The cries of livestock echoed throughout the area.
Two men walked, stepping on the red stains of blood that stuck to the ground with a nauseating smell that permeated everywhere.
"It's tough to endure here no matter when I come."
"Mm."
Otar replied briefly to Vlad's grumbling.
He too agreed with what Vlad was saying.
The church didn't welcome those who dealt with the blood of the dead.
But most humans had no choice but to live by consuming blood and flesh.
The uncomfortable coexistence between the resplendent word of God and the inevitable instinct was right here.
Alleys dominated by Swine Slaughterer, streets where red blood pooled.
This place was older than the lust-filled brothel alleys, older than the gambling dens filled with desire.
"The smell is dizzying."
"······."
With the warming weather, the stench of blood pooled on the ground was rising nauseatingly.
An old and complex alley, the stench of blood mixed with all sorts of odors, and the gaze of people living alongside death.
Vlad stood in front of the largest building on this street, passing through such surroundings.
It was decorated with unidentifiable bones everywhere, so most people would have a hard time even looking at it, but the boy born in the back alley was already used to this atmosphere.
Thong-thong-thong!
The door handle was made of what seemed to be bone clinked.
Vlad announced his arrival by violently knocking on the doorknob, which seemed to have been made in bad taste.
"Who's there?"
"You must have heard already."
"······."
Since entering the alley dominated by the Swine Slaughterer, Vlad and Otar had noticed the eyes watching them.
With his flashy blond hair and the flag he carried, the boy was clearly someone who would attract attention anywhere, not just in an alley.
"Wait."
A man closed the small hole that seemed to be only for seeing through with force.
"······."
However, after 5 minutes, then 10 minutes passed, no response came no matter how long they waited.
[Looks like there's a fight.]
As tradition in the back alleys, which often witnessed such occurrences, Vlad raised his head to look up at the sky, receiving the usual disregard.
Amidst the cluttered buildings, only a span of blue sky could be seen.
'I shouldn't be ignored like this.'
The boy pondered while gazing at the small patch of sky.
For the Vlad of the back alleys, such disregard might have been commonplace, but for Vlad of Shoara, what should he do?
The boy, who had only recently heard of honor, was deeply troubled.
As the clouds passed by and the sky began to turn slightly red, finally,
Thunk!
"Come in."
The building of the Swine Slaughterer finally opened its door after a long wait.
"······."
Even though the door had finally opened after a long wait, Vlad still just stared at the sky.
As the sky gradually turned redder, the boy made a decision.
This couldn't be overlooked.
"Aren't you going in?"
"······No. I won't go in."
"Yes?"
The gatekeeper chuckled at the boy lingering outside.
How dare he.
The street where the boy stood was under the dominion of the Swine Slaughterer, the Black Bear.
"Then get lost."
However, the gatekeeper should have realized.
That the boy before him was not merely trying to assert his pride.
The boy was not only himself but also someone burdened with another's name in this place.
"If you close that door right now."
The voice of Vlad came from behind the gatekeeper, who was trying to close the door, accompanied by mockery.
It was a voice filled with a strong bloodlust that didn't suit his age.
"You won't be able to handle what's coming today with you."
"What?"
The gatekeeper looked at Vlad, feeling inexplicably ominous about the words he heard.
Blue eyes.
Within them, there were no emotions like anger or fear that the gatekeeper had expected.
There was only the appearance of a boy who was calm and willing to do his job.
"You started it first."
Instead of answering the gatekeeper's question, Vlad planted his flag, which Otar was holding, into the ground.
Though the flag was small, the emblem of the Bayezid family was clearly engraved on it.
"······."
The gatekeeper looked at the boy standing steadily next to the flag and pondered.
Perhaps the rumors about him single-handedly taking down the money bug and his subordinates in the alley might be true.
Such bloodlust emanated from Vlad's blue eyes.
"······Go in. I apologize."
"I refuse."
During the six months he spent outside Shoara, away from the back alleys where he grew up for 16 years, Vlad had seen, learned, and grown a lot.
What was needed at this moment was not anger or violence but legitimacy.
"Tell him to come out."
"...Who?"
Legitimacy and status. And the boy learned from seeing a young man who wielded fear as a weapon.
How to make people kneel not with violence but with momentum.
That was the way of nobility.
"Tell the Black Bear to come out and meet the rightful representative of the Bayezid family."
The rightful representative of the Bayezid family.
The last remaining knight of the prostitutes.
And the boy who had single-handedly dismantled an organization knew exactly his position.
"This is the last chance given by Vlad of Shoara."
The bosses of the back alleys no longer had the right to keep the boy waiting.
