City of Nasau.
One of the few port cities in the West.
The ruler of the place, Baron Iznik, looked at the report on his desk with a furrowed brow.
"…Work hard to get rid of him."
It was a report that made perfect sense at first glance.
Damn bastards from the north.
The act of someone afraid to mix the blood of barbarians is extremely cruel.
"After all, they are servants who should not interact with each other."
The baron shook his head and tucked away the paper he had been looking at.
After all, it's unfortunate to have anything to do with the North.
It was a maxim that seemed like a deeply ingrained prejudice in the empire, but it had never seemed as clear to me as it does now.
As much as now.
"Baron! We're in big trouble!"
In an instant, the office door opens as if it were about to break.
In the moment of silence that followed the noise, I saw the knight commander leaning against the threshold, breathless.
"What's happening!"
"...Baron, Baron."
The knight commander is catching his breath, unable to continue speaking despite the baron's urging.
Baron Iznik's judgment had already been greatly distorted by a man named Vlad, but he couldn't help but show embarrassment instead of anger at the words he soon heard.
"It's an attack...!"
"What?"
The knight commander fell to the ground with his last words spoken as a groan.
Bright red blood flowed from the threshold he was leaning against.
"What the hell is this...?"
In an incomprehensible situation, the baron's mustache began to tremble.
No matter how experienced the baron was, he found it difficult to immediately understand the current situation.
Because there was no warning.
The enemy was trapped in the north, and the only ones wandering in the west were a detachment of about 20 people.
"Are you Baron Iznik?"
However, misfortunes and accidents always come from outside our knowledge.
The chief's body leaned forward, blocking the office.
There was a man who casually stepped over the corpse.
Shouts I had never noticed before began to come through the open door.
"…Who, who are you?"
Black hair and black eyes.
The slight smile on his face was wonderful, but the coldness inside him was colder than the snowy cold of the North.
"Rutiger of Bayezid."
"...!"
Rutiger Bayezid.
A knight of Bayezid whose name is known not only in the North but also on the continent.
"How... how."
"It has been necessary to work hard to get here."
Although he was not told to sit, Rutiger pulled a nearby chair and brought it closer to the desk.
Though the intruder behaved confidently as if it were his own, Baron Iznik could only swallow saliva.
"I guess the salty breeze doesn't suit me well."
'...Ocean!'
Baron Iznik was able to figure out where the path opened through Rutiger's words.
The place where I felt safest because it was the hardest.
Northern invaders boldly penetrated the heart of Iznik.
"I have come to convey the words of Peter Bayezid, the commander of this war and my father, to you, baron."
The fierce scent that had been building up for so long floated on the man's serious face.
Baron Iznik, a noble of the West and experienced trader, knew well the kind of people who emitted this smell.
"Baron Iznik must stay out of this war."
The black eyes rose fiercely.
In the harbor rose black flames.
With the cries of the sailboats anchored in Nassau.
The city of Nassau fell.
To northern invaders who arrived in waves that seemed incongruous.
An arrow from the North, which no one expected, lodged deeply in Gaidar's shoulder.
***
"¡The road ahead is blocked too!"
"...That's rather quick."
The streets are becoming increasingly blocked.
The lords of the west had been like grains of sand until now, but now they were blocking the group's retreat with all their might.
As if someone were giving direct instructions right behind them.
"The lords' movements are swifter than expected. If I make a wrong move, they'll catch us."
Marcus spoke of a desperate situation, but he didn't lose his relaxed attitude.
No, it seemed like he was trying to maintain it.
"What if we try to break through from the front?"
"Not a bad method, but it's not a good option either."
At Vlad's suggestion, Marcus pointed to a woman riding a horse behind him.
The woman's lips were turning completely white, as if her condition was worsening.
The trembling eyes of the child she held in her arms filled Vlad's gaze.
"However, you might be able to make it through."
The soldiers of the west had firmly blocked the road, but considering a certain amount of sacrifice, they should be able to break through.
