Homecoming
There was a man who came up the hill of Deremar alone.
Despite the stylish outfit he is wearing, the man’s hands are full of cleaning tools.
Vlad, who noticed that the sunset had gotten longer as the day had gotten shorter, stood in the middle of the hill and put down the cleaning tools.
“I didn’t come to see you today.”
—–?
It was a white snake waving its tail towards Vlad coming up, but today Vlad did not come to see it.
He had come to take care of the family tomb of the Hainal family located in the middle of the hill.
“It looks like Alicia has been very busy.”
Although it was someone else’s family cemetery, I couldn’t help but feel sad when I saw the tombstones covered in moss.
Actually, there would have been no time to care at all.
It was a time when the living were too busy trying to survive while thinking about the dead.
“I guess I should clean it before I go back.”
Vlad took out a bundle of straw soaked in water from among the tools he had carelessly put down and began wiping the tombstones with the rough side.
Looking at the tombstones, which were too many for some but none for him, Vlad kept his mouth shut and began to push away the moss.
“…First of all, he survived without any injuries.”
I am thankful that I survived as it was an intense battle.
Some people would express their gratitude to God and others to their ancestors, but Vlad had no one worthy of it.
Unlike the people in front of him, his mother, who was buried without a tombstone, was now fading even in Vlad’s memories.
“thank you. “For taking care of me.”
However, even if it is faint, it will not disappear.
Even though they belonged to someone else, Vlad used the tombstones in front of him as bridges and began to chant toward the distant sky.
“Whoa.”
Cleaning Alicia’s parents’ graves.
Those parents’ parents.
Vlad, who was muttering a single word in his mind as he continued to wipe off one by one, was eventually able to come face to face with one of the oldest tombstones.
‘It’s this person.’
The name of Hainal, the oldest, was written between letters worn away by time.
He is the person who passed down the yellow amber stone to Alicia and the first head of the family who planted the tree that now houses the white snake.
‘…….’
I didn’t know when I first encountered it, but now I know.
The first matriarch of Hainal is clearly someone related to the voice.
There was clearly something in common between the first head of Hainal, who planted a tree with spirits, and the voice who visited and protected the spirits, and at the top of that commonality was the name Sword Master.
“What are you doing here? “Lord Vlad.”
“……ah.”
Vlad, who had been lost in thought for a while when he heard the word “sword master,” quickly turned his head at the sudden sound of a voice.
“Miss Alicia.”
“You are more sincere than me.”
There was Alicia smiling, holding her hair blowing in the wind.
Is it because I have finally come to my senses?
Her water-colored hair fluttering with the vivid glow of the sunset.
Seeing the colors suddenly become so dark, Vlad felt a little dizzy.
“They say knights shouldn’t be caught carelessly. “Aren’t you too absorbed in it?”
“you’re right. “There is no room for excuses.”
It was clearly a joke, but Vlad couldn’t help but laugh.
What Alicia said was true, and it was also true that I couldn’t sense her presence.
But perhaps Alicia would have noticed if she had approached Vlad from the front rather than from behind.
As Vlad thought of the word Sword Master, his eyes were automatically drawing out his own world.
“Euchcha.”
After confirming that Vlad had done everything and that she had no graveyard to take care of, Alicia sat down next to Vlad as if there was nothing else to do and quietly began to look down the hill.
“You did it again. “Just like last time and this time too.”
Vlad, who was reluctant to stand alone, naturally sat down next to her and looked down at Deermar along with her.
“thank you.”
“……thank you.”
It was just a word exchanged, but it contained a lot of emotions.
He protected her from an illegitimate heir and protected Deirmar from usurpers from the West.
In the process, the boy became a knight and was finally able to reach his goal of reaching the moon.
Ultimately, neither Vlad of Shoara nor Baron Alicia of Hainal would have existed without each other.
“I really want to come back to this city again.”
That’s why Vlad’s voice now contained sincerity.
A man named Vlad was born in Shoara, but the knight Vlad started here.
“I’ll welcome you as much as you want.”
