A bright starry night (1)
It was a bright night with no clouds visible and the floating stars were bright.
Steelworker Timur was looking at the bonfire burning in front of him, using the piled white snow as a carpet.
It had been a long time since she had spent the night anywhere other than inside the steel walls, and it had been an even longer time since she had seen the man smiling heartily in front of her.
“When did your front teeth fall out? “Did you get hit by anyone?”
“I got hit once. “To that guy named Sewell.”
His smile was comical, perhaps because of his missing front teeth, but the old man who was currently warming up at the campfire in front of the steel ball was once a knight of Baranov who left behind a glorious name.
As time has passed, he has now put down his sword and retired, but the reason he cannot help but be happy is probably because of the memories he had with the old man for a long time.
“So, I suggest you just drink a little bit.”
“The old days were good. “When I was young, I could drink a whole bottle of this type of alcohol and feel fine the next day.”
The old man, who was reminiscing about the past years, turned his head and looked at the house covered in white snow.
Most of the houses around were made of logs, but the house the old man was looking at now was a large and spacious brick house that had been made with great effort.
“But after all these years, I got my own manor, so I don’t think it was a very meaningless life.”
“okay?”
Timur looked at his former subordinate lamenting the passage of time and put the bottle of alcohol he was holding to his mouth.
The manor the old man is talking about was given directly by Timur and was an honorable gift to reward his lifelong loyalty.
“Anyway, I heard you’re planning on having a fight with the central guys now?”
“I have to do it. “They say they’re going to come crawling in, so what can I do?”
“Wow. “It feels like my heart is racing after hearing a war story for the first time in a long time.”
The old man opened his mouth as if he was happy, holding the bottle of expensive liquor that Timur had personally given him.
However, Timur only had a bitter smile on his face as he watched the old man becoming more and more excited.
“You must be very busy. Even in the midst of all this, you came to visit me without forgetting me…”
“How could you have forgotten?”
Timur poured the alcohol he was holding down his throat.
Timur’s head was bowed weakly, as if he was exhausted, but Timur’s eyes were shining as if he had decided on something.
“Of course I won’t forget. “You, my loyal one.”
“yes?”
Rumbling –
The flames from the bonfire reflected on the sword’s face and flickered.
The old man was taken aback when he saw Timur suddenly draw his sword, and he didn’t know what to do with his eyes wide open.
“I even brought an antidote just in case, but it was completely useless.”
“Timur.”
“Actually, what you drank was not alcohol, but poison.”
A loyal knight who has been with me all my life.
But the person in front of me now is just a cowardly fugitive trying to escape death.
It was a poison that could kill even a large horse, but Timur quietly raised his sword as he saw the old man drinking it without any hesitation.
“…Please don’t go there and stay as my knight until the end.”
Perhaps this will be my final retirement gift to you.
For his subordinate who abandoned his beliefs, Timur returned the honor he had lost without saying a word.
Sigh-!
There was a round face floating above the sad, outstretched sword.
The old man’s face appeared in the cloudless night sky, taking in the full moon above, and then slowly began to fall towards his master.
“…Make sure you dig a deep grave. “So that no one can check.”
“Yes, Duke.”
In order to prepare for a big war, you must first solidify the ground you are standing on.
Timur was relieved that the preparations were not too late, but he was also saddened.
“…….”
Timur erased a name from the paper he was holding and watched the bonfire slowly dying out.
Throwing an old memory onto the fire that was still burning, Timur drank the last sip of his drink.
※※※※
‘Don’t trust Josef Bayezid too much.’
‘The Vatican targeted him for a good reason.’
“…….”
There was a man sitting alone with his back to the moonlight coming in through the window.
His blonde hair reflected in the blue moonlight now looked quite attractive, but he didn’t seem to have the time to enjoy it.
“Look at me . “What on earth is the benefit of shaking it?”
Vlad, who was pondering Rodrigo’s last words, was having a hard time figuring out what he really wanted to say.
“Is this some sort of check on the North?”
The senior knight of the Imperial Gendarmerie tried to leave a seed of doubt in Vlad’s heart, but that seed had already withered away without a trace. That’s how strong
Vlad’s trust in Josef was.
He was his master, his benefactor, and now. It would be more reasonable to doubt Rodrigo rather than to doubt Josef, who made you who you are. “Knock knock
.”
“……!”
However, maybe he was too deep in his worries. It
was too late for Vlad to notice the black shadow knocking on the window.
The shadow that approached quietly without anyone noticing was so secretive that even Vlad’s sensitive hearing could not detect it, and it was skillful enough to deceive even the sense of atmosphere it had spread. “
The night wind is cold. Please open the door.”
“Marcus?”
The window was wide, so it seemed like there was enough space to step in.
Vlad couldn’t hide his surprise as he saw him in a completely unexpected place.
“How can we do this…”
“I have something important to tell you. ”
Bayezid’s crow climbed over the window as if nothing had happened and sat down at the guest table in front of him. The
sight of him picking up the warmed teapot and pouring it seemed so comfortable that Vlad was speechless.
“By the way, they still call me Marcus. “It’s calling.”
“Has the name changed again?”
“These days, he goes by the name Sandor.”
