The mayor's office in Soara was filled with silence.
Rutiger, who was sitting calmly in the mayor's seat, listened to the report a moment ago and burst into laughter as if he were stunned.
"They just let the dwarves go? Without any promise?"
"I'm sorry, Lord Rutiger."
Anyone could see that Rutiger had an attractive appearance, but the intense energy in his black eyes was something he was born with.
The mayor of Soara lowered his head because he dared not meet those eyes.
"I did my best to retain them, but..."
"But?"
The dwarves who had worked so hard to bring them back were dismissed without being able to do anything.
Although the report went beyond incompetence and bordered on irresponsibility, the mayor also had something to say.
"They insisted on speaking only with Lord Vlad or Lord Joseph, and I couldn't do anything about it."
All the dwarves had a determined side, perhaps because they were born with the temperament of artisans.
Despite the mayor's pleas to wait, they simply turned their heads and said they couldn't have any conversation without the two of them.
"Besides, it was difficult to ask them to wait any longer because ice was beginning to form on the river. I'm sorry, Lord Rutiger."
"...I understand. You may leave."
He could definitely be called incompetent, but even if he said that, he couldn't help it now.
Rutiger, who had no intention of reprimanding him, dismissed the mayor and looked at the scarred man sitting at the guest table.
"The Count wants to capture the dwarves somehow."
"I know."
But Marcus didn't look Rutiger in the eye.
He simply held the teacup and said what he had to say.
"Have you by any chance persuaded Lord Vlad?"
"...No, not yet."
"That's problematic."
The black raven sitting across from Rutiger was a messenger, and everything it said came from the head of the Peter family.
"You must hurry. Even now, many are trying to recruit Lord Vlad."
"I'll keep that in mind."
After hearing Marcus's words, Rutiger quietly rose from his seat and began to gaze at the landscape of Soara outside the window.
A city he didn't have much connection with.
However, for someone born in this city, it might be a place that couldn't be easily abandoned.
"What about the matter with Baron Alicia?"
"It seems our little lady managed to protect him."
"That's good."
At Rutiger's words, Marcus calmly set down his teacup.
"Not entirely."
Rutger, who had been looking out the window, turned with a puzzled expression at Marcus's words.
"What do you mean?"
"She said she won't accept anything anymore."
Zemina, the woman who had offered Bayezid's goodwill to bind Vlad.
"She said she won't accept anything related to Lord Vlad. It seems she has understood the meaning of our offer."
"...Really?"
But she was saying she didn't want to be the shackles that bound Vlad.
She didn't want to be the chain that tied Vlad down. If she had known the intention from the beginning, she wouldn't have accepted anything.
"It seems that everything involving Joseph here doesn't go well."
Getting an ownerless knight was harder than it seemed.
A city that didn't listen to either the mayor or the next head of the family.
Rutiger could only smile bitterly as he contemplated the scenery outside the window.
***
Neigh-
A stable specially designed for a single horse at the inn.
There, Noir was with his eyes closed, enjoying Zemina's touch, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.
"I don't understand why everyone finds it difficult to deal with him. He listens so well."
"...Really?"
Vlad and Goethe watched in amazement as Noir showed no complaints about Zemina's clumsy care.
Noir's eyes were tightly closed, as if he were enjoying the touch, and it didn't seem like they would open easily.
"...That guy isn't usually like that."
"I guess they're compatible."
Goethe, who was also the stable boy, scratched his head at the strange scene.
Although Goethe was proud to be able to handle Noir, that pride always seemed to diminish in front of Zemina.
"Is your mother okay?"
"Not only my mom, but also my younger brother and sister are fine too. Although it's colder than where we were before."
Goethe, who had taken refuge with his mother to avoid the consequences of the war, had now settled in Soara.
Although the former mayor who had hired him as a stable caretaker was gone, Goethe could still work as a stable caretaker at the town hall, perhaps because of the value of Vlad's name.
"Is it true that the dwarves took the forge oven?"
"Yes, they said they took it as if it were a very precious treasure."
Although he had a steady job, Goethe hadn't changed his curious nature and was always snooping around.
This applied both in his work at the town hall and in the back alleys of The Rose's Smile.
"They begged Madame so much for that oven that, even though they were told that only the blacksmith could decide, they kept asking. Madame had no choice but to give it to them because they were important customers."
"Really?"
Although he couldn't see it in person, Goethe was gathering all kinds of rumors with ears that could hear and telling the detailed story of what had happened in Soara.
"And it seems that Mr. Joseph's health has worsened. They say the countess is looking for doctors everywhere."
"..."
Upon hearing Goethe mention Joseph's health status, Vlad's expression turned serious.
"I heard he's not doing very well?"
"I don't know. He's always been frail."
Despite failing in the competition for the head of the family, the trust Vlad had built with Joseph remained intact.
Vlad thought he still owed something morally to Joseph, so he couldn't be pleased with the bad rumors about Joseph.
"Goethe, can you change the water in the bucket?"