Alicia, who was hugging her knees, smiled at Vlad’s words and quietly looked at Vlad’s face being colored by the sunset.
Because I wanted to see his face as he leaves tomorrow.
They were two people who just watched what they wanted to see without saying a word, but it didn’t feel awkward at all because there was a passing wind.
The white snake on the hill that was looking at the two was raising its head towards the sky so that the warm wind could blow.
※※※※
“It was nice to meet you.”
“It was nice to meet you too. Knights of humans. “Vlad.”
Autumn rain was falling.
The cold rain, which was neither the welcome rain of spring nor the cool rain of summer, was still hitting the shoulders of the men gathered in front of Deirmar.
“There will be a chance to see you again someday. “I was already planning to investigate the northern part of the country.”
Varadis’ gaze was focused through the falling raindrops toward Chat Noir, who was standing next to Vlad.
A black horse, the son of the prairie.
Noir, who is certain to have unicorn blood, is definitely something that the elves should investigate at least once.
“Don’t worry too much about the revelation I gave you. If you keep it in your heart like a talisman, the day will come when you will recognize it with your intuition.”
“All right.”
After hearing Varadis’ words, Vlad casually touched the picture of the priestess in his arms.
The yellow bird itself and the black colors ominously surrounding it.
It was clearly a painting that contained the meaning of a warning, but the priestess who delivered the painting said that she could not remember any further meaning.
Perhaps it was scattered among faded memories, like a dream I had last night.
“Ready!”
Listening to the words coming from afar, Vlad turned his head with a small smile.
Vlad may leave, but the elves will remain here in Deremar.
To them, the human world was like an unfamiliar sea, so they planned to anchor for a while on an island called Deirmar, which they had barely found.
“I’m ready. Josef.”
“……good night. Let’s go.”
Josef’s complexion was pale while riding in the carriage.
His chronic cough was sensitive to temperature, and he had to be especially careful in this weather.
“All right.”
Vlad nodded at Josef’s permission.
The person in charge of this return procession is none other than Vlad of Shoara.
Although it was still a little early for the inexperienced Vlad, Josef entrusted him with leading this return procession, and Vlad repaid his trust with the present spectacle.
Troops at attention!
Someone’s voice echoes along with Vlad’s glance.
With that voice, Bayezid’s flags, heavily soaked with water, began to line up in front of the walls of Deirmar.
Although they are exhausted and wounded, they are now winners.
Therefore, even if it is a messy flag, it will be worthy of being raised.
“…….”
Alicia realized that the blue eyes beneath the castle wall were looking at her.
Vlad’s eyes told him that it was time, but the reason he couldn’t keep his mouth shut was because of his unavoidable regret.
“…Thank you to everyone who came to save Deirmar from the crisis.”
But now it’s time to leave and let go.
Alicia’s voice was shaking a little as she had to say goodbye with her own mouth.
“We will never forget the peace we have established with your blood.”
Soldiers who arrived in the summer but did not leave until the fall.
Alicia was raising her voice with all her might for those who had just fought the fiercest battle of the war against the West.
Alicia was doing her best to make her death a small source of pride for them.
“Dermar will welcome you back at any time.”
However, the last words she shouts are solely for one person.
Alicia’s eyes were looking at everyone, but right now, they were filled with Vlad standing under the flag.
Her eyes were telling me that she could come back to me at any time.
The war is over.
Now it’s time to go back.
Although the soldiers were standing like defeated soldiers under the autumn rain, each of them had a small smile on their face.
※※※※
“Jemina! Jemina!”
The edge of the city. A street where the sun doesn’t shine.
Because it was not yet evening, someone’s voice began to echo loudly with a smile on Rose’s face as she was not ready to open the door.
“…That b*stard doesn’t do what he’s told to do.”
Jemina, who had been raising her head for a while with a small pin in her mouth, frowned when she heard a loud ringing sound coming from below.
Unlike his predecessor, Chopal, the newly hired guy this time was not to Young Gemina’s liking.
bang-! bang-!
“Jemina! “Are you there?”
