Chapter 85 - Now Live Up to Your Name (2)

The white snake liked the boy.

The boy was a being who had come bearing old memories in his eyes, and now he was also one of the few people who could remember it.

On top of that, he was even offering a fragrant tribute now, so there was no reason not to cherish him.

"It really must like alcohol."

[Whiskey really was the right answer after all.]

Following the voice's advice, Vlad was holding whiskey and pouring it under the tree.

The voice had said whiskey, a liquor made from barley, would go well with the white snake, an earth spirit, so Vlad was now pouring it onto the ground with tears in his heart.

"Lord Joseph gave me this specially to celebrate my becoming a knight, you know."[ It's expensive, so you should get expensive use out of it. The snake's blessing is practically an extra life.]

It was a drink too precious to give up and too expensive to pour away, but after hearing the voice, Vlad had no choice but to nod.

The white snake's blessing engraved on Bayezid's leather armor had always protected Vlad.

If not for the white snake's blessing in his battle against the headless man, the one lying on the ground drinking alcohol right now might have been him.

[It's coming. Don't be too scared.]

"I realized something while catching that dragon last time. I think I hate scales."

Regardless of Vlad's grumbling, the white snake that descended from the tree began coiling around Vlad just as it had that day.

Since he had experienced it once before, he was not greatly startled, but the majesty of the white snake as seen through the World of voices still carried the pressure of its very existence.

[It helped you during the duel too, so it won't harm you.]

"... I know."

Vlad knew very well that he had not defeated Ishtvan with his own skill alone.

The knight of the West had been arrogant, but he possessed skill worthy of that arrogance, and no matter how much Vlad had prepared, that period had been less than a month.

Without the many forms of help he had received for the duel, the match that day would ultimately have ended in Vlad's defeat.

"... Thank you."

There had been a time when he had thought showing his honest feelings meant showing weakness.

But Vlad now had certainty in himself, and he had made himself into a vessel large enough to embrace even his own weakness.

HSSSS.

After receiving Vlad's honest thanks, the white snake raised its neck high and began bobbing its head.

You have offered tribute and gratitude for me, so I shall rightfully share my blessing with you.

The scene reflected in the World of voices showed the white snake singing toward the sky, and Vlad wearing armor that shone white.

The white snake and Heinal.

In every world, Deirmar was welcoming the boy.

※※※※

The mission in Deirmar was over.

Vlad and the Bayezid knights, who had achieved results beyond all expectations, had splendidly driven out the unwelcome guests from the West, and now it was time to leave this place with the proper reward for that work.

"Come in."

Vlad, who had come to Alicia's office with Jager, tilted his head without realizing it.

It was partly because of his old habit when facing an unfamiliar place, but also because he sensed an atmosphere quite different from Joseph's office.

"I hope you have been well, Lady Alicia."

"Thanks to you."

After exchanging greetings with Jager, Alicia turned her eyes to Vlad standing beside him.

'...'

Then Alicia saw things she had not noticed when looking at him from afar.

The small cuts scattered here and there across his face, and a gait that looked awkward in some way.

There stood the boy who had willingly walked a road of hardship for the sake of glorious victory.

"Is anything troubling you, Sir Vlad? Any injuries?"

"I am fine, Lady Alicia."

Though he said he was fine, from Alicia's position as the one receiving that answer, it only made her feel all the more sorry for him.

Alicia knew very well that she was the reason for every wound Vlad had suffered.

"... Yesterday, it looked as though you were pouring alcohol on the hill."

"That's right."

Every action the boy had shown until now had carried respect for Deirmar.

Even when he had mistaken her for a maid, Vlad had gone so far as to clean her parents' graves.

"I offered my own greeting to the lords resting there. What happened must have been possible because of their blessing."

And on top of that was the piety guaranteed by Andreas, a renowned priest.

Even if not solely for his potential as a knight, there were countless reasons for Alicia to value Vlad highly.

"Whenever I come to Deirmar, I gain a shining victory, so it seems the lords of this place look favorably upon me."

"... I see."

Though Vlad stood in a lower position than her as a noble, even that was now practically an advantage to Alicia.

Since even the flaws they each possessed offset each other wonderfully, Alicia thought that the relationship between Vlad and herself was like broken vessels fitting perfectly together.

"Yes. I also think Sir Vlad suits our Deirmar very well."

"... Yes."

Vlad felt something uneasy as he watched Alicia rest her chin on her hand and gaze intently at him.

When he had first met her, her water-colored eyes had given off a clear, refreshing feeling, but now her gaze felt almost sticky.

"Please tell Lady Oksana that it has truly been a long time since I felt warmth from my bloodline."

"Understood."

Jager accepted the letter Alicia handed him and bowed his head.

Though this incident had not allowed them to build a close relationship with Oksana, Joseph would be satisfied with at least this much.

After experiencing trials that had come upon her from both the Central and the West, Alicia must have surely learned which side she should stand on.

"And Sir Vlad, the knight who upheld my honor in my stead."

The price to be paid to Joseph had already been decided.

So now it was time to give something to the boy who had raised his sword for her sake.

And she would have to place it in his hands with a weight so heavy that there would be no taking it back.

"I agree that the former Family Heads of this place would also have liked you."

As soon as Alicia finished speaking, Duncan brought over a box that had been prepared beside him, as if he had been waiting.

