The black horse and the young donkey (1)
Let’s go around, let’s go around the match.
Let’s go around the matches singing happily.
Until my bright red hair turns black.
Until the song I was singing ended.
Let’s go around, let’s go around the match.
Let’s go around the match until everyone falls.
※※※※
A frozen road in winter.
The sound of horses’ hooves and the creaking of carriages running above it was loud.
The northern wind, as dry as the hard road, was freezing the already heavy atmosphere of the group.
“It’s time to part ways.”
Josef, who had dared to open the window despite the cold weather, looked at Vlad and smiled faintly.
Josef’s voice broke the silence for a long time and all the knights looked forward.
Two roads diverge in front of the straight road.
When we reached the fork in the road approaching from ahead, the group and Vlad had to part ways.
“Please take care of yourself.”
“Joseph, please take care of your health too.”
Josef and the knights had to return to Sturma.
It was natural for Josef, who was eliminated from the head of the family competition, to return, and the knights who followed him would probably all be scattered as they received new missions.
Although it is said that it is inevitable to feel regret over parting, it was inevitable that the ending would be heavy for the current group.
“Please, don’t go on a rampage like usual. “Just like we did at the convent this time.”
“…Let’s do our best.”
In the meantime, Zayar’s constant rebuke was rather welcome.
I wasn’t happy about being the subject of someone’s laughter, but the laughter that came from here and there seemed to brighten the atmosphere a little.
“We’ll probably be able to get a spot this coming spring. “Let’s see then.”
“All right. Josef.”
The sight of Josef promising the next with his white lips seemed pitiful, but Vlad believed that Josef’s words were not empty words.
The Josef he saw was someone who always prepared for the worst.
“…And don’t forget what I said.”
“yes.”
Vlad quietly nodded at Josef’s last words, which he spoke in a whisper.
The advice Joseph gave quietly came from a strange rumor that had been spread by the Vatican.
“I hope the deacon achieves what he wants.”
“I hope that God’s peace will be upon you on your return, Joseph.”
After saying his final goodbyes, Josef quietly winked and signaled that the time had come.
Gregory Maxim and Cade.
Vlad, who said his final greetings with just one look in his eyes, eventually broke away from the group and turned toward the opposite crossroads.
A black horse and a small donkey are moving further and further away.
Even in the blowing winter wind, Josef and the knights stopped for a moment and looked at their backs as they gradually moved further away.
A cold wind was blowing, but the sight of Vlad leading the young deacon’s path no longer looked awkward at all.
※※※※
“The driver probably didn’t know. “Andrea shrugged her shoulders every time she heard the name Vlad of Shoara.”
The old donkey he was riding was very indifferent, but the young deacon riding on it was talking energetically as if he had finally come to his own world.
“It was a guarantee that could have been sold for a lot of money, but everyone said so much that I threw it on the ground. But no one will say that now!”
The name of the young deacon who is still chattering was Jean.
A boy with a one-letter name that is hard to find in the North was looking at Vlad with happy eyes, as if he was proud of him.
“The name… do you sell the guarantee for money?”
“sure. Everyone was selling it. Especially those from the Vatican.”
Perhaps it was because he was a deacon under Andrea, but Jean did not hide his hostility toward the Vatican.
Jean was a man who knew better than anyone else the circumstances of Andrea, who was famous but wandered in the wilderness.
“Well, the head nun of Shoara also sold something.”
Jean’s words reminded Vlad of the convent in Shoara, and he furrowed his brows.
It was a convent built for the poor, but all the women in it were the children of powerful people.
Pure virgins who are close to God.
The head nun of Shoara was nothing more than a businessman who borrowed the name of God and sold the title.
“……For now, let’s replace the beef jerky with this.”
“yes?”
Jean’s eyes widened as he looked at the sheaf of paper that Vlad suddenly handed him.
The name Kannor was engraved on the thick-looking wad of paper.
“It’s from the Kannor family?”
“I have a small friendship with that person.”
Even the young deacon knew that the Kannor family’s meat was excellent.
And it’s that expensive too.
And Vlad was one of the knights greatly supported by the Kannor family.
“It’s a long journey for the first time, so you’d better eat well. “If you were to fall ill somewhere, wouldn’t it be difficult for me who asked you to do this?”
“ah. ah. thank you!”
Although he tried hard to hide it, his flushed cheeks showed how he was feeling.
There was no need to explain the joy of serving meat to a boy in his prime.
Perhaps, Andrea, who lived a simple life, would not have even been able to see beef jerky like this.
“If you have any inconvenience, please let me know at any time.”
I was vaguely aware of it, but Andrea’s grace, which I learned from Jean’s words, was greater than I thought.
Watching Jean take out a piece of beef jerky and mumble, Vlad hoped that through the young priest’s ascetic path, he could at least repay Andrea for his reputation.
※※※※
“Oh……”
“What should I do? “Deacon.”
The road to Moshiam, the capital of Baron Utman.
I don’t know if the map or the person holding the map was strange, but after camping for several days, Vlad and Jean were finally able to find a small village.
