Mother’s Smile (2)
Josef’s office was located at the end of the third floor hallway.
Although it is a remote place, it is quiet, so it is a place where you can express your thoughts alone.
Even in Bayezid’s mansion, Vlad liked the place where sunlight stayed the longest.
“Joseph. “I’m here.”
Vlad knocked on the familiar door and looked at the window in the hallway while waiting for a moment.
The afternoon sunlight shining through the window was still the same color I had seen back then when I was a servant.
“Come in.”
And the sight seen when the door opened was also like that.
Zayar was standing with an indifferent expression as always, and Bordan was sitting at the guest table and shuffling through documents.
“You worked hard to come this far. “Vlad.”
Although a lot had happened, Vlad could feel a part of his heart calming down as he looked at the still unchanged scene in the office.
“I’m home. Josef.”
There must have been many greetings that could have been said, but Vlad was saying that he had been there without even realizing it.
The surrounding scenery changed wildly every time I took a step forward, but the appearance of this place was the same as when I first saw it.
“okay. Good work.”
However, in this place where everything seemed to have stopped, there was one scene that had changed.
A man sitting in front of me with his back to the sunlight, looking the same as before.
However, looking at Josef, who had become even more gaunt than when they parted ways, Vlad could not help but feel a sense of sadness at the end of his smile.
※※※※
Josef, who was trying to take tea out of the cupboard, tilted his head for a moment and took out the whiskey bottle next to him.
He probably remembered that Vlad liked this whiskey.
“You’re already taking a wizard with you. “You’re better than me.”
“It’s called Nibelun. Josef.”
Josef, who brought a bottle of alcohol, showed his curiosity towards Nibelun, who was sitting in front of him.
Although the sight of him sitting there sniffing was bound to attract attention in the first place.
“Are you from the South? “He’s a wizard, but he has blue fur and amber eyes…”
Josef’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Nibelun.
Although he had become gaunt, Josef’s dark eyes had become brighter.
“They probably came from Bon Island.”
“……That’s right. “You recognize it right away.”
“No, I just took a decent amount of pictures and it looks like I got it right.”
Josef did not deal with mysteries, but he knew how to reason using visible information and intuition.
Vlad, who only now knew where Nibelun came from even though they had spent a season together, just looked at Josef with his eyes wide open.
“I was listening closely to your performance so far. “This time we did one in Bastopol.”
“I didn’t do anything very special.”
But there is no need to envy what I don’t have.
Because Vlad was also a person who had what Josef did not have.
From the beginning, the two were people who fit together like one piece because they had what each other lacked.
“It’s not a big deal that I kicked out Mirshea of Dragulia. “This is beyond the realm of humility.”
“is that so?”
Looking at Josef who was smiling, Vlad unconsciously made eye contact with Xayar.
He looked a little smug, as if asking me to take a look at this, and it seemed like he was still a boy.
“What you looking at?”
“……no.”
In the past, Xayar would have struck Vlad’s shins once, but he did not do so this time.
It was partly because he was now nobler than himself, but it was also because he knew he was playing a fool in the first place.
The boys wanted to believe that they were all grown up, but to adults, they were still full of clumsiness.
“okay. “Thank you for coming back to where I am.”
After pouring a drink for Vlad, Josef looked at the knight in front of him with his deep eyes.
If we had just said hello so far, now it was time to talk about the purpose of coming here.
“I said I would see you again when we parted, but there was no need to come back. “Looking at how he looks now, I think it was even more so.”
I brought it here thinking it would be big, but I never thought it would get this big.
Josef raised his glass bitterly as he looked at the blonde knight whom he could no longer handle.
“I’ll say it again, our contract is already over. I have nothing more to give you, and you will have nothing more to take from me.”
As Josef spoke about the old contract, the atmosphere in the office began to become heavy.
The contract between the two, which was made through good faith rather than an oath of loyalty, came to an end when Josef was eliminated from the head of the family competition.
However, this may be Josef’s final consideration for Vlad by telling him that the contract ended first.