Of course, the problem was that the safety of the child couldn't be guaranteed.
"And what about it?"
"There are still some undiscovered escape routes."
The crows continued to fly from the front along with Marcus's words.
However, unlike before, the decreasing number of crows seemed ominous.
"...But don't go there."
"Yes?"
It was a fierce battle with the intent to bite and attack, but Marcus was able to discern Gaidar's intention before it was too late.
"Turn your head! We're heading to Nassau!"
If they cleared one or two paths, they would head straight north, but Marcus decided to turn around and head to Nassau.
This front road wasn't an escape route, but a path to the grave.
"If it's Nassau..."
"I know someone. Let's borrow a boat from them."
"..."
Marcus, who knew the inner workings of Bayezid, knew that Rutiger would have already occupied Nassau.
However, there was no time to explain the whole situation to Vlad who was by his side.
"We're going to the moor! I'll cut through the path in a straight line!"
The group members swiftly turned their horses according to Marcus's orders.
Agge and Stephan hesitated at the sudden change of direction, but finally, seeing Vlad grit his teeth and forge ahead, they also changed their minds.
"There are people following us from behind!"
"Understood."
Seeing Marcus with a faint smile, Vlad turned his head to look behind him.
A group of people who had not been seen until just a moment ago.
However, seeing them suddenly start to catch up, Vlad felt a chill in his stomach.
'…I can't bear this kind of battlefield.'
A knight is a swordsman in times of peace, but a commander in times of war.
Vlad was also in command of the attacking force, but this was the first time he had experienced such a complex skirmish.
If it hadn't been for Marcus's judgment, they would have been trapped and surrounded back and forth as they had intended.
"Don't look back, just look forward, look beyond."
"..."
The world is vast and there is much to learn.
Vlad looked at Marcus, who still hadn't lost his composure, and realized that he was still only halfway to being a knight.
"It's an arrow!"
Arrows start flying from behind as if there's nothing left to hide.
Among them, a malicious arrow pierced the most delicate target.
"Aaaah!"
Vlad yelled loudly upon seeing the arrow lodged in the woman's shoulder in the blink of an eye.
"Damn it!"
The bloodstains spreading from the shoulder become clearer.
The woman's complexion gradually turned paler.
"Martha! No!"
The child's cry holding onto the woman in his arms began to stir one of Vlad's memories.
"…Everyone, use shields!"
At Vlad's command, the Thornwood mercenaries hung their shields behind their backs.
It was a shield made of wood with thorns, their symbol.
"To the bramble cove!"
Agge and Stephan, following Vlad's instructions, began to cross.
Thus, the Thornwood Mercenary Group was in the rear.
When they erected a temporary barrier, the number of flying arrows began to decrease slightly.
"It won't last long!"
Vlad silently bit his lip at Stephan's shout.
Even if you block it with a small shield, it's only a temporary solution.
Vlad was surprised to see the pursuing group starting to increase from behind.
"It's a wasteland."
"Yes?"
Marcus's voice spoke to Vlad like that.
As soon as Marcus finished speaking, a brightly yellow moor began to spread before my eyes.
It's hard to believe that just a moment ago it was a forest path.
It was the beginning of the West with no end in sight.
"They're Gaidar's cavalry. They're called desert outlaws."
When they emerge into the open field, the pursuers are finally completely identified.
A flag waved over all those with fierce eyes.
A flag with a wild eagle engraved on it.
It was the emblem of Gaidar, the ruler of the West.
"How is it? Is it worth a try?"
As a leader, judge for yourself.
Can you stop them?
"…"
In response to Marcus's question, Vlad quickly closed his left eye.
In the midst of the dust blowing wildly, the Aura sent waves of trembling enemies through his gaze.
"There are five knights."
Five knights reacting to Vlad's Aura.
These were Gaidar's knights said to be more capable than anyone else on horseback.
"Can I really do it in this situation?"
"...It can be done."
"Is this confidence based on fundamentals?"
Vlad looked at Marcus with his left eye closed.
