Little things that brought the stars
The sound of drums resounding with a heavy sound late at night.
The hem of the girl’s white skirt spreads wide as she spins to the sound.
The light coming from the girl’s skirt is clearer than the torches erected here and there.
“Remember.”
As old Geronimo said, Vlad quietly closed his eyes.
The sound of the girl dancing around him was getting closer and closer.
“Can you think of what you want?”
Elders chanting spells.
Warriors guarding with weapons in hand.
And the light droplets coming down from the young World Tree.
Vlad felt the spirits forming on his shoulders and fell deep within himself.
What do I want and what do I want to take?
The answer to that can only be found within yourself.
As Vlad meditated, the blue metal wrapped in fluttering silk gradually rose into the air and began to shine.
Vlad slowly lifted his eyelids, accompanied by the light and sparkle.
“…….”
Then, a scene appears.
An unadorned sword was visible floating brightly above the nostalgic image of the blacksmith shop.
A sound is heard.
The sound of an old blacksmith slashing his sword.
※※※※
“So you need to stay here a little longer?”
“They said it would take a week. “They say swords are made through rituals, but I don’t know what this means.”
Auguste, who had packed his clothes, shrugged his shoulders while listening to Vlad’s words.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I have to take what I get.”
Auguste must leave to complete the mission, and Vlad must stay because he has something to receive.
Since we came here with different purposes, it was perhaps natural that we would leave at different times.
“Anyway, I’m curious too. “Who is your teacher?”
A young knight who doesn’t know his birth roots, but wants to find the roots of the sword he holds.
Auguste, who fully understood Vlad’s feelings, decided to give him appropriate advice before leaving.
“I don’t know about the imperial sword, but you can check the list of dragon slayers by going to Brigantes, the capital. “The Dragullia family keeps thorough records of everything related to dragons.”
Dragons who swore to kill dragons.
The Dragulia family, which was sensitive to everything related to dragons, recorded the names of all dragon slayers who had ever killed dragons.
Vlad’s name is probably written at the bottom as well.
“There is a high possibility that your teacher is on that list.”
A man who killed a dragon while using the imperial sword.
To date, only one person has officially been named on those two lists.
A knight who faced the sharpest dragon with the noblest sword.
Founding King Frausen.
Teeing-
“……?”
In the moment of silence that fell between the two, Auguste flicked a piece of metal between his fingers.
An old, rusty, insignificant coin.
“My name is Auguste.”
A coin that only the lowest can hand over.
Vlad accepted the ducat that Ramund had given him and looked at Auguste blankly.
“If anyone sees your sword later and says something, you can mention my name.”
A young knight who wields the imperial sword.
Even though his personality was blossoming, Auguste even added his own color to him because he was still very immature.
I don’t know who he is, but if he is able to find out Vlad’s origins, he will be able to detect his weaknesses, which is his skill.
“But if possible, don’t get caught.”
Although it was a name that did not carry much prestige, if it was worthy of being the name of a former military police chief, it would prevent it from reaching the worst situation.
“thank you. Mr. Auguste.”
“I feel strange hearing my name from you.”
Auguste smiled slightly as he looked at Vlad who was bowing to him.
It was a short but powerful meeting.
Although I had put everything aside and was just loyal to the empire, I still felt like I had left behind only a faint trace in the end, making me feel relieved.
“Please come visit me later when you come to Brigantes.”
With those words, Auguste turned his head without hesitation.
An old knight leaving towards the rising morning sun.
When he came in, he came with heavy doubts, but when he left, his shoulders seemed lighter and cheerful.
“……”
Vlad looked behind him and quietly looked at the old coin in his palm.
Now there are two ducats.
Holding a coin that was heavier than it looked, Vlad put the price of honor into his chest.
※※※※
“Has grandfather gone?”
“yes.”
Now a guest room where Vlad and Gotman stay.
However, Goth, who was supposed to be here, was always kicked out somewhere, and the only person who encountered Vlad was an unknown girl.
“thank god.”
“why?”
“…I don’t want to talk.”
The girl’s occasional words are incoherent.
There is no subject, no object, and I don’t even know who it is referring to.
However, since she was a girl who only said what she saw, she would not know the details.
“But is there really a white snake in a place called Deremar?”
“…It’s so big.”
Vlad, who read the girl’s intention to change the subject, grabbed the dog’s neck as it climbed onto his shoulder and answered.
“It’s enough to swallow all the kids here in one bite.”
The puppy, whose eyes were shining and panting as if asking to play, had a tail made of fire.
“I want to see it sometime. “If I had to be specific, I’d say these spirits are at the level of their uncles.”
“Is there a genealogy among spirits?”
“I don’t know about that. I just want to call him uncle.”
A white snake that was clearly born from the mother world tree.
The young world tree priestess seemed very interested in the traces of her mother, the world tree, whom she had never seen since birth.
It would be worth it.
Because now she was in a position where she had to prepare for the ceremony while reflecting on the traces she had forgotten.
“I just need a sturdy long sword. “It looks like there’s a blacksmith shop here.”
“no. “I will do it.”
The priestess, who was looking down at an old book, looked at Vlad with sullen eyes and said.
“I said I would do it, but why are you doing that? “Everyone says they want to do it.”
As soon as the girl finished speaking, the young spirits opened their mouths and started shouting something.
It’s probably whining.
