Because I didn’t give up (2)
In the middle of the quiet restaurant, Goth was looking at Vlad and not knowing what to do.
“Great captain.”
At the same time, many eyes in the restaurant began to look at where Vlad was sitting with various sneers.
Because everyone was looking forward to it.
“…….”
A yellow lump was floating above the soup Vlad was eating.
It was a lump of someone’s saliva.
“I’m sorry about this. “I thought this was a trash can because it smelled like trash.”
“Ha ha ha ha ha!”
There were three squires standing behind Vlad, smiling broadly.
‘It’s earlier than I thought.’
Vlad did not get angry at the servants who provoked him.
I just nodded with the feeling that what was coming was coming.
I had expected that something like this would happen someday.
The Bayezid family is a prestigious family in the North.
Just being in a place like that for a short time was a great experience, so the servants here now were all children from good families.
Even if they were not nobles, there would naturally be a backlash since a guy from the back alleys came to a place where noble people were gathered.
Since it was something he had experienced once at the garrison, Vlad decided to endure it for now.
‘I’m used to it.’
Contempt, contempt, and disregard have always been familiar.
Of course, just because he was used to it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt, but Vlad decided to skip it for now.
So I quietly picked up the spoon.
“Captain…”
He scooped up the spit floating in the soup and scattered it on the floor.
Then he picked up his spoon again and started eating the soup as if nothing had happened.
“…….”
“…….”
The servants in the restaurant were giggling and looking at the planned harassment, but everyone stopped laughing at the resolute attitude that Vlad just showed.
It was a strange silence.
“……what. “That guy.”
Among the new recruits that have come in so far, none have behaved like they do now.
Get angry, get scared, or even just smile.
However, the guy who said he came from the back alley was acting beyond their expectations.
“…….”
It wasn’t his intention, but in the quiet restaurant, Vlad thought about what Xayar said.
‘Know that everything you do from now on will be directly related to Joseph’s reputation.’
Xayar, who knew Vlad’s temper well, advised him to be careful and be careful of his actions.
‘I’ve received something, so I’ll have to endure this much.’
Vlad knew full well that he had been given an opportunity beyond his means.
Therefore, if I could endure it, I was planning to let it go quietly for the sake of Josef’s face.
‘How should I tighten it?’
However, as someone from a back alley, the writhing ferocity was something that could not be helped.
So, even though I was resolutely passing the soup, there was something that naturally came out.
The blue eyes that made people recognize Vlad even in the wild back alleys.
Those eyes were burning blue.
“You cheeky bastard.”
When things did not go as he had intended, the squire who had been arguing approached Vlad, growling.
“See you later. “I’ll make your hazing ceremony extravagant…”
“What’s your name?”
The plan was to scare him by threatening him, but the blond-haired guy was reacting completely differently from Sovanin’s intentions.
“……what?”
Vlad’s head turns slowly, accompanied by a chilling voice.
“What is your name?”
As soon as he met the boy’s burning blue eyes, he felt as if his surroundings were turning dark.
There were eyes there that were even more intimidating than the knight he was currently serving.
“It’s Sovanin.”
Without realizing it, Sovanin stuttered.
It was that kind of momentum.
“Sovanin.”
Vlad chewed his soup and quietly chanted Sovanin’s name.
A dog that is about to bite doesn’t bark.
Those who want to kill do not get angry.
“I remembered it.”
I just stare quietly.
Vlad had already finished eating and stood up holding an empty plate.
“I’m looking forward to hazing.”
As Sovanin heard Vlad’s voice passing by, he realized something was wrong.
“Where am I? I’m a lowly orphan who used to live in the back alleys.”
I uttered sharp words to protect my pride from being crushed until the end, but Vlad just quietly returned the tray and left the restaurant.
Even though Goth followed Vlad out without paying attention, there was only strange silence in the restaurant.
※※※※
“Captain, are you okay?”
“I don’t feel well.”
“What are we going to do now? “When I asked the servants, I heard that this guy named Sovanin is the leader among his servants.”
“Is that guy’s head?”
In response to Vlad’s question, Goth shook his head loudly.
“okay.”
“Be careful.”
Squires and servants.
At the intersection where they had to part ways, Vlad gave Goth a wave of his hand and walked towards where he was going.
“I am a bastard.”
Even in a restaurant surrounded by dozens of people, Vlad remained calm as if he were eating at his own home.
“So it must have been like splitting up ghosts and such.”
Maybe it’s a natural reaction.
Since he was a guy who cut down fearful beings that were difficult to even put his eyes on, the threats from his peers were such a big deal.
“This is why people should play in big places.”
As Vlad disappeared from the fork at the end of the hallway in the distance, Goth also moved on.
You don’t have to worry.
That guy is not the type of person to stop at a place like this.
After parting ways with Goth, Vlad followed the set routine and headed to the training ground where Xayar would be.