A voice that mercilessly knocks on the lady’s room as if it doesn’t care about manners.
Otar’s younger brother, Ned, was currently pounding on Jemina’s room mercilessly.
“what?”
“… While I’m there. why.”
However, unlike the last time he had been in a hurry, Ned couldn’t help but shrink a little when he saw Gemina, who had just opened the door.
“What’s going on in this mess? “If it’s nothing, just leave it alone.”
It wasn’t just because of her fierce eyes.
The makeup wasn’t finished yet, but even if only the freckles were covered, there were flowers blooming there.
Red hair done up with colorful pins.
The red color and the thin nape of the neck were enough to attract the boy’s attention.
“ah! “This is not it!”
Ned, who had been mesmerized by the sight of Zemina for a while, began to place his palms together and remember the purpose of his coming here.
“All the priests in the church are running out the gate right now!”
“But what?”
What’s wrong with the church?
Perhaps because of her experience at the convent, Gemina became especially cynical about the church.
“They said the bishop also went out. “That newly appointed person!”
“…Even the bishop?”
However, even if there were no good feelings about the church, unusual signs had to be detected.
Because now, Gemina has become the person who leads Rose’s smile.
“Why are you doing that? “That’s why you’re causing this mess now, right?”
As Jemina’s big eyes narrowed, Ned swallowed without realizing it.
Although it is said that a place makes a person, the current Jemina did not look like the kitchen of the past.
It felt as if a shrunk Marcella was standing there.
“They said it would arrive in a little while… The soldiers who went to Deirmar were coming and they were all coming to meet us.”
“……what?”
However, in the face that I see now, it seemed like I was seeing my old self for the first time in a long time.
“The soldiers who went to Deirmar have now returned.”
From Ned’s words, I could feel the traces of the person I had been waiting for so long.
“Vlad too?”
“maybe?”
At that moment, sparkling lights began to flicker in Ned’s eyes.
A halo of light sent by a pair of earrings hanging from Gemina’s ears.
The earrings were a gift from Knight Vlad to Lady Gemina before leaving Shoara.
※※※※
“Why are they out there like that?”
“Because they are not priests of the Vatican.”
Cheers began to echo throughout the procession as they saw the sight of Shoara in front of them.
It is understandable that the soldiers are excited as they have returned from a long deployment, but Vlad is currently in charge of commanding this procession.
Because Vlad was like that, he could not help but look wary rather than happy at the sight of priests filling up the front of the castle gate.
“Is this how the Northern Orthodox Church comes out?”
“Not necessarily.”
Josef was a little paler than when he left Dermar, but he had a small smile on his face.
Although Vlad was on guard as appropriate, Josef knew well why they were out like this.
“If it looks suspicious, go ahead and check. “Isn’t that your mission?”
“All right.”
Vlad, suspicious of the visions of the priests he had never seen before, walked towards Shoara alone.
My hometown, which I have not been able to see for a long time because I was exiled.
However, the current Vlad was not a shabby outcast hated by the church, but a commander leading Bayezid’s army.
-Who is that?
-You look so young.
-It’s Vlad! Vlad of Shoara!
The soldiers in front of the castle gate began to murmur as they saw Vlad slowly approaching.
Because the flag he was holding showed where Vlad was now.
“……no.”
Vlad reaches the castle wall alone.
However, unlike himself, who was very wary, there was a priest standing there with his arms spread wide as if welcoming him.
“Now you’re back. Vlad of Shoara. “Are you hurt somewhere?”
Priest Andrea now wears a red bishop’s robe instead of a white robe.
His face was filled with laughter as he greeted the name he had given himself.
“Priest!”
“Haha! You’re taller too!”
Vlad, who finally recognized Andrea, rushed over and hugged her.
The embrace he gave to Vlad, who had walked the tiring path, was as warm and fluffy as the white wheat bread he had tasted for the first time in his life.
Today’s twilight falls on the priest and boy embracing each other.
The blue moon that had been reached but could not be reached was rising again in the night sky.
The boy who fell with the girl’s tears returned today with the blue moonlight.