Although he couldn’t hear it, Vlad closed his eyes as the atmosphere suddenly became chaotic.
“You have to try it at least once anyway. “If I don’t do it, everything will be forgotten.”
“……All right.”
If it is not connected, it will be forgotten.
The numerous rituals that had to be passed down from senior to junior, now only remained in a few old books, and the person who would kindly teach the girl no longer existed, cut off by the passage of time.
“wait. “We’ll make you something pretty.”
Vlad wasn’t the only one who had to find his own way.
Here too, there was a girl who had to find her own way and build something.
“Take your time.”
Sometimes there are burdens that cannot be shared.
Vlad, who did not dare to extend his hand to the girl who was carrying such a burden that she had to bear alone, decided to just stay by her side.
“Because I’ll be waiting.”
With those words, Vlad held up an oiled cloth and cleaned Jorge’s dagger.
Looking at Vlad like that, the girl lifted up the book she was holding.
The face was covered, but the pricking ears and golden eyes were directed at Vlad.
※※※※
On the night of a pure white full moon, all the Aussurin elves began to flock to the front of the World Tree.
“This is burdensome, boss.”
“I just think of it as a festival or something.”
Vlad and Goth were a little embarrassed by the situation where all the elves of the village had gathered and surrounded them.
The two still didn’t understand why they had to stand here instead of at the blacksmith shop to make the sword.
“The sun is strict, but the moon is kind. “She would close her eyes for just a moment.”
The staff he was holding trembled, but his voice was clear.
Geronimo, who had now recovered enough to move, slowly walked over and opened his mouth to Vlad.
“So, think about it. “The shape of the sword you want.”
“Is it okay to just think of it?”
Vlad listened to Geronimo’s words and looked at the girl kneeling in front of him.
A girl wearing pure white cloth.
A small crown made of flowers and grass was placed on top of the girl’s head.
“The more clearly and intensely you can recall it, the better.”
“All right.”
It looks new and different every time I see it.
Vlad, who felt that the girl whose name he still did not know was full of inexplicable mystery, nodded toward Geronimo.
“Close your eyes and get ready.”
Vlad quietly closed his eyes as he said those words.
The surrounding air suddenly becomes quiet.
Vlad swallowed his saliva without realizing it in an atmosphere of tension rather than fear.
“Let’s get started. Lady.”
There was no grand beginning.
There was only the faint sound of drums.
The girl stood up at the sound, quietly placed her hand on her chest, and looked at the young world tree.
“…….”
The girl, who began dancing along with the unintelligible language of the elves, approached Vlad and began to spread the cloth she was holding.
It looked like a butterfly flapping its wings.
The drum sound gets louder.
The girl’s sonorous voice spreads widely through the sound.
The surrounding area is full of young spirits’ repair boxes.
Knock-knock-
and the sound of a hammer could be faintly heard beyond those sounds.
Vlad focused on the sound and fell into a deeper world.
“…….”
Pitch black darkness.
Vlad walked into the dark mud, following the lead of the fluttering butterfly.
The squishy feel of the floor felt familiar.
The sticky, sticky mud was something that was difficult for the young boy to escape from, but for Vlad now, it was only a momentary discomfort.
Cough! Kang!
A nostalgic sound was heard from far away.
Before I knew it, a white butterfly had flown away and was sitting quietly between the cracks in the door of the old blacksmith shop.
“…….”
Vlad raised his head and looked at the blacksmith shop where the butterfly was sitting.
A star hanging at the highest point of the forge.
The unadorned sword, now a light rather than a sword, was quietly reflecting itself.
“long time no see.”
With Nabi’s guidance, Vlad crossed the deeply carved footprints in front of the blacksmith shop and opened the door.
The sweltering heat felt there.
And the constant sound of hammers.
“I’m here.”
“okay. “Are you here?”
Vlad quietly closed his eyes as he listened to the clear voice.
Because the old blacksmith was smiling at him in a mirage that seemed to disappear if he met him directly.
“I want to make a sword.”
“knife?”
The old man had said that he would no longer make swords.
It was said that a proper sword could not be made with an old body and a poor furnace.
“Okay, welcome. “Good ingredients just arrived.”
But now he was saying he would do it.
Because his old body and old tools could no longer be an obstacle to him.
“This is a meteorite, but it is a metal that fell from a star, so it has no impurities and is very hard.”
A voice full of power, not a phlegmatic voice.
Hearing that voice, Vlad smiled.
“I wish it was black without decoration. “I guess I got used to him because it was my first time hearing him.”
“Actually, I can only make that much.”
The old blacksmith who accepted the request raised his hammer and struck it with force.
Kyaang-!
The dog’s tiny tail is noisy as it starts a fire in the brazier.
A little bird playing on a hammer.
A young pufferfish cooling down a bucket of water.
A baby lizard that constantly pours sand on its sword.
The unadorned black girl paid with her hair, but the black young spirits being created were paying instead.
“It’s done.”
“…Already?”
I wanted to stay here longer because I felt the heat for the first time in a long time, but my time here was not infinite.
The white butterfly sitting by the door was getting tired little by little.
“It was good to see you after a long time. Now go.”
Vlad quietly opened his eyes as he suddenly felt the heavy touch of a sword being lifted.
Blue light visible through white cloth fluttering like wings.
A sword with no decorations but shining blue was waiting for Vlad there.
