To the Bayezid family (3)
The end of winter and the approach of spring.
It is a time when the warm wind blowing melts the snow that had been frozen all winter and everything that had been sleeping until now comes to rest.
“shit.”
In other words, it was the season when the roads became muddy and the wheels of the carriage suddenly fell off.
“What are you doing?”
“······.”
Seeing Xayar nodding his head on his horse, Vlad trudged to the rear wheel of the carriage.
After Zayar confirmed that Vlad’s physical condition was normal, he began sparring with him or running errands whenever he had time.
That too roughly.
It was as if he had been waiting for the moment.
“It’s a carriage ridden by nobles, so it’s very heavy.”
“But I didn’t miss much this time. Leader.”
“How long are you going to call me captain?”
“That’s because they don’t let me call your name.”
He and several servants were removing the wheels of the carriage, getting mud all over their bodies, but Goth just had a grinning expression on his face.
“Do you like it?”
“Then of course it’s good.”
Goth was a man who deserved to laugh.
In the end, Goth’s judgment was correct.
Vlad was the kind of guy you would become, and if you were around a guy like that, you would run out of things to eat.
‘Then you too, follow me.’
On the last night of his stay in Varna, Vlad gave Goth a meeting he had been looking forward to.
‘Because I don’t have the money to compensate you right now. ‘I’m broke.’
‘It is an honour. Josef!’
Josef, who heard Goth’s story about bringing Vlad, who could not ride a horse, to the garrison in a timely manner and bringing him to Zayar to resolve the situation, said he would also pay him a fair price.
For that reason, Goth is now joining the procession heading to Sturmma.
“I am going to the Count Bayezid family, a family that is difficult to even dare to look up to, and is said to be a powerful person in the North, so of course it is good.”
Goth wasn’t just hoping for the reward that Josef gave him.
He was a swindler and a very intelligent person.
“If I show my usefulness there, wouldn’t Joseph use me? “You can’t live as a mercenary forever and lead a life of uncertainty.”
“Can’t you just shut up and push?”
“A servant of Count Bayezid’s family! “With just this much, a commoner can be said to have achieved success.”
“Shut up and just push the carriage. “Please, before I beat you up.”
Because he was a Goth who knew the importance of opportunity as much as Vlad, he was able to smile even though he was struggling to push the carriage.
This is because the world was such that it was difficult to get a chance to move up.
No matter how skilled and prepared they were, there were a bunch of people who collapsed because they lacked a single thread called luck.
In that sense, Vlad and Goth could be said to be lucky people.
Of course, it was a possible result because the price for seizing the opportunity was clearly paid.
That night, Vlad risked death and summoned a world of white.
Goth took the risk and went back the way he came to bring Xayar.
It was all for now.
“You slugs! Are you planning to stretch out here all day today?!”
That’s why the two of them are now pushing the carriage in the mud while swearing at Zayar.
“Hehehe!”
‘I’m going crazy. really.’
Vlad closed his eyes tightly as he looked at Xayar, who was swearing and urging him behind him, and Goth, who was laughing unpleasantly next to him.
[Even in situations like this, you must maintain composure.]
‘I know that too!’
Despite the voice’s advice, Vlad could not easily calm his boiling anger.
“f*ck.”
“Are you just talking to me?”
“no.”
“No, it doesn’t matter.”
Vlad, who was hit in the back of the head by Xayar due to a low curse he had uttered without realizing it, noticed this and immediately hit the back of the head with Goth next to him.
“ah!”
“Are you laughing now?”
Vlad was a hot-blooded 17-year-old who had lived a violent life in the back alleys.
“Don’t laugh and push. “Because I don’t want to get beaten up any more.”
“You’re pushing…”
Vlad was still just a boy who was far from becoming a knight.
Not yet.
※※※※
County of Bayezid.
The domain of the Bayezid family, which includes three cities and 12 villages.
Shoara, the city where Vlad was born.
Varna is the city that took the lead in subduing this monster.
“Is this Sturmah?”
“yes. “It’s where my original home is.”
And the place in sight now was the city of Sturmah, the capital of the County of Bayezid.
“oh.”
