Chapter 66 - Lady Zemina (1)

Joseph handed over a teacup and looked at the nun sitting before him.

An elderly woman wearing a coarse-looking habit, neatly pressed.

The Mother Superior of the convent drank the tea Joseph had served her and continued speaking.

“I understand that you intend to raise that squire, Mayor, but you must be careful.”

The Mother Superior held her head upright and met Joseph’s eyes.

Her stiff posture alone revealed how rigid she was.

“From what I witnessed myself, perhaps because he is of such low birth, his temperament is rash and utterly violent. He is a child who will certainly cause trouble.”

That day, Vlad had dragged Zemina out of the convent without following any proper procedure.

If he had given even the slightest thought to the aftermath, he should not have done so, but in life, there were times when emotion took precedence over reason.

“I say this only because I worry that he might tarnish your reputation, Mayor.”

“... I see.”

Joseph already knew that Vlad had committed a certain discourtesy at the convent.

But for her to bring up that behavior now and warn him about it was plainly intentional.

There had to be a reason why the Mother Superior was doing this to a boy recognized by Priest Andreas and San Rosino.

“Lord Joseph.”

“What is it?”

Just as Joseph was considering who might be standing behind the Mother Superior, Jager opened the door with a knock and stepped into the mayor’s office.

Jager had not been given permission to enter, and he knew Joseph was in a meeting with a guest, but there was a reason he had to do this.

“The stableman we sent with Sir Lamund has returned.”

Joseph narrowed his eyes when he saw that Jager’s expression was grave.

“He returned alone.”

“Why?”

Joseph saw the look in Jager’s eyes and nodded.

“Let him in.”

The Mother Superior was sitting right in front of him, but Jager’s manner called for urgency.

“L-Lord Joseph. Something terrible has happened.”

At Jager’s nod, Got, who had been waiting outside, hurried in with urgent steps.

His face, covered in sweat and dust, showed just how frantically Got had traveled.

“Speak.”

At Joseph’s permission, Got gulped and quickly began spilling out the words he had prepared.

“Barbarians appeared.”

When the word barbarians burst from Got’s mouth, the Mother Superior covered her mouth without realizing it.

Having lived a long life, she knew very well the terror barbarians brought with them.

“... Where?”

“On the road connecting Soara and Varna. They were attacking people there.”

It was a situation that should never have occurred, but based on all his experience so far, the man named Got was someone with a measure of credibility.

His report was worth listening to.

“The old man told me to bring people.”

Perhaps burdened by Joseph’s gaze on him, or perhaps because of the urgency of the situation, Got licked his drying lips and opened his mouth.

“The old man and Vlad are holding out right now after taking the barbarians’ leader hostage.”

“...”

Got was saying it.

Lamund and Vlad had captured the barbarians’ leader and were making a stand to protect the people who had been attacked.

Just the two of them.

“... Jager. Gather cavalry and set out at once. You personally.”

“Yes.”

“Got. I’m sorry to say this when you’ve only just returned, but you’ll have to guide Jager.”

“Understood.”

“Go. Move quickly.”

After sending the two of them out, Joseph lowered his head with both hands pressed to his forehead as though in prayer.

But Joseph had not lowered his head to pray.

He was restraining his anger as he thought of the barbarians who dared defile Bayezid’s land and of whoever had sent him a warning.

“... Is that not truly admirable?”

Joseph slowly raised his head toward the Mother Superior sitting before him.

“Even if his station is low and his nature rash, they say he is protecting the little lambs according to God’s will.”

“... Indeed.”

In the Mother Superior’s eyes, Joseph carried a gaze even more dangerous than that of the boy she had seen that day.

It was the kind of gaze that made it seem that if anyone were to cause trouble, it would be this one rather than the boy.

“Please relay my words to him, Mother Superior.”

The city of Soara moved by the hands of two people.

Joseph Bayezid, the rightful mayor of Soara, recognized by blood.

“Tell him I am grateful for his concern.”

And the Bishop of Soara, who cared for humans according to the word of God.

“And tell him that I will pay him a visit soon.”

Though they belonged to different domains, the two people who moved within the same city were fated to face each other eventually.

Because human power and divine power both came, in the end, from people.

Beyond the mayor’s office window, the thunder of cavalry hooves rang out as they charged forth.

* * *

If they had been an ordinary band of mounted bandits, they would have fled the moment their leader was captured.

But these were not mounted bandits, but warriors of a barbarian tribe called the Budayat, and Age was the son of the tribal chief and their commander.

“Doesn’t it seem like there are more and more of them?”

“... Quite a number had come south.”

Lamund nodded heavily at Vlad’s words.

The barbarians did not abandon their leader.

They continued following Lamund and Vlad as they slowly led the people south, pressing them all the while.

Even now, when the walls of Soara were faintly visible.

“It seems that fellow Got arrived properly.”

But this tedious standoff that had lasted more than a day ended from this moment on.

Lamund held his sword to Age’s throat and looked at the dust rising in the distance.

It was Soara’s soldiers.

“... We were a little late.”

“Do not forget that this is Bayezid’s land.”

