You will reap what you sow (1)
The sound of creaking wooden boards can be heard through the thick cigarette smoke.
It seemed like the sound was made by ferry boats swaying back and forth along the river’s waves.
Inside a building on Shoara’s dockside that was tangled together as if it had been sewn together with thread.
The two people were facing each other, but they didn’t say anything for a long time, and the only sounds that could be heard were the sound of cigarettes being lit and the gulping of a bottle of alcohol being passed down one’s throat.
“I feel like time goes by so quickly with you in front of me like this.”
The old man opened his mouth only after finishing one bottle of alcohol and smiled as he flicked his finished cigarette into the ashtray.
The yellowing teeth and ugly teeth looked threatening, but Vlad, who was sitting in front of him, did not even flinch.
“Actually, you don’t need to know, but I originally wanted to bring you too. “Even though Jorge took it away.”
“……”
The old man’s eyes looked faint as he thought about the past.
Although he had been waiting for a while and what was being said now was not the main topic, Vlad still decided to wait.
As someone who was born and raised in the back alleys, I wanted to show some courtesy to my boss, Captain Hoover.
“I heard Marcela is retiring too?”
“It won’t be a perfect retirement. “I’m not as old as the boss.”
“haha! yes. “If you’re Marcela’s age, you’re still in your prime.”
If he were an ordinary boy from a back alley, he would have had his head cut off by a sharp hook with the words I just said.
However, the person paying attention now was Huber, the boss, and even though Vlad was a guest, he was dominating his space.
“I am grateful to the boss. “For taking care of the crippled Haven.”
“That’s because he was smart.”
“Even though you stuck it in a corner.”
“…….”
Listening to Vlad’s words, unable to guess his true intentions, Hoover opened the bottle again with the hook in his left hand.
Truly the best talent born in the back alleys of Shoara.
Vlad had already become too heavy and hard to float on his own.
“It’s not an excuse, but I had no other place to use it other than that.”
“I know. I understand.”
There used to be five bosses in the back alley.
And the knight sitting in front lost one boss and killed two bosses.
Vlad of Shoara was a knight who could not be prevented by even shiny gold coins or God-given indulgences, and Huber decided not to forget that fact.
“I want to retire. “Relax and be safe.”
And that’s why I decided to retire.
Before being eaten or dying by his hands.
“Why are you saying that to me?”
“Because if it’s not you, there’s no one else who can do it.”
The history of the back alleys is as complex and constantly moving as the people who live there.
However, if you look at it from afar, it appears that it is operating according to one law, which is the law of the fittest of the fittest.
“I know that the young mayor of Shoara is targeting me. “Because he wants to control everything in this city.”
There are things you can see because you are old.
The old captain had been sailing the seas for a long time, and he knew well that in a raging storm he had to keep his sails down and hold his breath.
“Please tell me. “This old man wants to retire.”
“…You will have to let go of a lot. “You will have to compensate Joseph for what he has prepared.”
It was an offer that did not particularly appeal to him, but Vlad thought of the face of the person who introduced him here and decided to show as much sincerity as possible.
In any case, I was able to endure the difficult times thanks to this person, so it was a way of giving back.
“……of course. “I will prepare so that you won’t be disappointed.”
After hearing Vlad’s answer, Huber did not show it, but his heart sank greatly.
As expected, they were targeting me.
If he had been a little late, he would have been hung on the gallows.
“Please. “I won’t let you regret it.”
“I will tell you something.”
There was no definite answer, but that would be enough.
The man standing up now was a confidant of Joseph of noble blood and a symbol of Shoara.
“wait for a sec.”
“……?”
Vlad, who was holding the doorknob to go out, suddenly grabbed a bottle of liquor that flew by.
It was a brown liquor with an unpleasant glow.
“What is this?”
“It’s my masterpiece.”
Captain Hoover, who had just taken out a cigarette, looked at Vlad with one eye narrowed.
“It’s a drink with a name. My name is Captain Q. “Actually, I was thinking of starting a brewery as a pastime after retirement.”
After hearing Hoover’s words, Vlad was only then able to remember where he had seen the alcohol he was holding.
It was the drink that I almost died from drinking when there was nothing to drink.
“…Don’t even dream of becoming a brewery.”
Vlad still couldn’t remember what happened that night.
※※※※
“What happened?”
“Take this.”
Vlad, who left the dock after being seen off by his gang members, saw Haven waiting for him there and quickly threw a bottle of alcohol at him.
With a tired expression, as if he had been holding a bottle of poison all this time.
“what’s this?”
“What is it? “That damn drink.”
“Is the old man still making this?”
Haven also accepted the bottle, unable to hide his surprised expression.
He was somewhat restless and seemed to want to throw away the bottle right now.
“Hire Hoover. “Leave out what you need to leave out.”
“huh? what?”
“You’ll have to do that to save that person.”
Vlad was speaking indifferently and Haven was answering as if he did not know, but the two understood each other.
It may not have been as bad as Vlad and Jorge, but Haven and Huber were on the same fence, and men in the back alleys were sensitive to such things.
Just as Haven introduced Vlad to Hoover.