However, their joy at seeing the village was short-lived, but they soon stopped when they saw a strange scene at the bottom of the hill.
“What should I do? Are you going down?”
“Wait… just a moment.”
Jean frowned, still showing signs of youth, and was wondering what to do.
Vlad just stayed still, looking at Jean who was worried.
The subject of this ascetic journey was a young deacon, and Vlad knew well that the boy’s growth through that journey was what Bishop Andrea hoped for.
“Let’s go down. “I have to stop it.”
“All right.”
Vlad nodded at the young deacon’s words.
The first path to penance is to look without looking away.
A festival was in full swing at the bottom of the hill that went down a difficult path, not an easy one.
A small town whose name isn’t even written on the map Vlad is holding.
However, even though it was such a small village, the plaza seen from the hill was filled with people, as if all the villagers had flocked out.
“help me-! “I’m not!”
A festival must have an appropriate offering.
Someone captured for the festival was struggling and screaming.
The mask looked quite strange, as if someone had put it on.
“I didn’t do it! “You are making a mistake!”
The man, who was covered not only with a strange mask but also all black clothes, screamed non-stop, but the villagers just shoveled firewood in and made the fire.
Among them, there were people who covered their ears with their fingers as if they did not want to hear it at all.
“Everyone, don’t be fooled! “By their very nature, evil people use their tongues to deceive people!”
A man wearing a pure white robe was standing in front of people and shouting loudly.
I don’t know what affiliation he belonged to, but based on his appearance, he clearly had the appearance of a priest.
“I’m sure everyone knows about the evil being that originated from Moshiam!”
As soon as the word Moshiam came out of the priest’s mouth, people’s eyes began to turn to him.
A city engraved with an ominous and fearful name.
Even in this remote village, anything related to Moshiam was frowned upon.
“Why did the once healthy barley field rot and why did the healthy well water dry up? “It’s all because of that guy who came out of Moshiam!”
The priest’s fingertips began to point at the man who was struggling and tied to a pillar.
“So we must burn it!”
“You crazy bastard! “Why are they burning healthy people?”
The strange-looking man tried to beat him with all his might, but he was already tied up, and red smoke was slowly rising from below.
His appearance from afar looked like a crow being roasted over a wood fire.
“……Ah, this looks suspicious.”
Vlad, who had dug into the center of the village to avoid the eyes of the few vigilantes, was scratching his head and looking at the center of the burning festival.
“No, right?”
“yes. “It’s not.”
Now on Vlad’s shoulders was Jean, riding a wooden horse.
Jean was also wearing a pure white robe, but the eyes of the villagers had long been focused on the priest in front of him.
Jean took advantage of the opportunity to take out a small magnifying glass and focused on the man who was about to be burned at the stake.
“I can’t see the cancer just by looking at it. Of course, it may be something that cannot be found even with this magnifying glass…”
“If that were the case, there would be no way it was captured like that in the first place.”
Since it was only a subtitle, they might not have recognized it, but if they were of that caliber, they wouldn’t have been caught by the villagers in the first place.
“But I think I know it without having to check.”
Vlad and Jean, who were riding the wooden horse, were looking at the same place at the same time.
“You need to improve your acting! “So that God above can see it!”
As the fire from the firewood spreads bright red, offerings pile up in front of the priest.
The villagers who followed the frantic cries laid down the belongings they had brought with them in front of the priest and repeatedly bowed their heads in prayer.
The priest was shouting the name of God, but looking at him was a lie.
Vlad frowned as he listened to the priest’s voice getting louder as the mountain of sacrifices in front of him piled up.
“That’s a scammer.”
How to recognize your peers.
I don’t know if he was really a priest or not, but Vlad noticed his clumsy move and grabbed Jean from his shoulder.
“What should I do?”
“We have to stop it. “We cannot just ignore tragedies that occur in the name of God.”
Jean quickly took out the Bible from his pocket and looked at Vlad with stern eyes.
The boy who had been happy about manipulating beef jerky just a moment ago was nowhere to be seen.
“All right. “Do whatever the deacon wants.”
Jean must have been encouraged by Vlad’s nod, so he hurriedly opened the Bible and flipped through the pages.
A Bible book that Bishop Andrea carefully engraved word by word for his young deacon.
The hand of the young deacon who was flipping through the Bible stopped at the page where a hymn to God was written.
-Throw away the vain idols of the world.
-Let go of all human lies and injustice.
-I will go wherever I am called to go.
The villagers began to slowly circle around the stake, following the screams of an unknown man.
However, the people who were circling the bright red light suddenly turned their heads when they heard a noble voice.
“You there.”
“What?”
As the young deacon’s voice creates a path, a knight walks along the path.
The knight’s left eye had a golden glow that anyone could see.
“Are you really a priest?”
“…Ugh.”
The false priest had to bite his treacherous tongue as he saw the beautiful images striking his ears and eyes.
Piled up sacrifices, a priest who couldn’t speak, and an innocent sacrifice still struggling over the flames.
“Shall we first turn off the light and talk?”
People who are where they are supposed to be and doing what they are supposed to do.
Bishop Andrew’s sword and young voice held the false flame.
