Chapter 46 - Now It Was Time to Return (2)

Sturma, the city of walls.

Peter Bayezid, its master, let out a sigh mixed with a lament as he gripped the telegram delivered by Ragmus.

"…To think the Count of Ravnoma has fallen."

Peter closed his eyes, massaging his temple with one hand.

He had figured that the recent movements in the West were unusual, but he never expected it to result in this.

"…Did Count Gaidar's family possess that much power?"

"I am told that the families of the West formed an alliance. It seems they were heavily outnumbered."

"Why did the royal family stand by and do nothing?"

"…From our position, we were unable to learn about the affairs of the capital."

He spoke as if he were apologetic, but it could not be helped for Ragmus either.

The North was a place with a stronger distinct character than any other region.

By firmly raising a wall, they were free from the influence extending from the royal family or the central power, but as a result, they could not help but be ignorant of what was happening in other regions.

Every matter had its pros and cons.

"…To think a count's family of the nation would collapse so vainly. And a family that upheld the pact at that."

No matter how much the empire was loosening in these turbulent times, there was a line that had to be kept.

However, the newly surging rapids were swallowing up the rules that had been established thus far.

In a manner as rough as they had been forcibly suppressed until now.

"…These are truly turbulent times."

Through the current telegram, Peter clearly realized what kind of era he was standing in.

To those who had newly grasped power, the rules and traditions established in the past must have felt like chains binding them.

The order of the West had been reorganized.

By the Gaidar Family, who had brought down Ravnoma, the longtime ruler of the West.

The fall of the Count of Ravnoma's family might just be the first beacon signaling a new era.

"…My word."

Having been lost in thought for a long while, Peter stood up from his seat as if he had realized something and approached the window.

A procession of carriages was entering the mansion alongside the dreary, late spring rain.

Watching the pilgrims enter the mansion, Peter bit his lip as if he had finally understood.

"…They were not pilgrims."

Those who were entering the Bayezid mansion holding the symbol of the church high.

They, who claimed they were going to the Iron Duke of the North to see the dragon's traces, were not pilgrims.

They were refugees bearing an ancient pact.

* * *

Standing in the pouring rain, Vlad was moving luggage.

The boy's breath rose white in the cold spring rain.

'The atmosphere is weird.'

Up until last night, the group had been sharing laughter in a somewhat warm atmosphere, but not anymore.

With the suddenly decided forced march, the mood of the procession stiffened, and at the same time, a subtle tension began to flow.

As a result, Vlad, who had arrived in Sturma a day earlier than planned, was in the middle of moving the luggage brought by the priests under heavy guard.

"Careful, careful!"

"Servants, step back. We will carry this."

As a loud noise rang out, Vlad naturally turned his head in that direction.

There sat a darkish wooden crate engraved with a bizarre crest.

For some reason, the wooden crate caught the boy's attention.

THUMP-

However, Vlad simply turned his head away from the intriguing wooden crate and hurriedly moved away.

Because the blood flowing from the Death Worm's corpse was mixing with the rain and streaming down.

'I guess it just doesn't agree with me.'

His heart racing was probably due to the smell of blood.

Just like people who sometimes reacted sensitively to specific foods or scents.

In his case, perhaps the Death Worm's blood was exactly that.

"Good work."

Having moved the luggage all the way to the front of the hall of the Bayezid mansion, Vlad kept his head bowed and waited for the doors to open.

It was a distance where he could enter if he walked just a few more steps, but this was as far as Vlad was permitted to go.

Rutiger and his knights quietly told him he did a good job, patted his shoulder, and went inside.

Even the priests following them while surrounding the black wooden crate.

They were all people he had spent time with until now, but the boy did not have the qualification to be with them to the end.

'...'

Following the gap through which they walked in, Vlad gently raised his head.

With curiosity about the space he was not permitted in, and a hint of frustration.

"…!"

And there, their eyes met.

The highest place in the Bayezid Family.

In the place where Vlad's gaze landed, a massive world that was difficult to even dare fathom was already looking down at the boy.

Completely frozen by Peter's presence, Vlad remained stiffened without even being able to avert his gaze until the doors were completely shut.

Until the doors to the hall, which drew the line between those who were qualified and those who were not, completely closed.

* * *

"I'll get going."

"Sure."

Portly seemed to have had his own expectations as well, as he offered his farewell to Vlad with a sullen expression.

The two squires had returned to Sturma anticipating that there might be some sort of reward or a small banquet since they had caught a magnificent prey called the Death Worm.

However, along with the heavy feeling conveyed by the late spring rain, they had no choice but to return to where they originally belonged.

Watching Portly's back as he trudged back to his quarters, Vlad directed his own steps.

Even if they were both getting the cold shoulder, Vlad, who at least had someone calling for him, could be considered in a slightly better situation.

"..."

Walking down the hallway, Vlad thought about Peter's gaze that he had briefly met earlier.

'I can't remember it.'

It was certainly a striking first impression, but the problem was that no actual image remained in his eyes.

Because only the presence he had shown remained in the boy's mind, rather than Peter's appearance.

"Ahem."

It probably didn't matter if he couldn't exactly remember it anyway.

Since the Count's appearance was bound to look similar to the person he was about to meet right now.

"I have arrived, Lord Joseph."

"Come in."

Having announced his arrival in front of Joseph's office, Vlad opened the door with familiar movements.

Although the glorious hall of Bayezid had not given a place to Vlad, Joseph's office, at least, willingly offered him an embrace.

