On a dark night, Vlad lay on a low hill with the soldiers.
It was a bit amusing, but it was better to remain hidden as he was doing now to see who came and went in the barley field in front of him.
"The child who was said to have disappeared actually disappeared nearby."
"…"
The basis of hiding is secrecy.
It would be common sense to hide nearby as if they weren't there, but the commander of the knights who kept chatting next to Vlad seemed to not have that concept in mind.
"They said they dug a very deep hole right next to where the child disappeared."
I know why he pretends to be so friendly and clings to me.
Since he's a knight, you'd want to use him as much as possible.
Perhaps Baron Dalmatia would want to take responsibility for the missing child this morning.
"That can't be possible."
It's a pity the child disappeared, but that doesn't mean we can take care of all of Dobrechi's problems.
I accepted this mission to protect the barley field because I thought it was definitely related to the spirits.
I only accepted it because I thought the guardian's mission to protect the barley field was definitely related to the spirits.
"The young girl was a very straight and decent girl, how unfortunate. Today again, the mother came to the residence crying and lamenting…"
"Wait a moment."
The leader of the knights fell silent when Vlad hurriedly reached out his hand.
Vlad may not have done it on purpose, but the clod of earth filling his mouth made a frown appear on the leader's face.
"Can't you hear?"
"Tsk, tsk. What's that…"
In the darkness, Vlad's ears began to tremble alertly.
My ear, trained from a young age for smuggling, was doing its job.
"God."
Just a moment ago, Vlad was trying to hide even the sound of his breathing, but now he was running down the hill as fast as a wolf running to its prey.
"Keep going! Follow Lord Vlad!"
The soldiers who were hiding at the sudden charge from Vlad hurriedly followed him, but they all simply crashed, fell, and rolled down the dark hill.
On the contrary, Vlad's agile movements in a place where the moonlight was not visible seemed strange.
"Ah. Lord Vlad. Why all of a sudden?"
However, the only thing the soldiers who managed to get down the hill saw was Vlad looking down at the barley field with a dejected expression.
"It's been stolen."
"Yes?"
In the barley field that was hastily illuminated with a torch at Vlad's words, the seeds that had been sown during the day had vanished and were nowhere to be seen.
"How can this be?"
Baron Dalmatia's Knight Commander was bewildered by the sight, which was hard to believe.
No matter how dark it was, they were clearly watching, so how could this have happened?
"Did you bring a shovel?"
"Yes. Here."
The leader and the soldiers were all embarrassed and didn't know what to do, but a soldier standing next to him handed Vlad a shovel and began digging in the barley field.
I couldn't stop him, but I had to do my best until the end to find at least one clue.
"I heard it clearly."
I definitely heard something moving.
But now there were no tracks nearby, and nothing was moving even with his sharp senses on the hill.
If that's the case, wouldn't there be only one possibility?
"…Captain. How far is it from here to where the girl disappeared that I mentioned earlier?"
"Not far. It's just a matter of climbing that hill."
Vlad finally finished digging.
Seeing Vlad looking at the hole he had dug seemed unusual.
"But why is there…"
"Torch."
Instead of answering the question, Vlad took the torch handed to him by the soldier and looked at the spot he had dug.
"What is this…"
"Huh."
Underneath the barley field, they finally saw it.
The leader and the soldiers couldn't help but be surprised by what they were seeing.
The place Vlad looked at with the torch was a deep hole that had already been dug even though Vlad hadn't dug it.
"Did you say there was a hole where the girl disappeared?"
A deep hole dug under a barley field.
Although it was small in size, the depth of the pit was so dark that it was impossible to look underneath even with the light from a torch.
"I suppose I should go take a look. Over there."
No one dared to open their mouth as they looked at the hole that didn't seem to have been dug by humans.
Because everyone could see that something unknown surrounded Dobrechi.
On a dark night, Vlad, standing alone under a lit torch, looked down at the black pit and silently closed his left eye.
***
It's too strange to be the work of an animal or a monster.
