The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live a Normal Life

In the middle of the training room, Rodwell Dmitry looked at his sword. Unlike before, one side of his vision was dark, and there was this unknown sense of unbalance in his body.

There was a momentary feeling of hate. At one time, the tool called a sword was so familiar, as if it were a part of his body, but now even his own body wasn’t following him.

Tak.

And then he ran forward. The muscles he had trained for years were screaming, and he swung his sword against the imaginary enemy.

Swish.

It was a short hair difference, and the attack missed. The information transmitted through his senses correctly judged the location of his opponent, but when he swung the sword, the opponent seemed a lot farther away.

There was now a gap in his senses. His brain used the senses based on his memories in the past, but the senses that conveyed the current information gave different information because of the loss of his one eye.

He stepped forward and continued to attack without stopping, but not a single attack was done correctly.

Swish.

It was the same now. Even though he was exchanging blows with his imaginary opponent and launching dangerous attacks, he wasn’t even able to scratch the opponent. Thus, he couldn’t produce a satisfactory scene.

His attacks were too shallow, and he was the one dying. When his imaginary opponent killed him, Rodwell gritted his teeth.

It was fine to die. Just once, he wanted to be able to use his senses properly. However, the moment that even the last attack that he tried so hard to do was unsuccessful, he felt his heart sink.

Thud!

He fell down badly. Blood flowed from his forehead, but Rodwell looked up at the sky with a dazed face.

The battle with Kronos—he didn’t regret risking his life there. If he could turn back time, he would have made the same decision for the sake of Cairo. However, the realities he had to accept were too difficult.

Even though he had lived for the future of Dmitry all his life, he had to acknowledge that he had to give up the position of successor. Because Roman Dmitry showed stronger results, Rodwell Dmitry lost the greatest goal of his life, and his unstable physical condition made his swordsmanship shaky.

Everything changed, so he himself gave up on being the successor. Even though it was the conclusion that he himself had thought of, the emotions he was feeling were too much.

He looked up at the sky. It was sunny. Contrary to his own thoughts, Rodwell looked at the calm sky and smiled. He was annoyed, but he wasn’t exactly blaming anyone. If he had been strong enough not to lose an eye, then he would have been a more suitable successor than Roman Dmitry. In the series of events, there was no reason for him to act strong.

Tak.

He got up with his sword. He was a man of honor. He didn’t know what had caused his brother to change, but he had no intention of staying as the stain in the family.

So what if he wasn’t the successor? So what if he lost an eye? He would do it all over again.¹ Gritting his teeth, Rodwell Dmitry began to swing his sword.

He was a mess. There was no longer the sharpness in his movements that he had before, so he tried to adapt to only having one eye. The sun was hot, making his sweat drip like rain.

“That will not solve the problem.”

Said a familiar voice.

Roman Dmitry was standing on one side.

Roman Dmitry said,

“Your body has been training on how to wield the sword in a normal state for a long time. Your loss of one eye doesn’t mean there is a restriction in your vision, but everything will start to change. It isn’t that your current method is wrong, but there is a way to be more certain of your growth.”

At the time of conquering Murim, many of his subordinates lost different body parts. They had gaps in their senses and numerous handicaps, so different ways to overcome them were created.

“Shut off your five senses and start from the initial point again. If you practice utilizing only one of your senses without recognizing that you’ve lost one, the gap won’t be an issue when you utilize all five senses later on. Of course, blocking all five of your senses is impossible to train. But if you want to, you can try it.”

It was honest advice. He said it in the best way, but Rodwell didn’t seem happy.

“And why should I listen to you, Brother?”

Blocking out a sense could be the answer. Even if it was a short-term solution, Rodwell Dmitry didn’t want to follow Roman’s advice. It was a matter of emotion.

While he did acknowledge Roman Dmitry’s growth and how he was the most suited heir, he still didn’t want to accept his help now. It was that kind of reaction.

Rodwell Dmitry looked away and focused on sword training again.

“The choice is yours. But they are facts you should know.”

It wasn’t a conversation. It was a one-sided message. Even if the other person ignored his words, Roman Dmitry spoke honestly.

“Dmitry has now stepped into a new phase. There will be many hurdles from now on, and we do not know what tricks the Kronos Empire and Valhalla will do. In addition, we cannot trust the Kingdoms’ Alliance just yet as we are not allies. At this time, we need to defend ourselves. If we break down and let our emotions eat us, those who believe in us will be the ones paying the price.”

The scope of the fence was widening. As he accepted new relationships, Roman’s values also changed. If he would follow the laws of his previous life, he wouldn’t be pursuing such a direction.

“I need people I can trust for the future of Dmitry. Until now, I was able to handle everything on my own, but with time, I will have no choice but to face my limit. If Dmitry is attacked while I am away from a battle on the borders, and if the empire chooses to attack, I need people to replace me on the battlefield.”