“I am planning to leave for the city of Nassau soon. “The only place we can look forward to now is the dwarves of Nidavellir.”
From Sturma back to Nassau.
Josef, who could no longer rely on Bayezid, had to head to the sea rather than land to create his own base.
And the unknown world, where nothing can be promised, will inevitably come as a great burden to Josef.
“…….”
The sound of a plate being pushed quietly could be heard in the quiet office.
Bordan quietly offers refreshments to Vlad.
The stout-looking knight was looking at Vlad with some kind of longing in his eyes.
“…I plan to stand alone now.”
Vlad said, looking down at a plate full of sweets.
“Joseph recognized me and Bayezid took it from me, but now I know that I am free.”
Although he was a knight of Josef, his contract with him ended, and although he was a knight of Bayezid, he was able to become independent from the moment he received the surname of Aureo.
And this entire process was a legitimate freedom that took place with the consent of Josef and Peter.
“But… if you allow me, I would like to be with Josef this time.”
Vlad’s hand moved toward the plate Bordan had held out.
Vlad still remembered.
The fact that Bordan deliberately pretended not to know about the sugar cubes that he had secretly taken to give to Jemina.
“You said the contract is over, but I think there’s still something left to pay.”
In order to fully establish my name, I must be proud of myself.
And the only thing that can prove that honesty is the conscience within me, not anyone else’s.
“okay.”
Josef nodded quietly while listening to Vlad.
Vlad now decides to follow his own will rather than someone else’s orders.
Josef was finally able to let go of his lingering feelings for Vlad after hearing that he would not let his life go by.
“Then let’s get ready. “The road to Nassau.”
It would be a lie to say that I wasn’t sad to see Vlad completely gone from me, but Josef wasn’t disappointed.
The article in front of you now is probably the most brilliant of all the results you have created.
“This time to the sea.”
After confirming that the person who had waited until the end had arrived, Josef raised his glass of wine high.
I went to the sea because I couldn’t find opportunities in the land where I was born.
Josef, determined to burn it out until the end, decided to leave for the sea to fulfill the last duty he could.
※※※※
It has been three days since we arrived in Sturm.
However, the reason why you cannot leave right away even if you decide to leave is probably because you need to make sure preparations as you are leaving in the middle of winter.
Even now, the yard was full of luggage piled up for Josef’s departure procession.
“Nidavellir….Nidavellir. Nidavellir.”
“okay. “Nidavellir.”
Nibelun seemed excited at the thought of going to an unknown land that had never been known before.
However, unlike Nibelun, Vlad was filled with uncomfortable feelings.
“…Those arrogant bastards.”
“yes?”
Vlad, who had been looking out the window with his arms crossed, started heading outside as if he couldn’t stand it any longer.
The flapping footsteps seemed to show how angry Vlad was feeling.
“…That’s why you got so angry.”
Nibelun looked out the window to see what was happening and was able to understand Vlad’s feelings as he saw the scene below.
The servants show an insincere attitude despite Bordan’s scolding.
Joseph was Bayezid’s bloodline and the countess’s son, but the servants’ attitude was indifferent, as if those words were now a thing of the past.
“Can I carry this?”
“yes?”
“Can I carry this?”
One of the servants who was joking around was startled when he saw Vlad growling in front of him.
“no. “I…”
“No. “You all seem to be having a hard time, so please get some rest.”
A noble knight and nobleman.
However, the servants were screaming in silent astonishment as they saw Vlad carrying the luggage by hand with his sword wrapped behind his back.
“I’ll let you get some rest after this.”
“sorry. “Vlad!”
Vlad’s grim eyes as he carried each load one by one were colder than the blizzard coming over the walls of Sturma.
Bordan, who saw Vlad carrying luggage from afar, sighed as if he was at a loss for words.
He looked embarrassed because his shabby appearance, which he had tried so hard to hide, was revealed.
“It wasn’t to this extent originally…”
“Let’s just do it quickly. “Before Joseph sees it.”
Bordan was embarrassed to discover the current situation, but Vlad was quietly moving his luggage as if nothing had happened.
