There is a way in the darkness (3)
In a room where the winter cold has not yet gone.
There was an old man sitting alone in a place where no one was around.
The carpet he was stepping on was soft and the clothes he was wearing were thick, but the old man still bent his back toward the burning fireplace as if he was feeling chilled.
“…This is what happened in the end.”
Prince Armand.
A man who abandoned his last name to fulfill the duty that preceded his name.
From his mouth, which had become very old, a cracked voice that could not be helped now came out.
“Even if I die, I won’t have the honor to see you.”
Armand’s eyes were focused on the burning firewood, but his withered hands were holding on to the worn-out note.
The note, which he had kept carefully, was the last telegram sent to him by Auguste, the former commander of the Imperial Gendarmerie.
“…….”
Courtier Armand made a confused expression as he looked down at the note that was still disappointing even though he had opened it countless times.
My sword and the imperial sword. and Knight Auguste, the proud captain of the Imperial Gendarmerie.
Courtier Armand tightly grasped the note he was holding, remembering the person he would no longer be able to see.
“…But even if you’re not around, I still have to do what I have to do.”
An old man who is sad because he failed to fulfill his duty.
Like the heat of withering firewood, Armand’s time was also dwindling, but the old duke did not give up yet.
For the last telegram from his loyal knight contained a hope that still burned.
Even though we couldn’t connect the blood, we will try to connect the will.
There was a heat in Armand’s eyes that had not yet been extinguished as he held the note that Auguste had sent from the elf forest.
※※※※
“As I heard, he has dark blonde hair and blue eyes.”
“……”
Vlad looked at the men surrounding him in an instant and carefully put down the glass he was holding.
This was because he realized that the men glaring at him were not uncharacteristic city administration thugs but formidable prosecutors.
“Who are you to hang around like this?”
“I am Rodrigo, a senior knight of the Imperial Military Police.”
The flag the men were holding had a ray of white lightning that seemed to pierce the darkness.
It was the flag representing the Imperial Military Police, the pride of the Imperial Brigantes, who were said to be on par with the Imperial Guard.
“…Aren’t they the ones who should be in the imperial capital when meeting the military police?”
“I’m here to arrest the criminal.”
bang-!
The man seemed to not like Vlad’s relaxed expression even though he was completely surrounded, so he made a loud noise and put down a piece of paper.
The piece of paper placed on the table, “Look here,” was an order to arrest Vlad in the name of Prince Armand.
“I am arresting you for the murder of Sir Auguste, former commander of the Imperial Gendarmerie. “Vlad.”
“what?”
Dark blonde hair and blue eyes.
The imperial military police were baring their teeth at the northern knight, who was clearly of dragon blood.
Because they had just found out that the last person their leader, who had died so cruelly, was the young dragon in front of them.
“……”
Vlad, who remembered the familiar name he heard from an unfamiliar man, began to read the arrest order with slightly trembling hands. The order, written in short and firm
handwriting, did indeed contain his name and The name Auguste was also written on it.
“Has he passed away?” Auguste?”
“Don’t lie. “Dragon’s blood.”
Vlad was asking about Auguste’s fate with a frozen face, but the military police officers simply pulled out their swords.
Thinking that this was also a foolish trick on the part of the criminals, their swords were filled with anger that they could not hide.
“Because your sin is already proven by your natural blonde hair and blue eyes.”
“…….”
Vlad’s eyes were trembling in a sharp misunderstanding that could not be helped.
An old knight who told me to come visit him someday when I come to the imperial capital.
He was the one who told me that it was okay to use his own name on the imperial sword, just in case something went wrong.
“when? To whom?”
“…Yes, you guy.”
Vlad’s name contains many facets.
When Quijano saw it, it was a star looking up at the sky, and when Auguste saw it, it was a knight who protected the young world tree.
“As expected of a dragon, only a cowardly transformation is visible!”
However, when Rodrigo looked at it, it was just a dragon that killed their leader.
The worlds hidden in the left eyes of the knights began to form towards the dragon’s veins as they cried out in anger.
“Vlad Dragulia! “I will arrest you!”
Those who call me by the name I was born with, not the name I earned.
Vlad ended up biting his lip at the men who saw him as a dragon rather than a knight.
“……I am not.”
Vlad could tell.
The misunderstandings had already become tangled like tangled threads, and I had fallen into a trap.
“I did not kill Sir Auguste.”
So I have to prove it to the knights here.
That I am not a dragon and did not kill their leader.
With those words, Vlad slowly stood up and pulled out his sword.
The world of Vlad, who was trying to prove his innocence, was a proudly shining golden light.
※※※※
Kwaaaaaaang-!
Baron Moldavir and Josef were startled by the loud noise coming from the middle of the city.
The noise was so strong that the teacup I was holding trembled.
“what! “What’s going on!”
At the sudden noise, Baron Moldavir quickly got up from his seat and ran to the window.
This was because I was surprised that a territorial war might have broken out due to the rapidly changing situation in the central region these days.
“this. “What the heck is this…”
But the castle wall I was looking at was just quiet.
There was just a cloud of dust rising from the middle of the market in the distance.
Josef recognized the familiar golden flash in the pale dust and quietly put down the teacup he was holding.
※※※※
“Holy shit!”
