Swordmeister of Rome

Chapter 117: A Trace

“You’re here already.”

Lagaope was waiting at Chromata, along with an unexpected guest.

“Veronica? Why are you still here?”

“I was going to... but he asked me to stay for a while.”

Sian then turned to Lagaope. “Why is she still here?”

“Let’s go back to the beginning, shall we? You know we were really interested in you.”

“Oh?”

Veronica blushed, misunderstanding the word in a romantic way.

“It’s not like that, Veronica. But how did you know about me?”

“Liviath, from our group, was watching you when you blew up Kerbal.”

“Oh...”

He figured a superhuman could’ve watched him fight in the city of Kerbal while hiding.

“We searched for you for so long after that. It was love at first sight.”

“Veronica, it’s not like that. Please continue, Lagaope.”

“Well, we couldn’t find you, but we did manage to determine that the destroyer of Kerbal was you. Of course, we needed to know more about you before we asked you to join us, right?”

Sian nodded.

“So, we managed to find out that you loved your family, unlike the other superhumans. That’s when we began researching your family. Don’t worry, we didn’t dig too deep.”

“It’s okay.”

It was what allowed them to offer the orbs for his family, so he didn’t care.

“And when we looked into your family, your family was growing! I mean, I would’ve grown envious of Rian if I were a normal person. He’s living a life like he’s from a novel.”

“Haha...”

“Wives who are a Dekon, Catfolk, and a person from the other world... Anyhow, we looked into his wives. I didn’t expect for it to come to my aid like this though.”

Sian then suddenly realized why Lagaope didn’t send Veronica back.

“Is Veronica’s power going to help me?”

“So, you didn’t know about her power?”

“...”

Sian didn’t hear anything about Veronica’s power. He just knew she had some kind of power as an Exer.

“Huh? Do you need my help, Sian?”

Veronica expressed interest as her name popped out all of a sudden.

Lagaope chirped, “She can help you for sure. Her <Fate’s Way> that allowed her to meet Rian definitely will.”

Veronica was terrified when she was thrown into this world. She fell off a cliff in a car accident, but she was on some mountain with no car, and her brother was not by her side. She had no injuries, but she panicked. Veronica, who had come from a wealthy, prosperous family had one thing she wanted the most when she panicked.

<I must find someone to protect me!>

Then she felt some weird feelings coming from within. A feeling that seemed to tell her where to go. Veronica just figured that this weird feeling was originated from her fear, so she just walked toward a light that was visible from far away.

As she walked, her heart began to pound and her head began to ache, as if someone was sending her a warning. She eventually gave into her feeling and began walking toward the direction. After a while of walking, she found some small shack. The place was ruined, but she did not care and knocked on the door. She felt some weird feeling disappearing as she saw the man coming out from the shack and fainted.

When she woke up, some old man was taking care of her.

<ARACK-KA DU RACKEN?>

It was language she never heard about. She used eight different languages fluently and understood twenty-one languages, but this language was not on the list.

She panicked, but she realized she was safe and began to learn the language. The old man was very kind and looked after her as if she were his real granddaughter.

She was able to learn the language quickly enough as she had talent in learning other languages. As she became fluent enough to talk with the old man, she learned that the light that she tried to go had some bandits living there.

Veronica then learned where she was.

<Another dimension>

She first figured she was kidnapped and abandoned in some foreign country, but this was unexpected. It scared her for a while but she had to accept her fate. That was when she realized she needed to adjust to this world. Her thoughts became conclusive when the old man was killed while walking out on the road by some passing mercenaries.

She realized this world’s savagery and began to feel the weird feeling again.

<I need to find someone to protect me in this savage world.>

<A man strong enough to protect me from anything in this violence-driven world.>

She ignored the feeling before, but now she believed in it. This place had mysterious powers and magic that did not exist in her world. It looked like this weird feeling was also one such power.

Veronica then walked to where her feeling led her.

The person she met was some merchant. He was really kind to her, but she didn’t feel that he was enough to protect her.

<He’s only a step to the goal.>

She worked as a bookkeeper under that merchant and followed her feelings. It sometimes guided her to be a traveler, a royal clerk, and a warrior. She kept on traveling while getting help from various people.

But after two years of such adventures, she was exhausted. Her feelings led her to many places, but it didn’t go away.