The flag that the boy had planted into the ground was quietly fluttering.
It was a flag that only someone who had proven their own honor could hold.
※※※※
A procession of carriages was lined up outside Shoara's City Hall.
If there were newcomers coming in, there were also those who had to leave.
The knights and soldiers who had been stationed in Shoara were returning to their lord's city, Sturma.
With the former mayor of Shoara, who was bowing his head inside one of the carriages.
"I feel sorry for this situation that happened unintentionally."
"You are only bearing the burden of the mess I created myself, Lord Josef."
Looking out the window at the scene, Josef smiled faintly and then shifted his gaze to the sky.
"What I'm sorry about is that I brought it a little earlier."
The sky, without a single cloud, was perfectly clear, but the city below it couldn't be so perfect.
Unlike the sky made by God, the city of Shoara couldn't shine brightly without a flaw because it was made by imperfect humans.
"I didn't have time either, so it couldn't be helped."
The former mayor of Shoara, whose various flaws in city governance had been exposed, would eventually return to Sturma and face severe punishment.
However, all these wrongdoings might have been overlooked as usual.
In order to smoothly manage the back alleys, authority was delegated to one boss, and security forces were concentrated on ordinary citizens rather than petty criminals, and the sponsorship funds coming in from various influential figures might have only helped in the operation of the former mayor's governance.
If not for Josef's sharp checks and Peter's implicit consent.
"What does the boss called the Black Bear say?"
"He says he'll do his best to cooperate."
Josef smiled at Vlad's report coming from behind.
"Still, it seems quite easy to progress the matter considering there was quite a bit of stubbornness and pride."
"······I think it worked out well because we were from the same back alley."
There's no way.
Josef knew there must have been some difficulties.
But even though it might have been unfamiliar, the boy had excellently completed the task assigned to him.
Josef's intention to raise Vlad not just as a mere swordsman but as a more perfect knight was successfully progressing.
"Well done."
Josef turned around, leaving the burden behind.
There were men waiting for Josef's next words.
"As the knights know, I have not yet fully taken control of Shoara, and I must spend a very busy time to resolve that."
Men standing behind Josef.
Men of various ages were standing upright inside Josef's office.
Five knights, one mage, ten administrative staff, and thirty elite soldiers.
And even a squire.
They were all Josef's chosen vassals for the new Shoara he had built in Sturma.
And now Josef had to use them to control Shoara's politics, administration, public safety, and military power.
Perhaps it was a moment that could be the last chance given to him.
"Starting anything is always the most important and difficult."
Josef's vassals were people on the same boat.
If Josef became the next head of the family, they would become honored members of the Bayezid family, and if Josef failed in the family head competition, they would also be in the same position as the crew of a sinking ship.
For everyone here, Shoara was the last foothold.
"I will now embark on the work of smoothly ruling Shoara. I will do my best to proceed, but for the time being, I have no time to pay attention to anything else."
Though darkness was creeping into every corner of Shoara, Josef was not yet ready to counter them.
But you can't be fully prepared for everything.
If what he had done until now was just struggling, now it had to be steps forward.
"So, I will entrust Sir Gregory with this matter. Select members of the investigative team here."
With Josef's words, a small but sturdy-looking knight stepped forward and bowed his head.
"Thank you for entrusting me with this duty, Lord Josef."
"I trust you'll do your best in your mission."
Although he wasn't one of his own men, Josef chose Gregory as the person responsible for this task.
Gregory, who had always remained neutral within the family, was not one to deviate from his duties due to sibling rivalries.
"...I would like to take Sir Kade with me first. I judge that there will be many situations where we need to pursue someone. So, I want to be with him, as he excels in tracking skills."
Though Kade had suffered significant injuries facing the cursed woman in the previous campaign, he had once again earned an opportunity. With uncontainable joy, Knight Kade tightly clenched his hands.
"Permission granted,"
"And...,"
Gregory stroked his thick beard and fell into a brief moment of contemplation. Although he had a conventional combination in mind, he decided to make a somewhat different choice.
"I would like to take Vlad, the squire of Sir Zayar, with me. After all, he was the first to discover this matter."
"....Um."
Though Josef's expression showed surprise at Gregory's choice, he nodded in agreement. It wasn't entirely incomprehensible to him.
Gregory's selection and Josef's approval.
The boy standing at the very back of the vassal group turned to look at the boy Gregory had chosen.
With his stocky torso, short legs, and a physique that could easily roll, Vlad reminded of someone he knew well.
"I entrust you with this task. Promising one."
Knight Gregory.
A man who had been observing the boy in the Bayezid family.
He was smiling at the boy, who was also Potree's uncle and his guardian.