Crying Woman (1)
The mission of the punitive force raised in the city of Varna was now coming to an end.
We have mobilized mercenaries to reduce the number of monsters in the forest, so next spring we will be able to release sheep and cows into the fields with peace of mind.
Although it was a result that did not please Josef, the commander of the punitive force.
“Nimi…the ones who couldn’t even say a word to Vlad.”
When Vlad naturally broke away from the mercenaries by becoming Xayar’s squire, Goth became the new Ten Seal of the 4th group.
Now, there were only 6 people left in the group, including myself.
“I’m holding on because it’s almost over.”
Normally, it would be right for the strongest and most influential person to hold the position of Chief of Ten, but now that the subjugation was coming to an end, in reality, it was only a position to take on minor tasks.
In other words, Goat was pushed around by a troublesome task.
“Why is there so much fog in winter?”
For that reason, even though Goat was the leader of a group, he came out in the middle of the night and stayed on watch.
The final camp for the final subjugation.
Goat missed his sleeping bag at the garrison, looking at the coming sleep, the cold weather, and the fog forming around him.
“Is everything okay?”
“I don’t think there’s anything special.”
There was a man suddenly coming out of the fog towards Goat, who was yawning for a long time.
He was a thick-haired man with short, black hair.
“Come to your senses and keep working hard.”
“yes. Roderick.”
Knight Rodrik.
For Josef, who had few knights who were loyal to him, he was the only knight he could give his business card to, except for Zayar.
And that was also the reason why Goat, who was far from sincere, focused on his role as a watchdog.
“Tsk. “It’s so hard that not even a needle can go through it.”
As Rodrik passed by, Goth muttered in an inaudible voice.
The presence of Rodrik, who values discipline and rules anytime and anywhere, was a burden to the mercenaries.
“Now let’s close our eyes.”
The patrol has just passed, so you can take a breather for a while.
Thinking like that, Goat was about to close his eyes.
“What are we doing here?”
Rodrik’s voice came through the thick fog.
‘Are you gone yet?’
Goth opened his closed eyes and tried to find Rodrik by relying on the torches placed here and there.
“What do you mean, you’re looking for a child?”
‘Who are you talking to?’
dark night. Dense fog.
Due to poor visibility, I couldn’t confirm his appearance, but Roderick was clearly talking to someone.
However, the strange thing was that although Roderick’s voice could be heard clearly, the voice of the person he was talking to could not be heard at all.
“Now I see that she was a crazy woman. “I am not your child.”
‘kid?’
Goat was unknowingly concentrating on the strange conversation that seemed out of context, looking in the direction where Rodrik’s voice was coming from.
“……”
However, Roderick’s voice, which had been coming from the fog, could no longer be heard, as if it had been cut off.
‘what.’
Goat sensed something was strange and left his position and quietly moved towards the place where the sound was coming from.
Although he wasn’t very good at wielding a sword, he was a goth who had the skill to move secretly like a swindler.
All
I could hear was my own footsteps on the snow, but I couldn’t even feel Rodrik, who had been talking to anyone just a moment ago.
‘…Where are you going?’
Still, as if I had come to the right place, I saw Roderick walking towards the end lit by a torch in the distance.
‘What is that?’
But there was something strange.
It was circling around Roderick as he walked towards the forest.
Goat was squinting and concentrating to figure out what it was.
‘……!’
The moment Got vaguely confirmed its identity, a chill ran down his spine.
‘What is that!’
A vaguely visible figure in the thick fog.
It was a woman with long hair.
The woman’s head was spinning around Rodrik.
As if there was no body hanging on it.
※※※※
“So, I am planning to return to Varna as soon as this punitive force returns…”
Josef continued his words and looked at the knights around him.
A strange atmosphere surrounded them.
Knights who cannot easily make eye contact with themselves, as if they are somehow embarrassed.
And in complete contrast to them, even Zayar was smiling faintly.
“I hope you prepare accordingly.”
“……yes.”
“All right. Josef.”
“Hmm. That’s how it should be.”
After Josef finished speaking, he turned his head and looked around at the knights.
More precisely, he was looking at the servants standing behind the knights.
Behind each knight stood servants assisting them.
“…….”
It looks like everyone is in a mess somewhere.
Bordan’s squire, whose eyes were swollen blue, was in better condition.
Blue eyes, bursting lips, and even a scared look in his eyes.
Only Vlad, who was standing behind Xayar, had a clean face and an expression that showed he didn’t know anything.
“Then disperse.”
“Hmm. hmm!”
“Only because it’s that fierce.”
“As expected, people from the back alleys tsk tsk.”
Although it was unclear to whom they were speaking, the knights said small words one by one and left the tent.
As soon as all the knights except Xayar left the tent, Josef looked at Vlad with sad eyes.
“Did you hit me?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about…”
“I don’t like lies.”
“…There was a brief hazing ceremony last night.”
“Hazing?”
When Xayar’s hand next to him tried to raise, Vlad responded quickly without hesitation.
“He wanted to be treated like a senior.”
Vlad’s current official position was as Xayar’s squire.
Although there were some complicated stories, at least that was how others saw it.
“so?”
“Isn’t the original hazing ceremony a place where newcomers introduce themselves? So I just showed it.”
Originally, except in special cases, being a knight’s squire was reserved for the sons of nobles or wealthy families who wanted to become knights.
In the first place, it was the same as the position one had to go through to become a knight, so even though the position of squire involved doing chores, it could be said to be a position that ordinary people could not even dream of.