It was not a large wooden chest, but even at a glance, it was clear that it had been handled with care as something precious.

"So I do not think my ancestors will say anything about my giving this to you, Sir Vlad."

Vlad had protected Alicia, the rightful Heinal, and defended Deirmar from the West.

Before him, the wooden chest that the Heinal Family had carefully kept opened its mouth.

[...]

"..."

Inside was a single round gem giving off a brilliant yellow light.

It was a gem that radiated such an extraordinary aura that it silenced both Vlad and the voice as they looked at it right in front of them.

"They say the first Family Head was acquainted with elves."

Elves.

Those who believed in a god different from the god humans believed in.

There existed a different race that had been driven to the eastern frontier because what they believed in differed from others.

"I heard it was a jewel obtained through that connection with them. My father told me it was amber made from the resin of a very precious tree."

Even after Alicia finished speaking, Vlad only looked at the wooden chest Duncan was holding with a cautious expression.

More than Alicia's gaze upon him, Vlad was focusing on the voice speaking in his ear.

[... I remember seeing that.]

Vlad had made a promise with the voice.

[If possible, please bring it to me. I beg you.]

You would give me a sword, and I would help you recover your memories.

Using that promise as their foothold, the two of them now stood here.

"My father had this amber set into the pommel of his sword. But I have no occasion to take up a sword, so it has been left to rot like this."

Alicia smiled and bobbed her head as if telling him to hurry and take it, but Vlad could not easily move even at her smile.

He knew well that expensive things required expensive payment.

And the treasure of the family Alicia was giving him was surely more expensive than the worth of what he had done.

The smile she did not hide was saying as much.

"... Do I dare accept this?"

"Of course."

Even so, Vlad was placing his hand on the Heinal Family's treasure.

He willingly decided to grasp that shining gem in his hand and accept her binding.

[Thank you.]

He wanted to protect what he could protect.

The reason the boy had been able to dream of stars even in the gutter was that he had his own standards, standards he had fiercely refused to yield.

"Thank you, Lady Alicia."

It did not matter even if he was not a knight.

As long as he could stand proudly before himself.

Vlad sincerely thought so, and so he grasped the yellow amber without hesitation.

The boy had kept his promise.

[Look.]

The yellow gem in his hand.

Inside that gem, seen through the voice's eyes, there were countless falling leaves.

That place was always autumn.

※※※※

The distance between Deirmar and Soara was about three days on horseback.

Though snow was falling on the road, the horses, accustomed to the seasons of the North, paid no mind to it and ceaselessly led their masters north.

"That guy, that guy had ambition in him."

"I knew it from the start."

With Noir between them, the Bayezid knights kept talking to Vlad without pause.

"Well, if you're a man, of course you should aim high!"

"How long has it even been since you became a knight, and you're already aiming for a noble title?"

"..."

Vlad merely frowned as he listened to the voices coming from every direction.

"It's not like that."

He really had not accepted it with that meaning.

It was merely something he had taken in order to keep his promise with the voice.

"What do you mean, it's not?"

"I honestly think it wasn't a bad choice at all."

But it seemed that to those around him, it did not look that way in the slightest.

Though it was nominally an item he had borrowed, it was in effect no different from something handed over to him: Heinal's treasure.

Since she had given that to the knight who had taken her handkerchief, it was something others could misunderstand more than enough.

"You will have to report this separately to Lord Joseph."

"... Understood."

If Vlad had still been a squire, Jager probably would not have allowed him to accept the item Alicia offered.

But Vlad was now a proper knight, so it could only be an extremely awkward situation for Jager to step forward on his behalf.

"I can see it!"" We have finally arrived."

Amid playful misunderstandings and futile excuses, the gates of Soara finally began to appear ahead.

It was the boy's hometown, but a city that had not always been warm to him.

The gates of Soara, shut within the darkness, always stirred strange feelings in Vlad.

"You try it this time."

As Vlad briefly fell into thought while looking at Soara's walls ahead, a voice pushed him forward.

"Me?"

"Try it now."

Vlad felt awkward for a moment at Jager's order as he pushed him forward.

Because the gates in the wall had been shut for the dark night, and they would not open unless the morning of the next day came.

"Ahem."

With a small cough, the boy and the black horse walked toward the gates of Soara, where darkness had settled.

Vlad, who had been more used to hiding in the dark and finding holes to crawl through, only found the current situation deeply awkward.

"Who goes there?"

A guard sharply questioned the figure that had suddenly appeared, but Vlad merely raised his sword, sheath and all.

On the guard of the sword Rutiger had given him was engraved the symbol that every Bayezid knight carried.

"I am Vlad, knight of Bayezid."

The locations of the holes bored beneath the walls still remained in Vlad's mind.

But the boy would no longer need to remember them.

"I have returned from my mission. Open the gates."

Because from now on, if he wanted to enter, all he had to do was say so openly.

The boy was someone who had proven himself, and the Bayezid symbol illuminated by the torch proved it.

"Welcome, Lord Vlad!"

With the guard's shout after confirming the symbol, the gates of Soara began opening ahead, cutting through the darkness.

"... They really opened."

Knight.

A qualification and an honor, a title that only those who had proven their existence could bear.

The boy who had proven himself would no longer need to hide or wait.

Because from now on, the gates of Soara would be the ones waiting for the boy.