New Nest (2)
“Can I do well?”
Two people walking down a hallway filled with sunlight.
“Isn’t it too early for Lord Vlad? Watching and learning more from other knights…”
“It will be enough.”
Unlike Alicia, who had a worried expression, Josef’s face was calm.
“From the moment we first met, Sir Vlad was already the leader of the group.”
“ah.”
Alicia quietly nodded at Josef’s words.
Although he belonged to Hainal, Vlad was Bayezid’s knight after all.
Expressing one’s opinion about him in front of Josef was something I had no choice but to be careful about.
“What about when we first met?”
“He was a mercenary I had hired. “We met during the monster subjugation that started in Varna.”
Josef looked out the hallway, thinking about last winter’s day.
A 17-year-old guy who brought a 31-year-old identity card.
Even when I think about it now, I can only laugh when I think of the guy’s extremely bold behavior.
“But aren’t they all rough people? To say that you are a barbarian, a mercenary, and someone you are dealing with for the first time…”
“Alicia.”
Josef stops walking at Alicia’s worried opinion and looks back at her.
He nodded with a faint smile as if reassuring.
“Why are you worried about that guy? “I know it very well.”
“…….”
I heard it was my first war.
Nevertheless, the fact that he will become the leader of a group and perform separate missions.
Alicia was still young and wanted to stick to the other knights and be in a safe place, but Vlad had already proven too much for anyone to worry about.
“Ferocious barbarians and worn-out mercenaries… they are definitely too much for a knight who is not yet 20 years old to handle.”
Josef said those words and looked at the scenery outside the hallway.
A temporary garrison where Haynal and Bayezid’s soldiers gather.
I could see a place where a lot of people were gathered among the tents erected there.
“Don’t worry too much though.”
A loud noise can be heard all the way to the mansion.
With that sound, men of different affiliations and origins began to mix together.
“In terms of roughness, he is not an easy opponent at all.”
“yes?”
Josef stepped away from the window as if to take a look, saying something that seemed incomprehensible.
“See for yourself.”
Following Josef’s guidance, Alicia naturally began to take in the sight beyond the window.
“huh?”
A temporary garrison where soldiers gather.
I don’t know why, but a large circle was formed among the very excited soldiers.
And two men standing inside.
“…….”
Alicia blocked the sunlight with her palm and tried to understand the distant scene.
Blonde hair shining in the sunlight.
There were fireflies flying around.
Even though it was midday and not night.
※※※※
A refreshing blow!
cheer up! Knight of Deermar!
Show those barbarians who we are!
“Huh…”
It felt like my heart was pounding from the constant shouting coming from all directions.
Nevertheless, Vlad slowly takes a deep breath and regains his composure.
In front of him was Agee, shirtless and making a grim expression.
The tattoos engraved on the bulging muscles looked brutal.
“Come in!”
Age begins to taunt Vlad with a barbarian-style hand gesture.
The shouts of the soldiers surrounding the circle grew louder at the sight.
“These things are really noisy.”
Vlad spat harshly, as if he was not happy with the current situation.
Standing as pure Vlad now, without his rank insignia, he slowly began to recall his old memories from Shoara.
The madness of the past fills me with every breath I take.
The roughness of the back alleys began to appear in the knight’s blue eyes.
“……hmm.”
Age corrected his posture without realizing it as he saw Vlad approaching.
A guard with a strange posture.
The close combat skills he learned directly from Ramund were clearly covering up Vlad’s weaknesses.
‘What kind of guy’s eyes are that?’
Vlad approaches with both the skills of a knight and the power of a back alley.
Looking at him, Age swallowed his saliva without realizing it.
‘come!’
The technique of a single strike is a technique that controls the gap.
Even though he didn’t lift the sword, Vlad’s own space was already engraved on his body.
‘left!’
The fist that extends nimbly is sharp.
However, Age is a warrior who already has sufficient experience in box fighting.
He quickly raised his right arm to cover his chin and was looking for an opportunity to counterattack immediately.
“Tsk!”
I suddenly started feeling pain starting from my right ankle.
With that, Age’s balance began to slowly collapse.
“So you should have kept your eyes open.”
“…!”
The left was a trick.
No, maybe it wasn’t a trick, it was just fast.
Vlad, who changed his striking point based on Age’s reaction, succeeded in hitting Age’s right ankle with a low kick.
‘this!’
Age was able to think about it again while looking at the grinning Vlad.
Who was the person in front of me?
The dragon slayer who drove Lindwurm, caught up with him, and eventually killed him.
Vlad was a hunter who caught the largest man he had ever seen.
“Don’t bark at me again.”
The momentum that started from the blue eyes formed a single line and began to rush towards Age.
“Keuuk!”
Age rushed to hug Vlad in an attempt to overturn his momentum, but his eyes began to turn white from the continuous blows that started immediately.
Vlad’s attack is persistent, as if he will never end it in one blow.
pop! Pop-pop-!
Agye was unable to catch her breath as the harsh fists continued to pound her sides and abdomen.
Each outstretched fist was a heavy blow, as if a log was rushing at me.
‘……!’
On the surface, it seemed like it was simply acting based on instinct, but I could feel the age I was dealing with.
In order to overcome differences in physique, they must be broken down from the bottom up.
