The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 12

The wooden sword swung down, fast and hard, aimed at Roman’s head. For a heartbeat, everything seemed to stop. Jonathan held his breath, watching from the side, sure Roman was done for.

Then, it happened.

Roman moved. Just one step.

“Unbelievable,” Jonathan thought, his eyes wide.

That single step was all it took. Everywhere else around Roman was in the path of Chris’s powerful swing – a death trap. If Roman had moved back, the heavy wooden sword would have crushed him. If he’d tried to dodge to the side, it would have been too slow. Chris’s attack was too fast, too strong.

Aura is explosive power. It’s meant to deliver force quickly. The farther away you are, the harder it is to defend against.

So, Jonathan thought Roman, a commoner, was in danger. But what happened was different from what he expected.

Roman stopped the attack from working.

By taking just one step forward, he stopped Chris from using his full power. With a slight turn of his head, he dodged the attack at the last moment.

It was close.

Even with the sword about to hit his face, Roman stayed calm and beat Chris.

Jonathan was astonished.

It was unbelievable. It went against everything Jonathan thought he knew.

“…I didn’t know anything about Roman until now,” he thought.

Roman was known as a fool.

Jonathan had taught him and couldn’t deny that Roman seemed lazy and always gave up.

But the Roman in front of him was different.

Roman wasn’t just lucky; he also had a strong base as a swordsman.

This wasn’t luck. This counterattack was perfectly timed.

You need good basics and the ability to act fast to pull off something so difficult.

Roman’s defense was strong, his attack flowed smoothly. Jonathan was sure of it.

Roman’s skill wasn’t new. It had been practiced for a long time.

“When did he get so good?” Jonathan wondered.

Jonathan quickly thought back. Just a month ago, he had seen Roman drunk in the streets.

It was pathetic.

People called Roman ‘Dimitri’s fool.’ His drunken nights and bad behavior made this worse.

A pathetic man.

That’s how Jonathan remembered him.

But now, after the Blood Fang incident, he had even beaten Chris, an aura knight.

Just then, Baron Romero, who had been watching, spoke, looking confused.

“Knight Commander Jonathan.”

“Yes.”

“What’s going on? Chris is a two-star aura knight that Dimitri is proud of.”

Jonathan felt the same way.

Jonathan felt confused. He didn’t understand what was happening.

Baron Romero wanted an explanation.

Baron Romero wanted Jonathan to explain why Roman had suddenly become so good.

Jonathan hesitated.

Jonathan looked at Roman, then at Baron Romero. His face showed he was thinking hard. Finally, he said the easiest thing to say.

“…It seems,” Jonathan said slowly, “that Roman is a natural genius with a sword.”

Roman caught his breath.

His cheek stung.

Roman touched his cheek. His fingers came away with drops of blood from a small cut.

“Pathetic,” Roman thought.

Chris was a decent fighter.

He knew how to attack strongly and read the battle well.

But…

“He’s good, but only for this world,” Roman thought.

Having fought Ben Miles and the Blood Fang gang, he knew how strong people could be.

Chris was strong enough to beat a dozen of them.

He seemed to be the strongest person Roman had met, except for Jonathan.

But compared to Baek Jung-hyuk?

He was the weakest.

Even a beginner fighter from my old world would probably beat Chris.

The burst of aura was strong, but it was messy compared to how *we* use power.

“That aura… it’s like *ki*,” Roman thought. “But they use it differently here. Hans mentioned *mana*. Is aura mana?” He wanted to understand this new power.

He became curious.

Aura.

He wanted to learn about it.

If he was going to live in this world, he needed to know what kind of power they used.

But then…

“Haha! Haha! Haha!”

Baron Romero laughed.

When he heard Jonathan say Roman was a genius, Baron Romero’s face lit up with real happiness.

“My son, my eldest son, is a genius with a sword! Knight Commander Jonathan, are you sure about this?”

“Yes. There’s no other way to explain Roman’s improvement. I’m sorry I didn’t see Roman’s talent sooner. Roman is definitely a genius.”

“Really? A genius, you say.”

His face lit up.

Baron Romero told Roman to come closer.

“My son.”

“Yes.”

“I haven’t felt this good in a long time. I’m very proud of you. Not just because Jonathan called you a genius, but because you did this yourself. I’m proud of you, Roman. If you want something, tell me now. I believe in rewards and punishments. And for you, my son, I will give a special reward.”

This showed Roman the real Baron Romero.

He had been angry when Roman seemed to waste his life, but deep down, he was a loving father.

Reward.

The chance was here.

Usually, people wouldn’t take their father’s reward seriously, but Roman was different.

Roman knew about rewards. As soon as Baron Romero said ‘reward,’ an idea popped into Roman’s head.

“I know I have to join the army now, because the marriage with the Lawrence family is off. My younger brothers are in the capital, so they can’t do military service. That means I have to go to war in six months. So, I want to choose the soldiers who go with me. And I need you to pay for everything.”

He was direct.

Baron Romero looked surprised at the specific request.

“Hmm,” Baron Romero said, thinking. The idea of Roman going to war was worrying.

