Between the cracks (2),
the long, narrow hallway was filled with stuffy air.
He was probably used to it by now, but the stench of the mansion that rose with the humidity was like poison to Josef, who needed to breathe.
However, Josef was just staring at the man in front of him, forgetting even the damp stench that could be felt everywhere.
“You wore death clumsily. “It’s so loud that it flies away with just one breath.”
A man who has lost all color.
However, in the past, the person who had the most brilliant light than anyone else was now in front of him.
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about. your majesty.”
I tried not to show it, but it was inevitable that my heart would race at the sound of Frausen’s voice.
And Josef’s heart, which was now beating vigorously, was not simply caused by a sense of crisis.
‘The founding king…’
The man who appeared in the storybook his mother read to him when he was young was now in front of Josef’s eyes.
The existence of the Sword Master, whom he had vaguely admired since childhood, was like a bubble that Josef could not reach.
“…Don’t call me Your Majesty.”
However, the current Josef was no longer the child he was then, and the man in front of him was no longer the glorious knight.
They were walking in a place that was so far removed from what they had dreamed of, and they just silently walked down the damp hallway.
Squeak –
The place where Frausen took Josef, who was in crisis, to his own room.
It was a spacious and well-organized room that was incomparably larger than any other room I had seen before, and fortunately the odor that had been bothering Josef did not seep in.
“Sit down.”
“yes.”
Looking at Frause’s room, which was not lit by even a single candle, Josef’s face hardened as if he had finally come to his senses.
Since he had just been called in while eavesdropping on a conversation between warlocks, there was nothing strange about what would happen in the future.
“Joseph of Bayezid. “I was thinking of meeting you someday.”
“…….”
Was it because I had been in the dark for too long?
It was a room without any light, but Josef felt like he could recognize Frausen in front of him.
“I heard you were the first to hire a guy named Vlad, right?”
His face was as stiff as a corpse.
However, whenever the name Vlad was mentioned, an expression appeared on his face.
I don’t know what kind of emotion that expression expresses, but it certainly felt a little more alive than before.
“That’s right.”
“okay. “Then tell me.”
Chiiik –
It was probably just a candle for decoration.
Because Frausen was not alive, he did not need any light.
“Slow from the beginning. “What did he look like?”
But now Frausen was striking a match and lighting a candle in a dark room.
It may have been for the guests in front, but Josef, who was in front, felt like the light he was seeing was not for him.
“If you answer with sincerity, I’ll pretend you didn’t see this.”
Frausen, seen through the candlelight, was smiling faintly.
However, Josef could not bear to laugh along with his laughter.
Because what Frausen was holding now was a small teacup that Josef had been hiding.
Joseph couldn’t help but harden his face as he looked at the dwarves’ teacups, which were completely unstained even though they had been filled with pitch-black tea.
※※※※
Two weeks have now passed since that terrible battle.
The empty seats here and there and the graves that had grown up to fill those seats were still sad, but the green fence that replaced them was a great comfort to the elves.
“Is your arm okay?”
And now, Aushurin’s green wooden fence was visible from the room where Vlad was.
Vlad, who was looking down at Xayar with the picture of the young world tree behind him, made a complicated expression when he saw the bandage wrapped around his arm.
“…Same thing about my arms, but my legs are a bit uncomfortable right now.”
White bandages were still wrapped around Xayar’s left arm, where Vlad’s sword had pierced.
It was a serious injury that could possibly prevent him from holding a sword again, but Xayar seemed to be more uncomfortable with the chains holding his ankles than with his shaky left arm.
“No.”
“You haven’t even said anything yet.”
“Don’t forget that you are now a prisoner of war.”
To Vlad, he was a close mentor, but to the elves of Ausrin, he was just an ominous man who came with evil beings.
Xayar, who was now lying on the bed with his eye patch removed, nodded as if Vlad’s words made sense.
“Well, even if I kill you right now, I have nothing to say.”
Seeing Xayar laughing heartily as he said those words, Vlad let out a short sigh as if he were dumbfounded.
Zayar’s unique relaxedness allows him to deceive others anytime, anywhere.
Vlad sat down, seeing that he wanted to learn as much as swordsmanship.
“Now tell me. “Why on earth did you do that?”
“…….”
However, the atmosphere between the two, which had relaxed for a moment, began to freeze cold again with the words just said.
Just a moment ago, Vlad had been worried about his teacher’s injury, but now Vlad’s blue eyes as he looked at Xayar were filled with determination.
“I’m telling you in advance, I’m not asking you to speak now.”
Vlad’s eyes were turning cold, as if this was the end of the consideration that can be given through simple recognition.
After seeing that, Xayar must have sensed that he couldn’t hide it anymore, so he closed his remaining eye.
“sorry.”
“The apology is okay. “Where is that black woman now?”
Squeak –
A sharp sound came from the chair Vlad had pulled close.
The sound that pierced Xayar’s ears also showed Vlad’s will not to easily back down from this position.
“As far as I know, the number of people she killed was over hundreds. “If you include the things you don’t know, it’ll be over a thousand.”
“…….”
“What’s really evil about that damn bitch is that she only seeks out and kills weak people like children. “If it was just a case of killing anyone as if it were a war, I wouldn’t have gone to this extent.”
