The blazing bonfire was as warm as a mother's embrace, and the surrounding darkness was as comfortable as a soft carpet.
To be honest, it was so comfortable and nostalgic that he wanted to go there right away.
"…!"
But now Vlad was looking forward, not backward.
Someone shouting at him to get out of there.
The voice of the faceless man was the voice Vlad had been searching for.
[Vlad!]
Now that he had completed his revenge against Godin and the contract with Joseph, all that remained for Vlad was a promise.
It was a promise to find out the name of the voice.
Vlad never forgot that promise for a moment.
"Long time no see."
[…Yes.]
Seeing Vlad say it had been a while, the man finally lowered the hand that shook his shoulder as if relieved.
Although his face was obscured by the backlight, Vlad realized he was smiling happily.
***
- Vlad, Vlad?"
"…Ugh."
The first thing I felt as soon as I opened my eyes was a chill that froze me to the bone.
My whole body ached as if I were suffering from body pains, and the breath I exhaled felt cold enough to make me shiver.
I definitely think I was in a warm place in my dream.
"…Justia?"
"Long time no see, Vlad."
In front of me, finally coming into focus, was a mass of loose platinum blonde hair.
A woman looking at me through her loose hair.
There was warmth in her eyes that took away the chill from earlier.
"I guess you were very tired."
Justia, the paladin of San Rogino.
She, who had been together in the fog-filled village, now stroked Vlad's chin with a worried expression.
This was to wipe away the sweat that Vlad had created while trembling.
"…Did you ever have a dream?"
"Yes?"
Justia's thin eyebrows furrowed as she looked at Vlad, who still hadn't fully come to his senses.
Along with concern, a trace of anxiety began to form in her eyes.
"Wake up first."
"Yes."
At that moment, an unfamiliar voice came from behind Justia.
I don't know if it was because of that voice, but the surroundings suddenly began to get noisy.
"Deacon! Wake up!"
"You have to come to your senses!"
It was a noisy commotion that was too much for Vlad, who had finally regained consciousness.
Men's voices and prayers echoed all around.
Sharp sound vibrations pounded Vlad's ears.
"…What is this now?"
When I turned my head to look beside me, there was Nibelun, frozen in embarrassment.
And even the sight of Jean, still asleep, leaning on his shoulder.
The young deacon, who couldn't easily wake up even when the Holy Knights shook him roughly, could only weakly repeat the lyrics of a song as if he were speaking in his sleep.
"…Spin, around."
Familiar words that seemed to have heard them somewhere.
Jean's faint singing voice pierced through the prayers of the paladins and entered Vlad's ears.
'Spin?' Vlad's armor and sword were warming up with the sound of Jean's faint singing.
It was the warmth of the dream moment when the voice grabbed Vlad's shoulder and lifted him up.
***
"Nice to meet you. I'm Gunther, the second commander of the Northern Orthodox Church."
"I'm Vlad, the knight of Bayezid."
Perhaps due to the fog, the sunlight didn't enter the office even though it was noon.
Maybe that's why Vlad couldn't properly recognize the face of the man whose back was now facing the window.
"Yes. Vlad. I already knew your name."
A man with impressive turquoise hair, oiled and carefully combed back.
The man who introduced himself as Gunther was also the person currently in control of the city of Moshiam.
"It's an honor for you to recognize me."
"Rather, I feel more honored. Let's shake hands."
Vlad looked at the hand passing over the table.
His hands were too smooth and unscathed to be considered a swordsman holding a sword.
"Thank you for bringing Deacon Andreas home safely."
"What will happen to Jean?"
But this wasn't important for Vlad.
The outward appearance of the man in front of him or the public comments he made about himself had no significance.
"They say he's still asleep." "...He'll probably be asleep until night. According to our investigation."
Gunther rubbed his head with a worried expression, pulled out a large cigarette from a drawer, and began to light it.
