Now a room that had become even narrower since it couldn't be in the mayor's hall.
There, Joseph stood by the window, carrying his luggage.
He was always facing away from the sunlight, but it seemed like he wanted to see the sunrise today.
"What are you going to do?"
In the landscape reflected in the window, I could see the crows flapping their wings and flying away.
The crows that Marcus had been borrowing were leaving Joseph one by one.
"Even now, if you wish, I can move you elsewhere. It's something natural to happen."
I must leave because what was given to me was not by my choice.
Both the crows and the knights, and even the position of mayor of Soara.
Joseph was bidding farewell to things that didn't belong to him, one by one.
"Isn't our contract for seven years?"
"The contract has ended. Now I have been eliminated from the competition for the head of the family."
You have the chance to trust me.
But now that nothing could be guaranteed, Joseph had no right to hold onto Vlad.
"…"
Vlad, biting his lips in a heavy atmosphere, looked at Joseph out of habit.
A man facing the sunset away from me.
The atmosphere was gloomy, but his back, which somehow seemed light, caught Vlad's attention for a long time.
"Go where you want to go. I will do what I have to do."
Today's sun facing alone, leaving everything behind.
I don't know why, but his expression in the sunlight rather than in the shadows seemed to be a smile.
***
An empty lot in the Town Hall with no one around.
Ramund recoiled in horror as he saw the blue sword shoot out like an arrow.
"…!"
It's painful to see the joints twist and creak with age.
However, Ramund didn't have time to lament his old age; he had to hurry to face the next attack.
"Who did you steal from again?"
The intrusive steps were cunning, not appropriate for his age, but the space where the toes were heading was precisely blocking Ramund's intentions.
Sharp coldness combined with flexibility.
Seeing Vlad, who had expanded another piece of his world, Ramund realized there were more victims like him.
"Where did you learn these tricks?"
It was a skill too noble to be considered a remnant, but there still wasn't a defined path at the tip of Vlad's sword.
Though he eagerly consumed it, he hadn't properly digested it yet.
"Damn it!"
Vlad clicked his tongue as he felt the flow of the offensive suddenly change.
As expected, Ramund was a strong knight.
Strong enough to grow old without dying.
Vlad was surprised to see the sudden change in the sword's trajectory, but Ramund had already predicted Vlad's reaction.
Clang!
His shoulder, forced between the sword's blades, shone.
Here was the original form of the powerful technique, learned but impossible to replicate.
"Have some consideration for your age! Even now, you're making rash moves!"
"Even my rash moves are better than yours!"
Vlad burst with anger at seeing Ramund, who wasn't holding back despite starting with a light combat.
Now wasn't the time to break anything, especially at this age.
"And you said you weren't going to use Aura!"
"That's why I'm telling you to be careful. Even there are knights who are capable of deceiving this way!"
Seeing Ramund's shoulders, as bright as his forehead, Vlad closed his left eye.
To be able to fight against that knight's aura, he would also have to give his best.
"Oh."
Vlad's world, which had grazed but not conquered the blue moon, unfolded through the sword.
"Look at this!"
Ramund, who knew there was a ray of his own color in the bright golden light, grabbed the sword joyfully.
Though youngsters grow fast, the young man before him had shown astonishing growth every time he watched.
"Don't complain if something breaks."
"It seems this brat only knows how to talk."
There was a growling beast in front of him.
However, that growl, which had been merely pitiful when he first saw it, had now become a real threat that held Ramund's gaze.
The level of the knight called Vlad had already reached even his level.
"…!"
He was observing, but his old body couldn't keep up with the young man's movements.
The unpredictability, once unimaginable in its old form, cunningly deceived Ramund's eyes.
'Much more than before!'
He was so fast it seemed he had surpassed time.
Deceiving with his steps and gestures, Vlad seized that moment to leap right in front of Ramund.
"Ugh!"
Just a creaky reaction due to his old age.
Seizing that gap, Vlad adjusted the balance of power through a short breath and began to mercilessly cut through Ramund's firmness.
A blow as dazzling as his own color.
However, despite its dazzling appearance, Vlad's sticky blows continued to erode Ramund's firmness.
Vlad knew well that if he couldn't kill with a single blow, the only thing left was a serious challenge.
"You're going even deeper!"
