[The Dew of Dawn]
In the heart of the village, where people frequently came and went, Blood Fang boldly hung its sign and conducted its business.
Ding-ding.
"Welcome."
As Roman opened the door and stepped inside, a bell jingled loudly.
The interior of the building was no different from other pubs.
People sat around round tables and the bar, chattering noisily, while a man who appeared to be the owner busily carried beer to them.
Business seemed to be doing well in the area, as even a rough estimate showed over a dozen people inside.
"Huh?"
"Gasp, it's Young Master Roman."
In an instant, everyone's gaze turned toward Roman.
As the face of the royal family ruling the Dmitri territory, it was impossible not to recognize him.
The noisy chatter died down as if everyone had made a silent agreement.
Roman Dmitri.
Though he was often called a fool by people, to the common folk, Roman was an immensely powerful figure they dared not even look in the eye.
People hurriedly averted their gazes.
In the silence that followed, Roman calmly walked over and sat at the bar.
"Tears of Dawn, 27 years aged."
"I'm sorry, but we don't have a drink called Tears of Dawn here. Would you like me to recommend something else?"
"That's fine too. Make it as strong as possible. I have a lot to do at dawn, so I need to get a little drunk."
The owner's expression stiffened.
Tears of Dawn.
Strong liquor.
Work at dawn.
These consecutive words were the secret code set by Blood Fang.
The problem was that the person speaking was Roman Dmitri, a face everyone knew.
In the silent room, people's eyes alternated between the owner and Roman.
Some showed pure curiosity, while others had complex emotions in their eyes.
In a fleeting moment, a smile appeared on Roman's lips.
The owner, like lightning, swung a dagger hidden under the table.
"Attack... Ugh!"
Thud!
Crash!
Roman smashed a beer mug against the owner's head.
At the same time, he leaped backward as several customers who had been drinking nearby attacked him.
Thud! Thud!
Daggers embedded themselves into the bar table.
Under the dim lighting, the Blood Fang members revealed their fierce eyes.
The information Roman had uncovered was true, and several men disguised as customers rushed at him simultaneously.
"Ahhh!"
"Run!"
Screaming, the customers fled the pub.
Thanks to that, it became clear who the enemies were.
'Eight.'
Roman and the men tangled together.
The daggers swung at close range threatened Roman's vital points, but even in such close quarters, he dodged every attack.
Not only that, he immediately counterattacked, piercing his opponent's throat.
With concise movements, Roman swung his dagger, and without fail, his opponents sprayed blood and collapsed to the floor.
"You bastard!"
"Kill him!"
The peaceful pub was no more.
Instead of workers soothing their fatigue with beer after a day's work, bloodthirsty monsters revealed their true nature.
But.
Their opponent was a predator who would devour them all.
No matter how many rushed at him from all sides, it was the Blood Fang members who fell.
Thud!
Crash!
Roman slammed the last remaining man's face into the table.
The sturdy table shattered, and the man passed out.
Without hesitation, Roman kicked the man's bloodied face as he lay sprawled on the floor.
The man rolled away, spitting blood, his body limp, showing no sign of life.
"Is that it?"
It was over in an instant.
All the men who had rushed at Roman were dead.
Only one.
The owner, who had been struck by the beer mug earlier, looked up at Roman with a bloodied face.
"W-why are you doing this?"
"Why, you ask? You already know. You know why I came here and why I attacked you. If you didn't know, you wouldn't have attacked me."
Roman smirked.
As Roman pulled up a chair and sat down in front of him, the owner's face, once filled with fear, suddenly twisted into a fierce expression.
"We are Blood Fang. Even if I die by your hand, my comrades will one day take bloody revenge on you. Noble status? Do you think something like that can protect you? Not a chance! Nobles are just humans like us. A noble's body, when pierced by a blade, will scream like a pig, full of holes. That's the reality."
"That doesn't mean I'll spare you."
"Fine, kill me! Blood Fang does not fear death."
Roman's smile deepened.
The more the owner struggled, the more Roman became convinced that this was exactly the place he had been looking for.
"Good, I wanted to meet someone like you. Someone who doesn't fear death, who will keep their mouth shut even under torture. Someone like you must hold valuable information."
Roman stood up.
He looked around and then spoke in a calm, composed voice.
"Let's see now. Whether you're the kind of strong person who won't talk no matter the threat."
The owner's will was strong.
Unlike those who screamed like children and spilled information, he didn't speak even when his fingers were cut off.
But.
Roman knew exactly how to break such people.
"Is this a photo of your son?"
The owner's face turned pale.
In a drawer, carefully kept, was a photo of a boy who looked just like him, smiling happily.
"N-no."
"No? He looks just like you."
"You bastard! You think just because you're a noble, you can threaten me with my family?!"
The owner thrashed about, struggling.
Roman had chosen well.
He walked back to the owner and, with a cold expression, shook the photo in front of his face.