Vlad let out an exclamation without realizing it as he looked at the new view of the city.
The first thing that caught my eye was the tall and huge castle wall.
“It’s really big.”
Shoara also had a wall, but it was not as large and high as this one.
“hmm.”
As he was from the back alleys, Vlad was naturally thinking about where in the city he would have to drill to create an amazing hole.
“There’s a reason the castle walls are so big.”
As Vlad looked at the walls of Sturma with his eyes lost in thought, Josef began to explain it to him next to him.
It was a story that started from a small misunderstanding, but to Vlad, who lacked insight, the whole story was worth hearing.
“That wall was built out of necessity and also to show the steadfastness of the Bayezid family.”
The history of the Bayezid family was so intense that it could be said to be a series of struggles.
Monsters and barbarians pour out when the time comes.
And, as is typical of the harsh northern climate, wars with other territories constantly break out.
There was an image of the castle wall that had endured all that.
“It’s different from Varna.”
“It’s a city with a strong religious flavor. “Even though it was what my father intended.”
Although Vlad was also from a city, each city he had seen had a different atmosphere.
The young bird, which had finally come out into the world, could not help but be amazed at everything it saw.
“Shut your mouth. bantling.”
“Please call me Vlad of Shoara.”
“There is no way.”
“······.”
Xayar sneered as he looked at Vlad, who was looking at Sturma with his mouth wide open.
“From now on, you’ll just be a brat.”
“Priest Andrea will be sad to hear this.”
“You are my squire, not the priest’s deacon. “Whatever you call it, it’s my heart.”
“······.”
The attention that Xayar paid to Vlad, his first squire, was extraordinary.
“If you go to the Bayezid family and do something rude, you will be beaten.”
“I get beaten up every day anyway. “It’s not even new.”
Looking at the bold squire who did not give up on him even a word, Xayar smiled and caressed his eye patch.
‘I’m sure he’s a useful guy with his momentum alone.’
His master, Josef, was always suffering from a lack of useful knights, and the brat in front of him was definitely one of the pieces that could fill that gap.
‘And even an Auror.’
Although it was said to be a secret in one-person lore and the details were not given, according to Josef, Vlad clearly emitted an aura for a moment.
As a result, I was bedridden, but the important thing was that I made it through.
‘I guess I’ll have to go and give it a hard time.’
Can you use aurors?
Or is it possible to perfectly master the aura and use it in actual combat?
This was a large part of the knight’s talents.
And the boy in front of me was a guy who brilliantly demonstrated his talent and potential.
“egg plant.”
With Josef’s words, the group began walking toward the gates of Sturma.
“The master has arrived!”
“Open the road!”
It was a high and sturdy wall, but it did not apply to Joseph.
There was a long queue waiting at the entrance to enter the castle, but just the name Josef created a path, like waves splitting apart.
“Oh oh.”
Goat looked at that and let out an exclamation without realizing it.
For him, who had lived a life of waiting and being pushed out, this was the first time in his life that he had experienced something like this.
Vlad also saw the scene before his eyes and confirmed that he was stepping into a different place from where he had lived before.
“Welcome to your safe return to Stumar! Josef!”
“I feel reassured to see Bayezid’s soldiers guarding the gate so reliably.”
“thank you!”
In response to Josef’s customary compliment, the gate captain responded loudly and opened the way.
“All salute!”
The guards were saluting until Josef’s carriage had completely passed.
It was an expression of respect for the noble family of Bayezid and a natural courtesy to the one who ruled the city.
And Vlad was also passing by.
“Stupid guy! Aren’t you going to put that in right now? “In the first place, Joseph’s existence itself is a pass.”
“······.”
Xayar was growling on his horse, but Vlad didn’t even listen.
Because it was something I really wanted to do.
“You go in and see.”
Regardless of what Xayar said or not, Vlad was walking confidently.
Holding a small piece of wood in front of the guards saluting Josef.
The piece of wood was made by priest Andrea and was an identity card symbolizing Vlad’s existence.
“Aren’t you going to check?”
Now you don’t have to go in and out of the dog hole.
And it was a small rebellion from a boy who could be confident anywhere.
