Ch.189Chapter 189: Sword Grave (7)

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Before answering the question about my place of origin.

After being asked about where I came from.

With my ancestor looking at me with curious eyes for reasons unknown, I turned away.

I closed my eyes briefly to organize my thoughts.

Well, I say “organize my thoughts,” but…

In truth, the answer to that question was already complete in my mind.

I was simply contemplating how to convey this fully-formed answer accurately to the person before me.

Having escaped from a tense situation with the atmosphere now considerably softened.

One might think I could maintain this by giving a vague answer and moving on.

But facing the protagonist who inherited the characteristics of “our family,” such a casual response would be disastrous, hence my need for caution.

What else did they pass down besides silver hair and sword-related talents, you ask?

People in our family have the ability to keenly detect lies spoken by those they converse with face-to-face.

Though limited to conversations where the other person’s face isn’t covered by a helmet or mask.

They can detect the subtle trembling of the eyes and changes in expression when someone conceals the truth and speaks falsehoods.

It’s a rather convenient ability to instantly determine whether what someone says is true or false.

Since this ability had been passed down through the Lanos family alongside the hair color.

It was only natural that clumsy lies wouldn’t work on the ancestor who had bestowed this special ability upon generations of descendants.

Finding a way to explain my origins that my ancestor would naturally accept wasn’t as simple as just speaking.

I didn’t dare attempt to explain the surreal situation of having crossed a thousand years to be here.

Nor did I want my ancestor to become hostile again if they grew suspicious of my answer.

I continued to worry about how to give a satisfactory response.

While lost in these thoughts, even with my eyes closed, I could clearly feel someone staring at me, so I slightly opened my right eye.

“Hmm…”

I met the intense gaze of my ancestor, who was staring at me while letting out a soft murmur.

Their gaze was so piercing it felt as if they were dissecting whatever had entered their field of vision.

It was an uncomfortable stare, intense enough to be produced by pure curiosity rather than rudeness.

Feeling the need to divert that gaze.

I closed my right eye again, curled my right hand into a fist, brought it to my mouth, and…

“Ahem!”

I cleared my throat uncomfortably to try to soften the stare directed at me.

Though it was just a single throat clearing, it seemed effective.

My ancestor, who might have continued staring indefinitely, finally seemed to realize their mistake.

“…Ah!”

They let out a short, small cry and withdrew their burdensome gaze.

As I lazily opened both eyes again to carefully observe my ancestor.

“Hmm, hmm…”

They continued clearing their throat, clearly embarrassed by their previous behavior.

If I were to just silently stare back at them now, their embarrassment would only deepen.

“…You seem quite interested in my hair color.”

I casually remarked, both to delay answering about my origins and to ease their discomfort.

My ancestor’s embarrassed expression softened slightly.

“Ah, I apologize.”

I could hear their voice, now considerably gentler, apologizing for their rudeness.

Compared to when they first saw me and immediately swung their holy sword at me, suspecting me of being a demon’s minion, this change in attitude was revolutionary.

I felt some of the mental pressure from this strange environment lifting.

But not wanting to show my relief too openly.

“Well, it’s fine. I’ve experienced far ruder stares before, so this actually feels quite mild in comparison.”

I replied in a calm tone to the ancestor who was apologizing to me.

This wasn’t a lie.

While I occasionally received similar curious looks from Shizu when I was young.

I rarely felt such stares when I was with the precious people who loved me.

But after becoming a student at Yoram, despite being a member of the Lanos family but born without the silver hair that represented it.

The initially puzzled looks from those around me.

Gradually turned into sneers and contempt with the attitude of “just as expected” as time passed and I became more twisted from acknowledging my inferiority to them.

So receiving this merely curious gaze from my ancestor actually felt refreshingly novel.

Though I couldn’t understand why they found my hair color so fascinating.

When they themselves had hair that was partially red from the roots, but that was beside the point.

As I was thinking this and my gaze drifted to the crown of my ancestor’s head.

As if sensing where my attention had gone, my ancestor raised their right hand to their head.

“Ah, is it because my hair color is strange?”

They asked why my gaze had gone there.

I answered with a small nod.

Seeing this, I could observe a subtle change in my ancestor’s expression, which had maintained its softness since they’d dropped their hostility.

Their expression became tinged with what could only be described as an incredibly subtle hesitation.

They clearly knew why their hair was like this.

But their expression plainly revealed a resistance to revealing it to others.

Seeing this, I thought, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have looked there.’

I felt a slight regret, but simultaneously, I had another contradictory thought.

It was curiosity about hearing information that differed from the historical facts I knew, from the very person who was the source of that information.