Vlad's world, slowly flowing, was clearly filled with confidence.
August's footprints showed the way to Vlad.
"If there's no one to guard it."
"Good."
If you're alone, you can go through it.
Because there's nothing to worry about.
There's only one way pointing there.
"Then we'll see you in Nassau."
The members of the covert group lift the staggering woman following Marcus's gaze.
The eyes of the boy among them looked at Vlad.
The tears that fell from the boy's eyes were carried by the wind and touched Vlad's cheeks.
'...'
A single tear passed from child to boy.
Just like that child in front of me, we all have those vulnerable moments where we can't help but shed tears.
"Oh!"
"Why!"
However, Vlad decided not to open his closed eyes even in the face of tears.
Because now he was someone who could.
"Someone said they are the fastest cavalry in the world!"
"...Who said that!"
Although he knew it was a clumsy provocation, Agge decided to ignore it with all his might.
The experienced barbarian warrior clearly understood Vlad's intentions.
Those who do not yield to Gaidar's outlaws.
"Who dares say such a thing to the Budart tribe?"
Following Vlad's intent, Agge began to boost the morale of the warriors by shouting loudly.
After his shout, the Budart warriors raised their weapons.
"Stephan! Follow Marcus!"
"But!"
"Complete the mission without fail!"
Talent in the right place.
Now is not the time to protect with a shield.
"Alright!"
Nodding, the Thornwood mercenary group joined Marcus as if they were being absorbed into Agge's open formation.
As they watched the group move further away, the Budart warriors began to shout loudly.
"Are you ready?"
"Of course."
Vlad could see Gaidar's cavalry starting to approach from behind.
It's a threat, but it's definitely an opportunity to prove oneself.
The Budart warriors simultaneously began to look back, toward the approaching threat.
A horse racing without pause.
Up top, the warriors of the Budart tribe look back and maintain their balance solely with their thighs.
The arrowheads hanging at the end of the group are as sharp as their fierce eyes.
Vlad found his way in the paths of these ruthless men.
"Fire!"
Sharp arrows flew from the hands of the barbarians.
A special stance that cannot be imitated even with training and can only be brought about by innate fatigue.
The unique method of expulsion of the barbarians, which had been harassing the northern warriors, was being demonstrated in the western wastelands.
***
"The enemy! They're turning around!"
"What?"
Wagner, commander of the 3rd Gaidar Cavalry, was surprised to see the sudden retreat of the northerners.
"No, they're just shifting their advance, that's all!"
"What a strange thing..."
A rare method never before seen in the West.
From the position where it seemed possible, sharp arrows began to be fired.
"Kaaak!"
"Tsk!"
The cavalry soldiers fell one by one to a tactic they had never encountered before.
Wagner clicked his tongue as he saw the arrows hitting with great precision even as they fled.
"What is this..."
But even though he was bewildered, he did not hesitate.
Even as his men agonized, Wagner's eyes were fierce as they dug into the breach.
"Speed up!"
It's natural for the speed to decrease because you're not holding the reins.
The desert outlaws began to accelerate, greatly intoxicated.
If you're going to pull off a trick like that, it would be more effective to close in and strike.
"Eh?"
However, this wasn't the end of the arrows that flew from the fingertips of the North.
"What!"
The formation of barbarians split in the blink of an eye.
There was a black horse running from within.
It was a horse with a bright white horn hanging from the middle of its forehead.
"...This is thrilling."
The speed of catching up and the speed of running.
Even during the dizzying moments of charging head-on, Vlad's blue eyes did not waver.
"Let's go!"
A small northern flag began to run towards the Gaidar flag.
The world that began with a child's tears flowed through the left eye of the knight who had proven his worth.
There was not the slightest hesitation in the charge of knights and horses, pushing the limits at the world's end they were in contact with.
Kwaaaaang!
Such a terrible shock that the sound couldn't even be heard.
Bodies started to mercilessly bounce.
Bright red blood began to splatter against the prematurely risen daytime moon.
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