Following the footsteps (3)
Sweaty forehead and pure white lips.
A girl was writhing in pain on a bed in the moonlight.
“…Ugh.”
The smell of the night fog coming from all directions is terrible.
An inexplicable thick feeling between her fingers was giving the girl an ominous feeling.
“Follow me. Quickly…”
This is not an ordinary fog.
The world tree priestess, who noticed this, grabbed Vlad’s waist and urged him to go quickly, but her words probably did not reach Vlad.
Because this was a dream, not reality.
A dream that only the goddess of the World Tree can realize.
-Tweet. tweet.
A young canary was chirping in front of Vlad, who was struggling to walk through the darkness.
As if to guide Vlad, the canary was like a torch, lighting the way forward even in the darkness.
“Quickly. hurry.”
The priestess knew instinctively.
That only that child could bring Vlad out of the darkness.
However, although the approaching darkness was thick and deep, the chirping of the young canary against it was very weak.
Hook –
A young bird that suddenly disappeared as if someone’s breath touched it.
The priestess who was moving forward relying on that light was taken aback.
“…!”
In an instant, fog began to slowly gather around Vlad and the priestess.
In that space filled with only darkness, the world tree priestess hurriedly hugged Vlad’s waist and glared fiercely at the place where the canary had disappeared.
-…….
Someone was there.
With bright red smiling lips as if laughing.
A small feather that had now lost its light was floating around her.
“I will never give it to you.”
The light that guided Vlad had not gone out.
It had been eaten.
Even now, she was smiling in the dark, but her feet were not on the ground.
※※※※
Alicia’s office filled with afternoon sunlight.
Looking at the hills of Hainal outside the window, Vlad quietly picked up the teacup in front of him.
The white snake on the hill seen from afar was curled up and quietly raising its head as if it was going to sunbathe today.
“Sir Duncan said that there are only a few knights who have a special contract like yours.”
Alicia’s water-colored eyes were round as she looked at Vlad.
Her eyes sparkle beautifully, but seem to be hungry for something.
Vlad, facing Alicia’s eyes, quietly put down the teacup he was holding.
“…I probably would have agreed even if it had been longer than 7 years.”
Vlad decided not to reveal that Alicia knew about his contract with Josef.
That’s probably what Josef told me.
If so, Josef would also be predicting the current situation.
“It was a short contract, but it was too much for me. “I still feel grateful.”
Although she didn’t say it out loud, Alicia was hoping to recruit Vlad.
A blatant atmosphere that even Vlad, who is not used to conversations with nobles, could not help but notice.
However, since Alicia had expressed interest in him many times, Vlad also had an answer in mind regarding the current situation.
“If possible, I would like to remain faithful to my contract with Josef. “Just like now, in the future.”
“ah.”
I felt sorry for her sad expression, but I still decided to answer honestly.
Because I didn’t want to give her unnecessary trouble with an uncertain answer.
Vlad, who was also Alicia’s knight, had some attachment to her and wanted to pass on this offer favorably if possible.
“……is that so.”
Although he shouldn’t think like this, Vlad thought that the sad look of her trying to smile went well with the color of her water-colored hair.
“I guess that’s why Josef said it was okay to ask.”
I gave you this opportunity because I was sure that you would not be shaken.
Alicia, who had finally figured out Josef’s intentions, raised her teacup, feeling the anger calmly boiling inside her.
“It would have been better if you had met me first, Joseph.”
“If that were the case, I would have definitely signed a contract with Alicia.”
“…….”
Vlad’s smile as he said that was somewhat humorous.
If you assume what if, what can you say that you can’t say?
But what Alicia needed now was Vlad right in front of her, and he had just rejected her offer.
After all, it would be Shoah rather than Demarr.
Even though Alicia had already expected it, she couldn’t resist it.
“Besides, I also have a friend named Gemina in Shoara.”
“……yes?”
Vlad was taken aback by the sudden sound of Jemina’s name, but Alicia’s smile did not waver one bit.
“We still have four years left and no one knows what will happen in the future. Yes?”
“That’s right.”
Alicia returned to her original form as if she hadn’t even said what she just said.
Vlad could only quietly observe her attitude, which seemed different from before.
“I will give you a manor.”
“……yes?”
There are no more forget-me-not flowers here, just sniffling.
Now Alicia’s eyes are just filled with a desire that she can’t hide.
“The manor. “It is hereditary land that will be passed down to your children.”
Manor (莊園). The greatest reward any knight can receive from his lord.
Vlad, who heard those words, just looked at Alicia in front of him, unable to hide his embarrassment.
“Fortunately, we were able to expand our territory through this war. Of course, there was Bayezid’s consideration.”
Until now, the Barony of Hainal had only one city and two villages, but through this war, it was able to have two more villages.
Among them, the fishing village where Vlad arrived with a school of squid was now in a position where it could become a city, so her words that she would give the manor to Vlad were not false.
“This is probably a condition that even Joseph cannot impose.”
If you need something, you have to take it from me.
Whether from a man with dark eyes or a woman with red hair.
