despite recognizing his true value."
[So, what do you need?]
"Grant me full authority over this matter. I will make sure to recruit Roman."
[Understood. Willas, we entrust you with full authority regarding Roman's recruitment.]
The plan had changed.
Cairo's youngest ranker.
The fact that he had reached the 3-Star realm at the age of twenty-five drew immense attention, even though it wasn't Roman's full strength.
A fire had been lit under Valhalla's feet.
First, they tested the waters through the Denver Family, and then they sent another agent away from public eyes.
Mackin spoke.
"Valhalla is captivated by your potential, Lord Roman Dmitry. However, nationality is not an easy issue to resolve. No matter what we offer, we know it must be incredibly difficult for you to abandon Dmitry—which has already amassed substantial wealth—and naturalize to Valhalla. Therefore, we will resolve this issue clearly from the start. The moment you agree to become a citizen of Valhalla, the Empire will grant the Dmitry Family the title of Viscount and fertile territory. It is a land that, like Dmitry, possesses iron mines, allowing you to preserve your blacksmithing legacy just as you do now."
The preservation of his family.
Their proposal was extraordinary from the very beginning.
It was a title from an Empire, not a mere kingdom.
That meant a level of power incomparable to what they currently held, and that alone completely crushed all previous offers.
And then:
"Valhalla is prepared to give you people if you desire people, and wealth if you desire wealth. However, as a swordsman, the most important value is becoming stronger. Since Valhalla also wishes for you to grow stronger as a swordsman, we will exceptionally grant you access to our Level 1 Treasure Vault. I believe you know well what Valhalla's treasure vaults signify, Lord Roman. If you gain access to the accumulated knowledge of our predecessors stored there, it will give wings to your talent, allowing you to soar."
The Level 1 Treasure Vault.
It was a shocking proposal.
Valhalla stored cultivation methods, sword techniques, and the journals of their predecessors in their treasure vaults.
The vaults were graded based on the quality of their contents, and Level 1 was the highest tier, second only to the Special Grade. It was a place where treasures that others could not even lay eyes on in their entire lifetimes were gathered. Offering an outsider access to such a place meant the Valhalla Empire recognized Roman's value to an extreme degree.
Valhalla had revealed its true intentions.
Hidden from the eyes of others, they presented an offer that absolutely could not be refused.
"In the future, Valhalla will conquer the continent and stand tall as the sole empire. At that time, belonging to a weak nation like the Cairo Kingdom will be a shortcut to an early grave. Stand on Valhalla's side. If you raise Valhalla's honor at our vanguard, Valhalla will lead you down the path of glory."
A clear reward coupled with a subtle threat.
Mackin spoke of the distant future.
Just as he said, on the day Valhalla declared war, how strong Roman was individually would not matter at all.
A single individual.
One man could not overcome the difference between a kingdom and an empire.
To be a winner, standing on the side of the victor was the only way to go.
A clever person would have no choice but to accept Valhalla's offer. But if, by some chance, he refuses...
Mackin hid his inner thoughts.
A talent who reached 4-Star in his twenties.
They could not just stand by and watch him be absorbed by another power.
If he could not belong to Valhalla, it was wiser to destroy him.
Silence enveloped the room.
As Mackin finished speaking and fell silent, waiting for an answer, Roman broke the suffocating quiet.
"I refuse."
In an instant, Mackin's benevolent expression turned fierce.
"...Are you serious?"
Mackin's voice trembled slightly.
If he refused even after all this, Roman was practically the type of person Valhalla could never recruit.
Which meant...
He would become a target for assassination.
If he could not become Valhalla's talent, there was no reason to keep him alive.
Roman spoke.
"The reason I refuse is not because your terms are lacking, nor is it out of loyalty to this kingdom."
"...What do you mean by that?"
"Recently, I have been offered many choices. The Royal Knights of the royal family, Marquis Benedict, Count Gregory, and Count Denver. Considering the political climate of the Cairo Kingdom, accepting does not simply mean swearing loyalty to a single faction; it means clearly deciding my future path. Standing at this crossroads of my life, what matters to me is not who can give me the most. I want to take my time and see for myself—not through mere words or proposals—whether they are someone worth Roman Dmitry risking his life for."
At Roman's words, Mackin's expression softened.
This was exactly what Roman had intended.
In this tightrope-walking situation, Roman knew exactly how to act to buy time.
The way to raise my own value without making a choice is to present myself as a truly loyal subject. A person who is difficult to bring to their knees, but once their heart is won, they will swear loyalty to the very end. If I appear as such an existence, they won't be able to give up their obsession with me, no matter how many times I refuse.
The Heavenly Demon, Baek Joong-hyuk, was no foolish bear.
While he would bring a swift and decisive end to hostile relationships, in a complex situation where four different factions were entangled, he possessed the innate cunning to exploit those relationships.
Faced with the words of this sly fox, Mackin fell into deep thought.
A person of Roman's type was precisely the kind of talent Valhalla favored most.
It is one of life's ironies. If Roman Dmitry had quickly changed his mind and sworn loyalty to Valhalla, his loyalty would always have been questioned, regardless of his skills. He would have been perceived as an opportunist who shifts allegiances based on favorable conditions. But if he is someone who seriously contemplates his future regardless of the terms, then even if it takes some time, he is well worth the wait.
His heart was swayed.
He had absolutely no idea that this was a calculated move.
Roman had acted in perfect alignment with the ideal talent Valhalla desired, and Mackin's guard was completely lowered.
Mackin spoke.
"I do not know how you plan to verify Valhalla's sincerity, but we cannot wait for you for too long. Be prudent, but do not be late. I look forward to your reply to Valhalla's proposal."
With that, it was over.
Valhalla had taken a step back.
They would watch Roman from now on, trapped in the illusion that he would eventually become one of their own.
Before leaving, Mackin turned back and said,
"I will give you a gift for our future relationship. Be careful of the Southern Front. More so than the Kronos Empire, the south is like a time bomb that could explode at any moment."
The Southern Front.
That was unexpected information.
Roman's handling of the situation had been flawless.
Neither a refusal nor an acceptance.
By giving an answer that left room for hope for all factions, he ensured he would not face any direct attacks even in this chaotic situation.
Time passed quickly.
Before long, his scheduled departure was just around the corner.
Looking at his son who was about to fulfill his military duty, Baron Romero spoke with a worried expression.
"In the end, you are leaving."
His heart ached.
The influential figures in the capital used all sorts of loopholes to prevent their children from being drafted, but the Dmitry Family did not possess such power. Being the dominant force in the northeast region was nothing more than being a big fish in a small pond. Because they had failed to establish connections with the Central Government over the years, there was no way to get Roman out of it now.
And besides, Roman had never wanted that in the first place.
He knew that if he turned away from the reality he had decided to face, the responsibility would only be shifted to someone else.
"Father. I will return in good health."
"Indeed."
Their conversation was brief.
Roman turned around.
Outside, the thirty soldiers who would head to the battlefield with Roman were waiting for him.
As Roman departed, Romero's emotions were complicated.
Back when Roman used to cause trouble, he had been a source of both love and hate, but now that he was actually leaving, Romero could not easily turn his eyes away.
Seeing this, Rihanna, who was standing beside him, comforted Baron Romero.
"Do not worry too much. You know well how strong Roman is. Besides, it's not the Western Front, which is threatened by the Kronos Empire; Roman has been assigned to the Southern Front. I'm sure nothing will go wrong."
It was a somewhat comforting thought.
At that time, they did not know.
The Southern Front.
They did not know what kind of consequences Roman's deployment there would bring.