City of Outlaws (2)
City Namarka.
A place where there is no just or lawful owner, and only lawlessness prevails.
However, the order in chaos that was created spontaneously even though no one was in control was clearly familiar to Vlad.
“…You have quite a few older brothers, don’t you?”
So it seemed like I was mistaken for a moment.
The alleys here in Namarka are probably moving in the same way as the place where I was born.
However, in this world, no matter how similar it may seem on the outside, there is not a single thing that is the same on the inside.
“Usually, most beast people form a matriarchal society. So the tribe’s child is also everyone’s child.”
I felt like I would have known even without Nibelun’s explanation coming from behind me.
Before I knew it, countless beastmen had lined up behind the young pickpocket.
The current situation, where nearly a hundred people came out for the sake of just one young pickpocket, was a sight that could never have been imagined in the back alleys of Shoara.
“…It feels good to be everyone’s child.”
But it would have been better if I had known in advance.
Sensing the atmosphere becoming increasingly fierce, Vlad raised his hands and smiled sheepishly.
“I didn’t mean to bother her, but in fact I came here thanks to Dorothea’s introduction…” You
should never surprise these people.
With that mindset, Vlad brought up Dorothea’s name, but all he got in return was the sharper eyes of the Luga men.
“…Dorothea must have done something wrong?”
A tribal child is everyone’s child.
However, Vlad did not seem to have guessed that there might be a good reason for a child being left alone.
※※※※
The sword was not taken away.
But that didn’t mean I broke up with my colleagues.
However, that did not mean that I was happy to be trapped behind bars at all.
“You weren’t planning on going north in the first place, right?”
“…….”
“You clever b*stard. “I was planning on doing it alone from the beginning.”
Pierre, who had been imprisoned in the Luga family’s prison thanks to Vlad’s unexpected actions, spat dryly as if he had finally understood the situation.
“You damn n.a.k.e.d b*stard. “Anything that goes against natural law will eventually lead to trouble somewhere.”
Pierre’s anger at being deceived by Vlad and not being able to head to his intended destination was justified.
However, the reason he could not be more cold-hearted was because he sympathized to some extent with why Vlad made this choice.
“I had no choice. “Because I needed Radu.”
Vlad opened his mouth as he looked at Radu squatting right in front of him.
Radu must have lost his strength and fell asleep even while he was locked up.
As a member of Dragullia and a confidant of the Dragon Blood Lord, he was clearly an important witness and informant, but it was honestly questionable whether the Northern Alliance would really use him as a clue to catch the evil beings.
“Rather than looking for the woman in black, it will be used as a tool to deal with the Dragon Blood Ball. “Now the war is upon us.”
For profit rather than the greater good.
Nobles with cold blue blood were people who constantly worried about the priorities of their decisions, and for such nobles, evil groups like natural disasters would have to be of a lower priority compared to the threat of the Dragon Blood Ball that was right around the corner.
“If we send Radu to the Northern Alliance now, the investigation related to Ramasht will only begin after the war is over.”
Even Count Arnstein, who had been attacked directly, was anxious about the movements of the lords right next to him rather than chasing Lamasut’s group.
Even Count Arnstein, who could be said to be the leader of the court faction, was completely distracted by the coming war, so Prince Steel’s decision to confront the central army directly was fully predictable.
“Vlad Aureo.”
Empty!
At that moment, there was a sound of hitting a rusty grate.
Vlad turned his head following the sound and could see the Luga man glaring at him from outside the bars.
“Get up. “Godmother wants to see you.”
His demeanor was irreverent and his voice was sharp, but Vlad didn’t care about such trivial things.
I just focused on the word godmother that the man said.
Contrary to expectations, he came back as quickly as possible, but it was because he realized that he could eventually meet the person he wanted to meet.
“And you too.”
“Me?”
However, the Luga man did not just bring out Vlad.
Even Nibelun, who was sitting next to him like a sack of barley, was with him.
“Why me?”
“If you want to come out, why don’t you come out? There’s so much talk.”
“…I was just asking why.”
Vlad and Nibelun, who were released from prison at the urging of sharp-edged men, came out of the building and began walking through the messy alleys again.
Apparently, the place where people were kept and the place where the godmother was located were separated from each other.
‘I think it’s further south from where it was originally.’
Vlad raised his head and saw the sky fragmented above the densely packed buildings.
After checking the position of the glimpsed sun, Vlad followed his old habit and figured out how far away he was from where he was originally.
“Go in.”
“……hmm.”
So, the godmother’s house that he came across deep in the alley was a building built in an unusual style that Vlad had never seen before.
Although it was as insignificant as the surrounding buildings, the method of raising the floor above the ground was something that had never been seen in the North.
“We do it this way because of bugs and snakes.”
“bug?”
“There are many poisonous insects in the southern jungle.”
