After the fog cleared, Moshiam was a place full of deep scars.
The sturdy walls collapsed, and the square that was the city's center was ravaged without a trace.
What the Northern Allied Forces, who hurried to face the disaster that occurred in Moshiam, received was the sight of a city that had collapsed so miserably that it could almost be described as half-destroyed.
"...So, is this scene just the work of two people?"
The Iron Lord silently scratched his eyebrows as he looked at the city with all sorts of debris flying around.
"Does that make sense?"
It was a report hard to accept.
Even if the army had entered and destroyed the place, they couldn't have done it in that manner, and all that accomplished by just two individuals.
"And one of them is the Bayezid boy?"
"...According to the testimony of Gunther, head of the Order of the Knights of the Orthodox Church, that's correct."
After hearing Valkov's report, the Iron Duke couldn't help but laugh incredulously.
However unbelievable it may be, there was no room for doubt as the leader of the Order of the Northern Orthodox Church was clearly testifying.
"I don't know how to interpret this... I have no idea."
After hearing Valkov's report, the Iron Lord laughed as if dumbfounded.
Yet, no matter how unbelievable it may be, there won't be any room for doubt as the Commander of the Knights of the Northern Orthodox Church was clearly testifying.
"How should I accept this? I have no clue."
Timur, treading on the remnants of a building, looked towards Moshiam's square in the distance.
There, a golden tree stood alone amidst the pitiful remains.
It was the only thing clearly standing out in this city that had lost all color.
Gunther, the leader of the Holy Knights, was testifying.
There was a knight who created his own world in a city where everything was distorted.
Now, his name will surely be remembered even by the most powerful people in the North.
The knight's name was Vlad of Soara.
***
"Where's Bishop Pedro?"
Vlad sat on the windowsill, sipping tea.
Though his trembling hands could barely hold the teacup, his eyes had fully regained their brightness.
"Well, I don't know where he went."
"Weren't you with him until the end?"
"Yes, I was."
Pop, pop, pop...
After checking the fumigator he had last used, Nibelun replied as he packed the magical tools into his backpack.
Though the volume of the tools seemed too much for the bag, it absorbed them effortlessly, prompting Vlad to look on with curiosity.
"He said he was going to the bathroom when he saw the allied troops entering and hasn't returned since."
"He's escaped."
Vlad frowned after pouring the tea he was supposed to savor and drank it in one gulp.
Seems like wood and stone, but acts like a fox.
I felt it during the indulgence incident, but he was someone who couldn't let his guard down.
"I would have needed that person to know the true story."
As Vlad said, while the imminent situation might be considered resolved, nothing had been discovered about the person who truly caused this situation.
Not just the purpose of ruining the city in this manner, but also their name.
Nibelun rummaged through his sleeves as he looked at Vlad, who pursed his lips in disappointment.
"Actually, something like this fell beneath the tree."
"What's this?"
Nibelun, a mage who pursued mysteries.
Normally, mages considered the mysterious clues they uncovered as treasures and wouldn't easily show them to others, but Nibelun didn't do that to Vlad.
"I'm not sure, but it doesn't seem out of the ordinary."
What Nibelun handed over were fragments of something that looked like pieces of glass.
The pieces, resembling broken beads, felt familiar to Vlad without him knowing why.
"I've been investigating for a while. Is it okay to take it without permission?"
"Doesn't what falls to the ground originally have an owner?"
"Well, that's true."
It was indeed a response akin to that of a beast-man, and the understanding of someone from the alley.
"I don't know what this is."
"I could just sense that there was something there. It broke so cruelly."
There was no way he could have known that he was being watched, but Vlad, still bored, looked at the glass shards in the sunlight.
Inside the shining fragment, there was an intense blue color.
[It's a seed.]
"Huh?"
A piece of broken glass but still containing a mysterious light.
Kihano, looking through Vlad's vision, immediately recognized the nature of the shard.
[Look at it through the world. Other knights might not see it, but you should be able to recognize it.]
Ordinary knights might not recognize it, but Vlad, who had been influenced by Kihano's world, might.
"…"
At his words, Vlad quietly closed his left eye and looked at the shard he held through his inner world.
Vlad's world was now firmly established to the point where it could extend to the rest of the world.
"Eh?"
