Chapter 19 - To the Bayezid Family (2)

The road back to the city of Varna.

After confirming that Vlad had recovered enough to move, Joseph immediately set the subjugation force in motion.

Although two of the knights under his command had still not properly regained their senses, they were in no condition to recover with only a day or two of rest, so it was an unavoidable measure.

"My thoughts are these. Rather than an attempt to kill me directly, wasn't this meant to show us something?"

"..."

Inside the swaying carriage, Vlad sat quietly and listened to Joseph.

No, he had no choice but to listen.

Joseph's usual carriage had been given over to his knights, who had still not regained consciousness, so there was only one carriage left.

"Why do I think so? Simple. Compared to the effort that went into it, the finish was far too sloppy. If they succeeded in separating Jager from me and putting me in danger, naturally they should have killed me quickly. But they did not."

"... Right."

As a result, Vlad had no choice but to sit quietly and listen to Joseph, who was a noble, his superior, and his commander.

'He's a talkative man.'

Having grown one step closer to Vlad through last night's mortal struggle, Joseph was willingly showing him his true self.

Of course, this was probably not all of his true self, but if others saw them, Vlad would surely look as though he was receiving Joseph's favor.

'A very talkative man.'

Zemina had been on the talkative side too, but she had at least been bearable.

When he told her to shut up, she did shut up.

But he could hardly do that to Joseph.

'I wonder if she's doing all right.'

Feeling inexplicably gloomy at the sight of himself sitting there listening to a grown man's chatter, Vlad turned his head and looked out the carriage window.

But in the place he had looked to find peace of mind, there was no peaceful scenery, only Jager glaring sharply at him.

'Attend to him properly.'

That was what his eyes were saying.

A mere squire had made the knight he served ride on horseback while he himself rode comfortably in the carriage, so Vlad had nothing to say for himself.

'Damn it.'

Feeling needlessly pricked by Jager's gaze, Vlad turned his head and looked out the window on the opposite side.

But even in the place he had fled to for peace, someone was waiting for him.

A man with a long jaw, signaling to him with noisy gestures of his hands and feet.

'Talk about me! Tell him about me, Boss!'

At the opposite window was Got, urging him to hurry and tell Joseph about his contribution.

'... This is seriously dogshit.'

With someone chattering noisily in front of him and others sharply pecking at him from both sides, Vlad only wanted to get out of this place and walk in peace.

"Think about it. Why would that be?"

"... I feel like I might think of something if I had a drink."

"That is a somewhat difficult request."

Realizing that Vlad was after his whiskey, Joseph quickly pulled out the bottle and placed it behind him.

"I live on an allowance myself, you see."

"People's lives are the same everywhere, then."

"I can only hope to stand on my own feet soon."

Whether because of the alcohol or because of his question, Joseph smiled softly as he watched Vlad rack his brain, trying somehow to answer.

For a person to shine on his own, many different conditions had to be met.

Not only skill with a sword, but character, knowledge, manners, and so on.

And the blond boy before him clearly had potential, but he was lacking in all of them.

'I cannot teach him the sword myself, though.'

With his frail body, he could not teach Vlad the sword himself, but he could teach him other things instead.

Because a man named Joseph had the ability to do so.

"Well...maybe it was something like a warning? A warning they meant to send to the Bayezid Family by killing you, Lord Joseph? And even if they failed to kill you, it didn't matter?"

"Go on."

"You are not angry because I said things like killing you or it not mattering, are you?"

"Not particularly."

Although Joseph said that, Vlad's face crumpled as he watched him open the bottle and drink by himself.

"Of course there is no way I would know, is there?"

"Even so, try thinking about it."

Although he was sitting in a carriage, Vlad was still in the middle of constant training.

"I told you to think."

Joseph spoke as he pointlessly waved the bottle of whiskey before Vlad's eyes.

Think.

Do not simply accept the situation; filter it through yourself and make a judgment.

Logical inference formed through cause and effect, and the clues around you.

Through those things, Joseph wanted to raise Vlad into a knight with judgment as excellent as Jager's.

Because the boy's potential was shining.

"I don't know..."

Whether Vlad frowned or not, the road back to Varna was nothing but peaceful.

As if, just as Joseph had thought, the real target had not been him at all.

* * *

The city of Varna.

One of the three cities in Count Bayezid's domain.

And since it was also the city that had recruited the monster subjugation force, Joseph, upon arriving here, had to disband the mercenaries and report on the subjugation to the mayor.

His position as the count's son held greater status than that of an appointed mayor, but procedure was procedure.

And Count Bayezid punished actions that overstepped proper bounds without mercy, even if the offender was his own son.

"We will have to stay here for about a day."

