Young people these days (2)
The sound of a quietly burning bonfire crackling.
“······.”
Vlad thought as he watched the bonfire swaying in the wind.
It’s like he is now.
The light, which wanted to stand upright but swayed depending on the direction of the wind, looked similar to the image of a boy being swayed around by beings larger than himself.
“What are you thinking so hard about?”
Gregory asked, looking at the boy who was staring intently at the campfire but not actually focusing his gaze on it.
“Just some thoughts.”
Vlad responded in a low voice to Gregory’s answer.
“······There are so many great people in this world.”
“okay?”
“I’m not sure if I can survive among people like that in the future.”
The boy lost that night.
I probably would have died if I didn’t have a voice.
Just like Jorge did, one-armed Jack did it, and Anna did it.
Like them, they would have been crushed by a huge world that they could not fight against and eventually crumbled.
“······In life, there comes a time when I have the same worries as you.”
Gregory, who seemed to know roughly what the boy was thinking, threw the kindling he was holding into the bonfire.
The bonfire given to burn was burning louder than before.
“Are you good at riding?”
“yes.”
In the dark church that day.
The boy climbed up the windy and windy bell tower and stretched out his hand toward the place where the children’s breath was.
Gregory couldn’t see it, but he thought it was a sight that suited the boy just by imagining it.
A boy who was born from the bottom and knows how to desperately reach out to high places will one day be able to reach the end of the sky.
Maybe he will hang a star with his name engraved on it.
“In the end, what’s important is to persevere.”
After escaping from the shaking flames, Vlad looked at Gregory sitting beyond the bonfire.
There, a knight with a strong beard was looking at him and grinning.
“You just have to keep burning. “If the fire is not extinguished, it can flare up again at any time.”
It is impossible not to be shaken by the blowing wind.
But the important thing is to keep burning.
As long as the flame called yourself is not extinguished, it can burn again no matter how strong the wind is.
Vlad, who seemed to know what Gregory was talking about, nodded and answered.
“Yes.”
In order to fight against the suddenly approaching huge world, you will also have to become a huge flame.
A ray of color began to appear in the boy’s world as he watched the quietly burning campfire.
A boy in trouble and Gregory passing a bottle of alcohol. And even a pitch-black horse looking at the boy reflected in the bonfire from a hill in the distance.
It was a night where everyone thought about what they were lacking and threw their worries into the bonfire.
The last camping trip to Shoara was drawing to a close.
※※※※
“Good work.”
Josef sits in the reception room and greets the investigation team that has returned to their mission.
When Vlad saw Josef for the first time in a few weeks, he thought that the shadows under his eyes had become darker.
It may not be just because you are sitting with your back to the sunlight.
“I would like to praise you for your faithful attitude towards your mission. Moreover, I highly value your ability to take action to get to the root of the problem.”
Josef looked tired, but calmly evaluated the mission carried out by the investigation team.
However, even though they were praising them with their mouths, the eyes that were looking at the group did not even move, making everyone on the investigation team feel a strange sense of pressure.
“…However, I cannot easily overlook the fact that Bayezid’s sword was taken from another lord’s land.”
What is coming has come.
Gregory had already guessed that Josef, who had clear standards for rewards and punishments, would not quietly ignore this incident.
“sorry.”
Gregory took a deep breath and tried to say the words he had been planning on his way back.
As the head of the investigation team, I wanted to be able to embrace everything myself if possible.
“There are times these days when you make a reckless move on someone else’s land without even thinking about it.”
However, there was a loud voice that cut Gregory’s excuses to pieces.
It was a voice with as much weight as the years it had accumulated.
“Furthermore, I think it was an even worse action in that he clearly knew how things would unfold in the future.”
Although it was my first time seeing an old man, the energy he gave off was unusual.
Vlad bit his lip as he felt himself being pressured by the old man’s force.
Once again, the world above was oppressing the boy.
“······That is correct. “Because I was able to properly address a sensitive issue during a very turbulent time.”
The atmosphere in the living room froze at the words spoken by the unfamiliar old man, but Josef, who knew his intentions well, took a moment to catch his breath and continued speaking.
“Even now, large and small territorial wars are breaking out in various places. Since the royal family can’t control it properly, everyone is releasing the things they have been building up for a long time. “There’s no law saying we shouldn’t do that in the northern part of the country.”
The old man had reason to harshly reprimand Gregory.
The empire was falling apart.
All lords gathered swords under the sword of Frausen, the first founding king and sword master, but that time was already a long time ago.
In times like these, giving even the slightest cause was like throwing a spark into dry straw.
“At a time like this, even cursed old things can be seen, and even the steelsmith is keeping an eye on what is going on.”
It was an incident that even the steelworkers in charge of another axis in the north were keeping an eye on, so Josef had no choice but to react sensitively.
Gregory acknowledged that his intentions were good, but when Josef reprimanded him for setting the fire too loudly, Gregory just nodded as if he understood.
“So, I should have gotten out of it in moderation. I heard there was even a Holy Knight from San Logino there? In that case, it would be a natural procedure to hand it over to that person. Tsk tsk.”
“······.”
Vlad’s heart began to grow warmer as he listened to the old man’s voice asking why he did not follow the rules.
It was like a boy’s instinct to fight against the huge world.
‘I wasn’t even there!’
The light breathing of children and the cries of parents that could not be conveyed with just a few simple words were there.
From Vlad’s perspective, Gregory really did his best and made a courageous decision.
It was not the kind of decision that an unknown old man could carelessly disparage.
