Drops of blood on the sword (1)
A man in armor was sitting on a rock, cleaning his sword.
His sword was covered in red blood, as if he had caught a passing monster.
“You can’t lie about your age. Now the winter wind is entering my bones.”
Although he could not be said to be old, the scars and wrinkles on his face were enough to guess the time and environment in which he lived.
“hmm?”
The man who was silently wiping the blood from his sword stopped and focused on the sound he heard.
White breath coming from the man’s mouth scattered in all directions.
“It’s quite plausible.”
A small sound heard from far away.
It was the sound of a cuckoo.
A cuckoo was crying among the bare, dry trees beyond the created road.
“Are you stupid or are you doing it on purpose?”
The middle-aged man clicked his tongue, checked that no one was around, and walked off the road towards the place where he heard the cuckoo sound.
Cuckoo-cuckoo-
Even as people approached, the cuckoo did not move its position and continued to make sounds.
As if to announce that he was here.
“I don’t know who it is, but stop now. “Because I have come.”
In the deserted forest, a man wearing armor spoke quietly.
“······Are you Stanga?”
Then, a person wearing a hood walked out of the forest, where it seemed like no one was there.
“okay. “I am a stanga.”
The man called Stanga looked at the person in front of him with a fearful expression.
“So you are this guy named Vlad?”
“yes.”
As Vlad took off the hood he was wearing, Stanga looked at him with interest.
“The guide said he was from a back alley, and he had blonde hair and blue eyes. Anyone who sees her will think she is from a noble family.”
“······Here’s a letter from the boss.”
Vlad’s face frowned after hearing Stanga’s words.
“Let’s see…”
As Stanga slowly read the letter, his scar became strangely distorted.
Vlad couldn’t easily read Stanga’s expression.
In some ways, it looked like he was smiling, but in other ways, he had an expression that looked like he was angry.
“good. “My proud senior is telling me to follow the little boy in front of her.”
“that’s right.”
He is an unpredictable man.
Vlad, who was born in a back alley and was bound to have a keen sense of seeing people, evaluated Stanga that way.
“Follow me.”
While Vlad was evaluating Stanga, Stanga was also evaluating the baby in front of him.
A blonde kid who ignores what he says despite deliberately creating an unpleasant atmosphere.
‘He’s someone that Jorge would like.’
I don’t know what his skills were, but at least he was a kid who seemed worth refining.
However, now he was not a driver, but a traveler who just wanted to arrive at his destination early.
‘I guess I’ll have to give it a shot here.’
In order to move forward comfortably, it seemed necessary to gently massage the head of the little guy who was sticking out in front of me.
“Ha… I think the guy in front of me is stupid, but I don’t know if I can guide him properly.”
“It’s good enough to give directions.”
“I don’t think so?”
Stanga smiled darkly as he looked at Vlad, who was expressing his dissatisfaction.
“How can a guy who makes the sounds of summer migratory birds in the middle of winter be so smart?”
“······ah.”
Vlad looked frustrated as he listened to Stanga’s words.
“If you think it’s not here while you’re on your way, they’ll kill you. “You idiot.”
Seeing Vlad’s confusion, Stanga smiled, feeling that his strike was effective.
※※※※
article.
A word that can resonate even with a boy from a back alley.
There was a person right next to me who had the title, honor, and title of knight that only those who had proven their existence could hold.
“Why do you keep glancing at me?”
“······What does it wear out when you look at it?”
“Don’t get lost.”
“Do not worry. “This is a road I know even with my eyes closed.”
“Close your eyes then.”
“······That means I know that well.”
Even though I had just been scolded, I couldn’t help but keep looking at Stanga.
I knew well that Jorge was a former knight, but the atmosphere of being the boss of an organization was already more natural to him than that of a knight.
However, Stanga, who was now next to him, still retained the image of the knight he had dreamed of.
A long sword, a leather breastplate, tightly fastened gauntlets and the clanking sound of armor.
“Is this your first time seeing a retired knight? “Why do you keep looking at me like this?”
“Not this close.”
“You’re a hillbilly.”
“Where are you from?”
“In Dacia.”
“It’s a completely rural area.”
“······.”
Stanga smiled grimly as he looked at Vlad, who didn’t give up on him even though he had just punched him.
“I’d rather you get lost. “Chop it up in one blow.”
“I’ll camp here today.”
“Aren’t people from the city naturally this cheap?”
Stanga grumbled, but agreed with the boy’s decision to camp now.
The two were wandering through the forest to avoid people’s eyes, and the sun sets faster in the forest.
“Are you skilled? About city people?”
“Because I can’t have a home that feels like home.”
Stanga smiled as he watched the boy moving quickly and making camp.
“Surprisingly, you’re even making a place for me?”
“Because I’m Jorge’s guest.”
“Hmm.”
Before I knew it, Vlad had prepared a bed and had managed to gather firewood and start a fire.
“Is there anything to eat?”
“I have mine.”
“What about mine?”
“They didn’t even take care of that.”
“······.”
Stanga sighed and had no choice but to take out the beef jerky he was carrying.
It seemed like a meager thing for someone wearing shiny armor to have.
Once the bonfire was lit, Vlad hung the beef jerky there.
“Is it okay to light a fire while moving secretly?”
“That’s why I came back so far. Even if there are people here, it’s okay as long as they don’t find out that I’m bringing a knight, Nari.”
This meant that even if his actions were discovered, it didn’t matter as long as his intentions were not discovered.
“It seems like you’re having a hard time.”