Now, from an intruder to a guest,
the man with scars all over his face, unrecognizable from his original appearance, drank the tea he had poured and quietly took out a letter to Vlad.
“What is that?”
“This is a letter sent to you from the Northern Orthodox Church. To be exact, it was sent by Sir Günter, the second commander of the Northern Orthodox Church.”
The Holy Knights who faced the Black Woman together in the fog-filled Moshiam.
Remembering Günther, Vlad hurriedly picked up the letter that Marcus had delivered.
“Where have I seen this document before?”
“It’s an indulgence.”
There were several pieces of paper in the envelope.
One of them was a letter written by Günter himself, but the papers attached to it were just documents filled with stiff forms.
“As expected, I recognized it at once because I had torn it once. .”
“Why are you giving this to me?”
It was an indulgence that others were anxious not to have, but for Vlad, it was full of only unpleasant memories.
Moreover, unlike the secular Vatican, the Northern Orthodox Church did not hand out indulgences easily, but it was natural for Vlad, who accepted it, to be puzzled. “It was already signed.
” “It is done. The Pope himself did it.”
“So why is this…”
“The Northern Orthodox Church wants you to kill someone.”
An indulgence written by the head of the Knights of the Northern Orthodox Church, signed by the noble Pope, and delivered by Bayezid’s hidden blade.
Vlad swallowed his saliva as he sensed that the sin he would be representing through that indulgence would not be light.
“Who?” “Are you asking me to kill you?”
Feeling an ominous premonition, Vlad was looking intently at Marcus’s face, but the man’s face, which was all messed up, did not show even the slightest expression.
“Josef Bayezid.”
A clattering sound was heard from the teacup that Marcus was putting down,
along with the sound of Vlad’s heart pounding.
“I hope that with your own hands, you will kill the taint in the North that has colluded with an evil being.”
Vlad’s hands trembled at the familiar sound he heard.
Josef Bayezid.
The name the ominous crow spoke of was the name that first recognized me in this world, and it was also at the bottom of all that made up Vlad’s world. “Why on earth…”
Kwaaaaang!
Vlad wanted to ask the reason for this completely incomprehensible situation, but his whole body was shaken by the loud noise he soon heard.
”
…Is it a little late? “I see.”
-It’s an attack! The enemy has invaded!
-The dungeon has been robbed!
Thick smoke can be seen from outside.
And the harsh cries of the soldiers climbing through the smoke. The
sudden roar shook his vision, but Vlad quickly looked outside through the broken window. I looked out.
[Put up the Auror. Vlad. He is looking at you now.]
But outside, as I looked, there were eyes looking at Vlad like Quihano said.
The man standing on the bell tower in the distance had all his colors faded, but he felt the pressure he was carrying. It was heavier than any other knight.
“……Frausen.” My heart
was pounding!
Vlad’s heart was
pounding. The world that had supported me all this time was shaking with loud vibrations, but the crying sword was shining sharply, saying that I had to deal with the person in front of me. ※※※※ – Stop!
–
Yes
, you guys!
“You came in unexpectedly.”
Just a moment ago, it was a prison where no light could come in, but now it has become an open space where even the sky can be seen.
Zayar, who was going down the half-collapsed stairs, cut down the guards blocking his way and gestured toward Josef behind him.
“Let’s go, Josef.” .”
“…There’s nothing like this for you.”
Zayar, who shook off the stone dust on his eye patch at Josef’s words, immediately began to quietly shake his head.
“Don’t worry about me. If it wasn’t for Oksana, I would have died a long time ago.”
I sacrifice my sword for the person who recognized me.
The one-eyed knight who followed Lady Oksana from the Oscar family to Bayezid knew very well that now it was his turn to sacrifice his honor for her son. “Please do what you want to do and do it.
” Do what you must, and I hope you will, Josef.”
“…….”
He was a stubborn knight from the first time he saw him.
Josef knew that Zayar would not move with his vain persuasion, so he hurried down the stairs to do what he had set out to do.
“ It’s nice not to be out of breath. “You mean other people lived like this?”
The weather was cold, the road down was rough, and black blades were still flying everywhere, but Josef’s body did not flinch in the slightest.
Feeling a sense of liberation, Josef hurriedly ran down to the deepest part of the dungeon.
Josef’s racing heart was always overwhelming, but today he was happy enough.
-You…….
“I came here because Ramasht sent me.”
In the deepest part of Arnstein’s dungeon, there was a headless knight floating on chains.
It was a chain with a piece of paper with sacred verses written on it tied to each place.
Kyaang-!
At that moment, Xayar’s thick locks were cut off with a blow.
Xayar’s world became clearer than ever, and it seemed to show how determined he was.
“I’ll take it out now.”
Amulets that were like an inescapable poison to the dead, but to the living they were just a bunch of paper.
A star was shining above Josef’s head as he stretched out his hand for the wicked.
“…The sky is clear today.”
Even if my true self is rough and ugly, I still want to shine.
Even if it is a stone that has been broken since birth, it is only natural to want it to shine.
So Josef decided to do this.
Even if I was lying down in a place where no one could see, my flame burning from now on would be as brilliant as the stars above.
Sigh-!
Everything in life depends on my choices.
Although he was unable to do so at birth, Josef was determined to have death in the form he wanted.