"You're back a day early."

"Things just ended up that way."

"Right. I heard the gist of it."

Joseph's office, the location of which Oksana had specifically chosen, was the space where sunlight lingered the longest even within the Bayezid mansion.

When Vlad first entered this place, that sunlight had felt burdensome, but now he had grown somewhat used to it.

"Are you unhurt?"

"I'm perfectly fine."

"That's a relief."

Vlad felt slightly tense as he looked at Joseph, who was asking calmly, and Jager standing beside him.

Worrying that there might be some reprimand flying his way.

Helping to defeat the Death Worm that was targeting the pilgrims was certainly a commendable and excellent feat.

However, in Joseph's personal position, it could be a slightly uncomfortable matter.

Because in the end, it made it look like he had helped Rutiger.

As someone in a competitive relationship with him, Joseph could very well find it displeasing.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

However, Joseph was simply looking at his documents without a hint of discomfort.

"…It's nothing."

Vlad replied with an inward sigh of relief.

He was relieved not so much because he hadn't been reprimanded, but because Joseph was acting exactly as he had expected.

"Since you say you're fine, that's good enough, but it would still be best for you to recover as much as possible."

After flipping through documents for a long while, Joseph lifted his head, looked straight at Vlad, and spoke.

"I don't know much about the circumstances of Soara's back alleys, you see."

Vlad put on a surprised expression upon seeing Joseph suddenly bring up the back alleys.

"I heard that gang wars between organizations end when all members are dead or have surrendered. Is that right?"

"…Yes. That is probably the case."

Vlad kept his head bowed and thought.

Why was he asking such a question all of a sudden?

Watching Joseph trying to touch upon his most vulnerable spot, Vlad ended up shrinking back a little.

"Is that why you couldn't even send a letter?"

"What letter are you talking about?"

"To your lover in the convent."

"…She's a friend."

"Well, whatever."

Listening to Vlad's answer, Joseph stood up from his seat.

"It's not that I was unaware of the circumstances during this time, where you couldn't even send proper news for fear that the people in Soara might get hurt."

Walking to the window, Joseph clasped his hands behind his back and watched the falling spring rain for a moment before speaking.

"I wanted to be considerate of you, but to resolve that, I needed time and results. The man known as One-Armed Jack was a somewhat valuable individual, you see."

Hearing Joseph's words, Vlad quietly nodded his head.

That was probably true.

No matter how much it was a back alley, that place was also a territory belonging to Bayezid County.

For a person named One-Armed Jack to run rampant in the back alleys, he must have had connections with those in power in the sun.

Since he was a man who possessed a lot of wealth, fitting his moniker as the Money Bug.

Even though it was built upon the tears of the back alley people.

"..."

Vlad quietly looked at Joseph standing by the window.

And even the small flag hanging next to him.

It was Joseph's office, which he had frequented countless times, but it was an object he had never seen before until now.

'What is that?'

A rectangular white flag.

It was slightly smaller than the flags he had seen so far, a flag sized just right as if it could be held with one hand.

Having been lost in thought for a moment, Joseph spoke.

"…But you have excellently proven your own value."

With those words, Joseph carefully lifted the flag next to him.

"Since you have struggled hard for me, I, too, must reward you for it as promised."

"…Pardon?"

As Vlad watched Joseph slowly approach him, it felt as though the image of Peter he had seen earlier was coming to mind.

The dignity flowing from Joseph holding the flag reminded him of that presence from back then.

"…I heard that the knights of my grandfather's generation carried flags just like the one I'm holding now."

Joseph looked at the flag he was holding with an enigmatic gaze.

Looking at an object he could never possess in his life, Joseph put on a bitter smile.

"A flag that symbolizes one's own honor."

However, Joseph was a man who had made a choice.

That since he could not hold a sword and flag, he would grasp the knight holding them instead.

And right before Joseph's eyes was a boy who could do just that.

"You are a person qualified to hold your own flag. And that qualification is guaranteed by the Heinal and Bayezid Families."

With a surprised expression, Vlad looked at the white flag being handed to him.

It looked completely empty, but in the top left corner of the flag, two crests were inscribed in a small size.

They were the crests of Heinal and Bayezid.

"B-But. I am still..."

"Take this and go to your hometown."

"…!"

Hearing Joseph's words, Vlad felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

His mind was going completely blank at such sudden words.

It was a moment he had hoped for, dreamed of, and resolved to definitely make happen someday.

But he never even imagined that moment would be today.

"Vlad, the one who received his name from Lady Alicia and a squire of the Bayezid Family, raise your head proudly beneath the flag."

Holding the flag Joseph pressed into his hands, the boy raised his head with a blank expression.

However, even though his expression was blank, the boy's body was trembling all over.

That moment he had so desperately wished for was approaching.

"Go there, cut down the wretched things that have been binding you, find your truly free self, and come back before me."

Vlad did not answer.

He merely stared at the flag he was holding with increasingly blurry vision.

"As promised, everything will be sponsored by Bayezid. Vlad of Soara."

In the contract made that day.

The boy and the young man promised that they would give and take from each other.

And that promise was now confirmed beneath the honorable flag the boy was holding.

Vlad of Soara.

Return to your hometown.

Sever the ill-fated ties binding you there.

And reclaim what is yours.

"…I shall obey your command."

The boy tightly gripped the flag he was holding.

Until his two hands turned white.