“You rat! “You already knew!”
Knights were rolling around between the noisily exploding walls.
Those who had not been seen until now were other military police officers blocking the escape route outside the building.
‘A total of 6 people!’
There were four knights surrounding Vlad inside the bar, but in fact there were six in total, including the knights waiting outside the building.
Vlad, who had figured out their location while they were holding their breath through his sensitive hearing, deliberately cornered Rodrigo and destroyed the wall they were standing on, causing confusion.
“Vlad!”
“You stay still!”
Nibelun was fidgeting with the backpack with an urgent gesture, but I couldn’t accept his help this time.
“I’ll take care of it!”
Although it was only a messy market floor, the place where Vlad was standing now was no different from a courtroom.
The only judge who can prove my innocence through the articles in front of me.
For complete innocence, I will have to convince them with only my own sword.
Kyaang-!
“Can you prove your innocence with something like this? “Vlad Dragulia.”
“…….”
However, the process of trying to prove myself was not an easy path, as it always was.
The anger I had seen earlier was welling up from Rodrigo’s burning left eye.
It all stemmed from a misunderstanding, but at least his anger was justified.
“Did you ask me earlier how Auguste died?”
Rodrigo’s world is a world of tightly entangled chains.
His sword gradually began to expand along Rodrigo’s world, which contained the color of cold iron.
“…!”
His sword, which had stretched to the point where it was no longer possible to predict the distance, began to curve towards Vlad as if it were a rope to wrap around a criminal.
“That’s something I’d rather ask!”
Kwaang-!
It looked like a roar, but when it touched it, it was so powerful that the floor exploded.
Merchants around the market floor began to scream as the market exploded.
“Now!”
“Hey!”
Vlad was surprised by Rodrigo’s attack that came in like a whip, but he didn’t even have time to breathe as other knights attacked him right away.
“Receive the aura calmly. “Dragullia’s illegitimate child!”
The gruesome death of the captain I had trusted and followed my entire life.
The noble knight who should not have retreated or died ended up returning as a cold corpse, and the knights who lost their leader were pouring out their anger that had no place to go on Vlad.
[……Move quickly! Before they form a formation!]
“Tch!”
The direction the knights stepped in was sharper than the straight sword blade.
Their movements, taking up all the possibilities for advancement, were pressing on Vlad like an iron net falling from the sky.
Cough! Kang!
‘I can’t be crowded anymore!’
I knew the intention, but it was difficult to escape.
When I block one sword, another sword comes in, and I think I see a gap to push it away, and before I know it, another knight has come through the gap.
‘What a bastard!’
In the meantime, Rodrigo’s sword is constantly flying.
The vicious intent of the military police officers who were determined to arrest him alive at all costs was making Vlad dizzy.
[Predict the next move! Only then can you escape!]
“……!”
There is absolutely no way to escape through the visible gap.
In that case, we have no choice but to predict the gap that will be created in the future and get out of it.
Vlad, who understood Quihano’s advice, hurriedly stamped his feet and escaped backwards.
Kwaaang-!
A building somewhere explodes again from Rodrigo’s blade.
It was difficult for Vlad to breathe due to the thick dust created by the collapsing building, but he just tried to remain calm and raise his sword.
“…That.”
He was shaking his shoulders violently, as if he was tired, but his glaring gaze was fierce.
Rodrigo felt a strange sense of discomfort when he saw Vlad glaring at them with his sword raised in front of him.
The sword is raised above the shoulder like an arrow being fired.
Vlad’s posture of holding his breath for a single blow must have been a very familiar posture to the knights of the Imperial Military Police.
[Can you see it now?]
“Yes.”
Perhaps because of surprise, there was a gap visible between the disheveled knights.
Auguste’s eyes were able to see the gap that had not yet been created but would be opened the moment the sword touched it.
“I can see it.”
I can hear the movement of writhing muscles.
You can see the remnants of the breath that is about to be exhaled.
Thus, even the gap between them that will be created in the future.
[Then go!]
The skills of the former Imperial Military Police commander on top of the imperial sword.
Although it was only for a moment, the knights of the military police were startled by the sight as if their captain was in front of them.
“Hmm!”
Vlad’s sword began to pass by along the weaknesses of Auguste’s path.
A sleek sword that flows from point to line like a brush.
The knights of the Imperial Military Police felt a strange sound ringing within their hearts as they saw the silver sword passing by them. The silver sword
that Vlad
was holding was crying.
Along with the coins of true silver that the knights hold in their hearts.
The coin, which could only be purchased with honor, was a noble metal that only those who had given up on themselves could possess, and it also came from a single sword.
“no way!”
Rodrigo opened his mouth wide as he saw the sword passing the knights and coming toward him.
This was because, as I looked at the silver sword crying of its own accord, I remembered the contents of Auguste’s last message.
Aushurin.Swordmaster’s sword.
be selected
“I will prove my innocence with this sword!”
The Sword Master’s sword skills were approaching, cutting through the darkness created by misunderstanding.
Rodrigo was able to realize this by feeling the sound of the coin slowly ringing in his chest along with the sword.
That the young dragon of Dragulia who was with their leader until the very end was not a murderer.
Only then did Vlad appear from the other side, not as a dragon, but as a knight who had inherited someone’s will.