“Anyway, these days, I don’t think about the rest and just…”
“The children would have died. “If we hadn’t come forward.”
You, who know nothing, have no right to say such things.
The boy’s blue eyes, glaring at the nameless old man, said so.
“······what?”
The old man was at a loss for words for a moment as he saw the boy coming in, cutting off his words sharply.
He wanted to yell right away, but the boy’s fluttering blue eyes stopped the old man’s momentum for a moment.
“Lord Gregory did his best for the children. San Logino guaranteed the best. and.”
Vlad glanced at the old man and began to spit out something hot that he couldn’t contain in his heart.
“Of course I would have done the same. “I believe that Sir Gregory’s decision is one that should be praised, not reprimanded.”
Because it was immature, it was a lump of unrefined heat.
However, because it was not polished, it was able to come across as sincere.
Everyone in the living room was left speechless as they watched the boy pour out his inner thoughts honestly and without any rhetoric.
“······.”
However, reality cannot be communicated only through sincerity.
Seeing Vlad making unauthorized remarks, Xayar closed his eyes tightly and Gregory had to bow his head even more.
The intentions were good, but the boy had just crossed a line.
“Vlad.”
Josef Bayezid.
The person who cared for the boy more than anyone else, but who needed to be harshly punished, stood up.
“stop. “Don’t test my patience any longer.”
Although Josef could not use a sword, the energy radiating from him overwhelmed everyone here.
Bayezid’s bloodline alone would not be able to contain such momentum.
“······yes.”
Vlad bowed his head in response to Josef’s stern warning.
Jayar’s heavy gaze telling him not to go any further was also suppressing the boy’s boiling energy.
“I think Sir Gregory will understand. “The Sword Master’s second discipline is particularly sensitive.”
Josef naturally shifted the focus of the conversation to Gregory, but people who knew him well could tell that he was suppressing his anger.
The sight of Josef quietly unbuttoning one of the buttons on his neck proved this.
“you’re right. Mr. Josef. “It was my negligence.”
Gregory quickly admitted his mistake so as not to further inflame the boy who defended him.
“Sensitive issues overlapped. “Before they send a direct protest, we have to show them with action first.”
Josef glared at Vlad for a moment, then turned away and walked to the window.
Josef opened his mouth as he looked at the scenery of Shoara outside.
“Knight Gregory is placed on indefinite probation. In the meantime, your salary will not be paid, and you will not be able to enjoy any of the knightly rights guaranteed by Bayezid.”
“All right.”
Gregory lowered his head, hoping it would end here.
“······.”
However, after finishing speaking, Josef turned his head this time and made eye contact with the boy who was looking at him.
There are procedures and regulations for everything, and these should apply to boys as well.
“Squire Vlad.”
The boy, who looked at his call from a slightly subtle angle, was still the same as before, full of rebelliousness.
“······.”
I’ve fed, clothed, and treated her well for so long, but she still hasn’t been tamed.
Seeing the boy who had not changed at all from when he first saw him, Josef also felt a feeling of sadness that he could not help but feel in a corner of his heart.
“I express deep regret to you for making me feel uncomfortable with your unauthorized remarks.”
Vlad lowered his head as he looked into Josef’s deep eyes.
He was a young man who always seemed comfortable with himself, but now he only had the appearance of a sharp monarch.
“I also order you to be under probation for a week. “You won’t be able to see me for a while.”
“······All right.”
Vlad raised his head in response and deliberately avoided his gaze as he saw Josef giving him a cold command.
He received the order and did his best, but the return came with a probation order, so it was inevitable that the boy would also feel disappointed.
“Everyone, go out. “I must now write a letter to Baron Utmann explaining the situation.”
The investigation team, who had completed the report and received the disposition, was leaving after saying hello to Josef.
However, the old man who was watching the scene laughed as he looked at the blue eyes that had not lost their strength even during this time.
It’s you.
I understand without you having to introduce me.
“Are you this guy named Vlad?”
“······.”
Vlad, who was just about to leave the door, stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the old man’s words.
A moment of silence enveloped the living room.
“An adult calls you, but you don’t even answer. “It looks like you didn’t receive any etiquette training.”
Vlad’s eyes began to twinkle as he listened to the old man’s sarcasm.
I received sufficient etiquette training.
From a noble lady with a mother’s eyes.
Vlad turned to the old man who was judging him carelessly and introduced himself in a more polite manner than ever before.
“you’re right. “I am Vlad.”
The sight of the boy bowing straight while suppressing his energy was similar to the energy he had before he drew his sword.
“May I also ask your name?”
The old man felt a thrill rising from deep within his heart as he watched Vlad, who was polite but exuded a ferocious spirit.
It almost felt like they were asking each other’s names before starting a fight.
“So, were you curious about my name?”
The old man smiled as he saw the boy giving off a raw feeling that was hard for young people to feel these days, and that he had felt for the first time in a long time.
“But unfortunately I don’t have a name I can tell you right now.”
“······.”
The old man stroked his beard and answered the boy who was frowning as if asking what that meant.
“Because I am the one who walks the lowest path. “I haven’t done my duty yet.”
Vlad’s expression hardened at the incomprehensible words, and now he could see the old flag planted behind the old man.
It was similar to his own flag, but unlike his own flag, which only had two sentences engraved on it, the old man’s flag had more than ten sentences engraved on it.
There were knights who grew old because they could not die.
Since they could not retire from the honorable battlefield, they had to follow the lowest places and pick up the honor they had lost.
Just like the last appearance of the first Sword Master.
The nameless old man that Vlad was looking at was currently having an honorable retirement ceremony.