Vlad, who had been fighting opponents bigger than himself since he was young, was well aware of this fact, and was now mercilessly unraveling the experience he had accumulated against Age.
“Keuuk!”
Rougher than a barbarian.
Wetter than a worn-out mercenary.
The beast that jumped out of the back alley was rushing towards Age, wearing the skills of a knight.
“……I lost.”
Vlad finally pushed over the large northern tree.
Age, who felt the cold dirt on his back, looked at the hunter who was riding and pressing on him under the blue sky.
With his back turned to the sun, Vlad’s face was pitch black.
“Be respectful.”
“…I lost.”
Vlad, who got away from Agee, shrugged his shoulders and looked at the barbarians in front of him.
“If there is still a trickster, I will attack him. Instead, this time, I will deal with him with my sword rather than my fists.”
The barbarians simply fell silent at Vlad’s murderous gaze.
The barbarians who came along according to the contract but said they would not bow to the people of the empire.
However, no matter how much they did, they had no choice in the face of rules that apply in any world.
Vlad succeeded in making them understand through force.
“for a moment!”
“…What else?”
Age, who had been lying down just a moment ago, shouted a few words and stood up, loudly calling out to Vlad.
“You are the leader… no, the captain is the one doing it!”
“to do?”
Agee’s eyes began to search for the scarlet hidden in the crowd.
Age, a warrior of the Buddhaat tribe.
He hasn’t completely backed down yet.
“Not even a lieutenant!”
“……under.”
Since I lost, I will follow what you say, but that doesn’t mean I can just give up my position as second-in-command.
Age had no intention of bowing down, at least not to Stefan.
“Oh, I’m going crazy.”
“You two can take care of that.”
Stefan, who noticed that Age was targeting him, tangled his bangs as if he was in pain.
In the end, Stefan came forward as if pushed by his subordinates.
Seeing him like that, the soldiers’ shouts began to get louder again.
“If you step down from the position of deputy, your salary will also be reduced.”
“…That guy lost a lot of his strength, right?”
Seeing Agge spitting out bloody spit, Stefan also slowly began to clear his throat.
The fight against barbarians and mercenaries begins again.
The soldiers’ shouts, excited by yet another sight, began to echo loudly.
“Get out of the way.”
Vlad came out of the circle, shaking off the men approaching from everywhere.
“…….”
“…….”
Vlad went outside to the quiet outside and made eye contact with the noble lady who was frozen in shock on the railing of the hallway in the distance.
Vlad bowed his head to her with an awkward smile, but Alicia was just looking at Vlad with blank eyes, probably shocked by the confrontation just now.
“How is it? Do you think you will do well in the future?”
“……yes.”
Alicia found it difficult to keep her mouth shut as she watched Vlad subdue the barbarians in an instant.
Vlad, a young knight who always showed himself to be honorable.
However, what he saw today was rough, like a starving animal.
“You’re doing well. “I think I will do well in the future.”
And Alicia didn’t feel that Vlad’s unusual appearance was all that bad.
Vlad leaves for the hills with a greeting.
Alicia’s eyes were fluttering slightly as she discovered the new Vlad behind him.
※※※※
The West must expand endlessly.
Although they control a vast land, the land they own is nothing but a barren field where not even a single blade of grass grows.
That is why the West has always lived by stealing and plundering what each other had.
Until the fallen dragon turned their heads outside.
“Baron! “Baron!”
City Nassau.
A port city ruled by Baron Iznik.
Although Baron Iznik was in charge of one axis of western maritime trade, the report he heard now was enough to make him doubt his ears.
“…Everything was robbed?”
“That…”
“Everything?”
“……That’s right.”
As the leader’s report grew smaller, the baron’s handsomely erected mustache began to tremble.
“What kind of bullshit is this!”
Baron Iznik hit the desk with a loud bang.
As if he couldn’t hold back his anger, he spoke without hesitation.
“Who on earth crawled in here and plundered it?”
Bandits?
Or was it committed by nearby lords?
It may have been a while when Ravnoma and Gaidar were fighting, but order had already been established in this area, so the news that supplies had been looted was an incredible report for the Baron.
“who is this! “I don’t even know who robbed me!”
Looking at his eyes bloodshot with anger, the knight commander simply bowed his head.
“That’s… they say it’s Hainal’s troops.”
“what?”
“The knight of Hainal… Lady Alicia…”
The baron raised his eyes in disbelief at the knight commander’s report.
“Hainal? Dermar? “No, how far is this place from there?”
That’s because the distance between Deremar and Nassau would have taken more than a week even if you rode horseback without stopping.
No one could have easily imagined that the soldiers of Hainal, who should have been crouching down in preparation for the imminent battle, would come all the way here.
“How on earth did they crawl in here?”
From far away without anyone knowing.
And the looters who disappeared like the wind, leaving no trace.
However, the situation had already occurred, and all the supplies the Baron had sent were burned.
The only clue they left behind was Lady Alicia’s name.
“Find them right now! Find them and bring them to me!”
The West, where being taken away is tantamount to death.
However, a vicious group that preys on even marauders has now sneaked into the night skies of the West.
Knights of the back alleys, barbarians of the North, and worn-out mercenaries.
It was a young, evil strike force put together by a man with dark eyes.
War with the West and the North.
The earliest beacon of the North against the approaching malevolence of the West belonged to Lady Alicia’s knight Vlad.
