Even after the funeral ended, Zemina kept walking behind Vlad, sobbing.
Zemina had witnessed many deaths due to living in the rough and tough alleys, but today, the tears kept flowing.
Perhaps the death of the old man was enough to shock Zemina's heart.
"Now you only have 1 gold coin and 10 silver coins left in your salary."
"...I can't help it."
The first salary of 4 gold coins that he received in his life ended up being used to buy a tomb and a gravestone for the old man.
It was a lot of money to pay for the funeral of someone from an alley, but Vlad still decided to bury the old man in the sunniest spot near the monastery.
Still, he wanted to get you out of the alley in the end.
"However, I asked around and no one knew his name."
"Really?"
Harven sent people specifically to ask, but no one knew the name of the old blacksmith.
He was just a person who had existed for some time, like a component of an alley, and it was natural that it was so.
"I didn't know, so there's nothing I can do."
So, he had no choice but to engrave Vlad's image in his memory instead of the old man's name on the gravestone.
The finest blacksmith in Soara.
It wouldn't be a completely incorrect name since he was an old man who made a sword that cut through ghosts and stabbed dragons.
"…But why are they doing that?"
"Who? The kids?"
Back at Rose's Smile after the old man's funeral.
There were people gathered in small groups all over the alleys, looking at Vlad.
"I've been hearing that lately. If you want to beg, go ahead."
The children's eyes gaze at Vlad from afar, whether he comes or not.
Vlad felt uncomfortable and uneasy about the attitude of the children in the back alley, which was quite different from before.
"I really don't know why you're doing that?"
"Why are they doing that?"
"It's okay if you don't know."
Harven was not oblivious to the looks the children were giving him now.
Because Vlad, who is now by his side, also had eyes like that when he was young.
"This winter is colder than last year."
"I know."
Vlad, frowning for no reason and making eye contact with each of the children, licked his lips and said.
"A lot of people are dying from the cold."
Only those who have experienced it know, only those who have been absent understand.
Memories of a cold and hungry childhood were enough to group Vlad with the children who were far away.
"You can survive with just one blanket, right?"
"That's right."
Vlad cleared his throat, scratched his chin, and looked at Harven.
"I guess I'm not good at saving money anyway this month."
"It'll cost 1 gold coin."
Harven already knew what Vlad was trying to say.
"With just 10 silver coins, you can live for over a month."
"There was a time like that."
The sword that the old man made shone, giving Vlad hope.
And now, the brightest being in the alleys of Soara is the blond-haired knight.
A person who was born and raised in a dirty alley but managed to achieve the title of knight with his own strength.
There is someone who did it here too.
"I told you to hand it over to the kids and say a single prayer for the old man."
"It's a profitable business with just one blanket and one prayer."
The sword was buried in the ground with the old blacksmith, but the star that the old man made still illuminated the back alley.
Although the name and form may be different.
***
The weather was so cold that even the breath I exhaled was icy, but the smell of fish, blood, and rotting meat emanating from various places did not easily diminish.
"They say that if you know how to make sausages, you won't be able to eat them..."
Gregory seemed quite surprised that meat was being slaughtered in such an unhealthy place.
The poor quality of the black bear slaughterhouse clearly showed the living standards of the people in the back alleys.
"Otar, yes. You open the door first."
"Mmm."
As always, Otar raised his axe without hesitation in response to Vlad's instructions.
"Do you have anything to say?"
"What about this time? Can I relax a bit?"
However, Agge simply questioned Vlad's instructions in silence.
Agge, being of the free spirit of the plains, was still not familiar with the northern system of command.
"This is the guy who sold pregnant women and babies to people practicing black magic. What do you think?"
"I can kill all the bastards you want."
Agge, as if he finally understood the situation, drew an exclusive sword of the barbarians and laughed heartily.
Although he was a guy who rode a magical horse, I thought it would be an uncomfortable coexistence.
However, the young leader who had actually experienced it was surprisingly a person with a temperament that matched the temperament of the prairie.
"You should have figured it out by now."
"I'm going in."
Vlad silently nodded at Gregory's words.
Two knights dragged the soldiers supported by Joseph and their respective workers.
Although they moved as secretly as possible along the path laid out by Harven, there was no way the black bear hadn't noticed the movements of the approximately 40 soldiers.
"Good."
The vanguard is the troops of Knight Vlad.
The blond knight was the proponent and main responsible for this operation.
"Now!"
With Vlad's signal, the two men ran towards the Black Bear's base.
As expected of the oldest alley boss building, the door was large and solid.
"Sigh!"
Otar mercilessly struck the handle of a door made with strange bone decorations with his axe.
However, because people were holding it from behind, the door swung open forcefully and did not move.
"Prepare the ladder."
The flow must not be interrupted, affirmed Jager.
They told me that even if the attack was blocked, I always had to prepare for the next move and take the initiative.
"Wait a moment."
The soldiers moved to fix the ladder to the second-floor window, but at that moment, Agge raised his hand towards Vlad.
A small light began to flicker between the tattoos on his palm.
"It's time to show it at least once."
Your world is not everything.
The world manifests itself in various ways, and the barbarians also had their own customs and worlds.
"Weak people hiding behind doors."
Agge's tattoos began to glow along with a small recitation to his ancestors.
The world of the barbarians is a world built together with our ancestors.
The spirits of the plains lent their strength to the poor descendants who had to bear the burden of the duty to survive.