“Did anything happen?”
“yes.”
“Then raise your sword.”
After lunch, there was a short sparring session with Jayar.
It was not very common for a knight to spar with his squire every day.
Unless the squire in charge is from a noble family or his parents do not provide him with enough money.
“But I have one question.”
“Tell me.”
Vlad wiped his nose and opened his mouth towards Xayar.
“What if I was surrounded by many people? “What should I do when that happens?”
“Run away.”
“If you can’t run away.”
“The question is to what extent the other party is armed?”
In response to Xayar’s question, Vlad looked around the training hall and said,
“What about a wooden sword? “Let’s say there are some guys holding small shields.”
“……okay?”
Xayar’s eyes narrowed as if he noticed something in Vlad’s answer.
“Well, the swordsmanship you used was definitely not suitable for multi-person combat.”
“is it so?”
Vlad’s eyes widened as he heard this swordsmanship evaluation for the first time.
Looking at Vlad like that, Xayar drew a line on the floor with a wooden sword and answered harshly.
“Did you learn without even knowing what swordsmanship the person who was your teacher used?”
‘…The person teaching me doesn’t even know who he is.’
Vlad, who grumbled internally for a moment, answered.
“I don’t know. To be honest, I was in a position where I had to learn gratefully if they were going to teach me something.”
“I guess so.”
Xayar drew a long cross-shaped line on the floor and swung his wooden sword to shake off the sand.
“Your teacher is probably a duelist. “Your swordsmanship is specialized for short-term close combat, not multi-person combat.”
[Oh!]
A voice exclamated with excitement as it received a clue about itself from an unexpected place.
[Ask more!]
“A duelist?”
Seeing Vlad looking excited for some reason, Xayar wondered if this guy liked this kind of thing and decided to explain further.
“Not all articles are the same. There are knights like me who are subordinate to the family (household knights), or there are knights (knight-errants) who only earn the title of knight and wander around. “A duelist can be said to be a type of knight-errant.”
Xayar looked at Vlad and nodded.
“Normally, knights who participate as substitutes in honor duels are called duelists. Are you curious more?”
“Then who are the famous duelists? Or is it someone who was famous in the past but is now unknown?”
Xayar looked at Vlad’s sparkling eyes and thought he should stop here.
Boys’ curiosity is endless, but their time today is limited.
“You only learn one thing a day. Should I tell you about famous duelists or the basics of multi-person combat?”
[Famous duelists!]
“Multi-man battle.”
The voice begged him to think again about the answer he had just given, but for Vlad, what was important was what was to come immediately.
“good. come in.”
Following Xayar’s gesture, Vlad stood at the center of the cross.
“The basis of multi-person combat is the angle. Now you are exposed to four directions: north, south, east and west. In this case, you will have to defend against attacks from at least 4 people.”
“What should I do. then?”
“You have to use the terrain.”
Xayar grabbed Vlad by the shoulders and pulled him toward the end of the cross.
“If you turn your back on one point, there are three remaining angles, right? “If this happens, one person has been blocked.”
“It’s such an obvious story. What if we fight in an unobstructed area?”
“You will be fighting in very harsh conditions. If possible, fight in the most advantageous location.”
“What if there really isn’t such a place?”
Xayar shrugged his shoulders and answered Vlad’s persistent questions.
“Then you have to create obstacles.”
“With what?”
In response to Vlad’s question, Xayar said with a grin.
“With the other person’s corpse.”
The smile that Xayar was making had a certain weight to it.
“A human corpse can be a pretty good obstacle. “It is heavy and bulky, and becomes hard over time after death.”
Vlad nodded his head and his eyes lit up at Xayar’s practical teachings.
“As I said, the basic thing is not to give angles, and the second most important thing is timing. “The point is to prevent the other party from entering at once.”
Sigh –
Saying that, Xayar quietly moved on the sign of the cross.
“huh?”
Vlad was momentarily taken aback as he watched Xayar’s movements.
Even though it seemed like he was moving to the right, when he opened his eyes, he was standing on the left.
It was an advanced technique to deceive the opponent with the position of the shoulders, eyes, and feet.
“To create that, you have to intend the other person’s movements.”
[It means controlling the other person with your movements.]
Vlad nodded after listening to Xayar’s explanation and the voice’s commentary.
“Are you saying that I should intend the other person’s movements with my movements?”
“…It’s better not to say it twice.”
Xayar saw that Vlad understood what he was saying even without detailed explanation, and thought that he was also a smart guy.
In reality, a voice in my soul was explaining it in detail.
“For that you have to constantly move.”
“Move?”
“All swordsmanship begins with steps. “Today, as you requested, we will learn the steps for multi-person combat.”
Xayar grinned at the boy whose eyes lit up at him.
There was passion in the boy’s eyes, and even more desperation.
There was an animal inside him that was hungry for learning.