Besides, this world was too dangerous for a beautiful woman like her to travel alone. Her power saved her from such threats but it gave her a stronger feeling each time she overcame a threat.

As she gave up on her adventure, Rian appeared out of nowhere.

That was when the weird feeling stopped. It was the man she had been looking for.

It was the man, which her power, <Fate’s Way>, had been looking for.

To add on, she named her own power.

“Oh... so that’s how they met.”

Sian commented as he heard the story. It was Veronica who managed to find Rian.

“Her power will guide you to Stiel for sure. We found out that her power grew enough to help others at end of her journey. She even helped Rian a few times. Did you not?”

Veronica nodded.

“Yes, but it has many limitations. I did try to use this power to find Sian, or my brother, but it failed. It didn’t give me any feelings.”

“But we can give it a try. Oh, but we have a problem. It’s shame that the person who has this power is your sister-in-law.”

Lagaope shouted dramatically.

“Huh? Why? Isn’t it better? Or does it shorten her life?”

“No, it’s not like that. But...”

Veronica realized what Lagaope was trying to say and tried to say it first, but it was too late.

“I heard you need to kiss the person to help. That’s why she couldn’t help anyone besides Rian.”

“...”

That was troubling indeed. Sian sighed.

“I know Exers come in different colors but that’s...”

“Yes, we were fascinated by the limitation too.”

Sian was happy that her sister-in-law could help him, but it was blocked immediately. That was when hope came back.

“No, you’re mistaken. My power grew so that we don’t have to do that to use it.”

“Oh? I see. I guess our information was a little behind. Mister Sian, we should give it a try now!”

“Veronica, can you do it now?”

Sian asked for permission and Veronica nodded.

“Come here.”

As Sian sat down on the chair, Veronica stood behind him and placed her forehead at the back of Sian’s head. She used her both hands to cover Sian’s head.

“You should think about the person strongly. Don’t reject the Exar that I send you.”

“Understood.”

Sian released his defense and accepted the flow of Exar coming through him and thought about Stiel.

‘Whew... but this is weird.’

The flow began to grow weaker after a while, signaling that it was about finished.

As <Fate’s Way> faded out, Sian turned back and asked, “Did you... do you feel anything?”

Veronica nodded.

“Yes, I have something. I’m not sure how long it will take but it will guide us for sure.”

Sian brightened up instantly.

“Thank you! Thank you, Veronica.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Oh, but why...”

“We should talk about it later. Let’s move fast.”

Sian then tried to ask something, but he was cut off. However, Sian was happy that Veronica was eager to help him out so he nodded.

“Lagaope, I’ll see you around.”

“Hope you find her. She is also a valuable person. Oh, and keep the artifact. It will be useful for your journey.”

Lagaope then walked away first and Sian turned to Veronica.

“We should go too. Oh, by the way...”

“Yes?” Veronica answered.

“The way you did it... I don’t think a kiss will be necessary...”

Sian was confused by what had happened. The method she used didn’t seem like a kiss would be required as Exar moved through her brain and hand, meaning that it didn’t seem like it needed to be transferred over via mouth.

Veronica blushed.

“....et..”

“What?”

“It’s a secret.”

“Huh?”

The story was as follows.

Veronica became sad when she found Rian after a long journey. Her dream man already had two wives. There was something going on between them, but she couldn’t do it because of his wives. It was then that she got her chance.

<Miss Veronica, can you use that power to find my brother?>

<Brother?>

<Yes... my brother is missing but I want to try finding him with that power.>

That was when Veronica was struck with an idea.

<Yes, it’s possible. But it has a limitation to be used on others.>

<Limitation? What is it?>

The rest was history. They quickly became close after that.

Veronica couldn’t find Sian, but she managed to court Rian and married him at last.

‘Wow...’

Sian’s third sister-in-law, who seemed to be the most innocent, was actually most cunning of all. Veronica smiled at Sian and spoke.

“It’s a secret, okay? I’m helping you out this much so...”

“Of course, of course. But Veronica. Can you... uh... teach me something like that?”

“Huh? Teach you what?”

“The skill that you used on my brother... To court a lady... something like that.”

Veronica smiled.

“Of course, I’ll teach you.”

They smiled at each other and began walking to use the Ra-Shar-Roa.