If hungry creatures from the forest fell, would it be necessary to unearth only the seeds, leaving behind the houses and cattle right in front of them?
That too, while digging the hole.
"So, what does Mr. Vlad say he's doing now?"
The knight commander who guarded the barley field with Vlad last night tilted his head and reported to Baron Dalmatia.
Since there were only two knights in the territory, he, as the leader, knight, and advisor, had to show his face here and there.
"He went with me to the place where the child disappeared… and now we're gathering the village elders."
"The elders? Why on earth?"
Although it was something I asked for, I don't think it's a great inconvenience.
However, what couldn't be done now was the fact that behind the knight called Vlad, there was a great ally named Bayezid.
Even limiting his investigative authority here would have been a great insult, and it was possible that something even more difficult would arise later than now.
"I think they're trying to ask the elders about their past."
"What happened in the past?"
Baron Dalmatia. seemed a little displeased after hearing the leader's words.
A mountainous territory on the central periphery.
This is because in this place outside the sphere of influence of the church, ancient traditions that have been passed down for a long time still persist.
"Older people won't say anything strange, will they?"
"Don't you get wiser as you get older? They won't say anything that could put the church in front of an unknown knight."
In response to the leader's reply, Baron Dalmatia. rubbed his temple and sighed.
I thought it would just be a matter of catching a monster, but I never thought it would be this big.
"Put someone by his side. Don't ask about weird things for no reason."
"Okay."
Still, there would be no change in the fact that Vlad is the person needed to solve this problem.
It was clear that his sword would be sharper than that of the knight commander bowing before his eyes.
***
"Elders. Don't you feel sorry for the missing girl? At least a clue you know could save that girl!"
Elders are wise, but they may not always make the right decisions.
Especially when there's a swindler speaking in front of you.
"Perhaps he's still trapped in some hole, crying…"
"The knight I serve has no intention of harming you. You're simply burning with passion for this job!"
In front of the gathered elders, Goethe's tongue was constantly moving.
Vlad, who was observing the scene, thought he looked like a medicine vendor.
"Isn't there really something you're wondering about? All of this…"
"…It existed."
Trust in Vlad, sympathy for the missing girl, and even the threat of imminent danger.
"Oh, old man. At last."
One elder finally began to be drawn in by the swindler's well-utilized blend of threats and conciliation.
"The disappearance of the barley has been happening for a long time."
"When we were young, we used to perform ancestral rites."
"The church comes and tells us not to do that."
As soon as one person fell for the swindler's deception, testimonies began to emerge from all sides.
It seemed that the elders were also somewhat frustrated with the current situation.
"But a child has never disappeared."
"I've been bitten by wolves, but never swallowed by a hole. Well then."
The Dalmatia knight listening to the elders began to grow uneasy.
That's because the smile Vlad showed was deep and meaningful.
"What's the sacrifice for?"
"…."
The elders turned their heads at the sudden question, looked into Vlad's bright blue eyes, and began to clam up again.
"What kind of sacrifice is this? Elderly people. If you don't tell me, I won't be able to save the child."
"Earth spirits. There are earth spirits in the forest."
"It's not so bad, it's the kind of person who makes the land fertile if you perform a ritual for them."
"But nowadays, forests are burned to clear the land."
Goethe shrugged as he looked at Vlad, who was behind him listening to the elders.
It was a reaction that Vlad, with his fierce eyes and shining armor, could not achieve.
"Find out what an earth spirit is and I'll be outside."
"Understood."
As soon as Vlad realized he was only in the way, he whispered quietly to Goethe and left.
As expected, people had to be used in the right places, and Goethe was more suited as a swindler than a stable keeper.
"Mr. Vlad. There's nothing strange about ancestral rites."
"I know."
Vlad, who had been smiling significantly a moment ago at the knight's excuse, suddenly began to wear a dignified smile on his face.
It was the smile Countess Oksana had taught him to wear in front of women.
"As you've lived for a long time, there are rules you have no choice but to follow. I understand."
