Chapter 53 - In the New Soara (1)

A certain street in the back alleys, dyed in the colors of the night.

Bang! Bang!

The chopping sound of cutting through bone and severing sinew was waking the quiet alley.

Accompanied by the unidentifiable bones hanging here and there in the shop, the sound made the atmosphere of this place dreary.

"Is the owner here?"

"... What is it?"

Pushing aside the meat hanging everywhere, two men walked into the butcher shop.

The butcher shop owner, who had been chopping meat for a while, frowned as he looked at the two men filling the doorway.

"Where does a brat still wet behind the ears get off talking down to an adult?"

Displeased that a greenhorn who seemed to have just shed his boyish looks was speaking informally to him, the owner spat out the sinew he was chewing and growled.

"Is that how your parents raised you?"

"It's been a while since I've seen someone ask about parents around here."

Shrugging, Vlad pulled back his hood and handed a small slip of paper to the owner.

Upon seeing the boy's blond hair, which didn't fit the atmosphere of this place, and the note covered in tiny handwriting, the owner's face seemed to stiffen a bit.

"Well, what about these people?"

"Nothing, just wondering if you've seen them."

"Why come to a butcher shop looking for people? We don't sell people here."

"Is that so?"

Vlad smiled as he watched the owner chopping meat while pretending not to notice him.

'This is the place.'

"I'm asking because I'm a local who just recently came back, but was this place always a butcher shop?"

"Go ask Black Bear about that. I already got permission."

The pig slaughterer, Black Bear.

The name of another boss who oversaw the back alleys had popped out, but Vlad merely smiled as if he found it laughable.

That level of name value alone could no longer shake the boy.

"Then I'll ask about that later."

Vlad leaned over the workbench and brought his face right up to the butcher shop owner.

Shoving his face toward someone swinging a knife at meat was undoubtedly dangerous, but every single movement the boy made carried an inexplicable sense of weight.

"... But it's really fascinating."

"What is."

Looking into the blue eyes staring straight at him, the owner unconsciously swallowed hard.

He had definitely thought the boy was just a soft-chinned greenhorn when he first saw him, but before he knew it, the boy was controlling the atmosphere of the room with just a few words.

"If you're going to buy something, buy it. Otherwise, get out right—"

"How did you know the things written on the note were people's names?"

At the boy's question, the knife that had been about to strike came to a halt.

Only the sound of the chains Vlad had playfully pushed aside rang out quietly.

A strange silence circled the inside of the butcher shop.

"It's not exactly easy to learn how to read around here."

"..."

CREAK!

With his meat cleaver still raised, the owner merely rolled his eyes to look at the boy in front of him.

To be exact, he was looking at the dark-skinned man standing behind the boy.

That man had just closed the shop door.

"I asked around and came all the way here, so you could at least give me an answer."

As he looked at the owner watching him with nervous eyes, the corner of Vlad's mouth curled up.

"Do you sell actual people, not just human meat?"

"Ah, fuck!"

The owner swiftly swung the cleaver he was holding, but Vlad simply tilted his head back as if he had already expected it.

It was a sharp strike unfitting for a mere butcher shop owner, but the boy now stood at the threshold of a knight.

"He says business is closed for today, Otar."

"Mm."

The dark-skinned man. Otar.

Officially the assistant to the acting guard captain, he pulled out the handaxe he was wearing.

"Who the hell are you! Where did you come from!"

"... Where did we come from?"

As the door closed and the light from outside was blocked off, only the candles lit by the owner flickered inside the butcher shop.

Faint lights flickering in the dark.

It was the color of the back alleys.

"That's exactly what I'd like to ask."

Those lights cast heavy shadows across the boy's face.

CHOP! CHOP!

Inside the tightly shut butcher shop, the sound of chopping meat and bone could still be heard.

The only difference from earlier was that someone's cries were mixed in with the sound.

* * *

A street in the back alleys just before dawn broke.

Vlad sat in front of a street vendor who was just about to close up shop and picked up a skewer.

"You have one too."

"Mm."

The two men sitting there took bites of their skewers and began maintaining the weapons they were each holding.

Otar's bloodstained handaxe.

And Jorge's dagger, which only Vlad could wield now.

The weapons suited for use in the back alleys had finished their day's work and were now having the blood wiped away by their owners' hands.

"When did a guy like that move in?"

"One-Armed Jack hadn't been managing things well lately."

"Did he mess things up that badly?"

"... He really became a different person after that day."

Otar, who had been Jack's lackey, didn't seem to want to criticize him all the way to the end.

No matter the outcome, Jack had been the only person in the back alleys who had taken in someone with a different skin color.