Vlad never thought of himself as a just person.
However, I just firmly believed that there were lines that all people should follow.
The reason Vlad was able to avoid getting lost in those gutter-like back alleys was because he had a minimum of conscience that he had fiercely maintained all along.
“…So where is that bitch right now?”
And Vlad was sitting here now trying to keep the line he had drawn.
Vlad’s resolve to pay back as much as he received and to watch over as much as he was meant to be was as firm as the solid fence visible outside.
“I don’t even know where it is.”
“Zayar.”
“That bitch you’re talking about doesn’t belong ‘anywhere.’”
Xayar, who noticed Vlad’s determination, had no choice but to tell him.
Although it was a little earlier than expected, Vlad was a man fully qualified to know the truth.
“The woman named Ramasht lives in memory. “I’m not a wizard, so I don’t know the details, but at least I haven’t set foot on this land.”
The woman named Ramasht that Zayar recognized did not exist in reality.
It was just an existence that settled in an illusion that swelled up like a bubble and occasionally rose up like a nightmare.
“I can only tell you a few ways to reach that woman. “I don’t know if it still works now.”
However, her dark bubble, which those responsible should have eliminated long ago, was already overflowing to the point where it threatened reality.
“Take a picture.”
Xayar raised his healthy right arm towards Vlad, who was calmly lifting the map.
His hands were shaking as he drew pictures on the map one by one, but neither Vlad, who wanted an answer, nor Xayar, who was telling the truth, said anything.
“Why don’t you ask?”
“What?”
“About Josef.”
Xayar, who had reached the last point he knew, spoke through his dry lips, but Vlad’s answer was not heard for a long time.
“I’m going to go and ask in person.”
“……okay.”
Zayar was about to deliver the final message from Josef, but decided to stop after hearing Vlad’s words just now.
I thought there would be no need for a messenger between the two who would soon meet.
※※※※
“Peter. “This is a report.”
An office in Sturma, a city where the cold of winter has not yet gone away.
In a place where there were as many books on the shelves as there were swords on the shelf, advisor Ragmus came to Peter with several pieces of paper.
“It is said that the Gaidar family is moving north towards the Western Gateway.”
“…….”
Peter, who had been looking at the documents for a while, raised his eyebrows at Ragmus’ words.
The Gaidar family in the west returned after suffering a major blow in the giant slalom at Deremar a few years ago.
But now, as if they had repaired the damage, they were raising their heads again and trying to remove the northern shield that was blocking the canyon.
“It’s faster than expected.”
“It appears that there was support from the Golden Ball.”
To be exact, it may have been the dragon bloodsmith’s intention.
The sight of the Gaidar army moving north again in step with the central army, which started from the center, was clearly a clever move that would have been difficult to make without someone directing it from behind.
“The front line is too long to protect that far. “We have to retreat first.”
“How far will the soldiers go?”
Although it was the Olympian Gateway Fortress where the seven northern families were united, it would not have been enough to block the forces of the Golden Duke and Gaidar at the same time.
Peter, who had full authority over the area, decided to retreat to cut off the long line of battle.
“To Deremar.”
Peter, who had been looking at the map for a while, lifted the pen he was holding and began marking the point where Deermar was drawn.
Deermar, which was close to his own city of Shoara, although small, was a good location for the northern families to gather.
“……and Peter.”
“hmm?”
“here. “This is Josef’s report.”
Peter had been on edge for a while due to the sudden advance of the enemies, but his sharp expression relaxed at least when he saw the note that Lagmus had just handed him.
“…It’s been a while.”
“It contained such important information.”
Although it was neatly folded, the paper on which the report was written was badly torn, as if it had been prepared in a hurry.
Peter, remembering his son’s hand urgently pulling it, unfolded the folded note with a complicated expression.
“You did your best.”
“okay.”
In the center of the unfolded note was written my son’s familiar handwriting.
The handwriting was blurred compared to before, but it was legible because he was his blood son.
“Prepare the telegram. Ragmus. “I will inform the Steelworkers and the Orthodox Church.”
After reading the note, Peter looked closely at the map he had just been looking at and took out a pen.
“Do you mind if I don’t tell the royal court?”
“The steelsmith will let him know. “We shouldn’t have too many telegrams going out from us.”
Even in front of the telegram sent by his poor son, Peter did not show the slightest wavering.
He simply made a cool-headed decision to fulfill his role as a lord and monarch.
“Cancel the order I just gave you. “We will defeat the Northern Alliance’s soldiers all the way to Shoara.”
With the words he just uttered, Peter began to put a bold cross on the mark on Deermar.
Beyond Deermar to Shoara.
Advisor Ragmus nodded heavily as he looked at Peter, who had drawn up the defense line that was to be solidified as much as possible.
“All right. “Count.”
Peter stood up quietly, looking at the back of Ragmus who left the office with those words.
He carefully re-opened his son’s telegram he had just seen, took out a small book from the bookshelf behind him, and carefully inserted the note.
“…I’m proud of you, Josef.”
The cover of the book Peter took out had a colorful cover that only children would enjoy.
In an old children’s book that my second son loved so much when he was young, there was a picture of a knight running towards a large dragon.
