As the bowl expands, (1)
Amber is also said to be a gem that contains time.
This jewelry, which is made by hardening the sap of a tree over a long period of time, hardens like the surrounding environment, such as leaves and insects.
“Is it clean?”
[Hmm.]
However, the amber stone that Vlad was holding showed nothing like that.
You might even be able to see a speck of dust somewhere, but it looked so dry that you wondered if it was amber.
“A field with a maple tree… Is this perhaps magic?”
However, even if nothing can be seen, the amber stone given by Alicia clearly contains time.
This is because the amber seen in the world of voices contained the still scenery of an autumn day.
[I don’t even know how to get there.]
If you look closely, it’s a vivid landscape that makes you feel like you’re standing there.
Inside the jewel was a landscape of reeds swaying in the wind beneath red maple trees.
“This doesn’t make sense….”
Right eye, left eye.
Vlad, who took turns opening his eyes, could not help but make an incomprehensible expression as he saw the appearance of the amber stone, which changed significantly depending on the world he was looking at.
“Anyway, it might have something to do with the elves.”
[I think so too.] Even if
an inexperienced boy and a voice without memories try to wrap their heads around it, they won’t come up with an answer.
In the end, Vlad thought that he would only find out the exact reason by going to the elves who had given him this jewel.
“It’s a long way, but…”
Vlad, who had promised to find the memory of the voice, has now found a new clue.
And the place that the clue pointed to was the forest of the elves in the eastern part of the empire.
“Knock knock knock.”
Vlad, who had been thinking for a while about how he could get to the elf forest, turned his head when he suddenly heard a knocking sound.
It was not the sound of someone knocking on the door, but the sound of someone knocking with their mouth.
“what’s the matter.”
Vlad hurriedly hid the amber stone he had received from Alicia in his arms and opened the door.
Outside the door, a red-haired girl holding a pile of laundry as big as her body was looking up at Vlad.
“…Is there no one there?”
Jemina was standing in the hallway, looking around Vlad’s room with wistful eyes.
Vlad was momentarily taken aback by the appearance as if they were censoring him, but eventually he had no choice but to grab the piles of laundry flying towards him.
“Why is this like this?”
Gemina quickly looked around the hallway, ignoring the question she was hearing, and after confirming that there was no one outside, she quickly pushed Vlad inside and closed the door.
“Why can I hear people talking when no one is there?”
Vlad’s voice flowed out into the quiet hallway with no one around, as if he was talking to someone.
However, now that Jemina realized that there was only one person in the room and not two people, she was looking at Vlad with her eyes sharply open.
“Do you still talk to ghosts?”
“…….”
Vlad wanted to say no, but the moment he looked into Jemina’s eyes, he couldn’t.
In my entire life, there have been more days when I knew about Jemina than days when I didn’t.
The two people who were falling through rock bottom were friends, comrades, and sometimes even accomplices.
“…It’s not a ghost.”
That’s why I couldn’t hide something from Jemina.
She was the person who had seen Vlad closer than anyone else in the world.
A long time ago and even now.
“…You move to a room.”
“Where?”
“To the end of the hallway.”
With those words, Zemina sat down on the bed and let out a small sigh.
“Then I’ll go to the room next to you.”
Zemina pushed Vlad to the end of the hallway and said she would take the next room.
So that no one notices Vlad talking to an ominous being.
Jemina was now saying that she was willing to become an accomplice.
“Are you really okay?”
“……huh.”
A look full of worry penetrated Vlad’s eyes.
Even without saying a word, Vlad was able to read Jemina’s sincere intentions.
“be careful. “You can’t hide anymore.”
A boy from a back alley who no one paid attention to could easily slip into the darkness, but Lord Vlad, Bayezid’s knight, cannot.
Now that Vlad has become a knight, he has become someone who attracts people’s attention wherever he is.
“You must go to church.”
However, whether he was a boy from a shabby back alley or a shining knight, Vlad was always the one in the girl’s worries.
“Jemina.”
“why?”
Vlad took out a small pouch from his chest and called out to Jemina who was about to go out.
The first salary I received in my life.
When Vlad received it from Bordan, the first thing that came to mind was a red-haired girl.
“Is there anything you want? “I’ll buy you one.”
Even if the value of 1 gold is the same, the meaning is different.
It may be money that can be easily given to a rich person, but to a poor person, it may mean everything.
“What do you want?”
And that day, the girl standing at the blacksmith shop gave up everything she had and gave Vlad an unadorned sword.
Although it was a 5-gold sword, for Gemina, it would have been money spent on everything she could now and in the future.
“Take care of yourself. you idiot.”
However, Zemina did not expect anything in return from Vlad.
Because everyone knew that the sparkling gold coins the boy was holding in his hand were the price of his life.