And Stanga guessed Jorge’s situation through Vlad’s words.
“Because hiding the sword is only for stabbing.”
Vlad said nothing.
I just confirmed it through silence.
“······In the worst case scenario, I could get caught, so I just told them to bring me back safely.”
Vlad, who felt the knight’s sharp senses for the first time, was inwardly surprised.
Stanga was right.
He was a man who did not need to go into hiding and enter Shoara.
However, the reason why Jorge bothered to hide the prosecutor named Stanga is probably because he also intends to definitely end One-Armed Jack’s life in this fight.
A knight is a sword.
It’s also a very sharp sword.
A sword flying from an unexpected place would be a truly great weapon.
Stanga, who is now retired but was a former knight, will be able to fill that role.
“But are you really going to eat it alone?”
Stanga asked, looking back and forth between his own beef jerky and the beef jerky that Vlad had brought.
“yes.”
“Three beol…”
Vlad answered as if it wasn’t worth worrying about.
“Tsk.”
Stanga quenched his appetite as he watched the beef jerky gradually ripening.
“But you made it look really ugly.”
“The person who made it is not skilled.”
It was an unusual jerky.
Rather than a sack, it looked more like a clumsy bundle of meat.
However, it was a sight that whetted my appetite.
‘It even kills the smell.’
The aroma produced by grilling over a fire was not much different from that produced by grilling meat.
“Huh…Hmm. “Do you have any questions for me?”
“Suddenly?”
“I’ll answer one question for each piece of jerky you’re holding. “This is not an opportunity that just comes along.”
“······.”
Vlad quietly looked at Stanga while munching on the beef jerky that Zemina had made.
Why is this person like this?
“If you want to eat it, just give me one.”
“You have the dignity of a knight, man. “In essence, knights only receive fair compensation.”
“You’re retired.”
“Still, I’ve been doing it so far…”
“name.”
“······Stanga.”
“age.”
“42 years old…hey dude.”
“Why did you come here?”
Stanga, who caught the two beef jerky flying at Vlad, was momentarily speechless at the sharp question that came straight to him.
Reality in emptiness.
I thought he was a smart guy, but he was also quite sharp.
“Well, in the words of an unsuccessful knight…”
Stanga responded with a bitter look on his face as he threaded the beef jerky on a tree branch.
“success?”
“One more beef jerky.”
This time, Vlad frowned and handed me the beef jerky he was holding.
“Land is important. “It is a foundation to stand on and a support that allows you to stand up on your own.”
“You mean the manor?”
“······Well, that’s right.”
Vlad knew too.
The ultimate goal of knights is a manor.
One of the things that made a knight something other than a commoner was the manor.
“Do you want to become a nobleman?”
And it was also like a stepping stone for knights to advance into aristocratic society.
“Do you want to become a nobleman?”
However, after hearing Vlad’s question, Stanga just smiled empty-handed and quietly put the beef jerky into the fire.
“I just wanted to get my fair share.”
The flickering light of the campfire cast a strange shadow on Stanga’s face.
“······.”
Watching Stanga’s expression subtly harden, Vlad thought that he was now standing on a line that should not be crossed.
You must not cross the line.
Because everyone has their own world that they do not want to be invaded by.
“all right. then.”
To lighten the mood and lighten Stanga’s expression, Vlad decided to act like an ordinary boy.
“Do you know how to handle Aurors?”
“Hehe. “Now I see he was just a pretentious guy.”
In response to Vlad’s question, Stanga smiled heartily and turned his head.
“Not all knights can handle Aurors. and······.”
“and?”
“Even if you can handle it, using it in practice is a completely different matter.”
“So you can use it? “You don’t have any?”
Vlad thought he was acting, but he was mistaken.
The boy was sincere.
article. Auror.
Because what the boy dreamed of was contained in two words.
“Take it all.”
“what?”
“Beef jerky.”
Vlad hurriedly handed over the bag containing the beef jerky, afraid that Stanga would say something else.
“A driver takes only the fair price. “Sweetheart.”
“Then shall we take some out?”
Hearing Vlad’s words, Stanga quickly grabbed his pocket.
“Sometimes you need to cheer yourself up.”
Seeing Stanga grinning, Vlad felt his heart beating violently.
You can really see it.
Aura, the essence of knights.
Just to see it, it’s not a waste of money to buy Jemina’s handmade beef jerky.
Stanga seemed to be burdened by Vlad’s sparkling eyes and cleared his throat.
“Hmm. Okay, take a good look.”
Vlad accepted the beef jerky that Stanga was grilling with bright eyes.
Grumbling-
With both free hands, Stanga drew his sword.
The well-maintained sword was smooth and pulled out quietly.
It was like the hand shyly extended by a virtuous woman.
“Why do you close your left eye?”
“I have to bring up my own world within my soul.”
“······?”
It was an unknown word, but Vlad decided to just watch.
Because Stanga was standing up.
A knight standing under the moonlight in front of a bonfire.
However, even in front of two lights, his presence was not obscured.
Knight Stanga.
Because he was a person who knew how to shine on his own.
“Look. “Sweetheart.”
Stanga kissed his sword and began muttering something.
It was a conversation with the sword, and it was also like a spell that brought his world into reality.
“wow.”
Immediately, blue light began to flicker from his sword.
Although it was faint and pale, it clearly contained moonlight.
Even Vlad, who knew nothing, could tell.
It was Stanga’s own world.
They were also called aurors.
“It’s really cool.”
Something began to stir in the blue eyes looking at the world.