Joseph did not belong to Varna.

After completing the administrative procedures here, he planned to leave for Sturma, where the Bayezid Family's main house was located.

And there, he would have to devise a new plan that could make up for this failure.

"Is this your first time in Varna?"

"Anywhere I go would be my first time."

"Now I see you were a country bumpkin."

Jager smiled as if he had found something to tease Vlad about when Vlad said he had spent his whole life operating only near Soara.

"Then I will give you the day off, so go and look around the city."

"Don't get lost, kid."

"..."

Vlad bristled at Jager's mockery, but there was nothing he could do.

Because it was true that he was lacking in experience and insight in all sorts of ways.

[Jager seems to like you.]

'If he likes me any more, he'll try to kill me.'

Listening to the voice's absurd remark, Vlad shook the jingling pouch.

"What does this city have, then?"

Regardless of Jager's attitude, Vlad's words naturally took on a rhythm now that he had money in hand.

What Joseph had given him was a kind of cash gift.

Since Vlad was practically penniless, he would need at least some spending money if he was to appreciate a city called Varna.

"So it really is true that a rich man's dog lives better than a street beggar."

[Rather than spending it recklessly, buy things that will serve you later.]

"Huh?"

Vlad had been thinking of stuffing himself with all sorts of food for the first time in a while, but the voice seemed to see through his intent and warned him in advance.

[Being fully prepared is like having a spare life. Do not forget that.]

"It's nothing but nagging from every side."

Although he grumbled, Vlad agreed painfully with what the voice said.

The days when he had barely escaped Soara and wandered the winter forest with nothing but a single sword on his back.

If he had not encountered the three mercenaries loitering nearby, Vlad might have frozen to death.

[To prevent such things, you had better equip yourself with this and that.]

"Then what should I buy?"

Vlad was chewing over the voice's advice and was just about to leave city hall.

"Hm?"

Someone was carefully tugging at his sleeve.

"Lord Vlad."

It was Andreas's young acolyte, whose face was full of freckles.

"Acolyte, is there something you need to ask of me?"

Vlad found children bothersome, but the young acolyte currently holding his sleeve was an exception.

The child was so small that the acolyte's robes still looked awkward, but last night, that child had faced fear and fulfilled a duty.

"If you have nowhere in particular to go today, the priest says he would like to invite you."

"Oh."

Vlad lifted his head and saw Priest Andreas smiling behind the acolyte.

"I see why you sent the acolyte to find me."

"... I am sorry."

Priest Andreas was hiding behind the young acolyte and smiling sheepishly.

Beside him lay a familiar coffin.

"Do you still have no one to carry it?"

"Would this woman not want you to see her off?"

Looking at Priest Andreas, who laughed heartily, Vlad had no more words left to say.

"Lead the donkey, then. I will support it from behind as we go."

Priest Andreas, Vlad, and the young acolyte began moving that way, driving the cart along Varna's main street.

'It is very different from Soara.'

Although Vlad had lived in the back alleys, the atmosphere given off by the city of Soara itself had been imprinted on him.

But compared to Soara, the city of Varna seemed much more subdued somehow.

Quiet, calm, with few people walking around making loud noise.

It was like a street at daybreak.

"The closer you get to the church, the stronger that atmosphere becomes. Varna is a city with a strong religious character."

"I see."

Vlad nodded at Andreas's explanation and accepted it.

Even in Soara, people always walked quietly near the church.

"We have arrived."

"Wow."

Looking at the building before him, Vlad could clearly feel that Varna was a city with a strong religious character, just as Andreas had said.

Because there stood a building that seemed about twice as large as the church in Soara.

"It is quite large. Even Soara's church was not this big."

"That is because Sturma is the capital of Count Bayezid's domain, but Varna is its religious center."

Vlad nodded at Andreas's explanation.

"Then I will be going now..."

"Since you have come this far, have dinner before you go."

"In that case, I will gladly..."

"And while you are at it, I would be even more grateful if you carried it down to the basement."

"... Since I have come this far, I suppose it would be better to finish the job."

From the moment the young acolyte caught him by the hand, Vlad had already been in Priest Andreas's grasp, so he had no choice but to set the coffin down in front of the church with much grunting.

"I am sorry. Your body cannot be fully well yet."

'Says the man who knows that.'

Though he was full of complaints inside, Vlad answered with a smile.

"I should pay for the food I ate at the encampment."

"It seems I truly have a good eye for people."

Perhaps even feeling dissatisfied in his current situation was the grumbling of someone with a full belly.

Because a personal request from someone on the level of Priest Andreas was, in truth, practically a privilege.

"Poor woman."

"..."