His conquest of Murim wasn’t something he did on his own. In Baek Joong-hyuk’s absence, there were people who could replace him and were called the Four Kings. And so…

“Rodwell Dmitry. You are my younger brother and blood. If I need someone to lead Dmitry in my absence….”

It was a relationship based on trust. A need for mutual exchange should sometimes come from blind emotions on one side.

“I hope it will be you.”

Those were his last words, and Rodwell Dmitry’s eyes widened. His older brother from a long time ago, whom he thought no longer existed, was now in front of him.

Time went by, and the day of the proclamation ceremony finally arrived. People flocked to the castle of Dmitry, and the ceremony for the declaration of Dmitry becoming a Duchy was held in front of everyone.

Daniel Cairo stepped forward.

“Today is a very meaningful day for Cairo and the Salamander continent. Recently, Cairo has experienced events that threatened the security of the nation. The traitorous Marquis Benedict brought the Kronos Empire to his aid, and the battles in the West terrified the people. Actually, the former Cairo would have chosen to compromise in that situation. Even in situations where we were not wrong, we always bowed our heads first, and at one time, I thought it was supposed to be that way. But then the Dmitry family proved that I was wrong. They awakened Cairo’s pride and showed how the nation should move forward for it to exist.”

His voice was gaining strength. The experience was slowly developing him, and now he could handle it.

He glanced at the people. From the Kingdoms’ Alliance and to the Hector Kingdom, and to those who attended the ceremony to celebrate Dmitry Duchy, he expressed his thoughts.

“Dmitry deserves a new start with everyone’s blessings. I, Daniel Cairo, as the King of the Cairo Kingdom, will sincerely congratulate our ally, Dmitry Duchy, and do my best to develop the community of both nations.”

And at that moment, cheers erupted. Dmitry’s people were cheering, and important figures from other nations knew what Daniel Cairo’s remarks meant.

They were friendly nations, and that meant one wasn’t below another. On an equal footing, he was standing with the Dmitry Duchy.

‘… Cairo has recognized the Dmitry Duchy as having its own individual force, and they are putting wings on the back of Dmitry even when people are going insane with Dmitry’s actions.’

It was someone’s idea.

And that was what Daniel Cairo intended.

When Baron Romero stepped onto the stage after the King was done, Dmitry was in a festive mood.

The festival continued. The Dmitry family prepared a separate seat for the nobles in the inner courtyard, and outside, food was prepared so that the common people could enjoy the party.

It was a scene that showed how rich Dmitry was. It would require a lot of money to feed thousands of mouths, but Duke Romero wasn’t stingy.

In Dmitry’s mines, since safety devices had been installed, the amount of wealth they were earning from them had completely exceeded the normal level. From the endless mountains, minerals that people never knew existed were excavated.

There were plenty of jobs, and as rumors circulated that Dmitry was completely safe, workers from outside Dmitry were also rushing over.

Dmitry’s development was just a natural result. With supply and demand in perfect harmony, Dmitry grew into a large city to the extent that treating the people lavishly wouldn’t make Dmitry lose money.

It was such a good time. As people ate and talked, representatives from other nations came to talk to Duke Romero.

“Duke Dmitry, Roman Dmitry is already in his 20s, so shouldn’t he be getting married sometime soon? A man can do great things only when his family is stable. Just in time, the princess of the Umberto Kingdom is also at the right age to get married, so how about setting up a time?”

The representative of the Umberto Kingdom, Count Verdi, asked.

When he directly spoke about marriage, Duke Romero showed a troubled expression.

“I also hope Roman finds a good match, but as you all know, Roman has his own flaws. Even though he was engaged to a woman, he didn’t go through with it in the end, so how can I talk about marriage to him again? Actually, I just hope that he never gets into danger. That is more important to me than his marriage.”

He avoided answering it. Usually, for nobles, the right age to find a partner was during their late teens. However, with Roman’s reputation as a fool, many people didn’t want him, and the one marriage he tried to have failed.

It was a matter that the Dmitry family thought about a lot, and Duke Romero considered that his marriage was not a priority anymore due to the incident with Lawrence.

Besides, breaking up was a huge problem. There was a high chance that the nobles who were sensitive to the issue wouldn’t take the risk of breaking up their marriage. However….

“A flaw? He is Dmitry’s Hero, having defeated Gustavo in his 20s. So who would consider one breakup as a flaw? The life of a hero is full of twists and turns. If people consider breaking an engagement as a flaw, then I will arrange a marriage with a wise woman who appreciates Roman Dmitry.”

“Right. He is now the heir to the Duchy, too, so breaking off the marriage isn’t a problem at all.”

They were the members of the Kingdoms’ Alliance, Viscount Ringo from the Redford Kingdom and Marquis Marten of the Odelia Kingdom. Representing each kingdom, they added their words to Count Verdi’s remarks.

At that moment, their eyes met. From the remarks that had just been made, everyone knew they had a common purpose here.

‘These guys are here for Roman Dmitry!’

‘Damn them!’

‘How dare they!’

As they looked into each other’s eyes, competition rose.