“Try after me.”
Training started at lunch and continued until dusk.
It had potential.
I also had a reason to do it.
There was also a boy who had two teachers.
The boy was dancing under the red twilight.
“Knock it off, dude.”
“…….”
“If you’re going to do it that way, just run away. “I won’t say anything about that.”
“…I learned it for the first time today, but isn’t it natural that I can’t follow along?”
Although the dance was painfully embarrassing to watch.
Although he was being beaten, Vlad was smiling from the heart for the first time in a long time.
Although he was rough, Zayar was considerate of him and Josef trusted him.
These feelings were felt that night. It was the first time I felt it since I cried on the trash heap.
Suddenly, Vlad looked at the red sun going over the horizon and thought of the people in Shoara.
I missed them.
※※※※
“Why is there so much mud in front of the store?”
A back alley in the city at dusk.
There was a mercenary man coming into the only blacksmith shop there.
“What show?”
“Let me ask you something. Inspiration.”
Most of the people who came to visit the old blacksmith were fixed.
Those who wanted really nice items would go to the famous blacksmith shop in Shoara, but in the end, people who didn’t have much money and were looking for something that could be used roughly were bound to come here.
Of course, the blonde boy who was looking at the sword was the only exception.
“I don’t think you’re the type of person to come to a place like this.”
“Oh, that’s right. “I didn’t come here to buy anything.”
However, the mercenary man in front of the old man seemed to have some skills.
The weapons, armor he carried, and the items he stuffed in various places showed that he was an experienced mercenary.
“This is my first time coming to this back alley of Shoara.”
“It seems that way.”
“Is this the only blacksmith shop in the back alley?”
“yes.”
“You make a sword here, but?”
“…I can’t make it anymore.”
In response to the old blacksmith’s answer, the mercenary man nodded as if he knew that.
A shabby, small brazier. Tools that don’t look like much. And above all, an unsightly old man who seems to have rotted his whole life in a back alley.
The old man felt embarrassed as he looked around the store.
“What on earth are you asking that for?”
“I want to make a sword.”
“You can just pick any blacksmith shop and make one. Why do you come to a place like this and look for a sword?”
Seeing the old man clicking his tongue, the mercenary man also laughed at his bewilderment.
“I did it because I wanted to make a special sword.”
“What special sword?”
It was an old man who lit a fire in the brazier without even looking back at the man’s words.
“I…I want to make a sword that can cut down ghosts.”
“ghost?”
The old man’s eyebrows furrowed as he wondered what kind of strange thing a normal-looking man was saying.
“If you are a ghost, go to church instead of here.”
“No, no, old man. Then have you ever heard of Vlad of Shoara? “When I asked him about it, he said he was from here.”
“Vlad?”
As the familiar name came from the unfamiliar man, the old man dropped the coal he was throwing into the furnace.
“Why did that guy…did he die?”
“I see you know! “So you’re from here?”
The mercenary man smiled brightly, as if he was finally understanding what he was saying.
“When I asked the friend, he said he got it done at a blacksmith shop in the back alley of Shoara.”
“what.”
You’re alive.
The old man felt very fortunate.
However, what the man said next was simply unbelievable.
“That kid cut down the ghost.”
“ghost?”
“That’s right. “She was a cursed woman, and her sword sparkled and split in half.”
The mercenary man who entered the old blacksmith shop was one of the mercenaries who barely escaped with their lives from the punitive force.
A flash of white light that shined at the moment of death.
For the mercenary man, the light that flashed in the thick fog was brighter than anything he had ever seen.
“There’s no way that young guy could have handled an Auror. So I thought the sword would be special. “He also took great care of his sword.”
“…….”
The mercenary man came to the back alleys of Shoara thinking of his own high possibility.
“So, a sword that can cut down even ghosts. My conclusion is that there must be a mysterious blacksmith here who knows how to make it. “Is there a place you know of? If you tell me, I can greatly appreciate it.”
“Ha…”
Hearing the mercenary man’s words, the old blacksmith let out a sigh full of many things.
Baby, what have you done?
What on earth have you been doing to turn a guy like me into a blacksmith who makes swords that can cut down ghosts?
“Haven’t you heard?”
“There is no way such a person exists.”
“Don’t do that…”
“Even if you ask, no one will know.”
No one will know.
No, I won’t believe it.
That the boy who fell down with the trash that night created a light that could cut down ghosts.
Also, the sword he made contained that light.
“No one will know.”
“…….”
The fact that a boy born in a place where the sun does not shine and a sword made in a shabby blacksmith shop created light.
The man leaves.
The old man stopped what he was doing and sat down, staring blankly at the front of the store.
The front of the store, where many people passed by, was a muddy mess, but it was visible to the old man’s eyes.
Sad footprints made by a boy looking at the stars.
The appearance of that guy who was always wandering around.
End of volume 1.
