A vacation that doesn’t feel like a vacation (3)
“Cough…cough.”
A middle-aged knight leaning helplessly against the wall and coughing up blood.
Only dark red blood stains remained behind him as he slowly fell.
The cold sweat flowing down his eyes was making his eyes heavy, but the driver was trying to come to his senses.
Even though everything came to an end, he was the one who had the obligation to see the end.
Jeop-Jeok-Jeobuk-
The sound of someone walking reached the man’s ears.
Blurry vision, buzzing ears, and someone’s screams coming from somewhere.
The sound of footsteps mixed in with those things was quiet but extremely eerie.
“Are you here?”
“······In the end, I ended up here.”
Now, the mansion is stained with bright red blood.
The knight whose duty it was to protect this place looked up at the man walking down the hallway.
Something you can see in the last moments of your life.
It would be nothing but death.
“The lord’s order comes first… Cough, saying that your honor comes second doesn’t mean you have to follow orders unconditionally.”
“······.”
Blue moonlight coming through the hallway window.
The man who stood silently with it only listened to the knight’s final complaints as he slowly collapsed.
“The previous knights of Count Gaidar were not like this.”
“······So everyone died.”
Into my increasingly blurred vision, a sword shining in the moonlight appeared.
It was a beautiful light that did not suit this place.
“That light will fade someday.”
“······.”
With those words, the Blue Moonlight Knight raised his sword high.
I couldn’t see his expression due to the backlight created by the moonlight, but I felt like I could tell.
“······Godin. “Tell this to Count Gaidar.”
Winners on top, losers on the bottom.
“I’ll be waiting for you in hell.”
Phuuk-
Everything depends on the winner’s decision.
Red blood was flowing down the white hallway.
“······I’ll tell you.”
A mansion somewhere that was full of screams just a moment ago.
Now the blue moonlight was shining in a place filled with silence.
Red inscriptions were painted everywhere where the moonlight shined.
※※※※
There was a boy leaning his face against the carriage window sill and looking out with a sour expression.
“When will you arrive?”
“We’re almost there now.”
“I heard you were almost there earlier.”
“······.”
Vlad was caught.
He said his house was in the stuma, so he thought he would get there in half a day no matter how long it took.
However, contrary to expectations, Vlad had to leave Sturmma and travel about a day longer, let alone half a day.
For Vlad, who was now sick of carriages, it was like a punishment.
“This time of year, my whole family moves to our summer house. “It is the season when the grass in the meadows comes up.”
“If you were going to the villa, you should have told me from the beginning.”
“······sorry.”
But since it has already happened, there is nothing we can do about it.
Potli’s family had currently moved to a villa outside the city, not inside Sturmma.
Portli’s mouth watered as he explained that spending time there would be much more enjoyable, but Vlad was just annoyed that two days of his precious week-long vacation had been spent traveling.
“oh······.”
“Is the scenery okay? “I wanted to show you this.”
But that feeling lasted only for a moment.
As Potli said, he only crossed a hill, but Vlad’s eyes were filled with a completely different scene.
A grassland with a wide view.
Even Vlad, who was resting his face on the windowsill in bewilderment at the refreshing sight he was seeing for the first time in his life, opened his mouth wide.
“Hiya…”
Vlad couldn’t help but be impressed by the scenery in front of him.
It is the time when spring transitions from spring to summer.
Everything was green everywhere, with the grass raising its head in response to the warm weather.
Looking at the open grassland beyond the horizon, with not even a few trees, Vlad felt as if he were in the middle of a green sea.
“The meadow here continues all the way to the front of Varna. Normally, monsters sometimes pop out, but this winter is right after Joseph subdued monsters, so you don’t have to worry about that.”
“Oh yeah?”
“okay. “You know, the subjugation you said you did.”
“ah. that.”
Every action has intention.
When I first met Josef on a winter day last year, the subjugation was carried out in order to use the current grassland safely.
“Then I guess I have some stake in the current landscape.”
Vlad somehow felt proud, as if he had helped create this green meadow.
“I want to scream.”
“I understand. “I want to do that sometimes too.”
A world of intense green light that makes you want to jump out of the carriage door and run as much as you want.
Feeling as if he could see what the horses prancing in the distance must have felt like, Vlad stuck his face out of the carriage, opened his mouth wide, and swallowed in the rushing air.
“Iyaaa ah!”
“······okay. “I completely understand.”