"What's the investigation about? Hasn't Moshiam been purified yet?"
"There's probably someone in the Vatican who can really tell you about that."
The smoke entered deeply into his lungs and slowly began to come out of his mouth.
"We're the ones who came to investigate it."
"..." The smoke from the cigarette spread through the air, obscuring the light that barely penetrated through the fog.
A city where everything is blurry and confusing.
The dark mist floating around reminded Vlad of the letter the priestess had sent him.
"I will take the deacon with me."
"That child belongs to the Northern Orthodox Church. It's not something you can meddle with."
"I am the person whom the bishop has asked to take care of the deacon's well-being." "Even that bishop belongs to us."
Extend-
The ring worn by the leader gleamed on the slightly lowered desk.
A ring signifying the rank of Knight Commander, a position of which there are only two in the Northern Orthodox Church.
There was probably no one here now who could oppose that authority. "Thank you again for bringing the deacon here. We will take care of all matters related to that child from now on."
"…"
Gunther's eyes began to turn fierce as he saw Vlad daring to encroach on his authority.
A leader of the Holy Knights who is so noble that it's difficult for even a single knight to dare to look at him.
But now Vlad stared back at him through the smoke.
"Retreat."
"…The city of Moshiam is also the land of the Northern Union."
There was work to be done, but it couldn't be completed.
Bishop Andreas said to take good care of Jean, but the knight Vlad had not yet acknowledged the handover of the young deacon.
For Vlad, Gunther's authority was merely secondary.
"I am worthy of being a knight of Bayezid in the Northern Alliance."
"What qualifications?"
A strange look began to appear in Gunther's eyes as he looked at Vlad.
When I thought about it, this pale blue guy in front of me had never even lowered his head in front of me.
"From now on, I will use my authority to investigate."
"What?" The duties and responsibilities of a knight are not the only things he has.
Inherent rights to the articles. The knight Vlad had the right to exercise those rights in this land where the banner of Bayezid waved.
"Since you're not telling me the details of why you're trying to take Jean away, I have no choice but to do this."
"…This is worse than rumors."
A dense silence began to reign, accompanied by the cigarette smoke.
Gunther, the owner of the silence, was not particularly angry.
He was just looking at Vlad with curious eyes.
"They said you were a loser."
"Thanks for the compliment."
The cigarette burning between his fingers represented his absurd feelings.
In reality, the guy in front of him was the one who broke the indulgence granted by Bishop Pedro.
***
"Vlad."
"Justia."
Justia approached Vlad and Nibelun, who were leaving the town hall.
"Are you going back now?"
"No."
"Well, I guess I should rest a bit before heading back."
"...That's not all."
Justia, who perhaps still didn't know the details of the situation, didn't hesitate in her attitude towards Vlad.
She was curious to see how Justia's face would look if she found out he had just fought with Gunther.
"Anyway, why can't Jean wake up yet? As someone who brought him here, I'm worried."
"Yes."
Seeing Vlad pondering where to go in the fog, Justia naturally took the lead.
Vlad and Nibelun naturally started to follow her.
The platinum blond horse, clearly visible even in the dark fog, filled Vlad's field of vision.
"I can't explain in detail because it's still uncertain. It wasn't long before we noticed the anomaly in Moshiam."
"What's happening?"
Justia, who turned around in response to Vlad's question, began to look at Nibelun.
"Is he someone you can trust?"
"No."
"…"
In response to Vlad's resolute answer, Justia could only gesture for him to come closer.
Nibelun, standing alone in the fog, simply listened intently, confused.
"When Baron Utman was there, the city was closed off, so I didn't know much about the situation. But as the Vatican stepped forward, we thought only a few traces of evil would remain."
Vlad shot a warning glance at Nibelun, who blinked from beyond the fog, and focused on the story being told in a whisper.
"But I feel a weak but sinister energy in this city. I don't know where the source is."
