Village of Fog (1)
Her long hair started out blue but ended up being black.
His gait was smoother than anyone else’s, but he didn’t actually touch the ground.
The tightly closed heart was so cold that no one could embrace it anymore.
She came with death.
“…Can you really save my son if you do that?”
“of course. “Baron.”
A tired man and a crying woman.
And a dying child.
Everything around the man was stained with despair.
He was trapped in pitch black darkness.
“I will. please.”
“I will prepare. “Baron.”
The existence of despair comes like an accident and eats away at our lives.
By selecting only the brightest parts.
Baron Utman was a cold-hearted person by nature, but the existence of despair was eroding his brilliant reason.
The slow breathing of his only son and the painful cries of his wife made it so.
“Don’t be in too much pain.”
Baron Utman looked at the woman in front of him with watery eyes.
Although she was pale, a woman with a warmer smile than anyone else was looking at the Baron.
“People like me exist because God cannot look everywhere.”
The despairing man hoped for salvation, but in the end, God’s hand did not reach him.
Only the woman who came with death was smiling.
A strong wind and rain were beating against the windows of the mansion.
※※※※
Raindrops were falling with the strong wind.
The group, who were passing through a mountain ridge with no place to hide from the rain, had to accept the falling rain with their whole body.
“…The clouds are unusual.”
As Gregory said, it was still daytime, but rain clouds covered the sky, making it feel like a dark night.
It was impossible to go any further through this rain and darkness.
“Cade!”
“…Let’s go there!”
Cade, who has good eyesight, was able to spot a tree in the distance even in the middle of a rainstorm.
It was a tree with bare leaves for summer, but it looked better than standing against nothing and getting caught in the rain.
“You wouldn’t get hit by lightning or something, right?”
“Even if you get hit, you have to go now.”
Gregory blurted out a few words out of anxiety, but that didn’t mean he could just stand here and soak in the rain.
Due to the unusual weather, the group had no choice but to stop and prepare for camping.
“The weather looks like shit.”
After safely arriving under the tree despite the wind and rain, the group quickly shook off the moisture from their bodies and immediately began tying up the horses they had ridden nearby. Before
I knew it,
the rain clouds surrounding me were covering the sky like rolling waves, pouring out thick raindrops.
Looking at that, Gregory breathed a sigh of relief.
“It’s a good thing I brought a carriage.”
It wasn’t necessary to bring it, but there was someone in the group who needed a carriage.
Thinking about this mission, I was worried that it would be an unwieldy burden, but now it was actually becoming a great help to the group.
“Shall we prepare for camping?”
“Sure.”
Goat, who had accompanied the mission as a coachman and janitor, began moving diligently and unloading the camping equipment from the wagon.
Using the roof of the wagon as a pillar, we connected oil-soaked cloth, connected it to a rope, and drove it into the ground. In no time, a decent-looking tent was completed.
The tent was enough to block the raindrops that were still pouring down around us.
“That’s too bad. “The destination was just a little further away.”
Vlad, who helped Goth set up the tent, clicked his tongue in disappointment and looked at the light in the distance.
There were traces of humans there, glowing faintly like torches shining alone in the darkness.
“Life doesn’t always go as planned.”
Although his plan to enter the village today went awry, Gregory, who wanted to keep his plan to drink alcohol, opened the small bottle of alcohol in his arms and began to drink it.
“It’s a little okay. “It’s cool too.”
“…….”
What can I say as a member of the group when the leader of the group wants to drink alcohol?
Vlad nodded and decided to make the final preparations for camp.
“I will at least pick up some tree branches.”
“It won’t catch fire well because it’s wet.”
“Still, I have to give it a try.”
Goat is making a temporary stable by erecting another tent on the other side of the carriage, and Cade is looking around to see if there is anything suspicious.
Meanwhile, Vlad, who could not just drink and make out like Gregory, gathered nearby tree branches and prepared to make a bonfire.
“…These guys will do. “It’s empty inside.”
“thank you.”
Cade suddenly came next to Vlad, who was searching nearby in the rain, and started helping him with the work.
It seemed like the knight was helping out a squire, but Cade didn’t seem to care much about it.
“I haven’t had a chance to say anything since I came here. “I was grateful at that time.”
“…I was just doing my job. “Don’t worry too much.”
Although Vlad and Cade had never formally met in person, they were familiar with each other.
This is because the two were in the same place when they defeated the monsters they had recruited in Varna last winter.
“Are you feeling okay now?”
“It would have been better to get cut somewhere.”
Cade answered Vlad with an awkward smile.
A woman shedding black tears looking for her child.
The two knights who had remained in the garrison to protect Josef during Zayar’s absence were in danger of death due to her attack.
If the boy hadn’t borrowed the world of voices back then, Cade wouldn’t be where he is today.
“Now that I see it, I selected the people well. “There are a lot of guys who are knights and don’t do things like this.”
