The darkness grew ever denser.
The corridor, without a single torch, was so dark that nothing could be distinguished as one advanced. The blackness was such that it was difficult to see even the person right in front.
In that darkness, Joseph was like a blind man with open eyes.
-Can't you see anything?
"...No."
At Joseph's words, saying he couldn't see, a bluish flame arose in the darkness. Though its light was insufficient to illuminate the surroundings, it at least allowed a glimpse of the silhouette of the one holding it.
-It seems you haven't taken enough yet.
A headless man, with an empty helmet in place of a head, approached Joseph.
The headless knight, who had kidnapped children in the lands of Arnstein, stared intently at Joseph with his cold blue flames.
-Even though the smell is quite strong already.
Joseph couldn't help but tense up seeing the headless knight sniffing as if checking something.
"Wow, you have no face, but it seems you can still smell."
-It's not a smell perceived by the nose.
Although he tried to stay calm, his trembling voice betrayed him.
The blue flames inside the headless knight's helmet curved coldly.
-The stench of death comes from the soul, not the body, Joseph of Bayezid.
The smell of a decaying soul is even stronger than that of a rotting body.
After noticing that terrible odor in Joseph, the Headless Knight turned again and began to lead the way down the narrow corridor.
-The tea that Lord Ramashtu gave you is a blessing, so make sure to drink it diligently. If you don't want to truly die.
Creeeek-
With those words, the darkness opened the door from the headless knight's fingertips.
With those words, the headless knight opened a door in the darkness. It was a door that had been there, but that couldn't be seen, and a cursed door from which one couldn't escape on their own.
-Enter. They are waiting for you.
"..."
The trace of the fallen saint, which no one in the church had been able to find because no living person could reach it.
But before Joseph, who was on the brink of death, that door was revealed. Joseph sighed deeply before entering.
***
"Has Lord Vlad already woken up?"
"Yes, Count."
The Count's sigh was as disordered as his messy study.
Pablo, bowing in respect, did not know how to console the Count.
"We welcomed guests from distant lands with such enthusiasm, and one is in a coma while the other wrecks our land before leaving."
The Count's back seemed downcast as he bent over the fireplace, complaining.
If Pablo had known that the logs the Count was throwing into the fire were remnants of his precious desk, he would have felt even more of the Count's misery.
"It's really worrisome that this has been happening since New Year."
But what can I do?
Things have already happened, and there are many enemies targeting me, so I have no choice but to keep moving.
With a hand filled with nostalgia, the Count pushed the desk remnants into the fire and, lifting the pen before a pile of stacked books, addressed Pablo.
"As the man named Sandor said, matters related to Joseph Bayezid can be left to the Northern Alliance. I hope they will do the same."
"Yes. They would also prefer it that way."
"Good. We'll make sure to claim the reward later."
It was a very delicate matter that the second son of Bayezid, a noble family from the north, had allied with an evil being.
For nobles, honor is important, and the reputation that comes with it is like a guarantee, so it was an issue that Bayezid had to handle alone without any urgency.
"Having roughly resolved the issues of our land, now we must focus on the matter of Vlad Aureo. Have you investigated as I asked?"
The Count's eyes, as he looked at Pablo, regained strength.
Count Arnstein, leader of the central region and head of the court faction, had already heard of the valor of a knight named Vlad through Rodrigo of the Imperial Guard.
"Yes. I have investigated as you asked."
Though he did not share his lord's blood, it was possible that he had inherited his will.
It might seem like an unfounded claim, but the Court Prince wanted to confirm it, and now Count Arnstein, known as the eyes of the Court Prince, had to carry out the final phase of the investigation.
"Lord Vlad's advisor, Nibelun, is from the Burgund tribe of the south. According to the investigation, he is the son of one of the most influential clans among them."
To truly understand a person, the basics are to understand their environment.
The Imperial Guard would have already confirmed things like the sword he wielded and his swordsmanship, so what the Count needed to verify was the extent of the bowl that the man named Vlad had.
"A Burgund tribe... They are a group of beastmen who still maintain their structure, aren't they?"
"Yes. At the beginning of the Empire, they even managed to secure their own territories."
Unlike the Northern Alliance, which had difficulties expanding across the continent, Arnstein's intelligence network had already reached the South.
For them, investigating Nibelun's origins wouldn't have been too difficult.
"And moreover, he is from an influential clan."
"He didn't seem that way when I saw him, but he turns out to be of noble blood... And what else?"
"Before coming here, Lord Vlad was said to be in the Dwarven Liberation Front. And according to rumors, Captain Harven, a close ally of Lord Vlad, recently built a ship that moves without wind."
"Without wind?"
"It seems he learned the skills of the dwarves."
What goes unnoticed when one isn't attentive can be seen when observed closely.
Although it was thought that Vlad was just a promising knight, Count Arnstein began to notice a strange trend around him.