The war that took place in Baron Utman's territory was of enormous scale. So much so that even the lord of steel who tried to create the Northern Union was shaken.
However, there were still unidentified roots left behind, and the Northern Orthodox Church had just confirmed the reality of those roots.
"So Jean..."
"We need to investigate the deacon you brought."
Now that everything was darkened by the thick fog, the only clue in front of the Holy Knights was the young deacon who was deeply asleep.
"Although he's not in the best condition, the apprentice named Jean is somehow connected to the origin we're looking for. It's probably a curse targeting young children..."
If there's an outcome, there's a beginning, and following the thread that connects them is the basis of the investigation.
Perhaps Gunther was trying to find the root of the evil spreading in Moshiam, using Jean's existence as a lead.
"But when I saw you earlier, I saw you were sweating coldly."
Justia, who had conveyed what she needed to say, now hinted at the question she had been harboring before.
The question was also related to the curse she had just mentioned.
"Did you also have a strange dream, Vlad?"
"A dream?"
"Yes."
The first thing the Holy Knights did when they arrived in Moshiam was to investigate a strange infectious disease that only happened to children.
The children of Moshiam, who fell asleep when the sun went down and opened their eyes when it set, said they had the same dream.
"There's a bonfire, and all the children are singing. In the dream."
"..."
"There are testimonies that the children told their parents they had had those dreams before dying. If you ever had a dream..."
What is the standard that divides children and adults?
Vlad felt a dizzying sense of despair as he recalled his own dream, which was exactly the same as the dream the children had.
"Shit."
A young deacon continues to sleep in a city where the sun is not seen.
It seemed that the child Andreas had asked for was still singing with the children of Moshiam.
***
"Alright. You don't need to explain further, I understand the situation."
Following Justia's guidance, Vlad verified that Jean was still asleep in the church they entered. Now, they were heading towards the inn.
Although the fog was dense and visibility was low, the afternoon was turning into evening.
"Isn't there any clue, mage?"
"Oh, umm."
Despite Vlad's question, Nibelun continued to stutter as if unable to escape his own thoughts.
"It seems that the curse is hidden in something intangible like the fog. Since it has no substance, you can't see it."
"No, don't say such nonsense."
Vlad ran his hand through his hair in frustration and began to grind his teeth.
"Is there no way? If not, you'll leave here tomorrow."
"Oh! That's not possible. There's..."
Vlad's threat seemed to have worked as Nibelun's amber eyes refocused. "In fact, I also recommend the method used by the paladins. No matter the method of the curse, it's tied to the entity called Jean."
"Then, what about Jean?"
"What about Jean...?"
In response to Vlad's question, Nibelun scratched his head with a worried expression.
"It wouldn't be good to leave him like this."
"...There's no need to wait until tomorrow. Go now."
I thought about lending a hand to the cat to see if it would help, but the cat turned out to be just a cat.
In that case, you don't need to bring it with you...
pop-pop pop-pop-
"What's that?"
"It's a smoker. It's something beekeepers usually use to drive away bees."
The object Nibelun hastily pulled out of his bag, perhaps in response to the threat, was something Vlad had never seen before in his life.
"Why is that?"
"The fog is something that obscures what originally exists. The intention is obvious." pop-pop-pop-
When Nibelun pulled the handle, the smoker began to move with an alarming sound.
However, the strange thing was that, contrary to the explanation, no smoke came out of the smoker's nozzle.
"Is it broken?"
"I tested it to see if that was the case, and it seemed to work fine."
Nibelun's face was turning red, as if pulling the handle was difficult, but Vlad seemed to understand why he was going through so much trouble.
"...Is it gone?"
"It's because it's a fake fog. That's what this smoker is for."
In the middle of the city's empty street, Vlad watched with curiosity as Nibelun vigorously waved the smoker.
As the frivolous sound grew louder, the surrounding landscape became clearer.
The cat's magical object was absorbing the fog and illuminating the surroundings.
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