“He said he was a person who had been to the sea when he was young and told him to learn everything from navigation to smuggling routes. Bayezid is already very interested in the sea these days.”
“Shall I tell you in an easy way? “That is the foundation of his business.”
“If you don’t want to die, I’ll let you know.”
Whether it was to save him and spit him out or kill him and take him away, everything about Hoover was up to Josef to decide anyway.
However, even if you are a boss in a back alley, if you show that there is something useful in saving your life, you will not necessarily take your life.
“…And for the time being, don’t do anything that will get you caught.”
“okay.”
Haven felt the sudden change in Vlad’s mood and nodded, erasing his smile.
“It’s time to be swept away. “Now is the time.”
“okay. “Take care of your kids well.”
Just as the old captain saw the approaching storm from afar, Haven also could feel the significance in Vlad’s words as they passed by.
When the market of Shoara changed, there were changes of their own, so it was obvious that even more changes would begin now that the Northern Union and the Orthodox Church had appeared.
“Haven.”
“huh?”
In front of the fork in the alley.
We must part ways as Vlad heads to City Hall and Haven heads to the Rose Smile.
“This is an opportunity. “It’s here now.”
“…….”
Although Vlad didn’t say much, Haven could tell what he was trying to say.
As is the case with everyone, the opportunity was like a dream for the kids from the back alley, and they worked tirelessly to seize it.
And now in front of the two was Shoara, who was about to change.
“Let’s try our best.”
“okay.”
You go to the main road, I go to the back alley.
Although their paths were different, their goals were the same.
Perhaps it was a story from back in the day when we were wrapped around each other with just a mat, and we said we would tell it someday.
※※※※
Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
willlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly
a stable set up inside the city hall of Shoara.
It was a place full of the cries of horses, but the place where the black horse and the green-haired girl were was extremely quiet.
“You’re avoiding everyone too.”
Purr-
Noir made a sound as if he was responding to Charles’ words, but the reality was completely different.
Noir, with his damn personality, was just warning the surrounding horses not to come near him.
“Okay, okay. “I know that feeling too.”
However, young Charles did not yet know Noir’s temperament, and he felt sympathy for the black horse as he watched it alone with no one around.
Although Noir was famous for rejecting his servants, he was particularly generous to Charles, and his behavior was similar to the behavior he showed to Jemina.
Even though it may not be your favorite red, is it because Charles’ hair color reminds him of the grasslands of his hometown?
“It’s all because of that one eye.”
Charles, who was hugging Chat Noir’s neck, began to narrow as he remembered someone.
A knight whose personality is as bad as his appearance.
He was also the one who hit Vlad on the head and ground his ankles as soon as he saw him teaching him.
“If it weren’t for him, I would have been learning something by now.”
I don’t know if it was because he couldn’t learn swordsmanship or because he couldn’t be with Vlad, but Charles’ anger was directed solely at Xayar.
An article that scolded Aesong for teaching Aesong.
If it weren’t for him, I might have been swinging a wooden sword with Vlad by now.
“You’re really unlucky.”
Since I was a stranger in an unfamiliar place, I couldn’t say anything, but if this was Ravnoma’s mansion, I would have fired a big shot.
Charles was so angry and feeling unfair.
“Hey hey hey! men and horses!”
“huh?”
Then Charles heard someone shouting.
It was so sudden, and it was also a sound that could not help but be taken aback.
“me?”
“Yes you! “You little guy over there!”
Charles pointed his finger at himself just in case, but the man’s expression only got worse when he saw that.
“You bastard. How precious are those words. “Don’t come out right now!”
“huh? Eh?”
Of course, back when they were disguised as slaves, they could endure the same treatment as they do now, but this was Shoara and Charles was Ravnoma, a noble nobleman.
Since he was a guest, Charles had no reason to be treated like this.
“What kind of bastard are you? Eh? Damn this! Come out, man!”
However, the man who was scolding me now also had a good reason for doing so.
“Someone with no blood on his head is trying to take someone else’s place.”
“…Is this your seat?”
“Hey. Look at this kid talking informally to an adult. “The yellow buds are just the same as everyone else’s.”
Anyone would have no choice but to act like that if their barely occupied position was threatened.
It has always been his job to take care of Vlad’s horse, Noir.
“Heng. Still, he’s like a man and he’s even wearing a wooden sword. “Are you even a squire?”
“Yes, I am a squire! “If you learn how to use a sword from a knight, that’s all you need!”
However, Charles, who was already very venomous, began to lash out at the long-chinned man who was scolding him regardless of the context.
As the man had just said, Charles Ravnoma was a true yellow slayer who had already killed people.
“I am the squire of Knight Vlad! “I learn sword skills from that person every day!”
“what?”
Of course, he was not a squire and had never properly learned how to use a sword, but Charles, overcome by evil, began to pick up any horse and serve him.
However, the man’s face began to turn white, as if those words were enough of a blow.
“Why are you Vlad’s squire!”
A man with shabby clothes, who must have been through a lot of hardships.
The hand he was holding against his chest was trembling slightly as if he was feeling aggrieved.
“I’m Vlad’s squire, man!”
A man who is the guide and stable keeper Vlad’s squire, and is also a swindler.
Goth is back.
