Chapter 1 – Dmitry’s Fool (1)

Hans, a servant of Baron Dmitry's family, could not hide his difficulties with the young master's abnormal behavior.

“So, you’re saying that I am the eldest son of the Dmitry family?”

“And this is the kingdom of Cairo on the Salamander Continent.
The world of Murim doesn’t even exist.”

It was strange.

The young master wasn't someone who was usually called smart, but he wasn’t normally this stupid.

Hans wondered if he was high on drugs.

Recently, the deviance of the children of noble families has become a social issue, but it was a problem since it would be suspicious if it happened to Young Master Roman Dmitry.

Dmitry's Fool.

While the younger brothers had already moved to the capital and grew up steadily, he could see the reality of Roman Dmitry just by watching him rot in the outskirts by the time he reached the age of 25.

Hans said calmly, “Young master, today is the day the esteemed daughter of the Lawrence family, who is promised to marry you, visits the estate of Dmitry.
As you may have heard, the daughter of the Lawrence family is a person who values ​​dignity and courtesy as a nobleman.
So, it is better to prepare ahead of time.
It's the first time you will see each other, so it would be great to make a good impression—”

“There is something more important than that.”

Roman cut him off while he was talking.

No matter how he looked at it, the young master, who seemed to not be in his right mind, spoke in a voice that had a different weight to it than usual.

“Take me to the eldest man here.
It is more important for me to meet him and get to know the world in which I will be living in the future, than to meet this esteemed daughter, whom I do not know.”

It was bizarre.

The young master, who has lived in Dmitry's estate for 25 years, said it's important to know about the world for the future.

But what can I even do?

“I understand, young master.”

It was Hans' role to fulfill his duty as a servant.

The place Hans guided Dmitry to was a village outside the Dmitry Castle.

After the war, many of their permanent residents lost their homes; however, the castle could not accommodate all of them, so they formed a village outside of it.

At first, the village was made up of houses with quite plausible shapes, but the proportion of shacks gradually increased as they moved inside.

Splash.

Hans frowned as he stepped on the muddy water.

At the stench creeping up from all directions, he glanced at Roman's eyes.

“Do you really want to meet the oldest man in Dmitry's estate? If it's related to the history of the territory you're talking about, it's better to use Dmitry's sage or the library.
We can still head back.”

“It’s fine.”

Roman didn't care about what was in his surroundings.

Like Hans, he stepped into the muddy water without hesitation, and the hem of his pants got wet in the splashing water.

‘Oh, his pants got wet.’

Hans was perplexed.

Of course, he expected Roman with wet pants to make a fuss, but Roman did not show any particular reaction.

It was a situation that Hans could not understand at all.

The Dmitry family was not very prestigious.
Still, Roman was a person who was usually quite boasting about the fact that he was the son of a noble family.

The residents often gathered to gossip about the fact that Roman was a nobleman who threw fits wherever he went and had absolutely no talent.

But to see something like this.

He questioned whether he was the same person who said that he did not want to leave the castle even if he died despite the lord's orders.

‘…Did he get a head injury?’

As he walked frantically, he arrived at his destination.

He stopped in front of the shack that was slowly being demolished, and Hans looked at Roman cautiously.

“It’s here.
He is an old man who followed the lord even before he was granted the Dmitry estate and worked as a blacksmith.
He's already ninety years old, so it won’t be surprising if he dies anytime soon.
The problem is… he’s a bit immobile, so you will have to go inside to talk to him.”

Slowly, he looked around.

The stench was so extreme that his nose was clogged, and the spider webs formed throughout the shack made the people, who were looking, frown.

This was no place for the children of noble families to enter.

So, Hans kept requesting him to head back on the way, but Roman kept moving on despite his words.

“Wait outside.”

“Gasp.”

There was no hesitation to be found.

Reaching out his hand and clearing the web, Roman went inside and checked his surroundings.

“Are you the owner of this house?”

“Young master, you came to such a shabby place like this?”

The old man lying inside was startled.

He hurriedly got over the bulky blanket and tried to get up, but he couldn’t get up entirely because of an injury.

“Sit down and listen.”

Roman sat down in front of him.

The old man didn't know what to do as he sat down on the dirty ground, so he only looked at Roman's eyes.

“I want to know everything about Dmitry's estate.
What kind of land is this place and what kind of history does it have? It's probably going to be a long story, so why don't we talk slowly while enjoying the alcohol I brought?”

Swish.

Roman showed a bottle of wine hanging from his waist.

Seeing the stunned old man with wide-open eyes, Roman made a smile that melted away his vigilance.

“Quickly.”

At the rock bottom of life.

Roman chose to adapt to this world in his own way.

At first, the old man could not speak properly.

However, as he was getting tipsy and Roman showed a serious listening attitude, his vigilance was gone.

“Lord Dmitry was originally a famous blacksmith.
He was running a profit-making business by selling iron pieces he made himself; however, he suddenly got the opportunity to supply weapons to the kingdom of Cairo.
There was a war going on for a while, so it was a great opportunity to transcend the limits of one's status.
After the war, the lord who received the rank of baron at the award ceremony…”

The talk was extremely long.

Most of what he said was what the eldest son of the Dmitry family should know, but the unbridled old man narrated all the stories he knew at length.

Roman's judgment was correct.

He asked Hans what the old man liked, and he replied that he couldn’t keep a secret while he was drunk, so he purposely prepared a drink to suit his taste.

Thanks to him, he was able to get all the information he wanted.

He, who was not yet accustomed to the person named Roman, gradually built up new information in his head.

‘Roman huh.’

Roman Dmitry.

No, his real name was Baek Joong-hyuk.

Baek Joong-hyuk had lived most of his life as the head of the Heavenly Demon Cult, which unified Murim.

He was someone who had lived a fierce life as a martial artist.

Having accomplished everything he wanted to, he calmly accepted his death.

It was a great blessing to conquer all the heavenly beasts1 and die, but when I opened my eyes, I was in Roman Dmitry's body.

It was absurd.

In fact, at the moment of his death, Baek Joong-hyuk had entered the real