“ves?”


    I opened my eyes wide at rk’s words. It wasn’t just me; even Father looked slightly bewildered.


    This waspletely unexpected. To think that my ancestor was actually a ve yearning for freedom.


    What is a ve? The lowest of the low, a ss where human rights are nonexistent.


    Although very has been abolished, illegal ve trading continues under the influence of demon worshipers.


    Among these ves, men are mainly used forbor, such as farming, while women are used differently depending on their appearance.


    ves exist, but they are not truly alive. To think that such a being was my ancestor is shocking in many ways.


    [Yes, the kind of ve you’re imagining.]


    rk’s firm answer left me momentarily stunned. Soon, I thought of my family, including my father.Being a general or a hero of a nation might make sense, but ves? That’s a million miles away from us.


    Our family has been known for its robust physical builds passed down through generations.


    Even someone like Nicole, despite being a woman, possesses immense strength.


    On top of that, our mana training methods and martial arts are on par with other knightly families.


    Weck nothing.


    In the distant past, humans couldn’t even use mana, so physical prowess was all that mattered.


    And yet, we were ves? There must be aplex story behind this.


    “…No matter how I think about it, I can’t understand how we were ves. Did wemit some crime in the distant past?”


    Father seemed to share my thoughts, his expression indicating disbelief. Others would probably think the same.


    Assuming our ancestors of the Michelle family had the same strength as we do now, could there really have been a force capable of enving them?


    rk nodded as if he understood our doubts. Then, after ncing around at us, he made a request.


    [This story might take a while. Could I ask for a favor?]


    “What kind of favor?”


    [Just one cigarette…]


    “With a child present, why would you even think of asking for a cigarette? Just start talking.”


    True to his habits as a heavy smoker, he asked for a cigarette, only to be rebuked by Father.


    Ariel’s presence made the request slightly inappropriate.


    rk clicked his tongue in disappointment, but soon collected his thoughts and began speaking in his unique, gravelly yet heavy voice.


    It felt simr yet different from a grandfather leisurely telling an old story, evoking a peculiar sensation.


    [Where should I begin… Let’s start with what you know about how people be stronger.]


    “Are you talking about physical strength or everything in general?”


    [For people like us, it would mean physical strength.]


    “In that case, it’s limited. Training mana, building muscle, honing skills, and so on. If it’s just about physical strength, that’s about it, isn’t it?” ?????Е?


    rk nodded as if in agreement, his eye sockets glimmering with a light that seemed to move like real eyes.


    [You’re right. But that’s only within the bounds of human decency. What about methods that step outside those bounds?]


    “Are you talking about human sacrifice?”


    One way demon worshipers gain power quickly is through human sacrifice.


    It’s a method that abandons all human conscience and morality to obtain strength.


    Could it be that our family engaged in human sacrifice and became ves because of it?


    If that were true, we would have deserved not just very but outright condemnation as failures of humanity.


    But rk’s words veered far from my expectations.


    [That’s right, human sacrifice. But we didn’t perform the sacrifices ourselves.]


    “Then…”


    [We were artificially created as fighting dogs through human sacrifice. Our hair turned red, stained by the blood of thousands, and in the process, we gained the gleaming eyes of a predator.]


    The mere thought was chilling. I grabbed my long hair trailing down my back and looked at it.


    To think this color came from the sacrifices of thousands—it was hard to believe, especially since there wasn’t a single mention of it in books.


    Even as I struggled to process this, rk calmly continued to recount the history of the Michelle family.


    [Over time, it faded somewhat, and divine power brightened its hue. But most descendants of our family still have red hair.]


    “So Nicole is an exception, then.”


    [That’s right. But even she has a faint reddish tint, doesn’t she?]


    rk was right. Nicole’s hair was navy, but there were subtle hints of red in some ces.


    It seemed inevitable that the Michelle family’s hair had traces of red.


    And this was after generations had passed, dulling the color. In the past, it must have been entirely red.


    Now that my questions about the family’s red hair had been partially answered, only the matter of very remained.


    What kind of lunatic captured our ancestors as ves, used them as human sacrifice experiments, and why did it result in this?


    Just as I was pondering this, rk seemed ready to delve into that story.


    [But seriously, can’t I just have one cigarette?]


    “No. Can you even smoke in that state?”


    [Surprisingly, I can. Want me to show you?]


    “Not now. Later.”


    [Tch.]


    Despite his appearance, rk’s childish side came out when it came to his beloved cigarettes.


    After scratching his smooth, bald skull, he began recounting stories that naturallymanded attention.


    They weren’t recorded in any books, yet as someone who loved history, I couldn’t help but listen with rapt focus.


    [Do you know of the Kingdom of Gerios?]


    “I do. It was once a powerful nation but was the first to fall during the Demon War, wasn’t it?”


    During the Demon War, almost all records except those in Alvenheim were destroyed.


    However, traces of the kingdom’s existence still remained.


    Additionally, through the records left in the sacred grounds of Alvenheim, I have a rough understanding of what the Kingdom of Gerios was like.


