"Raise your face."
Vlad frowned disapprovingly as Dorothea forcefully lifted his face, but he couldn't help it.
"Don't paint yourself in the face."
"Do you want to end up a headless corpse?"
"That's why you even wore a helmet."
"You told me not to speak informally."
Red engravings etched into the armor.
As if that weren't enough, Dorothea brought a small brush close to Vlad's face.
Just as the Iron Ball Knights wielded magical torches, Dorothea's measure was to block the cold that Lindworm would emit.
"Why are you doing this to me only?"
"Because you'll be the last to run."
Rutiger's knights, who observed Vlad from the side, just shrugged as if they had no other choice.
"There's nothing you can do. Your horse is the fastest."
"You're Bayezid's best dragon hunter, so you should be able to handle this."
The knights beside him seemed to find it amusing to watch the boy's increasingly reddening features while making jokes.
"I'll say it again. Look at the map here."
As Dorothea was drawing on the boy's face, Rutiger's lieutenant unfolded a clean map and pressed his finger on the marked points.
"The blacksmiths and we will only be able to take it up to this point here. Then, from this moment on, it's up to you."
There were countless lines drawn on the map the aide pointed to.
It was a trail left by people who must have thought about how to lure the dragon.
"Until then, we'll avoid the wind behind the knights. Keep in formation."
"Got it."
It was the operation scheme that had been reiterated time and again, but Rutiger's aide didn't seem satisfied with just that.
"If it drags me up to this point, Mr. Rutiger will come rushing out of his hiding place. At the same time, Valkov's lance will also fly from above."
Upon hearing the aide's words, Vlad turned his gaze and looked at the knight in front of him.
A steel-clad knight carrying a bunch of short spears on his back. Valkov with the lance.
He knew from Ramund that aura could be used in various ways, but this was the first time he had seen someone using aura on a throwing weapon.
Indeed, the world was wide, and there were many people.
"So your role is the most important in this plan."
"I think I've heard that hundreds of times already."
A terrain that suddenly narrows like a bottleneck, with hills on both sides.
The plan was to lead them to a place where they couldn't easily retreat, and then Rutiger would block Lindworm's advance from the ground while Valkov would shoot a lance from the top of the hill.
If you simply drag Lindworm to the point planned by Vlad, you can successfully subdue it.
"So, any questions?"
"I have none."
"Alright, just do what's right."
Rutiger's aide was almost exhausted from seeing the boy who didn't lose his bold attitude despite being at the center of the operation.
"...If we succeed, those people don't have to die, right?"
"Of course."
In response to Vlad's question, the aide nodded briskly.
At the end of the boy's line of sight, there were barbarians lying on the ground due to the cruel hands of the Dragon Slayer Knights.
Bait is not something you get and use when you need it.
The right way to use bait would be to catch it in advance and then use it.
Therefore, Mirshea had prepared in advance a bait to lure Lindworm.
Vlad looked at Agge, who clenched his teeth behind him, unable to contain his anger.
Son of a tribe leader chasing a spirit horse and a ruthless barbarian who attacked the people of Bayezid.
However, their actions were meant to save the members of their tribe.
"...Even when things go wrong, it always ends up like this."
And now, the baits who were captured by the Dragon Slayer Knights and sat powerless in the cold snowfield said they were members of the Budart tribe.
If the people of the North fail, their blood and screams will become bait to lure Lindworm.
Roar!
In the distance, beyond the white horizon, the roar of the fallen dragon began to be heard.
"Yes. It's coming this way!"
Rutiger's lieutenant applauded to distract the knights and turned his head to look at his master.
At his signal, the young black-haired man nodded.
"Alright!"
The dragon knights set their horses spinning at the signal to begin.
"..."
Vlad lowered the front plate of his engraved helmet and made eye contact with those who looked at him.
Dorothea began to recite.
Rutiger and Ramund nodded.
And even Mirshea of the Dragon Slayer Knights watched him from afar with a slight smile.
"Let's go, Noir."
Neighing—
The black horse named by the boy began to neigh with its hooves.
Behind the tail of the black horse, white snow fell.
***
Two days ago, Bernhem Fortress.
There was a piece of white paper illuminated by a flickering candle.
"The name is Vlad. He is 17 years old. His birthplace is Soara in the county of Bayezid. What's special is that he is said to come from a poor neighborhood."
"Hmm. Is that so?"
Mirshea frowned as she listened to the report through the crystal ball.
"Soara… Soara."
Blond hair and blue eyes.
And the heartbeat she could feel as soon as she saw him.
The moment their eyes met, Mirshea could sense an instinctive premonition, but the circumstances surrounding the boy were subtly altering her judgment.
"He was born too far away."
"That's right."
"And he was born in such a lowly place."
"..."
It's said that a ripe seed will bloom anywhere, but the background surrounding the boy was so lowly that it seemed rough.
Had the noble seed really spread to places like this?
"I don't know."
A map of the North on the desk.
And a sheet of paper spread over the map.
Mirshea frowned and tapped the paper with Vlad's personal information written on it.
However, no matter how much Mirshea insisted, the report written in ink provided no further information about the boy.
"I can't be sure with just this. I'd like to know a bit more."
The assistant's expression began to cloud over as Mirshea said she wanted more specific information.
"...That's it."
The assistant, hesitating for a moment, had no choice but to give his hesitant response as he looked into Mirshea's eyes that were colder than ice.
