Two wagons, with more than 30 people.
Anyone looking at the upstream route, which seemed to have more people with swords than porters for loading and unloading luggage, had a strange composition.
If you add in the sinister eyes of the knights seen here and there, it seemed as if they were attacking somewhere.
"Is that why you brought me here?"
"…Whatever it is, let's do it together."
Stephan, scratching his sore neck, smiled helplessly at Vlad's insincere response.
For some reason, they offered a high application fee, but there was a hidden catch.
"We've only settled in this city a month ago. But it's already starting to get out of control."
"The Count said he would take special care."
"Even so, there are likely areas that those above cannot examine."
With those words, Stephan slightly turned his head and looked back.
There were Vitskaya knights there, watching him and Vlad with unusual eyes.
"We can make a big scene and then move on. Isn't that how mercenaries usually do it?"
"…I can't say anything when you say something right in the wrong situation."
Stephan now knew very well that he couldn't do anything about it even if he complained.
This clumsy knight, who was lost in the forest, had already had a big fight with the Vitskaya knights, and they had been hired by Vlad unknowingly.
In other words, they were wearing out the resentment Vlad had created.
"I'll give you a bit of my share later, so let's do our best. There won't be many cases like this in the future."
"…I'm going crazy."
Vlad deliberately pretended not to have heard Stephan's last words.
Because he was willing to accept as many complaints as he made.
Stephan was a man well worth the price.
"It's good that I brought you here."
The Thornwood Mercenary Group skillfully controls the future as expected of expert mercenaries.
Thanks to their swift soldier-like movements, Vlad was easily able to take the lead.
The idea of hiring mercenaries instead of trying by force with the uncooperative Vitskaya knights was the right choice.
"At this rate, we should arrive in three days."
"Alright."
Vlad listened to Stephan's words and stroked Alicia's amber stone out of habit.
The only clue left by the voice.
The only beings that can recognize the landscape engraved within are the elves, who are said to be deeply connected to spirits.
'…Three days then.'
A race called elves who hide in mystery and are admired by some.
Vlad's heart beat a little at the thought of possibly encountering them in the next three days.
It was a feeling he had never felt before in his life, but the heartbeats he was feeling at this moment weren't so bad.
The beginning of his journey was to seek the name of the voice, but the current journey was clearly expanding Vlad's world.
***
The last day of the three-day journey.
Perhaps due to the dense trees, the scent of the air I inhaled seemed to have changed.
The carriage emitted a loud creak as the road gradually disappeared as we progressed.
"Lord Vlad, we will lead the way from now on."
"Alright."
I didn't flinch from the sharp look the knight gave me.
Vlad followed him everywhere to stop the unknown marauder, and as he safely led the ascent to this place, half of the mission was successfully completed.
"As expected, it seems they are only attacking loaded carriages, as rumored."
"Mmm."
Naturally, upon hearing Goethe's words from the side, Vlad nodded from behind the formation.
As Goethe said, I haven't been attacked by anything during my journey so far.
Although it was a carriage loaded with silver ingots to pay for the tea.
'Are they on guard?'
Perhaps many armed staff members did not show up because they felt overwhelmed.
However, since it was said that the unknown marauder only appeared when there was a loaded carriage, it was necessary to watch the way back to the end.
"We've arrived. I see it up ahead."
After pondering, Vlad looked in the direction Stephan pointed.
In a dense forest, there were several small buildings built as if they were making their way through the thick woods.
It looked like a logging camp, but the fences surrounding it seemed quite sturdy.
"It looks like a place for doing business."
"I think so."
Trade is allowed, but entry into the forest is prohibited.
The elves did not easily yield their territory to humans, and Count Vitskaya had to find his own way to deal with the elves' exclusive attitude.
Although the building you see now looks small, the count's arduous efforts must have been inside.
"It seems the elves were the priority. Lord Vlad, could you watch over my luggage for a while?"
"That's fine."
The knights of Vitskaya blatantly interfered in the encounter between Vlad and the elves, but their behavior was understandable.
Because the connection with the elves was the livelihood of the Vitskaya family.
It would be a natural decision not to hire outsiders for such a valuable task.
Of course, antipathy towards Vlad may have influenced it.
"I wanted to see those so-called elves…"
Vlad silently nodded at Goethe's words and climbed onto the carriage roof.
A fresh, more than cold, wind tousled Vlad's hair.
"Is there anything else? I have to protect him. Everyone, be on guard."
The good thing about being a knight is that you can give orders.
After instructing Goethe and the mercenaries, Vlad crossed his legs and lay back on the roof, looking up at the sky.
For Vlad, who had lived his whole life in a crowded city, this was the first time experiencing such refreshing air.
It was air he had never felt before, neither on the northern plains nor in the Kannor family's fields.
***
Inside a small wooden cabin, the men looked at each other across a long table.