"Eh? It looks clean."
"It doesn't to me."
Zemina, hands on hips, looked at Goethe while Noir showed his gums in a gesture of disapproval.
"What do you prefer, that I do it?"
"No, ma'am, you shouldn't do that kind of work."
Although Zemina was a childhood friend to Vlad, for Goethe she was a powerful figure from the back alleys. Making her carry a bucket of water was unthinkable for Goth.
"In fact, I was waiting for you to call me."
Goethe was not at all dissatisfied with Zemina's instructions.
He simply hurried with a friendly smile.
This was because he knew very well that he needed Zemina's permission to stay close to Vlad, who had now risen to the rank of noble.
"Why did you send Goethe away?"
"Because I have something to tell you only."
When Goethe went to fetch water, only a horse and two people remained in front of the stable.
Vlad noticed that Zemina had deliberately taken Goth aside and was curious.
"What do you want to tell me?"
"A message from the dwarves. You've been so busy I haven't had time to tell you."
With those words, Zemina took a coin from her pocket and handed it to Vlad.
She looked around to see if anyone was watching, and somehow seemed to be enjoying the situation.
"This is..."
"They asked me to give it to you."
Although the dwarves had left without making any promises to the mayor of Shoara, they had left a message for Zemina to contact them.
"See you in Nassau. You can contact us at the tavern where we first met."
"...The tavern where we first met."
And Zemina delivered her message to Vlad as the dwarves expected.
"This coin seems familiar to me."
However, Vlad was more interested in the coin given to him by the dwarves than in the message that he would see them in Nassau.
"Eh? Did you have another one like it?"
"...Don't they seem identical to you?"
After checking the coins that were said to have been handed over by the dwarves, Vlad took out two coins he had kept, one from Ramund and the other from August.
Vlad's eyes began to narrow as he compared them to the dwarves' coins.
Coins that were so rusty they seemed to have no apparent value.
Although the places where they were received were different, the three coins looked the same when placed in the palm of the hand.
***
Everyone in the north shivered in fear from the bone-chilling cold, but the residents of Deirmar were different.
Green grass could still be seen in various places in Deirmar, indicating warmth in the air.
Some elders, seeing Deirmar warmer than ever, reminisced about old times and gave thanks to the lemon tree on the hill.
This gratitude, said to be something only the elderly did when they were children, was a rare sight when the Vatican Church lay in ruins.
"...It grows bigger every day."
Baradis, the leader of the rangers, was looking at the Hainal tree on the hill, trying to estimate the height of the upper branches.
"It's only been less than half a year."
The Hainal tree seemed to be twice as large as when I first saw it.
It was a growth rate difficult to understand even with the common sense of elves who knew plants well.
And not only was the size of the tree incomprehensible.
"Lord Baradis, it seems there's another child who can see spirits."
"Is this the fourth person?"
"...Yes, we've confirmed that they can see the young spirits."
As of today, it was the fourth person.
The number of children who recognize spirits.
After hearing the report, Baradis silently began to draw a five-pointed star on his left eye.
Then, the world of spirits began to become clearly visible.
"Is all this because of this spirit?"
In the world seen through the eyes of the elves, there was a white serpent coiled around the branches.
An ancient spirit said to have originated from the Mother Tree of the World, not from the World Tree of Ausurin.
Although it seemed to be taking a nap, small spirits playing around the white serpent could be seen.
"Lord Baradis, a messenger is coming from Ausurin."
"A messenger?"
Baradis had already seen the white serpent stretching its neck towards the sky. With half-closed eyes, as if just waking up, the serpent looked towards a falcon found only in Ausurin.
"Very well, good boy."
Coo-oo-oo
The falcon, rolling its eyes, flew from afar and landed softly on Baradis's wrist as if exhausted.
As he stroked the falcon that had flown from its distant home, Baradis felt the gaze of the white serpent watching the messenger intently.
It seemed as if it was asking them to take a look together, Baradis deliberately unfolded the message.
"...It's a revelation."
The letter that came from Ausurin had a stigma engraved that only the elders could use.
And behind the stigma was a twisted drawing that made it clear who had drawn it.
"In the blue sea... a silver dragon."
It was a drawing that seemed to have been drawn by a child, but there was something about it that made it feel even more clearly conveyed.
A small boat floating on bright blue paint that seemed to have spilled into the sea.
And in the sent revelation, a silver dragon was depicted swooping down towards the boat.
"...Prepare everything. We move immediately."
However, Baradis was able to find a small, strange point even in the completely blue painting.
A small boat floating on the sea.
"Where are we going?"
"We're heading..."
For the one who receives a revelation, it comes as intuition.
Although it was only a small point, Baradis was sure it represented Vlad.
"To the north."
Baradis wasn't sure where Vlad was, but he soon determined his direction by seeing the huge shadow projected.
The white serpent seemed to be indicating the way with a nod of its head.
"It must probably be Soara."
Indeed, as Baradis said, the place the white serpent was pointing to was in the direction of Soara.
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