The window outside the unfamiliar office was filled with the blue sea.
Peter, standing by the window, silently opened his mouth as he watched the sunset gradually spread through the blue light.
"Did you send the dwarves off safely?"
The head of the Bayezid family was looking out the window, his back to him.
The scarred man looking at Peter responded to his question.
"That's right. There were about 20 people."
Beyond the window that he squinted at, there was a ship slowly heading into the sunset.
A small boat where the enslaved dwarves and Vulcan, who had infiltrated to rescue them, would travel.
"I sent them as you ordered."
"Good. Well done."
Although Vlad may think he was sent away in secret, the city of Nassau already belongs to Bayezid.
The ship containing Joseph's wish was able to set sail because Peter gave permission.
"In the end, that guy chose Joseph over Rutiger."
A young knight is still alone at the port, watching the ships depart.
As always, Peter stood watching Vlad in the distance.
"It seemed like his determination was strong. Joseph definitely has a good knight."
"Yes."
Peter smiled bitterly at Marcus's report.
One thing is perfect, but when two people try to receive it.
Peter had no choice but to worry a lot as he watched Joseph struggle to survive.
"…Nassau is a warm place even in winter."
His son Joseph is intelligent and thoughtful, but he was born with a weak body.
It's definitely not the child's fault.
However, the world sometimes imposes an unfair burden on someone.
"With weather like this, it will probably be much less hard on the body than in the north."
Peter silently looked at his palms.
His palms, illuminated by the setting sun, were tinged with bright red.
Hands that seemed stained with blood.
Looking at that color, which he could probably never erase, Peter thought of his brothers who were no longer in the world.
"…Still, as a father, I would like to suggest at least one alternative."
The story of Bayezid must repeat itself as his children grow up.
However, Peter wanted to provide them with at least a small emergency exit that would allow them to escape from a tragedy that would repeat itself.
"Understood. Count."
Peter constantly wrestles with his duty as head of the family and his compassion as a father.
Feeling his feelings, which could be guessed even without saying anything, Marcus quietly disappeared into the darkness of the office.
"…"
Where the nameless shadow went.
Now alone, Peter clenched his red palms and looked up at the sea through the window.
A wide sea that you can't get used to no matter how much you look at it.
However, even if it's an unknown expanse to oneself, it can be a lifeline for others.
Peter hoped that could happen.
***
A group of what looked like twenty people was slowly walking on horseback.
The Budart tribe led by Agge, the Thornwood mercenaries led by Stephan, and even Vlad, who was at the forefront among them.
Those who had left Nassau were now heading north, toward Deirmar.
"That's good. If I had played in these conditions until winter, I would have suffered quite a few bone problems."
Fortunately, there were no deaths, but there were some wounded.
They had been fighting since the beginning of the intense war, so, as Stephan said, everyone needed their own rest.
"…But you said you knew."
"What do you mean?"
"The Northern Orthodox Church."
Vlad's eyes looking at Agge were quite sharp.
How dare the aide hide something from the captain?
Faced with that sharp interrogation, Agge simply smiled good-naturedly, gently suppressing Vlad's gaze.
"It's not that I knew, it's that I was aware."
Agge's eyes began to open as he absentmindedly drank the beer Vlad had brought.
"What's this. It tastes better when it's cold, doesn't it?"
"Just answer the question."
Northern knights, central mercenaries, and barbarians.
The only topic they can talk about is the Northern Union and the Northern Orthodox Church, which are hot topics these days.
"In fact, I don't know much about the process. Bayezid gave me a hint, and my father figured it out.
There is a world that cannot be mixed.
Like the imperialists and the barbarians who believe in different gods.
However, since the biggest barrier that separated the two worlds had a hole in the name of the Northern Orthodox Church, it would have been something that even the barbarians would have considered at least once.
"They say even the ancient spirits we worship are acknowledged. If it weren't for that promise, we probably wouldn't have cooperated."
The Budart tribe, whose power was greatly diminished by the raids of Lindworm and the Dragonslayer Knights, but still, they wouldn't have cooperated easily with an empire that didn't even treat them as human beings.
However, since the newly created northern ship, not an empire, was created with expansion in mind, it was an alternative that even the barbarians would have to consider.
"But they say some tribes are wreaking havoc to kill us too. So, I was thinking of returning to the tribe this winter."
Still, there is nothing that can be done about the long-standing hostility between the two parties.
That's why the chief of Budart sent his son into the world ahead of time.
The decision on whether it would be right to continue cooperating with Bayezid would probably start with Agge.
"Is that so?"
The question was sharp, but the answer brief.
Vlad's mind was becoming complicated as he heard about the events of the Northern Union, of which he had no idea.
I thought I had reached a certain level, but the waves of the world still crashed against Vlad's will.
"Deirmar is in front of us!"
At that moment, there was a report from someone who broke the silence.
Leaving the forest path, they see a meadow where the smell of blood has not yet disappeared.
However, despite the sinister smell, the sight of the city in front of them suddenly became welcoming.
"Huh?"
Everyone was excited to see the destination they had finally reached, but Vlad squinted as he felt an unfamiliar sensation coming from Deirmar.
"What's going on, Vlad? Is something happening?"
"…Wait a second."
Vlad quickly closes his left eye and begins to summon his aura.