Stroking the coffin that had now reached the place where it would find rest, Priest Andreas let out a sigh.

"A mother's love is like the sea, heavy and deep. Someone unknown took advantage of that."

Though the investigation was not yet complete, judging by the circumstances, Andreas believed this woman had been sacrificed through wicked black magic.

"A cruel curse that used pitiful maternal love. From here on, this is not my field, but the church of Varna will do its utmost to uncover the one behind it."

"If it is you, Father, I am sure you can do it."

Priest Andreas, whose face had been twisted with unbearable anger, looked at Vlad and gave him a warm smile.

"Since you have come this far, pray before dinner."

"Would a rootless nobody like me dare offer prayers in a church?"

"Do not worry about such things."

The people who lived in the back alleys had little connection to churches, city halls, or buildings where official business was conducted.

Vlad, who had lived his whole life in the back alleys, was the same.

That was why Vlad felt awkward and uncomfortable here, and more than anything, he was cowed by the thought that he was in a place where he had not been permitted.

But Andreas took Vlad by the hand and deliberately began leading him all the way to the worship hall.

"Pray for a while. I have somewhere to stop by."

Then he left Vlad behind with his young acolyte and went off alone.

"..."

"Shall we pray?"

Perhaps feeling needlessly sorry for Andreas's sudden abandonment of him, the young acolyte wrinkled their nose and asked cautiously.

"This is my first time worshiping formally..."

"I will teach you."

Vlad had wanted to make a suitable excuse and slip away, but now there was no way out.

'It cannot be helped.'

Now was the time to pay for having acted as Praying Rhimann.

[What a fruitful vacation. If you tell Joseph that you purified both body and mind here, he will be very pleased.]

'I've been doing things for other people all day.'

Through the sword he had briefly grasped, the voice spoke to Vlad in a truly satisfied tone.

"Ahem, hmm."

Having no choice, Vlad knelt down, awkwardly lowered his head, and haltingly followed the young acolyte's clear prayer.

After about an hour of that.

Just as his kneeling legs were slowly beginning to go numb, the door of the worship hall behind him opened.

"Have you been waiting long?"

"... No. Since it was my first worship service, everything felt new."

"Hahaha! As if. Even I still find it terribly boring."

"..."

Looking at the priest, who was good-naturedly laughing while saying that prayer was boring, Vlad had no idea how he should respond.

"I was late because of this. Take it."

"What is it?"

Vlad accepted the small piece of wood that Priest Andreas held out.

"It is an identity tag."

"What?"

Vlad, who had been standing blankly at Andreas's words, hurriedly examined the tag in his hand.

A small piece of wood that fit in his palm.

The black wooden tag looked sturdy, and it was covered in tiny letters.

With wide eyes, Vlad began reading the identity tag in his hand.

"Birth...place, So...ara."

Though he knew how, he sounded out the unfamiliar letters as he read down the tag.

"Na...me, Vlad."

The moment he murmured his own name, Vlad felt his chest fill.

Inside this tiny piece of wood was proof of his existence.

For a person from the back alleys who had not even had his birth registered, it was something he had never dared imagine.

"Lord Joseph will have taken care of things on his end, but in truth, identity certification has the greatest effect when done by the church. The Lord's grace spreads across the entire continent."

As Vlad listened to Priest Andreas's words, he turned the identity tag over and looked at the back.

There, an emblem that could be used by only one place was stamped large.

The one and only God of this world.

The emblem of the church that served in His name.

And beneath it was someone else's name.

"Guaran...tor. Priest An...dreas."

Vlad read the name of another person written on his identity tag.

A person who guaranteed him.

A person who would bear his mistakes with him.

Vlad raised his head and looked at Priest Andreas.

"If things become difficult, come to me anytime. I am your guarantor."

"... Father."

"Now, let us pray. We happen to be in the place closest to God."

Unable to hide the emotions he could do nothing about, Vlad simply bowed his head before God, following Andreas.

"Here today is a new lamb I wish to introduce to You. I pray that You will embrace him in Your broad bosom..."

Trash from the back alleys.

A person born in a place where no one would look even if someone died, and no one would even remember them.

But Vlad was no longer such a person.

"Please take pity on Vlad of Soara, Your newly reborn lamb..."

Today, before a precious guarantor, Vlad declared proof of himself under the Lord.

For the first time since he was born, he recorded his name in the vast world.

From today onward, he was.

Not Vlad of the back alleys.

But Vlad of Soara.

"I earnestly pray that You will accept him as Your child."

Today, Vlad gained roots that would allow him to step proudly toward the world.

The twilight light descending through the brilliant multicolored stained glass warmly enfolded the boy's blond hair.