The glass shards seen in that world contained a single scene.
The sight of waves crashing over the deep blue sea.
The tree standing on the cliff at the end of the sea looked at the young spirits swimming beneath the waves.
They were spirits that resembled creatures called squids, of which Harven had spoken to him about.
"This is…"
A brief but intense blue memory from fragments.
Vlad, faced with that scene, could recognize that it was similar to the feeling he had when he saw Hainal's relic.
[I thought it was an unusual tree, but it turned out like this.]
After hearing Kihano's words, Vlad could determine whether what he held was a fragment of something.
The hill of Deirmar where the white snake was.
A yellow amber stone that was a relic of Hainal. And in the forest of Dobrechi, where the troll was.
There was always a tree standing in each place.
"…I must catch that woman."
"Yes?"
Just like the trees containing spirits, the upside-down tree also contained the souls of the children.
Even if the direction was wrong.
Vlad looked at the core of the spiritual tree that had been horribly broken and grasped it carefully.
Knock knock.
"Come in."
Though he wasn't the room's owner, the door opened when Nibelun told him to enter.
"Are you feeling alright?"
It was the young deacon of Andreas, Jean, who called out from the door.
Vlad quickly relaxed his frown as he looked at Jean dressed in a pure white robe.
"How are you, Deacon?"
"I'm fine. They must have done something."
Though he shyly lowered his head and said he hadn't done anything, Vlad remembered Jean resisting the singing voice of the woman.
"I'm here to tell you that the funeral is already prepared. If you're still not feeling well…"
"No."
Vlad got up from his seat with a buzz.
Vlad reached out to the armor next to the bed and, smiling at Jean who was waiting, replied:
"It's the last time I'll see Miss Justia, so I want to bid her farewell."
"Understood."
Though he had said he would go, Jean, a young deacon, approached to help Vlad put on the armor, as he was still struggling to do it alone.
The bright yellow sunlight streaming through the window fell on the backs of the two.
Nibelun, silently watching them, raised his teacup as he looked at the church in the distance.
***
Ding Dong!
The bell of Moshiam rang alongside a paladin neatly dressed in armor.
Although the bell was crushed after falling from the bell tower, it still served its original function.
"It's all destroyed."
"But the first floor remains intact. That's good."
The church was completely destroyed from the second floor up, but as Jean said, the first floor, where the chapel was located, miraculously remained intact.
-Form a line slowly!
-Injured people to the side!
Therefore, it was the only place where people could gather.
The allied soldiers couldn't hide their surprise at the fact that so many survivors still remained in Moshiam.
"It's Vlad of Bayezid. Please make way."
Upon hearing Jean's words, the soldiers began to look at Vlad with surprise.
Even the inhabitants of Moshiam who were nearby.
"It's an honor to meet you!"
The movement of the soldiers who cleared the way was deliberate.
For the people here, it was just one night, but for those outside, it was a long period of two months.
The soldiers, who were not well acquainted with the details, now misinterpreted Vlad as a hero who had protected Moshiam from demons during that long time.
"Have you come?"
"It is an honor to meet you, Duke."
And Timur, the Iron Lord, who awaited Vlad in front of the church, didn't bother to correct the misunderstanding.
For healing deep wounds, there must be some joy.
At that moment, when the city of Moshiam was destroyed and the prestige of the North was considerably diminished, there were only two advancements that could calm the very moved public sentiment: the Orthodox Holy Knights and a knight named Vlad.
"I can finally see in person the rumored star of the North. Of course, I've heard of you through Valkov for a long time."
Vlad recognized the knight standing next to Timur and nodded slightly.
The person currently accompanying Timur was Valkov, wielding a lance, whom he had seen in the past during the subjugation of Lindworm.
"Come in."
"Yes."
Timur embraced him by the shoulders without hesitation, but Vlad wasn't embarrassed at all.
Because Vlad's mind was already filled with the last image of Justia, who had blocked his sword, rather than the noble duke's will.
-Duke Baranov is entering!
The chapel, following the debris that had not yet been removed, was already filled with people in armor.
Knights of seven families gathered under the name of the Northern Alliance.
Bayezid and the knights of Hainal, who already knew each other, nodded as if they were proud to see Vlad enter with the Iron Lord Timur.
