Valga Cromwell (バルガ・クロムウェル), commonly known as Old Man Rom (ロム爺), is a member of the Felt Camp and the former owner of the Loot House. He played a supporting role in Arc 1 and Arc 9, and a minor supporting role in Arc 3. He was also one of the main antagonists of Sword Demon Love Song, and he played a minor background supporting role in Sword Demon Battle Ballad.
Born a slave, Valga was a leading figure of the Demi-Human War, feared as the Great Strategist who held deep hatred for humanity. Although reported to have died during the war, he was taken captive by the Kingdom of Lugunica in secret, and, after escaping his imprisonment decades later, he took on the name Rom, eventually finding himself in the Royal Capital's slums, where he raised Felt. He joined Felt's camp following the announcement of her candidacy as one of the Royal Selection Candidates at the Royal Selection Ceremony.
Contents
Appearance
Rom sports a bulky figure. As a giant, he stands at a towering 220 cm (7'3"), though his hunchback-like style of walking makes him look shorter. He has white strands of hair lining his eyebrows and is bald. He wears a sleeveless vest and possesses a crimson symbol across the left side of his head. His primary weapon is a massive club that he uses to smash opponents.
When he was young, he was much leaner, and his eyebrows stood up in addition to having more hair. He wore black pants, a red cape, bracelets with bones on them, and a necklace.
Personality
Rom is good-natured, intelligent, and wise. He is a known alcoholic and frequents the enjoyments of drinking. Despite having lived in the slums for over a decade, he comes off as friendly, though he has no issue with living a criminal life, having been perfectly fine with selling off stolen goods that Felt brought him from the Loot House. This being said, he will also be fair towards his patrons. If someone comes to negotiate in order to retrieve a stolen item, he will give them a chance to provide them with a better deal than other buyers, and if they succeed, he will allow said person to buy said item. Due to his past, he has a high awareness of hostility, and though not quite skilled in combat, he will fight back against his aggressor. He is also highly protective of Felt, to the point that he will lose his cool, give in to his anger, ignore the risk towards himself, and attack the person who presents a risk towards Felt. He was even willing to break into the Royal Castle just to retrieve her from the Royal Selection, despite the room she was in holding a large number of knights and nobles, including the Sword Saint himself, showing a rare moment of carelessness and recklessness.
In his younger days, due to having grown up as a slave, Valga Cromwell held an intense hatred towards humans, to the point that he wanted to exterminate every single one of them. On the other hand, he felt a strong sense of camaraderie with his fellow demi-humans, who suffered discrimination and hatred from humans for generations. During the Demi-Human War, he had great charisma, and his anger resonated with his fellow demi-humans, though he did acknowledge that what he had paled in comparison to his comrade-in-arms and mother figure Libre Fermi. Despite that, Valga was remembered as the one who strengthened the weak ties of the demi-human tries, connecting them through negotiations and virtue. Because of this, he was able to command respect and fear from both his enemies and allies, and combined with his excellent and nigh unbeatable strategies, he was able to ignite the seeds of war and rebellion, as well as unite the chaotic warfront, into a properly organized army. After the war was over and he was imprisoned, he displayed willingness to provide his knowledge to humans if he believed it would help prevent unnecessary demi-human deaths.
In time, however, he came to find himself bearing a level of gratitude towards a certain man who not only seemingly freed him from imprisonment but also entrusted the infant Felt to him. Because he did not want a debt to go unpaid, despite said debt being to a human, he reluctantly accepted the man's request. In the next few years, he grew to love the child, and because of his parental love toward Felt, he became softer over time, and he believed that she saved his way of life.[1] Because of this, to some degree, he now seems to regret the extent to which his past rage had influenced him. He became so soft that he even admonished Setanta for the way he viewed Ram as a means to an end despite how she was just a child, and told her and her twin sister Rem to never forget their bonds as sisters. However, despite becoming softer, his mind and ruthlessness in battle has not waned. In fact, he is still willing to get his own hands dirty when necessary. During the events of Arc 9, he was willing not only fight using his own hands against the threat of the Authority-wielding Aldebaran, who had just defeated a veritable army of 500 people, but he was even willing to sacrifice himself to defeat the man.