"While investigating Blood Fang, I found something very interesting. People fear Blood Fang because they seek revenge even at the cost of their lives. But suicide terrorists all have one thing in common. They weren't originally members of Blood Fang but were people who owed Blood Fang a great debt. People who weren't inherently evil suddenly turned into demons at some point. Why did they change? What happened to them that made them transform?"
"......"
The owner clenched his mouth shut.
It didn't matter.
That reaction alone confirmed Roman's intent.
"Blood Fang commits all sorts of crimes to collect debts. In the process, it's routine to take the debtor's family as slaves. And that's the truth of Blood Fang. Blood Fang isn't a group of devilish people willing to die for their cause. They're a group that forces people they've cornered to seek revenge by holding their families hostage. How about it? A pretty convincing hypothesis, isn't it?"
"Even so, nothing has changed. Blood Fang will definitely take revenge."
Roman chuckled.
What foolish people.
From the moment the owner acknowledged his hypothesis, he didn't realize the trap he had fallen into.
"I swear on the name of Roman Dmitri. If you don't give me any information, I will return to the capital and order my family's knights to find the child in this photo and kill him. Not a peaceful death, but a slow, torturous one, where he begs for death."
"W-what did you say?"
"Why? Do you think I can't do it?"
"You're a noble! How can a noble do such a thing...!"
"That's prejudice. If your family is held hostage and you turn against us, we have no reason to leave your family alone."
In a world of survival of the fittest, defeat means death.
Justice?
That means nothing.
To win, one must do whatever it takes, and Roman had no qualms about such actions.
Even if he treated his soon-to-be ex-fiancée with courtesy.
Even if he accepted Hans, a mere servant, as his own.
Roman's core remained unchanged.
People have many facets, and for Roman, who had lived as a demon, there was also a devilish side.
Roman spoke.
"Remember this clearly. I don't care at all about the well-being of those I classify as enemies. No matter how they die, no matter what pain they suffer, I consider the lives of those who threaten my safety to be worth less than a fly. So think carefully. If your family's lives are already at risk, will you bet on Blood Fang, who enslaved your family, or will you give me accurate information so I can ensure Blood Fang never touches your family?"
He spun the dagger in his hand.
Then, he stabbed the dagger into the son's head in the photo.
"Now, choose."
At that moment.
The owner was certain.
Roman Dmitri.
He was not the person he had once known.
Looking at his son's face, torn beyond recognition, the owner finally lowered his head.
After Roman left.
In the chaotic scene, Hans and the Dmitri knights arrived.
"What is this...?"
Jonathan's expression hardened.
He had heard the witnesses' accounts.
That Roman had exchanged words with the owner, and suddenly, the owner and customers had launched a surprise attack on Roman.
But the scene that followed was what lay before them now.
Sturdy men lay sprawled on the floor in a gruesome state.
'Did Young Master Roman handle all of them alone?'
It was unbelievable.
Roman was a weakling with no combat talent.
He trembled at the sight of blood and couldn't even wield a sword properly.
Yet, Roman had supposedly taken down all these men alone.
A sense of dissonance arose.
The Roman he knew and the Roman described by the witnesses were different.
At that moment.
"Captain! There's a survivor here!"
The pub's owner.
He was still alive.
Rushing over, they saw the owner in a pitiful state.
"Ugh!"
The owner spat out a mouthful of blood.
It seemed he had been tortured, as all the fingers on his right hand were severed, and the thick blood he spat out contained pieces of what looked like internal organs.
At a glance, it was clear he didn't have long to live.
Yet, he still clung to life.
Like someone experiencing a final surge of energy, he spoke to Jonathan in a clear voice.
"You must hurry and follow Young Master Roman!"
"What do you mean?"
"I told Young Master Roman everything. The base of Blood Fang isn't here in Dmitri but in the heart of Lawrence. As soon as he heard that, Young Master Roman left. It seems he intends to handle it alone, but he can't possibly deal with them by himself. So please, hurry and help Young Master Roman! Help him and ensure Blood Fang's roots are completely eradicated!"
The owner's voice was desperate.
Having betrayed Blood Fang by giving information, he was now a traitor.
If Roman was to be believed, only by ensuring Roman dealt with them completely could his family be safe.
The owner crawled on the ground.
With bloodied hands, he grabbed Jonathan's ankle and pleaded in a desperate voice.
"Please, please, eradicate them all."
"......"
Jonathan's eyes wavered.
The situation was complicated.
The sight of a Blood Fang member begging for help to save Roman was bewildering, but the biggest problem was Roman's actions.
'Did he really go alone to deal with them?'
Lawrence.
That was not Dmitri's territory.
Yet, the thought of Roman heading there made his head spin.
If it hadn't been for Hans's voice, Jonathan might have hesitated for a long time.
"Captain Jonathan! You must hurry and depart! Isn't Young Master in danger?"
"Ah, right."
Jonathan snapped out of it.
Roman.
The heir of Dmitri couldn't be left to die in another territory.
This incident wasn't prearranged with Lawrence, but there was no time to seek such cooperation now.
The Dmitri knights hastily left.
Their destination was Lawrence.