Since it was not where it originally was, there was no need to build it to this extent, but the traces of its roots did not seem to be easily erased.
Vlad was unfamiliar with the customs of the beastmen, which seemed more unfamiliar the more he heard the explanation, but that was only possible when there was no spear point poking at his back.
“It’s hard to treat guests.”
“I don’t feel like a guest, but just looking at Amman, I feel like a prisoner.”
At his urging, Vlad stepped on the flimsy steps and climbed up.
When I lifted the wide leaf that had been placed in place of the door, the inside was filled with pale smoke.
“…….”
“Come in. “Isn’t the smoke you worked so hard to create leaking out?”
The smoke was so thick that it was impossible to see directly in front of you.
There was a faint scent of cigarettes mixed in with the smell that lingered at the tip of my nose, but cigarette smoke alone couldn’t have made it this far.
“okay. “You were introduced by Dorothea?”
In the middle of the smoke, an old woman was sitting.
Wearing a large bird’s feather in the center of her headband, she forcibly lifted her eyelids, which had been sunken over time, and looked at the unfamiliar guest from the north.
“It’s not even an introduction….”
“Go-yan b*tch. “He made a lot of noise when he left, and the guest he sent was also a very sinister person.”
“We don’t know each other that well.”
The phlegm-filled voice was no different from that of any other old man, but the resonance within it was difficult to overlook.
Vlad, who relies on his own world, may not have known, but Nibelun, who shares the same mystery, was able to sense how great a mystery the old woman in front of him was.
“Actually, I have a favor to ask you…”
“Don’t tell me.”
Vlad was about to explain his purpose for coming here, but he swallowed hard as he saw the old woman’s cigarette pipe reaching up to his lips.
Even though she didn’t open her mouth, the wrinkled face of the old woman was already distorted, showing a clear expression of discomfort.
“I came here with the flow, so I won’t chase you away, but every breath you breathe is very poisonous.”
The old woman who forced Vlad to shut his mouth lowered his head this time and looked at Nibelun sitting next to him.
“You tell me.”
“Me?”
“okay. “You try it.”
The old woman who brought the tobacco pipe again pushed a leaf into it and started lighting it.
“When the dragon opens its mouth, the dragon listens. So, you speak for him.”
Huh –
“Before the dragon in the distance knows your destination.”
A large amount of smoke began to rise from the bare cigarette pipe.
It was only a single exhalation, but before he knew it, a large puff of cigarette smoke began to linger by Vlad’s side and surround him tightly.
“…!”
Like a hazy fog.
In the thick, silent fog that no one would notice, Vlad was only then able to notice the faint gaze following him.
Even now, the gaze that the old woman was wary of was not through her eyes, but through the world of dragons that Vlad had embraced.
※※※※
“It’s a mystery.”
Dragullia’s mansion in the capital Brigantes.
Dragon Blood Lord Sarnus, who had his left eye closed, smiled regretfully and put down the wine glass he was holding.
“You shameful cats. “I should have burned it all down then.”
Sarnus, who remembered the distant past, hundreds of years later, clicked his tongue as he saw the mystery that had once again blocked him just like before.
As expected, instead of just sinking them, they should have pulled them all out one by one and cut off their heads.
“Is there anyone there?”
“Yes, Duke.”
“Go and get the wizard. “I need to contact Mirshea.”
Mirshea, who had been sent to catch the runaway Radu, said he was now heading north.
However, the ones he was looking for were not from the north, but had crawled right in front of him, so Sarnus couldn’t help but laugh at that cute choice.
“…Now I can finally see you. “Son.”
Unlike other worlds, the original world of dragons is connected as one.
Because all beings born as dragons ultimately turn their gaze toward where perfection is.
And Sarnus, the oldest dragon, was also the only dragon that knew how to use those gazes.
“And you too.”
Sarnus, who was waving his hands as if he was drunk, approached the window holding the wine glass he had put down.
The darkness of the capital city begins to fade as the sun sets in the distance.
Sarnus, who was looking at the approaching darkness with one hand behind his back, opened his mouth to someone who was wandering in the darkness as much as the scenery he was currently seeing.
“No matter how hard you try, it will be of no use. “Because you are no longer a glorious sword master.”
Five sculptures seen through the world of dragons.
Among them, there was one piece that was particularly losing its shine.
It was a piece held by a person who returned from the dead, and it was also a piece held by an unworthy person who could never impose a ban on himself again.
“The wine tastes good.”
Now there is no one to stop me and no one to force me.
Sarnus, who was confident about his opponent through the absorbed dragon fragment, lifted the wine glass he was holding to his mouth and smiled with satisfaction.
Although it was a wine that I no longer had to drink because of the dragon sculpture, the flavor coming from the newly opened wine barrel was still unbearable.