The boy’s shout rang loudly in the middle of the meadow.
Vlad, who had lived his entire life in a dark and narrow place, just wanted to let out without hesitation the fresh emotions that constantly flooded him.
※※※※
A villa that reveals its presence in different colors like a buoy floating on the green sea.
In front of him, someone was waving at the carriage.
“He is our family’s butler.”
“oh. butler.”
I thought he was a family member because he was waving happily, but he turned out to be a butler.
“Do you think the house is big enough to need a butler?”
“There are a total of two butlers in our family.”
“······okay?”
Although the Kannor family was not noble, it was an influential family in Sturma.
Although he had formed a friendship with Portley with that in mind in the first place, the wealth of the Kannor family was beyond the imagination of a boy who had grown up in the back alleys.
“It’s been a while, Butler!”
“It’s nice to see you too, after a long time. young master.”
Regardless of their size, dogs always want to be hugged by their owners.
And what Potli looked like now was exactly that.
The old butler’s legs were shaking as he tried to hold the chubby potli.
“My father?”
Potli, who was also the youngest member of the Kannor family, seemed to be loved by the family, judging from his actions towards his butler.
However, even though Vlad, who had been waiting so long for his arrival, arrived right in front of us, no one except the butler came out to greet the guests.
“That is······.”
The butler, who expressed the difficult situation with a bitter smile, asked Vlad for a little understanding.
“The head of the house was the first to welcome guests who arrived suddenly… So, why not take a look at our family’s proud ranch first?”
A sudden guest arrived.
Looking at the butler with a troubled expression, Vlad answered indifferently.
“Please do so.”
It was almost rude to ask him to wait because another customer had arrived, but Vlad didn’t really care.
“Thank you for your consideration.”
Looking at Vlad like that, the wrinkles on the old butler’s face widened.
[Good job. A generous heart will come back someday.]
‘······Well, I didn’t mean to say that.’
Vlad listened to the voice and quietly answered in his heart.
When was the last time you were treated properly?
Although it has been pushed to a later date, even the current situation seems like a dream compared to before.
And if you try to be treated well just for your work at Deremar, your feet will become dull and your head stiff every time you do something.
Therefore, the boy decided to be as bold as possible in everything he did.
“Instead, I want to start by looking at where the horses are. “I had high expectations.”
“Of course you should. The head of the house will personally introduce the really expensive ones, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to check out the rest in advance.”
Instead, I will have to find and eat the things that are allowed to me.
He could make concessions, but he would not tolerate losses, because that was the life the boy had lived until now.
※※※※
Heeeeeeeeeee-
Food deuk-
Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!
“······.”
“······.”
Cows, horses, sheep. And even a shepherd dog.
All the animals in the ranch were scared and running away when they saw Vlad.
“······This is a bit serious.”
Portly and Vlad had expected something like this to happen, but the old butler, seeing this for the first time, was so shocked that his face turned pale.
“Have you ever been to church?”
“The guarantor of my identity is Priest Andrea.”
“Ah… I’m sorry.”
The butler had been asking if you had been cursed, but he had no choice but to lower his head when he heard the name that came out of Vlad’s mouth.
As the butler of the Kannor family, which has been farming and raising livestock for generations, he was also an expert in handling animals.
However, I swear to you, I have never seen horses and sheep run away like this to avoid someone.
‘Riding a cow has become impossible.’
Whether the old butler next to him looked surprised or not, Vlad just stared at the empty fence with mixed emotions.
Goth jokingly said that he should at least ride a conch, but considering the current situation, even that seemed impossible.
Vlad became depressed.
“······.”
Portli, who was watching this, felt sorry for himself and made a promise to Vlad.
“Go see all the guys at our ranch. “There might be one that fits you.”
I’ll show you all the guys here.
He said he would take them out and show them all, regardless of whether they were for combat, horseback riding, work, or slaughter.
“But there must be at least one guy who will follow me, right?”
“of course!”
However, making a promise does not always mean that it can be kept.
Still, there were two people who searched the ranch just in case, but they were all just busy trying to avoid Vlad.
In the meantime, only the poor butler was overworked.
“Still, I never thought it would be like this…”
Vlad had been prepared for something like this to happen, but when the scene he had imagined was clearly unfolding before his eyes, he was truly driven crazy.
It felt like even the glimmer of hope I had was shattered.
No matter how much you use Aurors, what happens?
I can’t even ride a horse.