Cairo was a small, weak kingdom. So, everyone, even nobles like Roman, had to fight when needed.

That reality couldn’t be avoided.

Married nobles could sometimes avoid serving in the army, but Roman changed his mind about that. He accepted the reality.

He wanted to believe in his son.

Roman thought about his life.

As a father, all he wanted was to help his son succeed.

“I understand. I give you complete control over the military service matter.”

“And I have one more request.”

“Tell me. If you show this much determination, I’ll do anything for you, my son.”

Maybe because he didn’t expect much from Roman, Baron Romero’s faith in him was complete.

Roman smiled slightly, looking at Chris, who was still on the ground.

“I want to start learning Aura. Please have the swordsman I just fought give me private lessons.”

Roman was ready for new things.

Now was the time to learn more about this world.

Chris wasn’t sure how long he had been lying there. His head hurt.

Slowly, he opened his eyes. Bright blue sky filled his vision, making him squint. He felt tears welling up, hot and shameful.

“Ugh,” he groaned, pushing himself up. “This is so embarrassing.”

Defeated. The word echoed in his mind. It was a bitter truth he couldn’t accept.

The fact that he had been beaten by Dimitri’s fool made him want to disappear in shame.

But what could he do?

That was the reality. The fact that Roman had defeated him didn’t change. When he finally got up and looked in the mirror, he was a mess.

Chris, who always cared about his good looks, stared at his reflection. The face that looked back was a mess. Two front teeth were gone, leaving a dark gap in his smile. He looked like a fool.

He felt as hopeless as he did after the defeat. He quickly checked the training ground for his missing teeth, but there was no way to put them back.

“…Should I just die?”

For a moment, he seriously considered it.

But that wasn’t the only problem.

Unexpected news hit him hard, and he couldn’t escape his deep sadness.

“Haaah?!”

“I know how you feel, Chris. But this is the Lord’s command.”

“Sir Knight Commander, no, Master! This isn’t right! I’ve been beaten by Roman and now I look like a fool with missing teeth. And now you’re telling me to teach him Aura? This can’t be right! Even if I’m punished for not obeying, I can’t accept this.”

He collapsed onto the floor.

He was desperate.

He never wanted to see Roman again.

Since they already didn’t like each other, being defeated by Roman was even more humiliating.

Jonathan spoke.

“I have a proposal for you.”

“…”

“Pretend to teach Roman, but really find out how he’s changed. If you do this well, I’ll let you learn the secret technique I’ve been holding back.”

“…Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“Aish.”

Chris jumped up.

The secret technique.

The secret that made Jonathan a 3-star Aura Knight.

Chris had always wanted that secret technique, so he couldn’t refuse Jonathan’s offer.

“You can’t change your mind later.”

His voice was full of annoyance.

In the end, Chris made a decision he couldn’t go back on.

The next day, Chris met Roman.

Roman smirked.

Roman smiled.

Chris’s eyes widened. They didn’t say anything, just looked at each other, but the meaning of the smile was clear.

‘Aish, damn it.’

The wind whistled through the gap where his front teeth used to be.

Chris already regretted accepting the offer, but he had to put up with unpleasant things to reach his goal.

Hiding his anger, Chris said with a cold face.

“From now on, I’ll explain Aura.”

Aura.

A branch of mana, the power used by knights.

Wizards store mana in a circle, but knights spread mana throughout their bodies.

“Emperor Alexander, the Pioneer, invented Aura. Unlike wizards, he was the first to discover how to strengthen the human body by spreading mana throughout it. Aura is the power of releasing this mana instantly. Mana, which is normally spread throughout the body, becomes a powerful force when released according to the user’s will.”

Roman listened seriously.

He didn’t argue with Chris’s explanation or act playful.

Chris’s dislike lessened a bit because Roman was taking the lesson seriously.

“Knowing the history of Aura isn’t really important. Mana is a power only certain people can use. Only one in a thousand can become an Aura Knight, and one in ten thousand can become a wizard. So, first you have to see if you’re qualified. The minimum requirement for an Aura Knight is to feel mana. Most people get stuck at this stage. It took me six months to feel mana, but even if it takes a year, you’re above average if you can feel it. It’s all about talent.”

He said it with confidence, subtly bragging about himself.

When he felt mana in six months as Jonathan’s student, everyone in Dimitri said a genius had appeared.

Chris was that kind of person.

But Roman didn’t react the way he wanted.

“One year. So you decide if it’s possible within that time.”

“Yes. If you can’t feel mana in a year, you should give up on becoming an Aura Knight.”

“Then let’s start with feeling mana. Can you explain how you did it?”

“Of course.”

His pride was slightly hurt.

But it was okay. Once the mana training started, it would be clear who was better, Roman or him.

‘Even if Roman is a sword genius, mana talent is different. This training will show him how tough things really are. As the years go by and he still can’t feel mana, he’ll realize how great I am. Heh heh heh, now that I think about it, this wasn’t a bad offer after all.’

He was excited.

He had seen many people give up in despair during mana training.

Roman would be no different.

Chris hid his true feelings and told him how to train mana.

“The mana training method is……”

Chris began teaching, and Roman started to focus intently.