Gregory tilted the bottle as he watched the men naturally moving around looking for something to do even though they had not given an order.
“Let’s just keep going like this. From here on, we are not knights but mercenaries.”
Everyone in the group nodded at Gregory’s words.
It was that kind of mission.
The mission is to sneak in and look inside the village rather than show off proudly.
If the village the party wanted to go to was within the Bayezid County, they would have immediately mobilized soldiers to investigate, but this was a village owned by the Baron Utman family.
For Josephus, who had found his whereabouts but had no solid evidence, this was the best he could provide.
The group started camping with their destination in front of them and decided to preserve their stamina for tomorrow.
The sound of the strong wind blowing and the sound of rain hitting the tent.
Vlad wrapped his cloak around himself as he looked at the barely lit bonfire.
The cloak, made of high-quality wool, was absorbing the heat of the bonfire and warming Vlad’s body.
“Why are you smiling so heartily?”
“It’s no big deal.”
“Tsk, it’s bland.”
Vlad smiled for no reason as he looked at himself lying comfortably with his cloak covered.
I thought that if Oksana saw this now, she would be proud.
The day that felt like night passed by.
Vlad, who was not his mother but clearly understood the affection she gave him, lay down in the warmth of the bonfire.
I hope that the sad cries I heard that winter day are no longer here.
※※※※
A village built with gray stones.
A thick fog-like fog was rising from a village that had been swept by a bout of rain.
Gregory clicked his tongue as he looked at the thick fog that obscured his vision.
“It looks like something is going to pop out.”
“…….”
The group, aware that there might be people involved in black magic hiding here, just cautiously rode along the road.
Is it because it is still morning or is it because the weather is not good?
Even though we entered quite deep into the village, there were no people walking around, making the atmosphere of the city more and more gloomy.
“There’s an inn in front of me.”
“It’s a nice thing to hear.”
Perhaps because it wasn’t a very large village, it wasn’t until I entered the center that I finally saw an inn.
Maybe it was fortunate that there was an inn in itself.
“Let’s go in.”
Four men led a horse and carriage and entered the inn.
Gregory opened the inn door with the sound of a creaking carriage.
“Is there a owner?”
“…The guests arrived quite early.”
“Because of the rain yesterday, we couldn’t come in even though we were right in front of the village. “Please give me a plate of hot soup.”
While Gregory was pretending to be a mercenary and talking to the innkeeper, Vlad was watching a girl sticking her head out of the passageway connected to the inner kitchen.
“…….”
A child who won’t even come to his lap.
A girl who may be 3 or 4 years old but is still very cute.
Vlad gently waved his hand as he looked at the girl who reminded him of Zemina’s childhood.
The pink cheeks of the plump child seemed to have become a little redder.
“…There are so many bad things happening nearby these days…”
“I plan on staying for a few days at least because of the weather, but are you going to let us go like this? “I plan to have my meal here as well.”
While Gregory and the innkeeper were haggling over the price, Vlad was slowly walking around the inn and checking the surroundings.
It was a behavior that came from a long-standing habit, but the child, as if Vlad had taken his eyes off him, did not deserve it, and began to gradually lean forward and follow the group to where the group was.
A large cauldron was bubbling in a brazier in the middle of the inn.
I don’t know what’s inside, but it’s about time Vlad whet his appetite as he looks at the pot, which smells good.
[Vlad… Vlad!]
A usually quiet voice urgently called the boy to his feet.
‘What happen?’
As Vlad placed his hand on the sword handle, the sound became clearer.
[…I guess this is the right place.]
With a gloomy tone, the voice told Vlad to turn his head and look at the girl approaching him.
Vlad followed the voice’s advice and quietly turned his head.
“…….”
On the other side of the brazier where Vlad was standing, he suddenly found a child coming out and looking at him.
The girl who was hiding behind the chair and looking at Vlad, probably because she was embarrassed, looked cute to anyone.
[I will lend you my world.]
That appearance may not be everything.
Vlad nervously opened his left eye.
‘……!’
The girl smiled brightly as she looked at Vlad, who had closed one eye, as if he was giving her a glance, but Vlad actually felt a chill coming from behind when he saw that smile.
[It’s a curse.]
The girl closed her right eye and saw the world with her left eye.
The girl’s neck was held in a black hand that looked like a corpse.
It looked like it was going to twist the girl’s neck at any moment.
‘……shit.’
Vlad thought he could hear the cries of the woman he heard last winter in the scene he was seeing, so he hurriedly closed the world of voices.
Dang-dang-dang-
The church bell signaling the hour was ringing in the middle of the damp village.
The sound of the bell was supposed to be heard reverently, but Vlad felt it was like a sticky fog surrounding him.
Vlad, who closed the world of voices and returned to reality, looked closely at the girl’s neck, which had been held in a black grip just moments before.
There was a necklace hanging around the little girl’s neck.
It was a necklace with the emblem of a church engraved on it.