“When others are doing cool things like horseback charging, I’ll be chasing them around, eating dust.”
“······There are still guys with good pedigrees that my father brought in.”
However, to bring them in, you would need permission from the head of the household.
Vlad, whose high expectations had been completely extinguished, had no choice but to return to the villa with heavy steps.
Today’s sun, setting over the horizon, only dyed the boy’s sagging shoulders red.
※※※※
Tadak-tadak-chiik-
”······.“
Vlad entered the restaurant and fell silent as he saw the scene unfolding before his eyes.
Meat being grilled continuously on a brazier by servants.
The heat felt there was warming Vlad’s depressed heart again.
‘Welcome here.’
Although he complained that it was too far from the carriage, Vlad truly thought so when he saw the current scene.
It was worth coming.
“Welcome! “I’m sorry I couldn’t greet your precious guest in person!”
Vlad was frozen like a pumice stone in front of the spinning fish and was just rolling his eyes.
Orson Kannor, the head of the Kannor family and Portli’s father, seemed to be pleased by Vlad’s unaffected response and patted the boy’s back with his meaty hand.
“nice to see you. “This is Vlad, squire of the Bayezid family.”
“You know, you know! “Rumors about you have already spread throughout Sturmma!”
Orson Kannor smiled brightly as he watched Vlad bow to him following the greeting he had learned from Countess Oksana.
A boy who, for the first time in a long time, exercised the Sword Master’s discipline.
The people of Sturma, who knew that the boy was in their city, constantly shared stories about Vlad with their own pride.
The birth of a new star is always a welcome sight.
‘Portli has made a good friend!’
Orson Kannor looked at the tall boy in front of him and felt like he was full even though he had not eaten anything.
All this time, he had been worried that Portli seemed to be having a hard time adjusting to Bayezid’s mansion, but when he looked at the boy in front of him now, Orson’s worries seemed to disappear.
He looked tall and trustworthy, and above all, he had the impression that you wanted to feed him a lot of skinny things.
“Sit here! “I really want to hear about the sword master’s discipline, which I haven’t heard in a long time!”
Vlad tried to infer Orson’s tendencies by looking at his behavior in the back alleys and his habits.
There was sincerity in his gaze and demeanor, and his wide smile was full of confidence.
He seemed to be a person with a very extroverted personality, as he seemed to be a person who was commonly referred to as a good man and was eager to treat guests.
In other words, he seemed like a person with the right personality to run a business.
“I am so happy as the owner of this house that we have precious guests coming to our house today!”
After hearing Orson’s words, Vlad remembered that there was another guest who came here today besides him.
‘Do you invite guests from other places to sit together?’
Since Vlad didn’t know much about the rules of a noble or wealthy family, he just assumed that the owner of the place would take care of it.
“Besides, everyone here is Bayezid’s people, so this is also a happy thing!”
‘Bayezid?’
Vlad tilted his head when he heard that other guests who came here also came from Bayezid.
It was only then that Vlad, who sat down with Orson personally guiding him, learned the identities of the other guests.
“······.”
Knights.
They are also high-level people with refined momentum.
On the contrary, when he knew nothing, he could have held his head high, but for Vlad, who was finally able to get a glimpse of the world, the momentum they gave off was just overwhelming.
And among them, the man sitting in the middle looking at himself as if he were the owner of this place.
A familiar man with black hair was smiling at Vlad.
“It’s been a while, huh? “How have you been?”
A man who resembles his master, but instead of having dark, pitiful eyes, he has a confident smile on his face.
“······I didn’t know you were here. Mr. Rutger.”
Rutger Bayezid, the eldest son of the Bayezid family.
He was smiling at Vlad.
“I don’t know if you can eat something with me today. “Isn’t the food too good to turn down?”
As soon as Rutger finished speaking, the knights sitting next to him began to become fierce.
It would be worth it.
The boy who refused the favor of his lord was sitting right in front of him.
“······.”
Rutger pointed with his thumb at the roasting pig that was constantly turning behind him and frowned.
Vlad thought as he looked at him.
Why did I say that I wouldn’t eat peanuts at that time?
For a man with such a ferocious spirit.
“······Today will be okay.”
But even though Vlad was intimidated, he did not bow his head.
He just faced me straight while holding the fork in front of him resolutely.
“I was looking forward to it too.”
“······okay?”
Rutger smiled deeply as he looked at the boy looking at him with his fierce blue eyes raised.