In a world filled with such precious young masters, an unscrupulous person they had never heard of came into the world, so it must have been an issue that needed to be addressed from their perspective as well.
“Well…it’s a hundred times better than getting beaten up somewhere.”
When Josef’s eyes turned to him, Zayar shrugged his shoulders and answered.
“Boys of that age grow up fighting with each other.”
“For some reason, you seem to be in a good mood.”
“Even if it’s a dog raised at home, wouldn’t you want it to be better than other dogs?”
Vlad had suddenly become a dog, but the presence of the two people here was too great for him to dare to express his dissatisfaction.
“Well…I guess that’s the case too.”
Josef nodded in understanding at Zayar’s words.
Bah!
“Big!”
At that moment, Xayar’s palm flew into the back of Vlad’s head.
“okay. “Don’t go anywhere like you are now and get beaten up by anyone but me.”
“Is this a compliment?”
“As a driver, you have to be as nervous as you are in real combat, anytime, anywhere. “You just died once.”
Vlad could only rub the back of his head at Xayar’s actions, not knowing whether he was criticizing or praising him.
“There is no need to use this guy…”
“Not right now.”
“Did you hear? “Go out.”
Unlike ordinary knights, Zayar was the knight who guarded Josef closest to him.
“…Then let’s go out.”
That also meant that there was no need to stick next to Xayar all day like the other squires.
Vlad left the tent and muttered in a quiet voice that no one could hear.
“You’re being very condescending by sparring with me twice a day.”
[Children. That is truly a golden opportunity.]
A voice spoke to Vlad, who was scratching the back of his head and quietly complaining.
[If it were other people, they would want to spar with Zayar, even if it meant bringing money. He is a worthy knight.]
“I thought he just wanted to hit me.”
[That’s why the quality of sparring has improved. Because motivation is important everywhere.]
“…….”
Morning and evening. Sparring with Xayar was Vlad’s only regular routine.
Other than that, it was all free time for Vlad.
Since he was no longer a mercenary, there was no need to go out into the forest to raid, and there were plenty of mercenaries around to order him to do chores.
“I guess I should go see Andrea.”
[It must be convenient in one way or another to build a friendship with an influential person.] Immediately
after the mask of Lehman was removed and his true face was revealed, Vlad confessed his sins like a lamb in front of Andrea.
“There are times when honesty is the answer.”
[A head-on attack is the cleanest way.]
A relationship with a prestigious priest was worth putting down one’s pride.
“God forgives everything. Just as I am here now to hear what you have to say.”
Even though Vlad had deceived himself, Priest Andrea listened to all of Vlad’s confessions and forgave him.
In fact, he even thanked me for coming to see him and confessing all his sins.
He was truly a respectable priest.
[If you keep showing your face, there will be a day when you gain his favor in the future.] There have been some
crises over the past few days, but in the end, he has become a knight’s squire and his relationship with priest Andrea has become stronger again, so for Vlad, this is the best he can get from this monster subjugation team. It was like taking things.
“Then let’s chop some firewood.”
To impress Andrea, Vlad started chopping firewood for him.
“Leader! Lehman…no. Leader!”
At that moment, someone’s urgent voice was heard from Vlad, who was about to hit the firewood.
“When did you return?”
Among the gathered trees, he saw a goat urgently calling out to him.
“I don’t think the punitive force has arrived yet?”
Despite Vlad’s harsh reaction, Goth looked around and spoke in an urgent tone.
“Leader.”
“Why am I your leader? “I am no longer a Ten Seals.”
“Then Vlad.”
“Don’t act friendly.”
“No, then what should I call you…”
Goth protested in an aggrieved voice, but he cautiously approached Vlad, who was chopping firewood, as if this was not the time.
“why?”
“I’m going to run away from here tonight.”
“why?”
“Don’t forget that I’m saying this only as a favor. “It’s a favor to see you later with a smile.”
Vlad chuckled at the favor sent by the conman.
“okay. “What do you want to say?”
“……You shouldn’t listen to what I say carelessly. “I saw it for myself.”
It was only then that Vlad put down the ax he had been using to chop firewood as Goth’s mood was completely different from usual.
“What is it?”
Goth said in a low voice, looking at Vlad who was finally ready to listen to him.
“That forest. “The forest we conquer.”
A trembling voice and shaking eyes.
“That forest is a cursed forest.”
“what?”
They added sincerity to what the fraudster was saying.
“There have been some deserters so far. “Even though the pay here was good and the working environment wasn’t bad.”
“It did.”
Goth spoke in a whisper as he watched Vlad gradually become absorbed in his story.
“The forest took it all. “These are not deserters, but real missing people.”
“What, there’s a ghost in the forest that’s stealing people?”
Even in good working conditions, there were definitely deserters.
However, since the physiology of mercenaries was that most of them wanted to be free and do whatever they wanted, I just assumed that Vlad would do the same.
“There is a ghost. “I really saw it.”
“You crazy guy. “Just go.”
He wanted to tell me something worthwhile, but when the absurd words came out, Vlad quickly lost interest.
“Even the knight went missing during this subjugation! “It’s not a lie!”
Until Goth’s next words came out.
“what?”
“And I recognized you once when I returned?”
When Goth said that the knight was missing, Vlad sensed that the situation was unusual.
“The ones who are still missing.”
When does a fraudster tell a lie?
It is only a moment when you benefit.
“They all had black hair.”
“what?”
But for Goth, now was not that time.
Vlad looked into Goth’s eyes once again.
“Isn’t it really strange? They all had black hair?”
There was true fear inside.
