Those who are permitted because they are qualified (1)
“I hate stupid people.”
Bayezid’s office specially prepared by Alicia.
The one-eyed knight sitting there frowned and spoke with his only remaining eye.
“And you are the dumbest guy you’ve ever seen.”
Vlad is now a knight.
However, in front of Xayar, the boy, who was always a poor servant, was politely folding his hands together.
“I think your foolishness, in using a single handkerchief, has already reached the level of talent, as you ruined all the preparations Joseph had worked so hard to make.”
“……sorry.”
In front of Xayar, who was silently muttering angry reprimands, Vlad just stood in a reflective posture like he always did.
‘……If that’s the case, then that was it.’
I really wanted to do well this time.
It was my first job after becoming a knight, and in a way, it was the mission I was the center of.
However, things in the world did not always move according to will.
“I didn’t know that could happen that way.”
The handkerchief that Jeminna gave me and the handkerchief that Alicia gave me were all precious to me, so I kept them in my arms.
It probably wasn’t Vlad’s fault that the two handkerchiefs ended up sticking together because he had stored them too deep.
But whatever his intentions, Vlad ended up making another big mistake with Alicia.
“…Go out.”
“sorry.”
Xayar no longer hit the boy.
After this winter, Vlad will turn 18.
Now was the time to become an adult rather than a boy, and since his title had become knight, as Xayar, he had to treat Vlad in his own way.
“…….”
However, Vlad, who was actually being treated, seemed to be quite uncomfortable with his current appearance, so he just stood there looking at me even when I was told to leave.
“Why aren’t you going out? Do you want to be beaten like before?”
I think it would be more convenient that way.
Vlad spoke his honest feelings, saying the words he had kept in his heart.
“Iknow, right. Can’t I just get hit? “I think that would be better.”
“…Huh.”
Xayar cried out as he listened to Vlad’s absurd answer.
When I first picked it up, I thought it would be difficult to handle, but I didn’t expect it to be this unpredictable.
“Stop talking bullshit and get the hell away. please.”
When Vlad saw Xayar stroking his eye patch and growling, he had no choice but to quickly leave the office.
The knight of the green world was unknowingly preparing to enter a deeper world due to Vlad’s absurd words.
“…Why are they looking at me like that?”
Waiting for Vlad, who hurried out of the office in response to Zayar’s murderous order to congratulate him, were Bayezid’s knights who had also gone on a mission.
“He’s a great guy, but I should at least see his face.”
“Aren’t you the prodigal son of the North that I only heard about? “I really respect this.”
“Carrying two women in one hand, this is truly the mark of a hero.”
The knights laugh and laugh at Vlad’s foolish actions.
However, their ridicule was not an act of contempt, but rather an act of affection.
Vlad had become acquainted with Bayezid’s knights through his mission with Rutger.
The knights here had always seen the boy struggling and doing his best, and now that he had become a knight, they did not put up any walls against Vlad, who had become their youngest child.
In other words, the current teasing was just to pick on the youngest knight.
“I want to be alone.”
“Oh, then should we make room for you?”
“The youngest member who joined this time is different from the beginning.”
Seeing the senior knights giggling at him, Vlad had no choice but to sigh and leave the parlor.
“shit.”
Vlad, who came out to avoid Xayar’s anger and the ridicule of his seniors, walked down the hallway and messed up his hair.
It was a stupid mistake that he had nothing to say about, so there was no way he could respond.
“……ah.”
At that moment, familiar memories began to appear in Vlad’s mind as he walked down the hallway.
The memories that came to mind like a sense of déjà vu slowly stopped Vlad’s steps.
“It seems like people’s lives are similar everywhere.”
The smile of the rose from that time is now only a memory.
There were men who laughed at the boy, just like the knights of today.
The laughter of the knights still coming from behind was like the noise Burleigh and his seniors were talking about back then.
Slowly leaning his back against the hallway wall, Vlad played with the handle of the dagger that Jorge had given him.
Longing was something that could be relieved by sharing memories, but the boy had few people with whom he could share his memories.
In the middle of the empty hallway, only the boy stood pondering his memories.
※※※※
“The more I think about it, the more absurd it is.”
Alicia pursed her lips as if she was angry, but Duncan, who had been watching her for a long time, knew that she was not truly angry.
The attitude Alicia was showing now was just a small complaint.
“No matter how much common sense you have, you can keep the handkerchief that another woman gave you and mine together, right? “Do all men do that?”
“…But the handkerchief was neat.”
Alicia shot Duncan a sharp look when she heard the words coming from next to her.
“That’s natural.”
“Of course not. Especially for a boy that age.”
Duncan cleared his throat once and then opened his mouth.
It wasn’t just something he said because the one-eyed knight who visited him last night bowed deeply on behalf of the boy.
“I heard that the missions I have been assigned to have been rough. Even so, the fact that it was stored well clearly means that special care was taken.”
“…….”
Alicia was listening to Duncan in silence, as if telling him to continue.
The documents she was holding were just sitting there, not turned over.
“It was a mistake born of ignorance. In a way, it also means that it is that pure. “Wouldn’t it be nice to see that at least there doesn’t seem to be a plan?”
“…That’s right.”
Knights are people who are always eager to move up, and from the perspective of such people, Alicia’s handkerchief will definitely be an opportunity to rise in status.
Even now, there were men everywhere drooling over her, so in that sense, the mistake that the boy named Vlad made seemed somewhat admirable.
“No matter what…”
At Duncan’s excuse for Vlad, Alicia finally released her biting lip.
After listening to Duncan’s words, it seemed like there was no reason for him to be angry.
“Look over there.”
Duncan glanced out the window as he watched Alicia slowly regain her composure.