※※※※
Under Zayar’s sharp gaze, Vlad and Goth entered the Bayezid family mansion.
“her······.”
“It’s amazing.”
The highest point of Sturma.
A huge gray mansion overlooking all of the city.
The two commoners’ eyes were wide as they walked into the mansion of a real nobleman they had never seen before in their imaginations.
“From now on, you are Joseph’s guests. “If I do something stupid, it will ruin Josef’s reputation.”
“yes.”
“Just walk with your eyes down. “Don’t look around like a hillbilly.”
Listening to Zayar’s sincere warning that only Josef was at stake, Vlad closed his mouth and walked calmly with his head down.
‘Is it a carpet? ‘Is it silk?’
Of course, even if you were only walking on the floor, there was still enough to see.
Stepping on the soft carpet spread over the white marble was a luxury that the boy from the back alley could not even dream of.
Vlad was seriously considering whether he would dare to step on these expensive-looking things.
“Wait here.”
Xayar growled as he gave the parlor to the two hillbillies.
From now on, Josef had to report to his father, Peter Bayezid, the owner of this mansion, about his safe return and the curse that occurred at the garrison.
“The maids will serve refreshments. Well…no, just don’t eat anything and wait. “If you eat dirty for no reason, bad rumors will spread.”
“Still, a little bit…”
“shut up.”
And there was absolutely no reason for Vlad and Goth to be present at that moment of reporting.
They had no qualifications to face Count Bayezid and could only move under Josef’s guarantee.
“······.”
“······.”
Even though the threatening Xayar disappeared, Vlad and Goth could not relax easily.
Everything was so clean, big, and most of all, quiet.
It was a sight and scenery I saw for the first time in my life.
That’s why I didn’t notice.
The white curtain next to them was fluttering.
“This is my first time seeing these guys. “Who are you?”
“······!”
And the fact that there was someone else in this living room besides themselves.
Underneath the slightly open window, there was a man walking out from between the white curtains.
“I was just trying to play around here secretly.”
A man shrugs his shoulders and approaches the two.
Strong momentum.
A confident stance.
And he was a man with a heavy presence that could not be hidden.
It was as if the black leopard that lives in the eastern jungle would look like this if it turned into a human.
“Well, I’m a guy named Got, and this time, Josef, Josef came to me…”
“······.”
And Vlad was able to recognize the man in front of him the moment he saw him.
Because he looked very similar to another black-haired man he had seen.
“okay. “You’re a goth.”
The black-haired man looked at Vlad and asked.
“Who the hell are you.”
The sharp look in his eyes made it seem like he could cut down a person with just the force, but Vlad gritted his teeth and fought back against the man’s force.
One of the things I learned while living in the back alleys was that if you avoid eye contact, you will be looked down upon.
And the back alleys of Shoara were where those who looked down on them were ripped off without mercy.
Countering someone else’s momentum was like a survival instinct for Vlad.
“My name is Vlad of Shoara.”
“······okay? “This is my first time hearing this name.”
The black-haired man smiled with interest as he watched the blonde boy dare to answer confidently even in front of him.
This is a guy I like.
His eyes are alive and he is not discouraged by his own strength.
‘I guess Josef got a useful guy from somewhere.’
Rutger, who was cheerful by nature, liked men with such a confident attitude.
“Would you like some peanuts?”
And Rutger was a man who was generous with whatever he pleased.
Rutger took a fistful of peanuts out of his pocket and handed them to Vlad.
however.
“I told you not to eat it.”
“huh?”
Vlad was nervous in this unfamiliar environment and was doing his best to counter Rutger’s momentum.
My mind was not at ease and my head was not moving smoothly.
So, without realizing it, I answered mechanically.
“I told you not to eat anything here.”
“······okay?”
Rutger, who had not expected anyone to dare refuse his favor, was momentarily taken aback by Vlad’s reaction.
“This is delicious…”
“······.”
Goat, who had his head down, knew something was wrong with the current situation, but he did not dare to intervene.
Vlad of Shoara.
The first thing he did when he came to the Bayezid family.
It was the rejection of the young peanut favored by Rutger, the earl’s eldest son.