    Once a nation that boasted a high level of achievement in various fields, surpassing even the Kingdom of Teres, it tragically fell during the Demon War.


    In fact, Gerios was the first ce where the demons tore through dimensions and appeared.


    The kingdom could do nothing but fall victim to them.


    [You know quite a bit. Our ancestor was a diator from Gerios—so skilled that the king himself called upon him directly.


    But because of that, he became a test subject for human sacrifice experiments.]


    “Thest king of Gerios is said to have been a conqueror. Was he involved in human sacrifices?”


    [He certainly was. Even now, military power depends on the existence of strong individuals, but back then, it was even more so.


    The King of Gerios would gather talented individuals he had his eye on, strengthen them through human sacrifice, and slowly expand his territory.]


    In simple terms, it was a state-level super-soldier project.


    I slowly organized the information in my head.@@novelbin@@


    Under the direction of the King of Gerios, diators he had been watching were taken and assigned as test subjects for human sacrifices, resulting in individuals with overwhelming power.


    The gods likely did not intervene in this.


    Unless a heinous crime against divinity ismitted, they generally refrain from interference.


    “Was our ancestor the only one who seeded in that project—or experiment?”


    [That’s correct. Infusing a single body with the souls of thousands… surviving that alone is remarkable. That’s why the King of Gerios kept him close.]


    “That seems quite far from very, doesn’t it?”


    [Hey, what’s the rush? Listen patiently.]


    Feeling a bit embarrassed by rk’s mild reproach, I scratched my head.


    The story was so fascinating that I must have gotten too excited. rk, perhaps understanding my enthusiasm—or maybe just finding his grandson endearing—chuckled softly.


    [But that glory was short-lived. When the Demon War broke out, Gerios was the first to fall, and he was reduced to being an experiment again.


    It seems even the demons were curious about what kind of person our ancestor was, strengthened through human sacrifice.]


    “The demons didn’t seed in making him one of their own?”


    It’smon knowledge that the demons are descended from devils, who themselves are known as experimental subjects.


    Naturally, I had assumed that our ancestor would also be one of the demons, but apparently not.


    [That part baffles me as well. Perhaps it was the resilience of a body containing the souls of thousands, or maybe there was another reason.


    Regardless, even after the Demon War, our ancestor lived as a loyal warhound of the demon worshippers.]


    “Didn’t he resist? Based on our family’s temperament, I’d imagine he would have.”


    This time, my father asked the question. It’s true—our family is generally mild-mannered but bes fiercely stubborn when provoked, whether in battle or when pride is on the line.


    I’m no different, and there have been several incidents with Dave and Nicole at the academy because of it.


    Thankfully, the damage was never serious.


    [Resistance… I wonder if it was even possible.]


    “What do you mean?”


    [Let me ask you this: do you know how the Demon War began?]


    “The cause, you mean…”


    Everyone, including myself, looked puzzled by rk’s question.


    The Demon War is now considered almost mythical history.


    Records from before the war were mostly destroyed, and while a few remain in the sacred grounds of Alvenheim, they are not definitive.


    History, after all, is recorded subjectively despite its objective nature.


    The more records there are, the more objective the picture, but there aren’t many for that period.


    My discovery of records about the Kingdom of Gerios was almost idental.


    ording to Arwen, nations like Gerios, whichcked interaction with others, might not have even been known to exist.


    After all, ancient Europeans believed India was the end of the world, so it’s not entirely far-fetched.


    “The demons are invaders from another dimension, aren’t they? That’s what I know.”


    “Me too. It was the event that prompted the gods to intervene in the mortal world.”


    “And they’re the ancestors of the demons.”


    Each of us recounted facts about the Demon War, and each statement was correct.


    Records and literature about the war can be found anywhere, and it’s taught in academies.


    It was a unique moment in history when all races united to resist amon enemy, and it led to the gods directly watching over humanity.


    Before the war, the godsmunicated only with elves, but their perspective shifted after the Demon War, and they began interacting with other races.


    The biggest beneficiaries of this change were undoubtedly humans, who, having relied solely on shamanism, gained divine power and grew stronger.


    Although magic remained exclusive to the chosen few, divine power alone was enough to drive significant advancements for humanity.


    [No. My question is about how the demons invaded this world—not the impact of the war.]


    However, rk seemed dissatisfied with the answers.


    Shaking his head, he refuted us, and we exchanged nces, or more precisely, everyone looked at me.


    I was the only one well-versed in history here.


    But unfortunately, I didn’t know exactly how the demons entered this world either.


    There are only vague mentions of dimensional tears.


    “Uh… wasn’t it through tearing the dimension? That’s what I’ve always heard.”


    [Yes, dimension-tearing is correct. But who performed that act?]


    “The demon worshippers?”


    [No.]


    rk replied firmly and revealed a shocking truth.


    [It was thest king of Gerios, Morgan Yurk Via III, who performed it himself. The ritual was state-level and directly led by the king.]


    “…What?”


    As if that wasn’t shocking enough, what came next was even more so.


    [And above all, demons are not beings from another dimension.]


    Because.


    [They are the citizens of Gerios.]