The men, who knew Vlad's senses were sensitive, quickly began to be alert to their surroundings.
As they had been working together for a while, the mercenaries and barbarians quickly joined together and began to adopt a firm defensive stance.
"What's that?"
However, despite their great caution, Vlad did not manifest his Aura with that intention.
Deirmar looks familiar to me but looks somewhat different.
"Are we going to have a festival or something?"
"Huh?"
Beyond the fading twilight, the Hainal trees were flickering loudly in the distance.
At the top of the tree, which was constantly flickering with excitement, there was a white snake with its head held high and its mouth wide open.
"Hmm?"
Vlad, who had been observing the strange behavior of the White Snake for a while, was able to feel a drop of water falling on his shoulder.
"…Damn. It's raining."
If you go a little further, you will reach Deirmar.
But as if it could no longer bear the bird anymore, the surroundings began to darken.
The last rain of summer was falling, as someone had said.
The rain that fell before autumn still had a warm energy.
***
"…Saffron, saffron."
Alicia's eyes, peering through a magnifying glass, were strangely enlarged.
A spice called saffron that was gifted by the elves.
They said it was a spice mainly used for cooking, but it had a pleasant aroma that could easily be used as perfume.
"Could this be something like that? I heard that the elves' tea called Absilon was actually a drug..."
Old Duncan appeared more cautious than happy about the sudden good news.
It would be worth it.
I heard that the series of purges that took place far away in Brigantes originated in Absilon, from the elves' tea.
"They say they didn't know, so we have no choice but to believe them for now."
For the elves, it was just ordinary tea, but for humans, it was a drug.
Varadis's explanation that it worked that way due to different body structures was quite understandable.
Although I don't know what the real intention is.
"We can experiment first among ourselves before distributing it. This is something worth bearing the burden for."
What Varadis brought was not just a gift.
Ausurin really wanted to have a relationship with Deirmar, and as proof of that, he brought not only processed saffron but also the bulb of the flower.
With Varadis's cryptic claim that the flowers will bloom in Deirmar, even if it may not be anywhere else.
"Are you sure you want to cultivate this?"
"Is there any reason not to?"
The water-colored eyes with the magnifying glass down were sharp.
"In a small territory like ours, cultivating cheap things is a loss. It barely reaches to feed the residents of the territory."
Alicia could feel it painfully during this war.
Deirmar is truly a small territory.
"We are completely ruined now. I have no money."
Alicia couldn't help but feel angry as she looked at Deirmar, which simply swung back and forth, caught between the great families.
In the end, all this humiliation was due to lack of power.
"My father probably knew that and that's why he focused on the lemon business, but we need a crop more valuable than that. That's how we make money and attract knights."
Alicia's father, and the previous lord, also tried hard to overcome this situation, but Hainal's power alone had its limits.
However, now there was a harvest in front of Alicia that was ten times more valuable than lemons, so there would be no cause for concern.
"…Bayezid will not sit idly by and watch this incident. They also know how to smell money."
Alicia wasn't the only one surprised by the elves' visit.
Even Joseph, lying in a hospital bed, wanted to get up and meet them, but this was something not even Bayezid could concede.
"But it doesn't matter."
Although it doesn't matter.
Alicia had already made a decision, and if she was going to win, it was now.
"I cannot yield in the least."
Apparently, it was said that Vitskaya, located further east, also expanded its power through trade with the elves.
There is no law preventing Deirmar from doing the same.
Knock Knock-
While Alicia was contemplating for a moment, a polite knock reached her ears.
It was a sound so clear that it couldn't even be compared to when the elves arrived.
"Lady Alicia. It is said that Lord Vlad has just arrived in Deirmar."
"Already?"
Alicia's eyes began to shine after hearing the butler's words.
Now that everything is uncertain, the person she will inevitably welcome the most will be Vlad.
"Tell Lord Vlad to come see me immediately."
A man who always gives more than he takes.
If it weren't for Vlad, this opportunity wouldn't have come.
"…Last time, I was so busy that I couldn't even say thank you."
Alicia glanced at Duncan's suspicious eyes and quickly came up with an excuse, but still, there was no change in her order to bring Vlad.
What awaits us is saffron.
The people walking up the hill are elves.
And the person who has arrived now is their knight, Vlad.
A smile appeared on Alicia's face as she looked at the pieces that seemed to have some shape.
***
"Are you so happy?"
In front of the castle gate, where it begins to rain under a dark sky.
Varadis, who hurried to enter through the castle gate, smiled as he saw the cat-shaped spirit playing on his shoulder.
The cat-shaped spirit, looking healthy to anyone who saw it, informed us that the white snake had been taking good care of these children.
"Yes. They are coming as you said."
As the cat spirit said, Vlad's name began to be heard among the voices of the guards.
The gates of Deirmar begin to open slowly.
Varadis, looking at the beautiful blond hair visible through the dark space, pulled out a letter he had in his arms.
"It would be best to deliver this quickly to the boy as instructed."
The letter, still carrying the strong scent of maple, was handed to him by his younger sister, the priestess of the World Tree.
A letter from a priestess that wasn't even sealed.
However, instead of words, the letter contains a childlike drawing that seems to have been drawn by a child.
The prophecy of the priestess, which could only be understood at that moment,depicted a blond knight looking worriedly at a young canary.
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