Alicia knew very well that Vlad was a perfect fit not only for these two, but also for herself.
※※※※
‘……Manor Manor.’
Vlad tried to calm his troubled mind as he walked the now familiar hallways of the mansion.
‘Is the manor really that good?’
The word ‘manor’ that I don’t even know the value of because I’ve never dreamed of it.
But clearly Godin had said it.
For a knight, the existence of a manor is like a gateway to the world of nobility.
Even though Godin gave a false name, his smile at that time when he wanted to receive fair compensation through the manor was genuine.
‘I’m not saying you have to decide right now. ‘I’m asking you to remember me when the time comes.’
The monarch of Hainal, who had said he would give him a manor, made the offer to Vlad in a confident voice that was completely different from before.
‘Not only me, but all the residents of Deermar care for and like Sir Vlad. Although it may not be as good as Shoara, where you were born, this place can become another home for you.’
Even if you are not the first person to notice, you can be the person who cares the most.
After hearing Alicia’s sudden suggestion, Vlad just frowned as he walked down the hallway.
“…I don’t know.”
There were a lot of things I didn’t know, but one thing was certain: I couldn’t share this worry with Josef or the other knights of Bayezid.
Alicia passed her worries on to Vlad with a meaningful smile, and it was probably the best revenge she could give Vlad.
This is the kind of revenge given to an unpleasant knight who dared to reject him.
“It would be great if it popped out at a time like this.”
As Vlad walked down the hallway, following steps as dizzy as his complicated thoughts, he suddenly remembered the presence of a voice.
A voice that only you know and can freely reveal.
Although his identity was unknown, he was a person with a great deal of common sense, so he must have been of great help in times like this.
“huh?”
Suddenly, Vlad, who was walking down the hallway, stopped and perked up his ears when he heard a familiar sound ringing in his ears.
“wooden sword?”
It was the sound of someone holding something that looked like a wooden sword and striking it in the air.
However, the sound of the wind that continued to be subtly different made it possible to guess the level of the person holding the wooden sword.
‘what is this.’
Vlad stopped still in the hallway at the sound of hitting hard but not finding a path.
The sound of working hard but not showing any improvement was mixed with a sadness that only those who have experienced it can recognize.
“…….”
Without knowing why, Vlad followed the sound that was pulling him and walked into a hallway he had never been to before.
The hallways of Deremar are as narrow and winding as they are old.
Perhaps due to poor finances and fewer users, the hallways that had not been touched for a long time were filled with dust that was slowly being stepped on.
What followed that narrow, dark hallway was a very small garden that Vlad had never known about.
To be precise, it is a shabby vacant lot that is not properly maintained.
And there, Vlad was able to find someone slashing a wooden sword with all his might.
“Huh huh…….”
Charles Ravnoma.
A girl with green hair who is now the last Ravnoma.
In this place where no one was looking, Charles was holding a club that did not look like a wooden sword and was swinging it hard into the air.
“…It’s a mess.”
Meaningless movements where you don’t know whether to hit down or up.
Vlad, who saw that Charles had no clear path, unknowingly hid himself next to the hallway.
“Is there no one teaching you?”
It probably ended up like that because there was no one to teach it.
Ravnoma’s clumsy title must have upset the girl, and the sharp atmosphere caused by the war must have intimidated her.
In the end, Charles would not have been able to ask anyone for help in this unfamiliar city.
“…….”
Vlad, who had guessed Charles’ situation, quietly listened to the sound of the wooden sword being scratched against his cheek.
A wooden sword that strikes without stopping even though it cannot reach out to anyone.
Vlad, who was quietly leaning against the wall in the hallway, quietly closed his eyes while listening to the sound.
“hmm.”
The more you listen, the more familiar the sound becomes.
The sound Charles was making now was the same sound made by the boy who was slashing a wooden sword alone in an empty space in a back alley.
It felt as if he was encountering his younger, more shy self, so Vlad left the hallway and entered a small garden.
“……hey.”
“yes?”
There was embarrassment in the wide, round eyes that Vlad suddenly appeared.
However, it was certainly not Vlad’s illusion that the slightest bit of welcome was visible.
“that……. “That’s not how you do it.”
As he faced Charles’ eyes full of anticipation, Vlad’s voice even trembled out of embarrassment, wondering if he had come forward for no reason.
Even though I was used to learning, I wasn’t used to being taught.
The boy in the back alley was not yet accustomed to giving his things to others.
“Don’t just slam down, try narrowing your elbow angle a little.”
Even so, there is something I received.
Now I know.
If it weren’t for the voice, I would have been tied up in a vacant lot in a back alley for the rest of my life.
“yes?”
“I told you to draw the line like this.”
At the end of my steps following the familiar sound, there was a scene that looked exactly like the old one.
However, if there is a difference from then, the standing position is different.
“Like this?”
“…You have to learn how to grip again.”
Vlad’s hand was careful as he opened the girl’s tightly folded hand.
A small garden in a mansion that no one visits.
-I think the boy needs to narrow down his elbow angle a little more.
The sound heard there probably started from some empty space in a dark back alley.