Age looked at the troops rushing from Soara and nodded.

If the warriors he had brought had gathered even a little earlier, even two men who could use aura would not have been able to protect everyone here.

If that had happened, he might at least have been freed.

“That was excellent judgment, old man.”

The decision to pressure him by holding him captive while leading the people back to Soara.

The judgment to send Got to Soara after calculating the proper distance and timing out of concern they might be caught.

If either one had gone awry, or if they had not been able to attempt it, the group would have been surrounded by unfamiliar barbarians instead of seeing Soara.

“Why on earth did you come here? Why did you come this deep?”

Only now that his objective had been accomplished did Lamund begin voicing the questions he had been holding back.

But Age’s gaze was fixed not on the tip of the sword threatening him, but on the boy ahead, sitting astride a pitch-black horse and glaring at his comrades.

“We needed the son of the plains. That is why we followed it all the way here.”

“You followed a horse and plundered people?”

“That was, shall we say, a little pocket money on the side.”

Though Age had been thrown to the ground by Vlad, he did not lose his proud bearing.

“But I did not expect the son of the plains to choose an imperial boy instead of us.”

Though he had been only one person, the boy had splendidly blocked the barbarians’ charges all the way here.

He did not want to admit it, but there must have been a reason the son of the plains had chosen the boy over him.

“... You’ll have to explain this matter in detail.”

Age wore an expression that suggested there was some story behind it, but the tip of Lamund’s sword did not waver.

In any case, these were men who had entered Bayezid’s land without permission and carried out plunder, so there was no need to show them any leniency.

“Go back! All of you, go back!”

Realizing that the situation was now over, Age shouted loudly to his comrades.

“Stay still!”

At Age’s sudden, unexpected action, Lamund’s sword dug into his neck, and bright red drops of blood welled up, but Age did not stop shouting.

“Go back!”

The barbarian warriors who heard Age’s voice hesitated for a moment, but when they saw the soldiers of Soara charging in the distance, they nodded.

Their leader had failed and been captured.

They could not clash head-on with soldiers in Soara’s front yard, so they would have to wait for another day.

“We’ll see you later, chief!”

With the shrill neighing of horses, the barbarians turned their reins.

Only after seeing that sight could the people, who had fled while dragging their battered bodies along, let out sighs of relief.

“Thank you, sir knight!”

“Thank you for saving us!”

With sobs, people sank down to their knees as if collapsing.

No one here had thought they would be able to return to Soara with their lives intact.

The pressure the barbarians gave off had been that intense and threatening, and the situation had been hopeless.

But there had been men who blocked those barbarians and led them all the way here.

“... It’s over.”

The boy watched the retreating barbarians and only now stuck out his tongue a little, as if saying it was finally over.

Vlad’s blond hair fluttered in the wind as he looked back at the people.

His name, they said, was Vlad of Soara.

* * *

“What in the world happened?”

“I don’t know. The barbarians just suddenly came out of nowhere.”

Though he had been one of the parties involved in the incident, Vlad said he did not know the details, and Jager quietly nodded.

“... Good work.”

By the time they drew near Soara, the group of barbarians Age had brought had numbered nearly forty.

Since only the two of them had held them back, it had been a situation more than draining enough for Vlad.

“But where did you get that horse?”

Jager’s gaze fell on the pitch-black horse carrying Vlad.

The creature looked bigger than other horses, and at a glance, it seemed anything but ordinary.

“Ah, this guy?”

As if he had been waiting for that question, a smile rose on Vlad’s lips.

“He’s the one I saw back when we fought the Death Worm. Somehow, he came and found me.”

“Mm.”

The boy looked clearly exhausted, but now that he could finally ride a horse, he shrugged his shoulders.

Especially because he was in front of Jager, he looked painfully eager to show off.

“Stop acting so smug.”

“I’ll have to get a saddle fitted as soon as we get back.”

“...”

Vlad, ignoring his words, was ridiculously excited.

Watching him, Jager wanted to give him a kick, but since people behind them were still calling the boy’s name from time to time, he decided to hold back for now.

“Just know that you’re finally earning your keep.”

He merely growled a little in a whisper.

Vlad had saved people from the barbarians and had also uncovered the true identity of the ghost horse that rumors had been swirling about all this time.

Thinking that this much should let him recover the points he had lost with Joseph, Vlad gave a little nod, but the matter was not yet over.

“Huh? Hey. What’s wrong?”

NEIGH!

The pitch-black one had been obeying Vlad well until just now, but the moment they approached the gates of Soara, it began snorting and refused to go any closer.

“Huh? Huh?”

Vlad began to panic at the creature’s sudden strange behavior, and the soldiers around them hurriedly moved out of the way.

“You said you’d get a saddle fitted first.”

“No, why is he acting like this?”

Jager narrowed his eyes and began trying to understand the pitch-black horse’s strange behavior.

For some reason, it had seemed to be in a foul mood ever since the soldiers came close.

“... The rider is hated by horses, and the one carrying him hates humans, so the two of you truly found your own kind.”

Seeing the pitch-black one not only back away but now rear up and go wild, Jager thought they truly made a well-matched pair.