Due to Vlad's constant beatings, Ramund's strong physical abilities began to gradually disappear.
He deflects the sword and takes the opportunity to deliver another powerful blow.
Clang! Kwaang!
Swinging the sword two or three times more than Ramund was also Vlad's intention, considering the difference in endurance.
Vlad now had control of the battlefield.
"Now! Stop! Let's finish this!"
Ramund said, as Vlad's gleaming eyes found an opening.
Feeling the imminence of a great blow, Ramund quickly adjusted his posture, but Vlad's attack was even faster than his reaction.
'What...?'
Right in front of him was Vlad's forehead, shining brightly after being polished.
The moment that happened because he didn't catch the sword that went flying.
What appeared at that moment was Vlad's forehead covered by a strong aura.
"It can't be!"
Ramund let out a loud cry, but Vlad's attack didn't stop.
What was done is somehow compensated for.
That was the basic attitude of people living in the alleys.
Boom!
The sound of something exploding resonated loudly in the empty lot of the Town Hall, where no one was present.
It was a roar so loud that it echoed throughout the empty Town Hall lot, as if two fronts were colliding head-on, but the sound was too loud to be just that.
***
"...This bastard. Despite all the favor I've shown you, you're still so reckless? I guess it makes sense that someone like you would even wreck a convent of nuns."
"All this you learned from our excellent knights, didn't you?"
Despite Ramund's reprimand, Vlad simply smiled and sheathed his sword again. Criticizing an incompetent for being incompetent wasn't going to make any impact.
"Didn't you get hurt anywhere?"
"Oh..."
Now, seeing Ramund squirm as if pain had finally caught up with him, Vlad reached out his hand. It was a hand to help, but Vlad's other hand, on the opposite side, was sparkling thanks to a combat technique.
"Take my hand and don't hit me. I put an Aura on my left hand."
"Hmm."
Ramund looked at Vlad's clenched fist and made a grim sound.
It was worth praising him for going ahead of what he was taught, but it was quite unpleasant if he did it too well.
"Anyway, what are you going to do? Are you thinking of following your master?"
"...I guess that's why I called you here."
After all, older people can't let their guard down.
As if sparring itself wasn't the goal in the first place, Ramund's question pierced Vlad when he was most unguarded.
"Don't do that. It's over now."
"…"
Suddenly, a heavy silence began to fall on the wasteland that had been noisy a moment ago.
If he didn't know, he couldn't avoid it, but since he knew, Ramund had to tell him.
"I don't know, but the other knights will probably leave Joseph's side. That's the law."
The old man's advice to the young man was unequivocal.
Since Lamund had already experienced and knew, his advice was aimed precisely at Vlad's safety.
"Even now, Lord Joseph, if you bow down, you might save your life. Not necessarily in a prominent place, but in a quieter place..."
"I don't want to do that."
Vlad, with no intention of getting up, slumped down next to Ramund, who had no intention of getting up.
"What?"
"It seems you don't want to live that way."
I don't want to live a life that's just given to me.
Joseph firmly believed that this couldn't be the only reason why someone like him was born into this world.
Because the path he had walked so far had not been lacking or shameful.
Even amidst coughs and wheezes, Joseph was a man who didn't give up on faith in himself.
"I thought that was something cool."
"Ha..."
Vlad shook the sand off his hands and smiled at Ramund.
Now, even when I look at the night sky, there's no blue moonlight that I longed for.
Now the path Vlad must follow isn't the distant sky, but the voice within himself.
Like Joseph now.
"I've been busy all this time, but I never thought about what I wanted to do."
I stole to eat and killed to live.
But none of those things were what Vlad really wanted.
"So. Following Joseph is what you want to do?"
"I'm not sure about that either."
What you want to do, not what you have to do.
Vlad, who was touched by the blue moonlight, decided to walk the path that I must find now, not someone else's.
"Simply, do you like this more?"
"You're crazy..."
Not chasing after someone else, but just for myself.
Vlad, after opening his heart completely, seemed to understand why Joseph was smiling.
***
A few days after the training with Ramund.
True to his words, all the knights surrounding Joseph were ordered to demobilize.
Now the only knights left by his side were Jager and Bordan, who had nowhere to go, and Joseph was preparing to return with Oksana in a pitiful manner.
"Are you leaving tomorrow?"
"Yes. Towards Baron Utman's territory."