I was just rushing because I wanted Josef to see what I was seeing rather than the trouble of carrying the burden.
“I told you to just rest, you bastards!”
“Your personality is still the same. “Vlad.”
Vlad was yelling at the servant who was trying to carry his luggage, but the voice he heard was very familiar.
“……Potli?”
“Hehe. how have you been?”
The only friend and water supply I got from Sturmma.
Portli, the youngest member of the Kannor family, was carrying the luggage with his cheeks trembling as he became even more chubby.
“What’s going on here?”
“I came because you said you were here… ugh!”
However, even though he had tried to move it, he had to quickly put the box down, probably because he had no strength to carry it.
“I didn’t know you were doing this here.”
“I didn’t know I would be here like this.”
Vlad had a stern expression on his face as he looked at Portli, whom he had not seen in a long time, but he did not let go of the grim look in his eyes.
The servants came hesitantly to carry the luggage, but their white faces remained the same.
“…Since when has it been like this?”
“It’s okay. In fact, Joseph fell seriously ill as soon as he arrived here.”
Not only did he lose his foundation due to being eliminated from the family head competition, but Josef suffered greatly as soon as he arrived.
Perhaps some of Bayezid’s vassals would have preferred to die like this.
“I guess it was a big deal because the priests came too. “It looks like you’ve found your strength now.”
“okay?”
Portli responded by carrying the luggage despite the difficulty, but Vlad’s feelings were mixed when he heard those words.
It was certainly a difficult sight for anyone to see the person who was like a tree blocking my path gradually falling into decline.
“I will also follow you on this journey. “I think we’ll probably be serving Joseph together until then.”
“why?”
“This time, a new branch opened in Nassau. “I think I’ll be working there now.”
With those words, Portli took out a wad of paper from his arms and waved it in front of Vlad.
“What is that? “Is it sausage?”
“It’s similar.”
When I unwrapped the paper packaging, what was revealed was not a bright red sausage, but a yellow lump of meat in an unusual shape.
“It’s like a sausage made from fish meat. Bayezid is now facing the sea, right? “I think there will definitely be a demand.”
“oh.”
When Potli gestured for him to try it, Vlad took a bite without hesitation.
The salty taste that spread out was indeed a completely different taste from any sausage I had ever tasted.
“There’s something called squid on the West Coast. “I think it will work out well if you use it.”
“calamari? “I saw that once too.”
Vlad, who was stuffing a new sausage, listened to Portli’s words and remembered the strange creatures that had followed the boat along the night sea when escaping from Nassau.
It seemed to remind me of Haven’s words when he said that although the appearance was strange, the taste was good.
“Is there more of this? “If you have any, let’s go to my room later and eat some more.”
Now, looking at the servants moving rapidly, Vlad took out a familiar bottle of liquor from a nearby box.
“It was here.”
“what is that?”
A bottle of liquor, filled with a dull brown color, sparkled in Vlad’s hand.
Portley frowned involuntarily at the sight of the bottle, which seemed to be somehow sticky.
“This kind of drink goes well with a bad day like today.”
Josef probably remembered the dwarves who liked Captain Q.
Vlad nodded, looking at the bottle of alcohol he had specially brought with him to leave for their land.
“Let’s just finish this quickly and go.”
“Continue? There are servants.”
“I know what these things will do after I leave.”
Vlad, worried about Bordan being left alone, decided to finish his work and leave.
It seemed like they had already hired a few people to help with the luggage while they were moving it.
“…….”
Work resumed again in the bloody atmosphere created by Vlad.
The servants who were carrying the luggage, not even able to breathe properly, began to carry Josef’s luggage with a tense look, unlike before.
Bordan nodded as if he was finally satisfied as he watched them pour their sincerity into each and every piece of luggage they unloaded.
“…Thank you so much.”
There were eyes quietly watching Vlad moving his luggage like that from up there.
The green-haired noblewoman just stared at the driver carrying the luggage for her son.
The knight who returned to his son even when everyone else was leaving.
Even though all that was given away was a few sets of clothes and armor, the interest at that time seemed to have been so warm to Vlad.