History
Early Life
Rom was born as Valga Cromwell of the nearly extinct giant race, and he was raised as a slave of an unnamed noble. While being a slave, he experienced a living hell until he was one day saved by a man named Libre Fermi; Valga would begin to foster a hatred of humans as a result of the environment he lived in.[2] Libre soon became Valga's friend, teacher, and mother figure after freeing the giant.[3] In addition, he became acquainted with Doltero Amule and Setanta around this time, likely as a result of his negotiations among the demi-human tribes in order to bring them together during the civil war.
Sword Demon Love Song
During the Demi-Human War, Valga was one of three leaders in the Demi-Human Alliance, serving as the Alliance's strategist. Valga was the one responsible for turning the entire group of demi-humans from a mob to a proper coalition. At some point, he found Sphinx, brought her into the Alliance as an ally, and they set up a hidden base at testing grounds in Shamrock Valley. According to unconfirmed reports from the Royal Army, Valga personally utilized his forces during the Battle of Castour Field and contributed to the Kingdom of Lugunica's defeat there. Following this, he was responsible for planning the ambush that took place during the Kingdom's investigation of the battlefield. After the usage of Sphinx's magic circles and the corpses she was gathering became known to Libre, the two of them disagreed over her methods and they began growing estranged as a result. Three years later, at the Battle of Aihiya Swamp, Libre was personally killed by Sphinx and turned into a corpse soldier, though the Witch would hide the Poison Snake's manner of death from Valga. Without Libre's charisma to continue leading the Demi-Human Alliance, Valga chose to invade Lugunica Castle in an attempt to attack the Kingdom at its heart.
During the Invasion of the Royal Castle, Valga would be accompanied by Sphinx and the corpse of Libre. Although he was too weak to fight on his own, he had magic circles engraved on his body to increase his power, and alongside them, a bone from an ancestor of his. Sphinx then used Sacrament of the Immortal King in tandem with the bone, which increased Valga's size to a 10-meter-tall giant. He fought against the Sword Demon, Wilhelm Trias, but he ultimately lost the battle and supposedly died. However, in reality, his continued survival was left a concealed fact, and he was taken to the main McMahon Manor as a captive, with only select individuals such as Gionis Lugunica and Miklotov McMahon knowing this fact.
Sword Demon Battle Ballad
A few years after the Demi-Human War ended, Stride Vollachia was moving across Lugunica with unseen aims. He somehow found his way into Sphinx's Testing Grounds in Shamrock Valley and found a forbidden art there that was left by Sphinx. This forbidden art had the ability to nullify the covenant that the Kingdom had with the Divine Dragon. Valga, who knew about the magic circle's effects, opted to disclose what it did to Gionis. After Stride's death, Valga told Miklotov that he only chose to divulge the information because Stride's faction would have killed his fellow demi-humans.
Post Captivity
An unknown number of years later, Valga started calling himself Rom, escaped from his captivity either by force or with permission, was given custody over Felt by a man with golden hair and crimson eyes, and he raised her as his granddaughter. On one occasion in the years following his captivity, Rom visited the Oni Village to see Setanta for unknown reasons, and the two had a disagreement. Before leaving, he told Ram and Rem to never forget to be close sisters.[4] About seven years before Arc 1, Rom gained ownership of the Loot House and began selling illicit items that Felt stole from other people in order to get by.
Abilities
Keen Intellect: Rom was once feared during the Demi-Human War, not for his physical strength, but for his strategical mind. His strategies were so impressive that he was considered one of the most dangerous threats alongside Sphinx. He has since taken up a position similar to that of a strategist in the Felt Camp, and as of Arc 9, he does not seem to have lost his touch. This intellect even allowed him to corner Al, who had only ever been truly cornered once before, and Al went as far as to consider Rom as more dangerous than Reinhard van Astrea. Likewise, due to his vast experience, he has a wide knowledge of the various types of powers in the world, such as Divine Protections and Authorities, and because of this, he is able to plan accordingly around such powers should the need arise.