"Well, the higher-ups will figure out the details."

The man disguised as a butcher shop owner had spoken.

He had claimed that he was merely a middleman recruiter and that the slave traders would know the details.

Although they hadn't heard anything about Anna, it ultimately meant that people had been secretly sold off in the corners of the back alleys all this time.

"Still, since we've confirmed their reality, I wonder if this will be enough..."

It was something that had started lightly, and he hadn't expected it to be an incident with such deep roots.

If it hadn't been for Vlad, it might have been buried and dismissed as just another incident in the back alleys, as things always were.

Light and darkness, the marginalized and the radiant.

The boy was still standing on the line that divided that boundary.

"Vlad! Hyung!"

A familiar boy's voice reached the ears of Vlad, who had been lost in thought for a while.

From the far end of the alley, a dark-skinned boy came sprinting over in a hurry.

"Pant... Pant. Ugh."

"I'm not running away anywhere."

Vlad shoved a skewer into the mouth of the boy who had been running so hard.

It was the rightful payment the boy deserved to receive.

"Did you look into what I asked?"

"Heh... Some kids said they saw it."

'Indeed.'

Vlad and Otar met each other's eyes and nodded.

Just as birds hear the words of the day and mice hear the words of the night, the floating rumors of the back alleys were bound to enter the eyes and ears of young vagabonds.

"What did they see."

"The woman you're looking for, Vlad. You said her name was Anna, right?"

"I did."

Ned took a bite of the skewer Vlad had handed him and replied with a triumphant expression.

"One of the kids said they saw that woman getting into a carriage they'd never seen before about a month ago. But they said it was a little strange."

"What was?"

Instead of answering, Ned shoved his palm out at Vlad.

"... You trained your little brother well."

"Mm."

In order to survive in a back alley that was like a muddy mire, even the youngest kids had to become shrewd.

Because the two of them knew that well, they simply nodded without getting angry.

"One more skewer over here."

"What was strange was."

Along with Vlad's order, Ned began to speak.

The little mouse that scoured the floors of the back alleys had accurately brought back the information Vlad wanted.

"They said all the women getting into that carriage were pregnant."

"What?"

To anyone else, Ned's words would have just sounded like a strange occurrence, but for Vlad, they were words that brought something to mind.

"... They were all pregnant?"

"They said all the women getting in the carriage had swollen bellies. Really weird, right? I can't believe someone would buy pregnant women who can't even work."

"..."

At Ned's question of whether he could eat more, Vlad silently pointed behind him with his thumb.

"What's wrong. Is there a problem?"

"No."

Otar asked at his increasingly serious expression, but Vlad couldn't easily pull himself out of his own thoughts.

'They're buying and selling pregnant women?'

The news that Anna was pregnant had been shocking enough, but the fact that there were people buying and selling pregnant women in the back alleys was also hard to accept.

It didn't make sense rationally, and it was something that shouldn't be happening.

But the people doing such things were here.

'... Could it be.'

An ominous premonition flashed past.

["Bad premonitions are always bound to hit the mark."]

He wanted to believe it wasn't true, but the advice of the voice echoing in his head reminded him of a certain incident from a winter day.

There had been a woman crying in the middle of a garrison surrounded by a field of white snow.

That woman had been looking for her child.

A small child who hadn't even been born yet.

["You must know how to listen to the warnings you send yourself."]

Vlad had no choice but to nod at the voice's words.

There was something the boy had always kept an eye on in Joseph's behavior.

It was his attitude of always preparing for the worst-case scenario.

"... It wouldn't hurt to be prepared."

The memory of that winter day was still vividly remembered in Vlad's head.

The morning sun was rising, but in Vlad's eyes, it still felt as if a shadow was cast deep within the back alleys.

* * *

"Sir Vordan."

"What is it? Do you have something to report?"

Vordan's office, set up in city hall.

The corpses of his snacks were always scattered across his desk, but for today at least, it had been cleaned up neatly.

"I discovered some suspicious activity."

"Ah... Is that so?"

Seeing Vlad wearing a serious expression, he could have at least listened to him for once, but Vordan merely dragged for time while organizing his remaining documents.

"I told you to rest... Seems you took my words to rest lightly."

"You're the one who told me to investigate One-Armed Jack."

"I didn't know you'd dig something up this fast."

Vordan shook his chubby chin and offered an awkward smile.

"You have to rest so I can rest too, don't you think?"

"..."

Vlad could finally realize it.

Why Joseph would growl and badger Vordan every time he saw him.

The fat knight was a man who wouldn't get up unless someone pushed him.