"Stand by my side. You deserve it."
"..."
When Timur said he was qualified, Vlad bowed his head unable to respond.
Vlad had always sought the right to be proud, but now he felt ashamed by those words.
Those who are truly qualified are the ones clearly in front of me right now.
-Today we are here to send off those who have done noble deeds.
The person by his side is the only Duke of the North, and the elder in front is the noble Orthodox Pope.
These were huge connections that anyone would want, but Vlad simply directed his gaze to the single coffin lying before him.
Her platinum blonde hair, shining in the sunlight, had not changed at all since the first time they met.
-We will always remember those who fulfilled their duty even in the face of great evil.
The funeral of saints and priests conducted under the office of the Pope.
However, the Pope's voice, gradually spreading, will reach people outside the Church.
This place today was for everyone in Moshiam, regardless of who they belonged to.
"..."
The pope was saying something at the front, but Vlad only absently stared at Justia's coffin.
The noble paladin who died embracing him.
Although they didn't share much time together, Vlad had received a lot from her and now had forever lost the chance to repay those debts.
"Let's go."
"Yes."
As the engraved wound was deep, the caress he received was as formal as possible.
After the Northern knights finished paying tribute to the dead, the only people left were the Iron Lord and Vlad.
"Don't be too surprised."
"Yes?"
Vlad, ascending the stairs, questioned Timur's insinuating words, but he merely smiled and looked at the Pope in front of him.
"You said you'd give it to me, so accept it with gratitude."
Timur, who left an unintelligible comment, carefully laid down the flowers he held and began to bow his head to those lying down.
"..."
The priests praying for Jean and Vlad, and the paladins who raised their swords against the wicked woman.
Vlad, who had been placing flowers for them one by one, finally stopped in front of Justia's coffin.
"Thank you. Justia."
Even as Anna wiped away the black tears, she remained behind Vlad.
But now, Vlad had to carefully leave the flower he held for her in front of him.
The salty taste of the apple she had peeled for him seemed to linger on the tip of his tongue.
"Vlad of Bayezid. The knight who protected Moshiam."
Vlad carefully placed the last flower he held on Justia and watched the Pope approach him.
Wrinkles that appeared as naturally as a smile that had been worn for a long time.
"Are you sad?"
"Yes?"
Even now, the old Pope smiled as he looked into Vlad's eyes that fluttered constantly.
"We all have to leave someday."
The Pope approached Vlad, silently looked at his chest, and spoke.
"We have to leave someday, but the reason we don't feel empty is because we leave something behind."
"Yes?"
The Pope's fingertips were already caressing Vlad's armor.
The place where his fingers touched was where Vlad's pride had been, even though he had changed his armor.
"Justia said I should pass this message on to you."
A knight who saved the lives of children.
The words given as a gift by Saint Rogino were still engraved on Vlad's chest.
It was a phrase that Justia gave to the boy who climbed the bell tower under the heavy rain.
"Although Justia stood by your side, she ended up leaving something behind."
Click-
A pure white smoke began to rise from the palm of the Pope, covering the words.
"…!!"
Vlad felt puzzled as he felt his armor heating up, but the expression on the Pope's face as he transferred it was simply calm.
"I hope they become a testimony for all who have died."
The dead leave, but those who remain must carry the burden.
Pope Konrad began to engrave another message in Vlad's heart for those who were like his children.
Convinced that their deaths will shine under his current name.
"I believe you will. Vlad of Soara."
"...Pope."
Vlad's eyes widened as he looked at his warmed breastplate.
As the white smoke dissipates, what is seen are two newly engraved words below the text that Justia gifted.
The knight who protected the lives of children.
Vlad.
Vlad Aureo. [1]
"Your birth name will be Vlad, but under His name, you will be Aureo."
There was a boy who couldn't even shout his name correctly.
But now his name was always followed by a shining word.
The words, with the knights of seven families as witnesses, were a name that would live forever in Vlad's blood.
T/N:(1): "Aureo" is an adjective that means "golden" or "gilded." It is used to describe something that has a golden color or a valuable and precious quality like gold. In the context of the text, "Vlad Aureo" could refer to Vlad with a golden quality, symbolizing nobility, valor, or excellence.
____
Join the discord!
https://dsc.gg/indra
____