Side Story – A New Era
The high noon sun was shining on Brigantes, the capital of the empire.
It is a city built by the founding king and sword master, Chihano Frausen, and is a symbol of the passage of the era of dragons and the coming of the human era.
However, the Brigantes, which should sparkle with glory, was now filled with only suffocating silence.
“…The young emperor was sent back to his hometown.”
In a richly decorated room in the imperial palace, the courtier Armand was looking at the teacup in front of him.
The room was completely dark, as if it didn’t get much sunlight, but a thin ray of light coming from outside the window stayed on the teacup he was looking at.
“I don’t know if that child will live to his age.”
“…….”
Steelworker Timur, who was standing by the window and tipping his teacup, paused for a moment when he heard a sound coming from behind him.
It was a quiet imperial palace, as if everything had stopped.
The fact that Armand’s voice, heard in that quiet place, seemed somehow eerie was not just Timur’s illusion.
“…It would be right to leave matters related to the palace to the courtier.”
Courtier Armand quietly nodded at Timur’s attitude, which seemed to tacitly approve of his plan.
“The war is over and the false emperor has been dethroned. “Now all that’s left is the empty imperial palace.”
It was the voice of a courtier, heavily rusted by time.
However, in the eyes of the old man looking back at Timur, there was a bright light like madness.
“To put the right sun back in the sky. “I think that is my final duty as a court official of this generation.”
Armand, the courtier who had the duty to protect the imperial family and the court, eventually succeeded in ousting the false emperor.
The countless amounts of blood shed as a result were causing fear to the subjects of the empire, but his shining eyes, as if the work was not over yet, were directed at a knight in the north.
“Please help me. “You can’t cut off the empire here, right?”
The empire that opened the era of humans began with one man.
And the only thing that could carry on the man’s legitimacy was the imperial bloodline leading to Frausen and the will of the sword passed down through the Silver Knight.
“Not only has he mastered the sword, but he has also earned the title of Sword Master, so there will be no greater legitimacy on the continent.”
“Even though you have the blood of the dragon you hate so much?”
However, Timur’s eyes as he looked at Armand, who had aged greatly, had a cynical light for some unknown reason.
A worn-out courtier who could not protect anything on his own even though the empire was rotting away due to the dragon’s breath.
It was perhaps natural that Timur’s eyes toward the sincere but incompetent man contained a little contempt.
“…It’s rather good. “Even though he is the son of a dragon, he cut down his father for the sake of the empire.”
“For the empire.”
At the sound of Armand’s voice coming from behind, steelsmith Timur smiled bitterly and quietly put down the teacup he was holding.
“I guess that’s how the duel that day was viewed in the eyes of the courtier.”
It is probably natural that even the same picture looks different depending on who looks at it.
However, Timur did not like the behavior of the courtier who tried to confine the picture that Vlad drew that day with only his own intentions.
“Can you help me?”
The glorious empire must continue.
Even though the roots were rotten and the branches grew in the wrong direction, there were still countless people leaning on that world under the empire.
“I don’t like it.”
However, steelworker Timur simply quietly refused Armand’s earnest request.
“……why.”
After speaking, Timur slowly began to back away from the window.
“That’s a problem that shouldn’t be decided by just the two of us.”
As Timur moved away from the window, the sunlight that had been blocked began to seep into the room.
Then, in the room that began to become brighter, a figure that had not been seen before began to appear.
“Count Peter said he was handing over the position of head of the Bayezid family to his son.”
“That young man is enough for a steelworker…”
“People from Aushurin and Nidavellir are also planning to participate in the imperial conference to be held this time.”
What finally emerged after the darkness had cleared was a pure white table.
It is also a table made in a circular shape so that people sitting across from each other can see each other.
“…And the new Sword Master will also come there someday.”
Sigh-!
As if the sunlight wasn’t enough, Timur opened the curtains wide.
Thanks to that, Armand had to cover his eyes, but Timur the Steelman just smiled.
“Beyond the age of dragons, the age of empire. And now is the time when a new era may take root. Court Duke.”
Armand, who had finally opened his eyes, hurriedly turned his head, but Timur had already grabbed the doorknob.
“So let’s leave the decisions about the new era to new people.”
A new era, new people and a new sword master.
The steel worker who had opened the door for them was quietly leaving the room.
As if there was no need for a place at the newly created round table.
“……Steelworker.”
In the place where the cold wind from the north left, only Armand, who had nowhere to go, remained.
As I stared at the wide open door with trembling hands, I lowered my head as I felt the wind slowly seeping into the room.
※※※※
As if the weather had finally warmed up, the road to Sturmma was covered in mud.
Goat, who was sitting in the coach seat, grumbled that he wished he had come a little sooner, but Gemini, who was looking outside, seemed to be enjoying this trip and was just grinning.
“So, that thing that looks like a tower is a dragon?”
“huh. To be exact, it’s called Death Worm. “It lives in the West.”