Keen Observation: Rom is skilled at drawing out a person's true abilities and nature through endless trial and error. Because of this, he has been able to spot and identify a vast number of Divine Protections, leading to him becoming the man who has killed the most Divine Protection users in the world. It is because of this that Rom managed to almost completely ascertain the true nature of even Al's Authority.
Immense Physical Strength: Even without the enhancements he had during his battle with Wilhelm, Valga had enough physical strength to completely decimate the floor of the Kingdom's chapel floor and shake the entire castle along with it.
Equipment:
- Ancestral Bones: During the Demi-Human War, he had the bones of his ancestors which, when combined with a magic circle, allowed him to increase his size, physical strength, and toughness. However, he ultimately lost these bones during his battle Wilhelm.
- Spiked Club: Rom wields a Spiked Club in combat. He can casually swing it around with one hand and crush wood with ease. The one he wielded during the Loot House Incident was destroyed by Elsa Granhiert.
- Gauntlets: Rom wore gauntlets on both of his arms that he used to hold multiple Conversation Mirrors.
- Conversation Mirrors: Meteors that are used to converse with anyone who has another of its kind. They were duplicated by the Felt Camp for usage. Rom has shown to have several, which he uses to direct large numbers of people at once.
- Hexcel: A drug produced with a bokko fruit that generates excess mana through the activation of the gate. With Rom's usage, it causes his physique to grow. The drug has a narcotic effect, however, and its usage can cause its user to bleed from their eyes and nose, their veins bulge, and their insides will be torn apart.
- Night Banishing Magic Stone: Originally used alongside a Night Banisher, this stone is used to temporarily overwrite the appearance of the battlefield, giving the illusion of night having turned to day. Though he is not a man of great magic, when he is enhanced by Hexcel, he can control the blast created by crushing one of these stones.
Trivia
- In the first section of Felt-chan's Royal Selection Life from Zero, it is implied that Rom has a debt to an unknown group of people affiliated with a man who has golden hair and crimson eyes.[5][6] These physical characteristics are shared by Felt and all members of the Lugunican Royal Family.
- According to the author, Rom's birthday is February 20.
- Rom has a named chapter in Arc 9 of the web novel and light novel.
References
- ↑ “I already made that vow a long time ago. That girl saved my way of life, ye know.” Re:Zero Tanpenshuu Volume 4, Felt-chan's Royal Selection Life from Zero, Section 6.
- ↑ He was born to the giant species, who are on the verge of extinction. He was born and raised as the slave of a detestable noble, but he was saved from that environment by a demi-human called Libre, and since then he fostered a hatred of humans... 2018 Rom's Birthday Q&A
- ↑ The one called Libre was the benefactor who was his mother, teacher, and friend. 2018 Rom's Birthday Q&A
- ↑ Rom responded quietly to Setanta’s hateful sounding remark, and he turned his back on him. Stepping hard on the ground, the old man sought to leave the village as he went down the mountain path. As he passed through Rem and Ram’s side, he said――, “Always be close sisters. Don’t forget that.” Re:Zero Prequel: The Oni Sisters of the Hidden Village, Chapter 1, Section 2.
- ↑ “I’m indebted to ye all. If I can return what I owe, then I don’t mind taking on this job.” Re:Zero Tanpenshuu Volume 4, Felt-chan's Royal Selection Life from Zero, Section 1.
- ↑ Inside the box where she could only see the ceiling, her gaze met with someone’s face when they peeked in. For some reason, a shadow was cast upon the face, and she could not see it because it was smudged black. However, she knew the person was the owner of golden hair and crimson eyes. Re:Zero Tanpenshuu Volume 4, Felt-chan's Royal Selection Life from Zero, Section 1.
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