“Why don’t you take care of this and that equipment?”
With those words, Jemina returned the pile of laundry and went out into the hallway again.
The piles of laundry seemed difficult for her small body to handle, but Jemina just passed through the hallway and down the stairs without the slightest wavering.
“…….”
Some people expected it, others demanded it.
However, the girl did not expect anything and just gave and worried.
“Just say something.”
Favor without compensation is too heavy.
That’s why Vlad always felt like he was indebted to Gemina.
※※※※
The lively smile of a rose.
Although the sun had not yet set, Marcella’s shop was as lively as before.
“Business is going well.”
“This is the only place I can come at this time.”
Rose’s Smile, which used to be a Changgwan but is now a luxurious inn.
The reason Marcella chose such a drastic change in industry was because she had her own confidence.
“Everyone is going to warm up here before we get serious.”
A prodigal son who wants to enjoy entertainment from an early age.
People who want to have fun but don’t want to go too deep.
Marcella saw the potential of a new market and generously applied her abilities to create a new rose smile.
“Isn’t there a shortage of people? “Someone is starting a fight.”
“dispute?”
Marcela burst out laughing at Vlad’s innocent question.
The boy in front of me was still unaware of his location.
“Who dares?”
The reason she was able to boldly pursue business like she did now without the protection of an organization was because she had a trustworthy backer.
“Who would dare argue with the Knight of Shoara here?”
“I’m glad it helped.”
“So I won’t charge you for the inn.”
Marcella looked at Vlad, who was leaning his arm on the railing and looking down at the first floor.
I definitely thought it would be big, but I really didn’t expect it to be of such a different level as it is now.
“Take him.”
“Who?”
The boy has become a man and is now looking at a bigger world.
If so, someone will have to support you.
“It was a waste of his size to have him in our store where he doesn’t fight.”
Marcella laughed, pointing somewhere on the first floor with the tip of her chin.
Rose’s smile entrance.
A large black man was standing there with his arms crossed.
“Because I fed him well, he gained some muscle.”
“Are you okay?”
Even if the back alley bosses don’t touch you, the presence of a strong man will be necessary.
This was a place where alcohol was sold and an unexpected situation could occur at any time.
“There are a lot of kids who want to be on guard.”
However, there are probably few people in the back alleys who have a deeper connection with Vlad than the dark-skinned man over there.
Marcella, who knew this, did not regret giving Ottar away at all.
“As long as you stay at our inn from now on, I’m free to take you with me as much as you want.”
“I will.”
No matter how deep your relationship is, if you rely on it, you will eventually get tired.
Marcella, who knew this well, was willing to invest any amount of money to secure a connection with Vlad.
“If there’s anyone you want to work with, feel free to bring them in. “There are many rooms on the 4th floor.”
Relationship of giving and receiving.
Marcella was saying that she would provide the Rose Smile as a base for a knight named Vlad.
“It’s a good deal.”
The knight of the last remaining courtesans smiled at Madame, who was no longer a prostitute.
Now you can protect someone without having to pick up a sword.
That was what I liked most about Vlad after he became a knight.
※※※※
Where the sun sets in the city.
Feeling the air changing slightly, Vlad was walking towards the western dock.
“It’s a bit of a waste.”
[The more expensive it is to spend on people, the better.]
There were a total of 3 bottles of whiskey that Josef gave to Vlad in commemoration of becoming a knight.
One bottle of whiskey has already been used on the white snake, so there are only two bottles of whiskey left.
Vlad was currently on his way to Captain Hoover’s headquarters with one of those bottles.
The fishy smell of water blowing in with the cold river wind.
The smell of dried fish wafting from everywhere.
It couldn’t be said to be an overly pleasant smell, but as he smelled them, Vlad actually felt at ease.
“Nothing has changed here.”
Being someone you can rely on is truly precious.
Whenever he was tired, tired, or worried about something, Vlad always passed by this place.
Because at the end of this street, there was a brown-haired man who always welcomed me.
“Let me come in.”
“yes? yes. Yes, that’s right. Sir.”
Vlad walked past the doorkeeper, who looked embarrassed at him, and into a narrow hallway, stepping on creaky wooden boards.
The end of the increasingly narrow hallway.
The door that was shabby hanging there was where Vlad was heading.
“Is there a haven?”
“huh?”
The person inside seemed startled by the sudden sound of words and heard the sound of a chair being pulled out.
Drip drip drip.
Even though it was a small room, the owner was unable to walk out after a month.
“what’s the matter? “Vlad.”
His face became paler than when I saw him before, and he smiled at the customer who came after a long time.
“It’s nothing special.”
Vlad shook the whiskey bottle he was holding with a wry smile at the sight of Haven, who seemed to be drying up every time he looked at him.
