Swordmeister of Rome

<Hmm… Where should I start… It's been a long time since I found out about you.>

"How long has it been? About ten years now?"

Ten years ago, Sian was dragged into Apental. If Lagaope had found him then it would have been ten years. Lagaope shook his head.

<No. It's longer than that.>

"Huh? Then how did you know about me when I was in Lagran? Or Con-Tian?"

Rumors of Sian had spread at the time so it could have been within that time frame. Lagaope's organization <Herrantor> had a network of people working for them throughout the continent so it was possible.

But he still shook his head.

<No, way before.>

"Then when?"

<I should say… it was when you were born. Right after the ceremony.>

"Huh?"

Sian was dumbfounded by the unexpected words. Lagaope smiled.

<Do you know why the ceremony is held when a baby is born?>

"Uh… I heard that it's to measure the Bander Rating and see how talented the baby is…"

<Then, does that make sense to you?>

"…"

<The power differs from time to time. Measuring the power of a hundred-day-old baby doesn't mean much when it can't even control the energy from its surroundings.>

"Hmph."

<Even then, I taught the Bander Rating system to the people and had the nobles go through a ceremony to measure them. I'm pretty sure you know the reason for that.>

Stiel answered instead.

"It's to calculate the blood ratio between a human's and a monkey's."

<You are correct. The highest ratio we ever had was 86%. This is what you know as an 86 Bander Rating.>

"And they were all reported to you, I assume."

Lagaope grinned.

<Of course. That's why I went all the trouble to have Magical Council start a useless ceremony like that. Besides, the higher the ratio did mean that the person would have greater power, so it wasn't completely useless in the end.>

"So, that's how you found those who would be your people."

Lagaope nodded.

<I didn't mean anything bad. Even with the high human blood ratio… you still might die in an accident when you're young. We couldn't have that, so that's why we had to know. To protect them. Do you think Stiel could have managed survive long enough to succeed in a coup against her father and claim the throne as a young girl? There were plenty of powerful people within that Kingdom.>

"So… you were protecting me then?"

<I think Robanutton was protecting you back then. She couldn't be there all the time so she pressured the Magical Council to work for you and sometimes did it by herself… we couldn't let anyone die. This did allow us to increase the number of superhumans.>

"So, you must have been watching me too."

<Well, you were different. You were different from the beginning. Stiel, what was your rating?>

"I think it was 82. My jealous brother and sister almost killed me because of it."

Stiel frowned as she spoke. Lagaope then turned to Sian.

<Then, do you know what your rating was, Mister Sian?>

"Hmm. I think Sian would have gotten at least 99 or 100?"

Stiel guessed as the number was a percentage so she thought 100 would be the maximum. But Lagaope shook his head again.

<It was 497.>

Stiel was shocked. "Huh? Didn't you say it was a percentage?"

<It calculates the power stored within the blood. If those monkeys on Ra-Sian had 1 in their blood, then people on this continent had 100. A pure-blooded monkey would have the rating of 1 and if the blood reacts to about 40 times more, it would be at 40%... at least that's how we calculated it.>

"Then what about 497? It's not like I should have 5 times the blood of others or anything. Or am I like descendant of the War God or Sun God? Or a hidden son?" Sian asked, but Lagaope laughed.

<Haha, you sound like Con-Rad when he was young. Don't learn that from him.>

"…"

<There's no secrecy in your birth. But there's something else. Remember I said I mixed my blood in with the monkeys when I tested them?>

"Yeah."

<Another blood was mixed then too.>

"Huh? Didn't you just use yours?"

Lagaope shook his head.

<Yes, but…>

"But what?" Stiel asked.

<I never said my blood was pure human blood.>

"What do you mean?"

<I should go back to the blood again.>

"What… oh, right. Why are you still alive?"

<What do you mean?>

"I heard that people with the seal die when the Divine Blood leader dies. Why are you still alive?"

<Oh, come to think of it...>

Sian never thought about Lagaope's age as people with the seal could gain immortality as long as the Divine Blood leader lived. But this would mean Lagaope had lied. It was either Lorvall was not the last of the Divine Blood or the people with the seal didn't die.

Lagaope laughed.

<I did not lie. Lorvall was the last of Divine Blood and people with the seal died. Those dead Dukes are proof of that. No descendants of Broxian are left in this world.> Lagaope answered.

<And remember I said I had the blessing of a priest? I never said I received the seal.>

"Isn't that the same thing?"

Stiel wasn't familiar with either concept so she thought it was the same thing.

<No, they're totally different things. There are no priests in the human race.>

"…"

<But there are priests in another race. Like I said, there wasn't just one God back then.>

"Huh? You don't mean…"

Sian began to realize what Lagaope was saying.

<Yes. The beings that gave me immortality… they are the priests of Lukra, the followers of the Sun God, Gran-Ra. I live because of their blood.>

Lagaope continued his story.

Lagaope tried going to the forbidden land after he gave all the information he had about becoming an Alpha to Lorvall. But he didn't expect much as he didn't have much time left to live. 1000 years had passed outside but he only had been in <Aksarum> for 150 years. Yet, he only managed to become a Baron which did not grant him a longer life span. It seemed like he only had about 10 years left at most.

It would've been good if he had received the seal from Lorvall, but Lorvall was using his entire seal to control the situation at hand so Lagaope descended south without it as an adventurer. He did not have that much time left so he thought it would be nice to go on an adventure through the forbidden lands before he died.

That was when he was kidnapped.

Lagaope was passing by the roads that went around the Mountain of Extreme when he was kidnapped and dragged into the mountain. Luckily, the power of the kidnappers allowed Lagaope to withstand the effect of the mountain. After the higher rank of kidnappers read through Lagaope's memories, they moaned. They were using different words, but one word came through Lagaope's head through a telepathic power.

<Dammit… so this was why we were drawn to you… with <Connector of Aksarai> and all…>

<Connector of Aksarai? You mean Lorvall?>

<We do not care who he is. The fact that there is a connector means that we have not routed out <Aksarai> yet.>

Lagaope couldn't understand what they were saying so he began asking questions.

<Who are you people?>

<We are… Lukra. It's the name given by the mighty Gran-Ra.>

Lukras, the followers of Gran-Ra, began explaining their side of history.