“There must be a reason why Bayezid cares about the boy in each of those actions.”
“…….”
Alicia followed Duncan’s nod and turned to look out the window.
There was a boy kneeling on the hill.
Anyone who saw him with his hands folded together could see that he was praying in a reverent posture.
“That hasn’t changed since then.”
The boy’s blond hair was flowing in the scenery she had seen for a long time, but Alicia could not feel any discomfort at the sight.
That’s because Vlad’s appearance seemed sincere.
“But who is that?”
Alicia, who was watching Vlad praying in peace, suddenly began to see something unfamiliar.
From the bottom of the hill, there was someone slowly walking up the hill as if it were their own backyard.
The first sight of his back showed that he was not from Hainal.
“this.”
Duncan, who recognized the man’s identity before Alicia, hurriedly picked up the bell and began to shake it vigorously.
“valet! “Are you outside?”
Listening to Duncan’s bell ringing urgently, Alicia slowly approached the window.
The boy had received permission from the owner of the place to climb up the hill.
However, the person currently climbing the hill was someone who had never received her permission.
“Hurry and inform Lord Xayar!”
The most dangerous person among the people currently in the mansion.
A knight from the west who was not permitted to do anything about Deirmar.
Stephen of Gaidar.
He was approaching the boy who was praying.
※※※※
It’s sad to be away in a place where no one can see.
Even if you shine yourself, it will be sad if that light has no meaning.
Vlad, who knew the situation well, raised his head towards the white snake that no one remembered.
The snake that made eye contact with the boy through the world of voices was smiling.
“Still, you don’t have any specific memories?”
[I don’t know.]
I came up to the hill of Dermar again to hear the voice, but I still didn’t seem to have any particular memories.
“Didn’t you say that a few things came to mind when you saw Noir?”
[It seems that I have something to do with the spirits.]
Still, Vlad’s efforts were not without any results.
The voice could tell that he was obsessed with spirits and forgotten old things from the memories that emerged like fragments.
Although I couldn’t tell if that obsession was a duty to something or if it came from my own will.
[Someone is coming.]
Vlad slowly stood up, feeling the voice’s warning and a confident expression as if telling him to look here.
Even though I didn’t look back, I felt like I knew who it was.
“There is a graveyard in a place like this.”
Vlad got up, pretending to have finished praying, and turned to follow the sound he heard.
There stood a knight from the West whose physique was as rugged as his confidence.
“Do you think anyone you know is buried there?”
Stephen Gaidar.
The eldest son of Count Sigmund and Alicia’s suitor.
And the person brought by the Knight of Blue Moonlight.
“This is a place you can only come to with the owner’s permission.”
“Seeing as you’re here, I think I can stay too.”
“I have permission.”
Istvan smiled as he looked into the eyes of Vlad, who was looking at him unwaveringly.
“Now you see me.”
“…….”
“At that time, I was only looking at Godin. “I felt like I had become invisible.”
Stephen, who passed by Vlad while casually joking, sat down nearby and asked.
“I heard you have Baron Alicia’s handkerchief.”
A man who is proud even though he is not permitted to do so.
Stephen said, looking down at the mansion below.
“Godin says if you give up the handkerchief now, he’ll pay for a second beef jerky.”
“…!”
Messy pieces of meat fell on my head.
There was a boy whose life was saved through it.
It was a moment when I was able to survive servilely because it was an unfair price.
“I don’t know what that means.”
Stephen said, holding out his hand to Vlad with an indifferent look in his eyes.
“Give it to me.”
A confident stance, as if asking for something that is his.
Don’t hide what you want.
If you want it, take it and get it.
The world of the West, where only the greedy could survive, was in the palm of his hand.
“…Take it.”
To Stephen’s request, Vlad simply gave a cold answer as if he had been waiting.
“If you have the ability to do so.”
The North is not backing down.
As the red-stained walls of Sturma testify, they do not give up what they hold in their hands.
The boy with northern blood had no intention of acceding to the West’s extremely rude demands.
“Well, they said they wouldn’t listen to me.”
The West came here to take, and the North came here to block.
In the end, they were destined to end up like this.
With a small sigh, Stephen stood up from his seat as if he was annoyed.
Under the tree of Hainal, the knights of the North and West began to face each other.
“There’s nothing you can do.”
With a snarling sound, Istvan’s sword began to come out of its scabbard.
A form not seen in the north.
Stephen’s great sword, full of sharp teeth, like teeth.
“I have no intention of returning empty-handed, you northern brat.”
Stephen’s sword was pointed towards Vlad.
“I challenge Alicia’s handkerchief to a duel.”
Winners on top, losers on the bottom.
An honorable duel where only the winner takes everything.
“again.”
However, Vlad only folded his arms at Istvan’s request and did not accept his duel.
“what?”
“Do it again.”
The boy’s cries, crawling across the blood-stained floor and shouting at the Knight of Blue Moonlight, were empty.
Because the boy that day was not qualified.
“I am not a northern brat.”
But today’s boy was different.
The boy who had worked hard to obtain his current qualifications was someone who deserved to have his name called proudly.
“I am a knight of Bayezid and a knight of Lady Alicia.”
A white snake began to come down from under the tree, matching the boy’s soaring momentum.
The boy was permitted, and Deermar’s master and guardian recognized it.
“If you want to challenge me to a duel, call me by my name straight, you scoundrel of the West.”
Just a moment ago, Istvan thought he could suppress Vlad’s momentum, but the boy looking at him now looked completely different from before.
Blue eyes that are blessed and burning white.
At the same time, the boy’s presence became as large as the tree above.
The name of the knight who was more qualified than anyone else and was therefore permitted was Vlad of Shoara.
