In the past.
Not too long ago, Vlad had once conversed with Jorge's organization members about such things.
"Ah. I wish I had 100 gold."
The typical conversations that arise when men gather.
Alcohol, women, nothing particularly special, just old stories.
And as these conversations go around, there is a story that comes out naturally.
"What would you do if you had 100 gold?"
"If I had it, I wouldn't waste time on this, I'd buy a piece of land and settle down right away."
"You have lived here all your life, but now suddenly you are talking about starting farming."
Talks about money.
More accurately, stories that would never really happen, so one can only imagine them.
"Boss, look here. Business is better than farming after all. We could grab a decent building somewhere and······."
"That's how you end up failing miserably. Business isn't as easy as you think."
Life where the future is clear is heartbreaking.
So sometimes, these trivial conversations were necessary.
No qualifications were needed for imagining and talking.
"······."
Buying land, buying buildings, no, starting a business.
There was no meaning behind it, but in the midst of the fervent conversation, Burleigh looked at the boy who stood apart, watching quietly.
"Hey, newbie. What would you do if you had 100 gold?"
The youngest member of the organization, silently listening to the seniors' idle chatter while casually leaning against a pole.
"Who's giving it?"
"You can at least pretend to answer. Pretend."
The blond boy paused his leaning for a moment at the question and quietly pondered.
If he suddenly had money, what would he do first?
"······If I had 100 gold, I guess I'd pay off my debts first."
"What? You owe 100 gold?"
"That rascal seems shady. Did you gamble somewhere?"
There may not be a chance of it happening, but he could still imagine, and in that imagination, Vlad thought he should first pay off his debts.
"It's not gambling debt, but still, there are a few things I need to repay."
In Vlad's mind, there was always a list of people he owed something to, although most of them were related to grudges, there were also those he truly owed money to, and at the top of that list was always the same person's name.
"······It's 328 gold."
And now, in Vlad's hands, who had to leave Shoara, was money well over 100 gold.
What would he do if he suddenly had that much money?
There was no one to hear his answer anymore, but Vlad decided to do what he had always thought of.
There wasn't much time left to leave.
So now was the time to repay.
※※※※
"Something doesn't feel right."
"I agree."
Amidst the noisy patrons, two people handed each other beers.
Gregory, who had been placed on probation again, and Vlad, who had been punished by being banished, were staring at each other helplessly, excluded from their duties.
"When are you leaving?"
"About 5 days left? I'll leave as soon as I'm ready."
Josef had given Vlad a week.
It seemed generous, but for Vlad, who had lived in the city all his life and had to leave, it was subtly urgent.
"······Still, we've finished what we planned to do."
The intentions were good, but the results were not.
In a way, Gregory, who was the instigator of this incident, felt a certain consideration for Vlad, who had to leave the city because of the task he proposed.
"Soon, people from the Kanoor family will come to Shoara."
In any case, the Black Bear and his organization had vanished from the alleys, and an area was created in Shoara that the Kanoor family could dig into.
"This is a business that cannot fail. It's already been somewhat coordinated with Lord Josef."
"······."
As Vordan said, knights are not those who earn money for their wages.
The advantage of having a close relationship with powerful people was enough to bring knights to the shiny gold coins.
"Just invest a little in the name. Then you won't feel left out."
The entry of the Kanoor family into Shoara.
Other merchants would go to great lengths to participate in this business, but Gregory was saying that he would open a corner of the door just for Vlad.
The knight in front of him was certainly qualified enough.
"How much?"
"I'm not sure how much you received as a special bonus, but put in as much as you can spare."
Gregory's gaze was directed at Vlad over the beer glass.
Originally, the plan was to slowly establish roots in the alley with Vlad, who knew the alley situation well.
"Hmm."
It sounded like a typical scammer's tactic, but the person sitting in front of Vlad was a knight of Bayezid, whose name alone could prove trust.
"Would 50 gold suffice?"
"That should be adequate."
It was a paltry sum, but it should be enough to raise a nominal amount.
And since the Kanoor family was already one of the sponsors of Vlad, they would surely take care of him without feeling left out.
"Take care of yourself."
"Take care of things here while I'm gone."
"Sure."
Gregory apologized, and Vlad replied, asking him to take care of things.
With that, they had said all they needed to say to each other, leaving nothing but raising their glasses.
"······."
As Gregory raised his beer glass, Vlad casually glanced at the appetizers placed in front of him.
Red sausages.
"They weren't very tasty."
Before seeing the world, there was nothing as delicious to Vlad as these sausages.
However, Vlad decided he would no longer be satisfied with such meager sausages made by the Black Bear.
※※※※
"What's this? I said I don't need an inn fee."
"But I won't be staying here anymore. Plus, there's Larmund's share who ran away without paying."
With a joking remark, Vlad handed 50 gold coins to Marcella.
He had to do something like this, or she might not accept it.
".....Our inn doesn't charge such a high fee, does it?"
"This is an investment. I will get it back as profit later."
Vlad echoed Gregory's words to Marcella.
"I think Rose's Smiles will do well once it gets through this crisis."
"....Is that so?"
Marcella was pouring money into turning her establishment into an inn from a brothel.
However, most of the money she had saved up flew away due to the interference of Jack, and although she didn't show it, Marcella was struggling with financial difficulties.
"...Thank you. You won't regret this investment."
"But from now on, you'll exclusively use Kanoor family sausages. And if possible, you should promote them too."
"Haha. If that's the condition, I'll accept it."
If it was merely pity for her in his childish heart, she wouldn't have accepted it.