I clearly remembered that Lumen Lanos, the great hero and founder of the sword family that had maintained its fame for over a thousand years, had silver hair.

After my regression, I had tucked away the confusion I felt when I heard from some people that they had red hair, as I was busy with daily life.

But seeing those few strands of hair that were red from the roots on the crown of the person who had traversed a thousand years to meet me.

The curiosity I had carefully hidden in my mind resurfaced.

Well, I wasn’t tactless enough to ask questions before answering about my own origins.

So I was going to set this topic aside and continue the conversation about my birthplace, but.

“I suppose it would seem strange that my hair color changed to red, and after birth at that.”

My ancestor didn’t seem particularly bothered by my gaze, perhaps recalling their own earlier behavior.

Moreover.

“This hair… it’s a gift from him.”

They even started to tell me why their hair color was gradually changing.

So I couldn’t say what I had originally intended to say.

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Once the floodgates opened, my ancestor’s story about their hair revealed facts I had never encountered in any historical text or epic.

The story went like this:

My ancestor, Lumen Lanos, was originally the owner of silver hair, which still made up most of their hair color, but.

During the fierce battles against the demon gods who sought to cover this world with twisted divine power.

They once had their life endangered by a surprise attack from assassins sent by a demon realm specifically targeting them.

This was because they were struck by a dagger filled with twisted divine power imbued with the malice of demon gods, more dangerous than any deadly poison.

Because of this, even with the devoted treatment of high priests who possessed divine power that could save dying people with a single gesture, there was no improvement, and their life hung by a thread.

But seeing this situation, my ancestor’s friend, that is, Fafnir, provided them with something more effective than any medicine or divine healing.

That was his own blood, filled with the essence of dragons, a race said to stand at the pinnacle of power and magic.

Well, while it might be modest compared to the Dragon Heart that contains the infinite magic power possessed by dragons.

Dragon blood was something so extraordinary that most elixirs or medicines couldn’t even compare.

“The effect was remarkable. My body and consciousness, which had been so precarious that I thought I would surely die, recovered immediately after drinking just a little of the blood he gave me.”

As they spoke, reminiscing about that time, my ancestor’s expression showed a longing that couldn’t easily be associated with the hesitation they had shown earlier.

And beyond longing, there was also a tenderness felt when recalling someone who had saved their life.

When my sister, who resembled her, spent time in the period before my regression.

She had shown a similar expression after realizing too late the importance of someone who had departed, so I don’t think what I perceived was wrong.

If the story had ended here, it would have been just a touching tale about a hero who wielded a holy sword with the mission to save the world.

And a dragon who unhesitatingly gave the most precious thing they had when that hero’s life was threatened.

But if that were all, my ancestor wouldn’t have mentioned it.

“For a long time after that, there was no significant change in my body, but some time after that friend disappeared, I noticed that newly grown hair was red from the roots.”

Sure enough, my ancestor concluded the story by saying that they were gradually affected by Fafnir’s blood, causing their hair to slowly turn red.

“That’s why I asked where you’re from. That friend is currently in the western continent. I thought if you were from there, you might easily know where he is.”

They also explained why they had asked about my birthplace.

…Seeing my ancestor’s attitude, I was worried about how they would react to the answer I had originally planned to give about my origins.

But they weren’t someone who would fall for a clumsy lie, and as I watched them, a thought briefly crossed my mind.

So from my mouth came:

“Unfortunately, I am from the central continent, just like you.”

The truth flowed out in a calm tone.

As they heard my answer and observed the changes in my expression as I spoke, I could see disappointment and regret simultaneously shadowing their face as they realized it was true.

But before their expression could fully darken:

“However, I plan to go to the western continent soon. It’s my late mother’s homeland.”

When I casually offered this mix of truth and a resolution I had just made.

I could see light returning to my ancestor’s expression, which had been darkening with disappointment.

Even though they possessed the ability to sensitively distinguish lies hidden in words.

Since it was a statement mixed with undeniable truth and a thought that had just formed in my mind about traveling the western continent.

Judging by how my ancestor’s eyes sparkled at me as soon as I finished speaking, they firmly believed what I said was true.

…Hmm, it seems this great ancestor of mine is more innocent than they appear?

As I thought this, just as relief was about to bloom in my heart for having successfully navigated the difficult question about my origins.

“I… I have a favor to ask…”

I could see my ancestor addressing me with great hesitation.

…No, what kind of favor are you trying to ask that makes you stutter like that?

Besides, I’m not in a position to blindly accept requests.

As they say, there’s always another mountain beyond the one you’ve climbed.

Just when I thought I had overcome one hurdle, I felt another unimaginable challenge rushing toward me, and a cold sweat ran down my spine.