"Can't we put it off for a day or two? Is it something incredibly urgent?"

"I believe so."

"Think about it carefully. Think again about whether a crisis is right in front of us or something like that."

Vordan's expression was saying that he should have gotten the hint by now, but Vlad had already understood him perfectly.

"Should I go to the Mayor?"

Realizing that he was ultimately the only one who could handle the job in the face of Vlad's firm attitude, Vordan let out a sigh.

"It was a precious vacation I barely managed to make time for..."

Vordan, who had been preparing to slack off for a while, walked over to the window in frustration.

But a paradise could never exist in a place one had fled to.

"Both the top and bottom are coming to hound me... He said he wouldn't be here for another two days."

Vlad approached the sighing Vordan and looked down out the window.

A carriage and knights on horseback entering city hall.

The flag hanging in the middle of the procession bore a familiar crest.

It was the crest of Bayezid.

* * *

"Have you arrived?"

"Have you all been well."

Having confirmed the procession, Vordan, Vlad, and the Mayor of Soara hurried out to the front of city hall to greet Joseph.

With his arrival coming sooner than expected, city hall began to busy itself.

"I assume nothing happened in the meantime?"

"Of course. Nothing happened, Lord Joseph."

Vordan was somehow managing to crumple his unyielding belly fat as he bowed his head to Joseph.

"..."

However, Vlad, who had actually met Joseph's eyes, was merely wearing a subtle expression as if he had something to say.

"So something did happen."

"..."

Sighing without anyone noticing, Vordan followed behind Joseph with listless steps.

The people welcoming Joseph.

And the people newly entering Soara alongside the procession.

While the servants busily unloaded the luggage Joseph had brought, the group followed the Mayor's guidance and entered his office located in the very center of city hall.

"I will check it first."

Jager began to search the room in case there were any suspicious objects that might compromise his escort duties.

"There is nothing suspicious. I wouldn't possibly leave such things lying around, would I."

"..."

Despite the words of the Mayor, who was sporting an awkward smile, Jager simply scoured the room without a word.

To Jager, the only thing that mattered was Joseph's safety.

The Mayor's face wasn't important in the slightest.

At that cold reaction, the Mayor of Soara could only smack his lips and step back.

While Jager searched the room, Joseph turned his head and looked at Vlad.

"Good work."

"Thank you."

Knowing what the hard work was and what the gratitude was for, the two men simply checked in on each other with a single phrase.

Since they were in the same boat, that was surely enough.

"What is it you want to say. Speak."

"... I don't know if I'm just causing unnecessary trouble."

At Joseph's words, Vlad was hesitating.

Because from what he had seen and heard in the Bayezid Family so far, Vlad knew that procedure was important.

"I was hoping to get some support in one way or another, but I suppose speaking directly to the Mayor would be..."

Joseph was of noble birth, but bloodline didn't guarantee authority.

A position befitting the station. Only by having that would someone like Joseph gain something called authority.

And right beside Joseph stood the man who possessed that authority.

Even if he was standing there not knowing what to do due to the discomfort Joseph gave him.

"Yes. That is a good judgment."

Joseph smiled as he looked at the boy who assessed the time and situation himself without acting rashly.

It was enough to make him feel proud, realizing that all his teaching had been worthwhile.

"I see nothing suspicious. Lord Joseph."

With Jager's nod, Joseph naturally began to walk toward the center of the office.

"..."

As he watched Joseph cleave through the afternoon sunlight and walk toward the Mayor's desk, Vlad was reminded of his office back in Sturma.

It felt as though he could picture Joseph sitting in the place he was always meant to be, looking back at him.

"The scenery here is quite nice as well."

Leaning back in the chair meant only for the Mayor, Joseph was smiling as he looked at the scenery visible out the window.

At the imposing presence Joseph exuded, the Mayor of Soara naturally ended up taking a step back.

"I suppose I'll have to get a new chair."

"... No, no. Lord Joseph. Are you perhaps."

The lips of the now-former Mayor of Soara, who had only just grasped the situation, turned pale blue, but no one paid him any attention.

The air in the office was changing.

It was an atmosphere created by Joseph.

"Now you may speak without minding him."

Vlad looked ahead with a dazed gaze.

Sitting there was the man who, as always, sat in his place and looked at the boy.

A man who wouldn't look the least bit out of place looking down on anyone was right there.

"To the new Mayor of Soara."

The young man who had struggled to survive was now sitting in a position he had seized for himself, rather than one guaranteed by his bloodline.

The new Mayor of the city of Soara.

Joseph Bayezid.

Bathed in the light shining from the window, the man with dark circles under his eyes was looking at the boy and smiling.