But Vlad was proposing his own business and handing her gold coins under the guise of investment.
Since they were looking at each other as equals, there was no reason for Marcella not to accept from her standpoint.
"Take care of Zemina while I'm away."
"I can't promise that."
Vlad smiled wistfully as he watched Marcella's subtle expression.
Zemina, who heard about Vlad being expelled from Shoara, was still holed up in her room and wouldn't come out.
Her sense of loss could only be filled by Vlad's presence.
"Where are you going?"
"Just a bit busy."
Vlad, who was descending the stairs for the next task, paused for a moment and turned his head.
There was Marcella, holding the pouch of gold coins he had given her.
"Thank you."
"Huh? For what?"
Jorge might have picked him up, but she cleaned him.
Until Marcella washed his head, Vlad's hair was just dusty gray.
Now her inn would receive quality meat from the Kanoor family, and she would have enough spare funds to not worry about deficits for a while.
So Vlad decided to erase Marcella's name from the list in his mind.
"I'll be back."
Vlad didn't have many days left from the time given by Josef.
Hastily leaving the inn, Vlad went to the graveyard near the monastery and polished the tombstone of an old blacksmith.
Despite the cold weather that made his hands feel like they were freezing, he had decided to do it anyway.
"Thank you."
He wanted to bid a last farewell to the old blacksmith whom he wouldn't see for a long time.
Along with his final farewell, Vlad erased the name of the old blacksmith from the list in his mind.
"It's just paying back a debt."
"Still, I wanted to say thank you."
Vlad visited the city hall and bowed his head to the knight who had protected the Rose's smiles for him.
Although he was repaying his debt, the knight Maxim had volunteered and stood up against the bishop's soldiers.
As Vlad bowed his head to Maxim, who had accepted his greeting, he erased another name from his list.
He brought cookies for Vordan, who had recited orders for him, and bought a splendid axe for Otar, who had trusted and followed him.
Every time he gave it to someone and bowed his head in gratitude, the names in Vlad's head were erased one by one.
"······."
There were still people like Josef, Zayar, and Priest Andrea, whom he couldn't possibly repay yet, so he decided to wait for another day.
And now, there was only one name left on the list.
"Why did you ask me to come here?"
"To pay off a debt."
"What debt?"
Harven, who followed Vlad with a limping gait, could soon see a large building leaning against the frozen river.
"This is a shipyard."
"Yeah. It's a shipyard."
Although the harsh weather in the north froze the river for about half of the year, the city of Shoara, located at the southernmost tip even in the north, could somewhat escape its effects.
And this shipyard was evidence of that.
"But why did we come here?"
"To pay off a debt."
The place called a shipyard was not only where ships were built but also where they were sold.
Of course, the process involved complicated procedures, but it wasn't a big deal for Vlad, a knight.
"Hmm... Look at that. It's a decent boat. Is it stuck to the river? The captain must be itching to sail it."
"That one was quite expensive."
"Huh?"
Harven entered the shipyard with Vlad's guidance and began to look around happily, like a child.
"I always wanted to come here at least once."
Harven had always loved ships since he was young.
He would talk non-stop about buying a ship someday and using it to cross the river and leave the back alleys behind, as if making a promise, as if never forgetting.
And young Vlad learned how to gaze at the stars by watching Harven.
"Do you still want to sail a boat?"
"Of course. Why wouldn't I? I want to go far out into the sea."
Harven had always vowed to go far out into the wide sea before he died.
But Harven ended up being ensnared in the dark alleys for Vlad and Zemina.
"That one's 200 gold."
There was a day when Vlad was carving a shabby stick for Harven, who had sacrificed for himself.
On that day when he was squatting down somewhere in a back alley, carving wood, Vlad made a decision.
He would definitely repay his debt to Harven.
So he deeply engraved Harven's name at the top of the list in his mind.
"A Cog?"
Pointed out by Vlad.
A small boat parked in a corner of the shipyard.
Nevertheless, the boat with a single square sail raised, indicating it was a Cog ship, was the most commonly used ship by merchants using the river.
"That one was a bit cheaper. So, I bought it."
"Huh?"
Harven, who didn't understand the current situation, muttered foolishly, but Vlad simply gestured for a shipyard worker to come over.
"It's yours now."
"······."
Vlad said, holding out a piece of paper brought by a shipyard worker.
"Sign here. In your name."
The white paper the shipyard worker held was a ship certificate, proving ownership of the ship.
"What... What is this now?"
Harven was initially flustered by the sudden turn of events, but as he felt something being placed on his head, he stopped stuttering.
"From today, you're Captain Harven."
What the shipyard worker brought wasn't just the certificate awaiting his signature.
It was a triangular-shaped hat with a stiff feel to it.
It was a captain's hat that only those who owned ships could wear.
Crippled Harven.
But from today, he shed his back alley nickname and received a new name.
"...Captain Harven."
As he looked at the smiling Vlad, dark moisture was spreading from his shaking pupils.
What would you do if you had 100 gold?
There was no one left to listen, but Vlad was now answering the question.
"Captain Harven, Captain..."
When Harven's name was engraved in the blank, white signature line, his name was erased from the list in Vlad's head.
There was a day when Vlad, crying for Harven, carved wood while sitting down for him.
But the one who was shedding tears now was Harven, and in his hands was a boat with a flimsy wooden staff as its sail.
Harven, whose ankle was cut, will still walk around with a limp, but he will be more confident than anyone else if he is in the sea instead of on land.
Because it was a world driven by sails, not feet.