“I was thinking of repaying the Captain Q I received last time.”
“Oh oh.”
Just from the sloshing sound, Haven was able to tell that the whiskey Vlad was holding was not an ordinary item.
A customer who came after a long time was holding a valuable item, so it was impossible to refuse it.
“Come in quickly. hurry.”
Vlad, who entered the room under Haven’s guidance, let out a small sigh when he saw his studio, which was no different from before.
Haven’s studio is so cramped that one desk and one chair can barely fit.
Perhaps because it was right next to the river, the place had a fishy smell, but there was still no place better for Haven, who was disabled.
“They say they don’t harvest black-haired animals, but the blonde hair is different.”
“What is he saying now.”
After clearing away the bundles of paper piled up here and there, Haven quenched his appetite and quickly created a place to have a drink.
“Have you finished your work?”
“The work never ends. “Just keep going.”
Haven pulled the stopper off the bottle with words full of the hardships of life and took out a dusty glass that had been lying in the corner.
“wait for a sec.”
Haven is wiping a chipped wooden cup with his jacket.
Still, Haven, who gave Vlad the most attractive glass as a guest, poured out the whiskey with a grin.
“okay. okay. What’s going on today? “I’m not asking you to lend me money.”
“That’s not it.”
Seeing Haven happy even with a bottle of whiskey, Vlad felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
Because I knew very well that I was not the kind of person who deserved to be here in such a shabby appearance.
“Even these days, it’s like that. Are you looking at navigation methods, constellations, or anything like that?”
“Oh, that?”
Haven, who had finally tasted a mouthful of whiskey, frowned happily and looked at Vlad.
“I stopped doing that.”
“……why?”
No matter how hard you try to shine, if no one is looking at you, you will eventually wither and die.
Because not everyone can seize the opportunities that come their way like Vlad.
“Who would hire a cripple as a navigator? No matter how you look at it, it’s impossible to get there.”
Haven, who did not even have the qualifications to dream, was also withering away in this narrow room.
“…You said you wanted to go on a boat.”
The smell of the river still passes through my nose.
Haven was a person who dreamed of one day escaping from here and taking a boat to a distant place.
“This is enough. “A person must know his subject.”
However, Haven’s dream ended up being trapped in a narrow room at the end of a dark hallway.
The weight of reality has always prevented people from dreaming.
“……okay?”
Even if we dream, not everyone can achieve it.
No matter how hard you try, you cannot have it unconditionally.
Vlad knew that well, so he didn’t say anything to Haven.
This is not Haven’s fault.
“This is where the mistake is.”
“huh?”
Haven’s eyes widened when he saw Vlad suddenly standing up, refusing to drink.
“what’s the matter?”
“…….”
A bird that has been confined in a cage for a long time forgets how to fly.
People who have been trapped in a narrow, dark place for a long time also forget their potential.
It cannot be said that it is their fault alone.
bang-! bang-!
“Vlad!”
With Haven screaming, Vlad started kicking everywhere.
Kwasik- Kwasizik-!
“hey. Hey!”
“It’s all their fault!”
The same walls that block Haven and the river.
These bastards, which could be broken with just one kick, have been eating away at Haven’s dreams.
“This is all wrong!”
Strike it with the scabbard and break it with a kick.
So Vlad began to break down the walls blocking Haven without stopping.
Kwasik-! Kwazizig-!
If you can’t do it, I’ll do it for you.
Because you did that to me too.
Because I showed them that the goal was above so that they wouldn’t be eaten by the darkness of the back alleys.
“Vlad…!”
With a loud noise, Haven’s room was getting bigger and bigger.
Disability and reality. Using them as walls, Vlad was breaking down the walls that were imprisoning poor Haven.
“You’re crazy!Stop it!”
Haven screamed in panic as the reality he had worked so hard to establish was shattered, but Vlad did not stop.
No, I had no intention of ever stopping.
Through his efforts, Haven let Vlad know that there was another world.
If it were not for the world that Haven taught him, Vlad would never have dreamed of becoming a knight.
“I can finally see it now!”
This was a place where there were no stars.
That’s why Vlad had to destroy Haven’s walls.
Because I thought he was a person who deserved to dream.
“……”
Haven saw a ray of light shining over Vlad’s shoulder as he was breathing heavily.
A red light that even the rising dust cannot block.
The river of Shoara was there, turning red with the setting dusk.
The blowing river wind.
Documents blowing in all directions following the wind.
The realities that had been holding Haven up for so long were flying away with the wind.
“…It’s cool.”
The river was still there.
You just forgot what you dreamed of.
Haven took a sip of the whiskey he was holding along with the cold winter wind.
It felt like my head was getting drunk, but my soul was waking up.