"We were able to find out what the boy named Vlad was doing outside, but we couldn't uncover his movements within Soara."
"Why? Most spies would have spread out in the north."
Mirshea seemed puzzled by the assistant's report.
Now is the time when people in the West are rampant, but originally, the region that most worried the royal family and the central government was the North.
This is because the North, united through strong regionalism centered on the steelworker Timur Baranov, was building its own territory to the point where it would not be surprising if it broke away from the empire's sphere at any moment.
"Since the new mayor of Soara took office, we all turned a blind eye. It seems they have managed to firmly control the city using the recent disappearance incident as justification."
Though Joseph couldn't wield a sword, he was also a person who understood the sword better than anyone else.
The sword's tip must be sharp and flexible enough to reach anywhere.
Joseph's influence, which expanded considerably based on an incident, was constantly seizing Soara and devouring it.
"...The two brothers of Bayezid are very capable."
"My apologies."
Mirshea looked at the assistant who bowed his head, took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it with a candle, and soon the thick smoke it emitted began to fill the room.
"They're both capable, but there's only one place they can rise to..."
Tap, tap, tap.
Only the sound of Mirshea tapping the desk resonated in the room.
Winners get what they want, losers lose everything.
This would be especially true in the case of succession competition among nobles.
Rutiger and Joseph were people who had been placed on an inevitable battlefield from the moment they were born.
"He might shake things up a bit."
As united as the North may be, surely there would be gaps one could slip through.
And Mirshea seemed to see the gap.
Rustle-
The map of the North that was on the desk seemed blurry, shrouded in Mirshea's cigarette smoke.
***
"Even in our case, we ended up sacrificing people. It wasn't my intention, but..."
Ramund, recalling memories from long ago, crossed his arms and sighed.
"In the end, we caught the guy who was attacking the village, so in terms of method, it wouldn't be much different from the Dragon Slayer Knights who used barbarians as bait."
A few decades ago, there was a Lindworm that appeared during the cold weather.
Ramund's and Bayezid's knights, who were young knights at the time, could only successfully subdue Lindworm while it was busy chewing on villagers.
In the end, there wouldn't be much difference with the current method adopted by the Dragon Slayer Knights when it comes to capturing it by sacrificing someone.
"...Since we can't catch up, we ended up having to set a trap."
Rutiger held his head and started to worry.
"If we don't catch the dragon, we can use it as an excuse to sit here."
Dorothea began to infer the movements of the Dragon Slayer Knights in a calm tone, as expected of a mage and Rutiger's advisor.
As she said, it was impossible to predict how the cause would develop if the opportunity to kill the Dragon Slayer Knights was eliminated.
The Dragon Slayer Knights were a group that used the name of the dragon as a shield and acted with a central intention.
"It will take us a long time to build a trap now, right?"
"If you're thinking of bringing cattle or sheep from a nearby city, then yes."
The aide, seeing Rutiger worried, cautiously spoke up.
"…Should we capture the barbarians now? Or you can steal the barbarians captured by the Dragon Slayer Knights."
"Damn it."
In response to the aide's opinion, Rutiger cursed quietly.
Whichever you choose, the consequences will be severe.
After all, the barbarians and the people from the North mingle, and the idea of using them as bait would ultimately shatter the peace that had been delicately established between the two.
Rutiger thought that perhaps this was the result intended by the central authority.
"Let's leave it as a last resort."
But Rutiger had to consider all options.
Because that was the duty they had to assume as responsible leaders.
"They say Vlad is fast..."
"Don't you dare ride that horse."
Ramund shook his head at the words he insinuated just in case.
"Everyone in Soara knows he's a disobedient person."
"Mmm. Is it that much?"
"It's more than you imagine."
Rutiger was planning to kill Lindworm with a short-term sword using Vlad's well-known words, but he had no choice but to yield due to Ramund's strong moderation.
"Then there's no way."
Lindworm is so fast that you can't keep up with it.
To capture Lindworm, instead of chasing it, it's necessary to lure it, and the most suitable method for that would be to use bait as a decoy.
"He really seems to have the qualifications to bear the name of a sword knight."
Rutiger sighed with a sense of perplexity.
The Dragon Slayer Knights were forcing him to make an uncomfortable decision just by their presence.
It's like they're saying 'Do this'.
"Mr. Rutiger."
Since there was no other way, everyone fell silent and suddenly urgent footsteps and a banging sound were heard inside the office.
"What's going on?"
After receiving permission, the knight quickly opened the door, entered, and began to inform As there was no other way, everyone fell silent and suddenly urgent footsteps and a banging sound were heard inside the office.
"There are people outside the fortress right now asking you to open the door."
"...Who is it?"
Rutiger frowned, wondering if it was another uninvited guest, but the knight informing him had an oddly flushed complexion.
***
In the snowy fields of the north, where the sun was quickly setting, men were knocking at the door of the fortress of Bernhem.
"Reveal your identity!"
The men raised the flag high, listening to the words of the gatekeeper.
The symbol engraved on the flag was a steel glove holding something tightly.
"Tell this to the captain of Fort Bernhem."
The man who seemed to be the leader of the horsemen spoke calmly to the guard.
With just the presence he showed, it could be seen that he was someone out of the ordinary.
"The knights of the smiths have arrived."
Knights from the steel-forging family of Baranov.
They approached Rutiger, who was worried because he had no cards in hand. The spears stuck in Valkov's back gleamed in the twilight.