"…So, this is all we can pay for now."
A box is pushed forward, jingling slightly.
The man's ears perked up as he noticed the shallow depth inside the box.
"It's different from what was promised."
A small yet resonant voice.
The Vitskaya knight swallowed hard.
Because there was a deep resonance in that voice that was hard to grasp.
"The process of making tea from the leaves of the Tree of Life requires a lot of effort. It's not just a matter of one or two workers."
"I know very well, Lord Varadis. But…"
There was a chair placed right across, but the elves remained still.
Under the silent pressure of wanting to end the current conversation as quickly as possible, the Vitskaya knight had to talk about the unidentified assailant currently blocking their trade route.
As a result, there's also the inevitable delay in payment.
"…Is the tea selling well?"
Negotiations can fail.
Since they were very demanding elves, they were thinking of the worst-case scenario, but the only question that arose for them was whether the tea was selling well.
"It is. So, if you give us a little more time, we'll be able to pay you in full."
"What about other regions besides the center? Do they also like our tea?"
"It's becoming a hot topic among central nobles, so I'm sure nobles from other places will like it too. That's what trends are about."
The elf named Varadis listened to the knight's explanation and silently nodded.
I thought there would be trouble due to the delayed payment, but it seemed the elves also had high expectations for the current business.
"I hope you don't make us go through the trouble of finding another feudal lord."
"Thank you."
You can always find other lords to deal with.
With Varadis's last words, which sounded like a threat, the box on the table was handed over to the elves.
Although it was only half the usual amount, they decided to accept it.
"By the way."
"Please tell me."
The knight, who sighed inwardly as if negotiations had finally ended, suddenly saw Varadis squinting outward.
It was a wooden wall, but the way he tilted his head made it seem like he could see outside.
"Who is that guy who came with you just now?"
"What are you talking about?"
"The one lying in the carriage."
"…Who's lying in the carriage?"
Varadis looked coldly at the human he couldn't communicate with and remained silent, feeling the strange energy seeping in from outside.
A murky and indescribable sensation, clearly unsettling his senses, couldn't be defined with concrete words.
"It must have been tough coming all the way here, but I'll invite you for a cup of tea."
"Yes?"
"I won't charge you separately."
The Vitskaya knight was bewildered as he saw Varadis suddenly treating him warmly.
However, the elf's eyes were not looking at the knight right in front of him but at someone far away.
"Invite those who are outside to drink with us."
An unknown yet familiar energy.
The guardian of the forest felt obliged to investigate the strange energy present in the atmosphere.
***
I didn't fall asleep, but I dreamed.
In that dream, an old maple tree stood tall, a sight I hadn't seen in a long time.
The colors of the falling leaves were deep.
"…What is this?"
Vlad closed his eyes in the cold winter, but woke up on a hill where he could feel the soft aroma of autumn and was confused.
In a scene too vivid to be considered a dream, Vlad quickly looked around.
The sunset was setting over the distant horizon, coloring the rolling wheat fields red.
"I don't think this is a dream."
Vlad was clearly aware of where he was now.
Now he could only rely on the landscape inside the amber stone as a memory.
It was a place with a landscape that the voice claimed to have visited before.
Vlad quickly looked back.
There, standing firmly as if it had been there from the beginning, was a single maple tree.
"A flower?"
On that tree, flowers were blooming.
The maple tree had no flowers, but it was definitely full of them.
Colorful flowers hidden among the falling leaves.
Following the wind, one of the flowers along with the fallen leaves fell towards Vlad.
It was a flower with silver-white petals.
"…This is incredible."
As it fell, it was a flower, but as it descended, it turned into a butterfly.
After seeing that scene, Vlad had no choice but to admit it.
That this place is not reality.
The sight of the butterfly flapping its wings in the sky and the sunset was beautiful.
In a landscape where everything was fading away, only a butterfly, with its own light, landed on Vlad's nose bridge.
Vlad quietly closed his right eye as he watched the butterfly slowly fold its wings.
When creating an image, use the left eye.
When thinking about reality, use your right eye.
Vlad, who understood the engraved rules of the world even though no one had told him, slowly closed his eyes and remembered the scene in which he had closed them.
"Captain… Captain!"
Goethe's voice sounded faintly as if in a dream.
Vlad finally returned to reality in the residual image that still shook like a wave.
"…"
Vlad opened his closed eyes and could still see a butterfly flying in front of him.
The last breath of dusk passing over the mountains rested on the boy's blonde hair.
"What is this?"
An armor imbued with the protection of the white serpent.
"And this."
Alicia's amber stone with the blessing of the mole.
"And this too."
And a white finger gently pressing the tip of his nose.
With pointed ears and golden pupils, staring at Vlad.
Even here, as I opened my eyes, a butterfly fluttered around.
____
Join the discord!
https://dsc.gg/indra
____