"A strange ship. Continue."
The Count's fingertips became busy as he listened to Pablo's report.
No matter how detailed the information, without the correct interpretation, it was useless.
However, even Count Arnstein, who tried to evaluate Vlad as objectively as possible for the Court Prince, had to pause for a moment at the content of Pablo's report.
"With elves?"
"Yes."
"And the Northern Pope personally granted him an indulgence?"
"So it seems."
"And he was the one who cut the supply route of Absilon...?"
"At least, that's the conclusion of the Imperial Guard."
The Count's expression was filled with disbelief, but all the information he was hearing came from sources he had personally distributed.
"...I was looking the other way for a while, and things like this happened in the north."
The reason why Count Arnstein had not been able to recognize Vlad's identity until now might not have been simple ignorance.
Meanwhile, the Count had been working hard to understand the trends in the central region for his future survival and for the fierce internal struggle within the imperial family.
However, in the northern country, which he had been ignoring for so long, a variable was gaining strength that even he would find difficult to ignore.
"...This doesn't make sense."
After thinking for a while, the Count crumpled the paper he was writing on and threw it into the fire beside him.
Pablo, who had been observing the Count for a long time, was well aware that his current behavior, which was like a habit, was not something that arose easily.
"What do you think? You saw him in person."
Count Arnstein, rising from his creaking chair, walked to the window to look outside.
"Vlad of Soara. Weren't you the one who saw the beginning of his potential first?"
Having finished analyzing the objective data, it was now time to hear subjective opinions.
And now, next to the Count, there was a knight who could clearly express that opinion.
"...I expected nothing, but his light was very welcome."
Pablo of Arnstein.
A knight who preached the rules of the sword master to Vlad, who was just an alley boy.
Pablo touched the shield he always carried and opened his mouth.
"A light that did not shame me to draw my shield."
"Really?"
A slight smile began to appear on the Count's face after hearing Pablo's response.
A point, which was just a slight possibility, suddenly turned into a line, drawing a picture before his eyes.
"Prepare a magical telegram. I will inform the Court Prince directly."
Although his mansion looked wrecked under the sunlight, the Count showed no discontent.
Considering what he had gained, he felt the cost had been worth it.
***
At night, when everyone slept, a shadow moved through the Arnstein mansion.
It was a very slow movement, but each step of the finger was a sharp motion, and every exhaled breath was filled with the fine sound that only a well-trained person can exhale.
"…"
A shadow traverses the corridors, passing by the rooms of the sleeping servants, avoiding the gazes of the guards, and reaching its target.
Click-
The shadow, carefully muffling even the noise of the hinges, silently entered a room bathed in moonlight.
Thump!
"…It's a piece."
A sword was visible to his eyes.
Although it was wrapped in a silvery wave, his pounding heart confirmed that it was, without a doubt, a dragon piece.
"That's it. That's all I need."
His fingers were pale and wrinkled from blood loss.
However, the desire in his fingers burned intensely, and the aged Radu Dragulia displayed a burning thirst for the dragon-slaying sword now visible in front of him.
One step, one step.
Each step toward it quickened his heart. Even though his father had robbed him of all chances, with that, he could become a dragon again.
"What are you doing?"
"…!"
But, no matter how anxious his soul was, he could not ignore the voice coming from his side.
The blue eyes looking at him at that moment were exactly like his father's, whom he feared so much.
"There was a man named Burleigh, who always touched my things."
The moonlight shining through the window glistened against the blonde hair that slowly rose.
Radu trembled as Vlad's shadow grew larger with each step, and he simply walked across the floor toward the door through which he had entered.
"That person used to touch my things like this. So, do you know what I did?"
Step by step.
And Radu, born as a dragon, couldn't help but feel how big Vlad was in front of him.
"Va-Vlad Aureo."
A man standing alone in a mansion where everyone slept.
The name of the man standing with his back to the moonlight was Vlad Aureo, as Radu had just recited.
"I always ended up stabbing him. Kleptomania is only cured by death."
Kwaaang-!
In the quiet early morning, there was a sound that woke everyone in the mansion.
The sound was loud enough to scare even the sleeping servants and guards.
"What the hell are you doing, you damn thief? Stop touching what isn't yours!"
"Let me go, let me go…!"
Nibelun and Pedro, who were in the adjacent room, also jumped at the loud noise.
Nibelun, recognizing Vlad in the hallway he ran through, raised his hand in greeting, but Pedro, who had worked harder, was only shocked to see Radu rolling on the ground.
"Idiot! He's the witness we worked so hard to get, and you're beating him up!"
"Let me go! I'm going to cure that disease of his right now!"
"Damn lunatic! Why are you doing this as soon as you wake up?"
Woooooong-
Vlad's sword wailed in an empty room.
Looking at the two dragons rolling miserably outside.
However, the reason why the sound was filled with joy was probably because its owner had finally woken from his slumber.
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