On the distant plain that Zemina was looking at, there was something that looked like a long tower reaching toward the sky.
It was so large that it was clearly visible from afar, and it was the Western Dragon Deathworm coming out to take a breath.
“I was really surprised when the earthquake occurred earlier. “Is this the first time I’ve ever felt an earthquake?”
“okay?”
Vlad grinned at Gemina, whose eyes were sparkling as if her excitement had not yet subsided.
This was because the way he was talking about it as if he was so amazed seemed to overlap with the way he had seen Death Worm for the first time a few years ago.
“It seems like people come all the way to the north around this time to bask in the sun.”
“But when you grow up to that size, don’t you think you’ll eat a lot? “Don’t you eat people?”
“He doesn’t do that. “I heard they live by eating things like minerals in the ground.”
Except for the guy Rutger caught, it was safe to say that there were no cases of death worms attacking people.
If it weren’t for the curse of black magic, he probably wouldn’t have bothered to come all the way to the north and harass people.
“You’ve become a lot smarter, Vlad. “Where did you learn all that?”
Gemina, who was leaning on the carriage windowsill and looking out, turned her gaze towards Vlad.
This was because today, I felt a strong sense of adulthood in the way Vlad answered anything I asked as if he knew everything.
“…How can I learn something like this?”
Vlad, who was walking next to the carriage with Noir, stopped laughing when he heard Gemina’s voice of admiration.
“I just listen as I come and go.”
Although I didn’t really learn anything, there was a man who explained to me about a death worm that I had never seen before.
Vlad scratched the bridge of his nose as he thought that if it weren’t for what the man said, he wouldn’t have seen Gemina’s eyes sparkling right now.
“Oh, I want some whiskey.”
“No this. “I specially ordered it as a gift.”
“I think one sip would be okay. “I’m sure Rutger will take notice of that as well.”
“I really think he’s crazy.”
Zemina was surprised when Vlad said that he wanted to drink the whiskey he brought as a gift, but he probably didn’t mean that he really wanted to drink it.
I just want to walk down the path I walked before and reminisce about those memories.
“Whiskey is perfect for a sunny day like this.”
Green plains and blue skies. And the appearance of a huge death worm standing tall in the middle.
Vlad, who remembered the time when he couldn’t ride a horse, just missed the whiskey that Josef gave him today.
※※※※
“Wow. Wow, what is this?”
“…….”
Vlad and his party were driving a carriage and heading from Shoara to Sturma.
However, even though he reached the target city, Goth was unable to move forward any further.
“Leader. This is why I asked you to come early. “Look at those carriages.”
The walls of Sturma still leave a strong impression even after seeing them for a long time.
However, what greeted Vlad even faster than that was the long line of carriages that stretched from in front of the castle gate.
“……Vlad. “Look over there.”
“what?”
“That one over there. “Everyone brought a lot of carts as well as carriages.”
Even if only one carriage had been sent per family, there would not have been the current congestion.
However, the people who are flocking now are people who have gathered to celebrate the newly inherited head of the family, Bayezid.
There was no way such people would have arrived on their own, so now in front of Sturma there were a lot of carts loaded with all kinds of expensive goods.
“…Should we have brought more presents? “We are the most humble here.”
“What’s so shabby?”
Perhaps because she was stuck between magnificent carriages, Jemina’s shoulders were slightly slumping.
It is said that Goth was careful, but at least it was a borrowed carriage.
Moreover, the gift I brought was worthless compared to the people next to me, so it was a situation that could have been discouraging.
“So, everyone here is noble. “Can I stay here?”
“…Of course. “You are Lady Gemina.”
Jemina’s shoulders began to gradually shrink as she finally experienced the high world for the first time.
Vlad, who felt sorry for that sight, began to think about how he could get out of this procession quickly.
“Captain, captain!”
“why?”
“Look who’s coming from the front. “The carriages are buzzing!”
However, as if there was no time to think for a moment, the carriages standing at the castle gate began to shake little by little.
“Is someone high up coming? “Everyone who was waiting opens the door and comes out.”
“……Who is it.”
When Jemina, who was in the carriage, heard that a high-ranking person was coming, she quickly moved to the corner.
Vlad looked like he was not used to this kind of atmosphere and frowned, but unfortunately, the high-ranking person that Zemina was wary of seemed to have some business to attend to in the carriage the group was in.
“get off.”
“huh?”
The attire he wore was luxurious, but the way he beat the carriage was very unsophisticated.
“Get off. “Don’t focus your attention here for no reason.”
Plus the black eyepatch around his left eye.
Zemina swallowed her saliva at the sight, which looked sufficiently threatening, but when their eyes met, he simply smiled at Zemina inside the carriage.
“Zayar?”
“You should come early. “He’s still a guy who takes a lot of effort.”
A man appointed as the new knight commander of the Bayezid family. Knight Zayar.
Although Xayar had a reputation for raising the most honorable knights, he still only looked at his student with a blunt expression.