Offering sacrifices to beings other than God amounted to idolatry.
Although the treatment of elder beings persisted not only in Dobrechi but also elsewhere, all of them were banned by the Church.
If something were to be discovered, it could have been a great disaster, so the knight was in trouble at the moment.
"I swear to God that I will only concern myself with finding the missing child and the barley thief."
However, Vlad pretended not to know what had happened and said he would ignore it, so Baron Dalmatia had no choice but to nod.
"Ahh. Thank you, Mr. Vlad."
A swindler inside and a pickpocket outside deceived people.
Still, the reason they could have more confidence than before was probably because they were genuinely trying to solve the problem in Dobrechi.
Because Vlad and Goethe with the banner were no longer criminals but knights and squires.
***
"It feels like some kind of spirit. They say that in ancient times, ancestral rituals were performed for them."
"Hmm. Yes."
It was fortunate that it was a rural area where ancient customs were still maintained.
Indeed, in Dobrechi, there were still customs related to spirits.
"They say the lord burned down the forest and cleared it to expand his field. The place where ancestral rituals were already performed was supposedly the barley field that the captain had dug at that time. Isn't it eerie?"
Goethe grasped his shoulders with both hands as if he were enjoying his own words.
From Goethe's perspective, it might be a boring story.
Celebrating an ancestral rite and offering sacrifices to an unknown being.
However, from Vlad's perspective, upon hearing it, it felt like finding water in a dry desert.
"What are earth spirits?"
"Earth spirits are now a story related to agriculture."
The beings that have been worshiped in Dobrechi for a long time have been those related to the earth.
From the perspective of the people of the territory who lived and cultivated in the barren land, there would be nothing they could trust more than earth-related spirits.
"They say that when ancestral rituals were performed, the land became fertile. To cultivate, one must dig deep into the soil. They say the earth spirit did that. It doesn't make sense."
Why doesn't it make sense?
There are also snakes that live in trees.
The snake even had the ability to change the weather.
Compared to the white snake that even helps lemons grow in the cold north, fertilizing the soil would be an easy task.
"…Anyway, I think it likes barley and lives underground."
Vlad raised his head and looked at the sky.
Night was approaching.
"It seems he also likes dark places."
The barley always disappeared at night.
Naturally, those who live underground prefer dark places to sunlight.
I don't know if it's related, but it was cold, so we'll have to act quickly to find the missing girl.
"Go fetch some barley."
"Barley?"
Joseph always liked to predict his opponent's moves.
He was a man who planned the game, predicted it, and thus produced results.
"Yes. barley."
I didn't know his exact identity yet, but I knew what he liked.
If so, maybe I can make some predictions.
Because there was something I learned from observing the man with dark eyes.
Night was approaching.
***
A completely dark night.
Vlad and Goethe.
Neighing—
And a dark mountain road with only Noir.
"Captain, are you alright?"
Goethe looked at Vlad with an inquisitive gaze. The barley brought overnight was scattered here and there on the mountain path, but would this be enough to find the barley thief?
"But why do you have to put it on a rock?"
"Shh."
Still, Vlad thought he could do it.
I know he's a guy who digs the earth, but he couldn't even break the rock.
The sensation of the hard stone I felt while digging testified to that fact.
"Go."
In that case, the only way to get the barley would be to climb the rock.
No matter what.
On a dark night. Something smelling the scattered barley seeds was digging into the ground.
Climbing onto the ground and the rock, sniffing with its wet nose.
Kwieek!
The remnants of the voice, the protection of the white serpent, and Alicia's amber stone. And even a black horse with spirit blood.
Vlad, carrying everything related to the spirit, finally saw the being that had climbed up the rock and gently closed his left eye.
"It's a mole."
"It's not just any mole."
A small mole reflected in the moonlight.
The mole seen with the remnants of the voice had a faint yellow glow even though it was dark at night.
"A glowing mole."
Even now that the church spreads God's will under a single name, the forest of Dobrechi remains a mystery.
The mysterious name was Shining Mole.
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