Rumble!
The vast northern plains tolerate nothing that stands in their way.
"Out! Cowards hiding behind doors!"
The door began to break from Agge's kicks, bringing forth the world of the plains without any roughness.
The bone decorations hanging from the door fell impotent along with the sinister sound of breaking wood.
"That crazy bastard!"
"They're barbarians! The barbarians have invaded!"
"They're barbarians, from the Budart tribe!"
They said they were the ones who sold the weak and the young.
If that's the case, you can kill him.
The spirits of the prairie inside the tattoo also agreed with Agge's anger.
Bang! Bang!
Crunch!
Otar's axe strikes extended through the breach Agge destroyed.
The soldiers from Soara waiting behind them also swallowed saliva as they watched the two men tear down the solid door with simple violence.
"You can go in now."
Gregory smiled unknowingly at how simple and ignorant he was, yet so efficient.
Sometimes in life, you need something refreshing like this.
"So let's go now..."
Gregory looked at Vlad as if it were time, but the boy who should have been there had already run ahead of him.
"Move!"
Vlad's whole body began to glow, his left eye tightly closed.
"…!"
"Oh no!"
Quick and strong momentum.
Otar and Agge quickly stepped aside as it seemed like lightning was approaching them.
Clang!
The door, which could barely hold its shape, was shattered by Vlad's powerful charge.
However, even from the hard impact of breaking the door, Ramund's stiff body technique clearly protected Vlad.
"They've entered!"
"Stop him! Block them!"
Vlad's sword gleamed amidst the bone decorations scattered everywhere.
Although I lost against the headless knight, I can handle them all with my own hands.
"Bastards!"
A bright world began to sprout from Vlad's fingertips, who had wiped away Anna's black tears.
The sadness and frustration felt in the fog-filled city were absorbed by the boy's world and became a solid foundation.
Therefore, the world that Vlad now radiates is a world that has been established so firmly that it cannot be compared to the previous one.
"Enter!"
"Everyone, enter!"
Agge and Otar quickly followed Vlad, and under Gregory's instructions, the soldiers of Soara began to storm the Black Bear's base.
As the spacious lobby filled with the shouts and curses of organization members and soldiers.
"Listen!"
There were people who stood in the way, but they were shot down.
Thus, Vlad created an area where no one dared to attack, pulled out the scroll he held in his arms, and shouted loudly.
"I am Vlad of Soara! I am here to arrest the black bear who disturbed the city's order!"
A scroll falls with a single gesture from Vlad.
At the bottom of the scroll was the emblem of Joseph, the legitimate ruler of Soara.
"Murder! Fraud! Human trafficking! And even the crime of deceiving the owner of a noble city!
It shines because it is at the forefront.
Because it is just, it has more confidence than anyone.
Therefore, everyone here had no choice but to listen to Vlad's voice.
"Black bear, come before me right now!"
The only response to Vlad's abstract order, which was like a declaration, was a heavy silence.
Because no one could make excuses to the knight who came with a legitimate order.
"Damn it."
"…Shit."
I know that if I get caught anyway, I'll be executed.
However, unlike Jack the One-Armed Man's men, the Black Bear's men couldn't easily approach Vlad.
"Anyone who bothers me from now on. I'll kill them all."
A small aura blossomed between Vlad's left eye, which was tightly closed.
Now there was here a knight who could read orders without anyone's help.
***
"Ah!"
"Help me! Please save me!"
The screams echoed up the stairs.
They were the subordinates of the Black Bear who were experts in killing and cutting things, but when they were attacked, they only screamed and begged loudly.
"…"
Vlad silently ascended the stairs, following the path that Agge and Otar had cleared for him.
With a presence as heavy as an expanded bowl, he stepped on the blood-soaked floor and walked upward.
"Open it."
Finally, there were men guarding the boss's room, but they only bowed like poplars at Vlad's nod.
The duty of the knight, his own anger, and Vlad's momentum were too much for a single gang member to handle.
Creak!
As the boss's room opened by Vlad's order, a black bear was seen sitting inside.
His pupils trembled constantly, and his forehead was damp despite it being winter, showing how nervous he was.
"Welcome. Mr. Vlad."
But Vlad's gaze was not directed at the black bear.
A man slowly rises, stepping aside.
He wore a white robe.
"…Who are you?"
Vlad was momentarily taken aback by the unexpected appearance of the person, but soon he became courteous.
If the person in front of him was a priest following the will of God, as it seemed to be, he could not treat him carelessly, no matter how much of a knight he was.
Nobles and priests were taught that there were areas where they could not interfere with each other.
"I am a person who left the Church of Soara following the bishop's orders. I heard there was a lost lamb here."
Though his face was wrinkled, his countenance was full of brightness.
He was exactly the opposite of Andreas, the noblest priest Vlad knew.
"I came here following Sir Joseph's orders. The person next to the priest is a clear sinner…"
"The criminal is no longer here, Mr. Vlad."
A truly reassuring smile.
The priest, with a smile full of kindness, immediately handed a paper to Vlad.
"Your sins have been forgiven in the name of God."
The black bear wiped his sweat and breathed a sigh of relief as if he had finally accepted the priest's words.
"…"
Vlad silently looked at the paper handed to him by the priest.
The paper had just been printed, and the wet ink had not yet dried.
At the top was written the word indulgence.
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