Vlad was also preparing to embark on a journey across the city with Zemina.
However, the difference was that Vlad's destination was Baron Utman's and not Sturma like Joseph's.
"I've finished all urgent work, so I decided to assist the Northern Orthodox Church for the time being. It's a kind of pilgrimage."
A knight who was Bayezid's knight but also had the backing of Bishop Andreas.
Peter, like Joseph, could not refuse a request from a renowned bishop.
Vlad, who knew well where the name they gave him came from, decided to go to help Andreas' young deacon and cleanse the evil place.
"But isn't it dangerous there?"
Because the alley was narrow, Zemina's eyes, who was close by, trembled.
I'm not exactly sure what makes her tremble, but the tremor probably also contains concern for Vlad.
"It's not dangerous. The Vatican has already taken care of everything there."
"Is it really safe?"
"Have I ever lied to you? Why can't you trust people?"
"Why isn't he there?"
They walked side by side, but only when they stopped being alone did Zemina's shadow grow longer.
It grew longer, as if trying to catch Vlad as he walked away.
"You only wrote lies in your previous letters."
"..."
"I just stay in a safe place and by Joseph's side, that's foolishness. I heard you ran away alone?"
Vlad could feel that the voice coming from behind him was full of resentment and a little moisture.
The letter was sent to reassure her, but now it seems to have only caused anxiety to Zemina.
"Do you think I'm funny? Do you think I don't know anything? For starters, about Baron Alicia..."
"What about the baron?"
When I turned around with a sigh, I saw Zemina with an expression on her face that said this wasn't happening.
It was a tough moment to leave again, but the only thing that came out of my mouth was not breath or comfort, but the disappointment I had been holding back for so long.
"Anyway, don't you like Deirmar better than this shithole? Because you're Lady Alicia's knight."
It was a word I said by mistake, but I couldn't stop it, so Zemina continued to be hurt by the words that came out.
It really seemed silly to be hurt by what she said, but Zemina had endured it all this time.
"Mmm..."
Though she held back, Zemina finally let tears escape her eyes.
However, Vlad didn't think to comfort Zemina in that way.
"That's not true. You really are a silly girl."
"Uhhhhhh."
Zemina's crying increased as if Vlad were trying to make her cry even more with his annoying behavior.
Yes, it's okay to cry.
The red-haired Zemina was a silly girl who didn't know why Vlad was so busy.
"Even if you cry all the time, you only cry in front of me. Nothing has changed. Oh? It's like before."
Despite Vlad trying to get angry when he saw Zemina crying like before, even though she wasn't a child anymore, he ended up laughing.
Zemina had been trying her best to pretend to be Lady Zemina, but now the red-haired girl had finally raised her head, and Vlad was very happy to see it.
"Forget about this..."
"Silly girl who knows nothing, keep your mouth shut."
Vlad took Zemina in one hand and walked through the dark alley with a familiar step.
The lights of the dark alleys lit up one by one.
Vlad followed the sight, which hadn't changed much compared to the weight of the girl he was carrying, and stopped in front of a shop.
"...Why are you here?"
"Look."
It was always a place full of mud.
Because it was a place where the heat that melted the cold ground still came out.
"That's all for you."
Vlad, who had left Zemina holding onto the mud, took his own stance and began to stand next to the girl.
"I'm like this."
The two people who were there naturally raised their heads and began to look at the shop in front of them.
It was a familiar gesture, as it had been done for a long time.
Clang! Clang!
Since it was dark, the light from the blacksmith's shop shone brighter and reached the two of them.
Although the people inside were different, it was a sound that was too familiar.
"Nothing's changed. Isn't that right?"
"Mmm..."
It wasn't clear whether she was crying or responding, but Vlad could feel that what she was trying to say was well conveyed.
"If I come back, I'll be here more."
"..."
It was a scene that hadn't changed.
The sound of a hammer flowing and the glow of molten red metal.
And a boy and a girl standing side by side.
For Vlad, his hometown was Soara, but if he were to return, it would be here.
"...Have a safe journey."
"Yes."
Still, if anything had changed, it would be the two footprints that were a little closer to each other than before.
Although it wasn't narrow, Vlad and Zemina, standing side by side, remained in front of the old blacksmith's shop for a long time.
The longer they stood, the deeper their footprints became.
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