Choices made by a boy (1)
“Lift up your face.”
Vlad made a disapproving expression as Dorothea’s hand forcibly lifted his face, but there was nothing he could do.
“Don’t paint on the face.”
“Do you want to become a headless corpse?”
“That’s why you even wore a helmet.”
“You told me not to speak informally.”
Red engravings engraved on the armor.
As if that wasn’t enough, Dorothea held a small brush and held it to Vlad’s face.
Just as the knights of the Iron Ball hold magic torches, it was Dorothea’s measure to block the cold that Lindwurm would emit.
“Why are you doing this only to me?”
“Because you will be the last to run.”
Rutger’s knights who were watching Vlad from the side only shrugged their shoulders as if they had no choice.
“There’s nothing you can do. “Your horse is the fastest.”
“You are the best dragon herder in Bayezid, so you should be able to handle this much.”
The knights next to him seemed to find it amusing to see the boy’s increasingly reddening features making jokes.
“I say it again. Look at the map here.”
While Dorothea was engraving the boy’s face, Rutger’s lieutenant unfolded a neat map and pressed his finger into the marked points.
“The ironsmiths and we will only be able to get him to this point here. So, from this point on, it’s up to you.”
There were countless lines drawn on the map the adjutant pointed to.
It was a trace left by people who must have thought about how to lure the dragon.
“Until then, we will be avoiding the wind behind the knights. Stay fit.”
“all right.”
It was the outline of the operation that had been said over and over again, but Rutger’s adjutant did not seem to be satisfied with that alone.
“If you drag me to this point here, Mr. Rutger will come running out of hiding. At the same time, Volkov’s javelin will also fly from above.”
Hearing the adjutant’s words, Vlad turned his gaze and looked at the knight in front of him.
A steel knight carrying a bunch of short javelins on his back. Volkov with the javelin.
I knew from Ramund that Auras could be used in a variety of ways, but this was the first time anyone had ever sent an Aura using a throwing weapon.
Indeed, the world was wide and there were many people.
“So your role is the most important in this plan.”
“I think I’ve heard that a hundred times already.”
A terrain that suddenly narrows like the neck of a bottle, with hills on either side.
The plan was to lead them to a place where they could not easily return, and then Rutger would block Lindwurm’s advance from the ground, and Volkov would fire a javelin from the top of the hill.
If you just drag Lindwurm to the point planned by Vlad, you will be able to successfully subdue it.
“Okay question.”
“I don’t have any.”
“Do something. just.”
Rutger’s adjutant was almost exhausted from seeing the boy who did not lose his bold attitude even though he was at the center of the operation.
“······If we succeed, those people don’t have to die, right?”
“of course. of course.”
In response to Vlad’s question, the adjutant nodded his head sharply.
At the end of the boy’s line of sight, there were barbarians lying on the ground due to the cruel hands of the Dragon Slayer Knights.
Bait is not something you get and use when you need it.
The proper way to use bait would be to catch it in advance and then use it.
Therefore, Mirshea had prepared bait to lure Lindwurm in advance.
Vlad looked at Agee, who was gritting his teeth behind him, unable to hold back his anger.
The son of a tribal leader who chased a sacred horse and a ruthless barbarian who attacked Bayezid’s people.
However, his actions had the purpose of saving his tribe members.
“······Even when things go wrong, they go wrong like this.”
And now, the baits who were captured by the Dragon Slayer Knights and sitting helplessly on the cold snow field said that they were members of the Budaat tribe.
If the people of the North fail, their blood and screams will become a trap to lure Lindwurm.
Wow!
In the distance, beyond the white horizon, the roar of the fallen dragon began to be heard.
“good. “Look here!”
Rutger’s lieutenant clapped his hands to distract the knights and turned his head to look at his master.
At his signal, the dark-haired young man nodded.
“good!”
Dragon herders turn their horses with the signal to start.
“······.”
Vlad lowered the faceplate of his engraved helmet and made eye contact with those who were looking at him.
Dorothea begins to pray.
Rutger and Ramund nod their heads at them.
And even Mirshea of the Dragon Slayer Knights was looking at him from afar with a faint smile.
“Let’s go Noir.”
Heeeeeee-
The black horse named by the girl began pounding its hooves.
White snow was falling behind the black horse’s tail.
※※※※
Two days ago, Bernhem Fortress.
There was a white piece of paper illuminated by a flickering candle.
“The name is Vlad. He is 17 years old. His place of birth is Shoara in the County of Bayezid. “The special thing is that he is said to be from a slum.”
“Hmm. okay?”
Mirshea frowned as she listened to the report through the crystal ball.
“Shoah. Shoarara.”
Blonde hair and blue eyes.
And the heartbeat that I could feel as soon as I saw it.
The moment their eyes met, Mirshea was able to feel an instinct-like premonition, but the circumstances surrounding the boy were subtly disrupting his judgment.
“You were born too far away.”
“That’s right.”
“And I was born in such a low place.”
“······.”
It is said that a ripe seed will bloom anywhere, but the background surrounding the boy was so low that it seemed harsh.
Was the noble seed really spread to places like this?
“I don’t know.”
A map of the North lying on the desk.
And a piece of paper spread out on top of the map.
Mirshea frowned and tapped the paper with Vlad’s personal information written on it.
However, no matter how much Mircea urged, the report written in ink did not provide any more information about the boy.
“I can’t be sure about this alone. “I’d like to find out a little more.”
The adjutant’s expression began to cloud as Mirshea said that she wanted more specific information.
“······That is.”
The adjutant, who hesitated for a moment, had no choice but to give his hesitant answer as he looked at Mirshea’s eyes that were colder than ice.
“We were able to find out what the boy named Vlad was doing outside, but we could not find out his movements inside Shoara.”
“Why? “The most ganja would have been spread in the north.”
Mirshea looked puzzled at the adjutant’s report.
Now is the time when people in the West are running rampant, but originally, the region that the royal family and the central government cared most about was the North.
This is because the North, which was united through strong regionalism centered around the steelworker Timur Baranov, was building its own territory to the extent that it would not be surprising if it separated from the scope of the empire at any time.
“Ever since the new mayor took office in Shoara, all our eyes have been closed. “It appears that they have succeeded in firmly controlling the city using the recent disappearance incident as justification.”
Although Josef could not hold a sword, he was also a person who understood the sword better than anyone else.
The tip of the sword must be sharp and flexible enough to extend anywhere.
Josef’s influence, which was sharply expanded using one incident as a justification, was constantly taking over and devouring Shoara.
“······Bayezid’s two brothers are very capable.”
“sorry.”
Looking at the adjutant who lowered his head, Mirshea took out a cigarette from his pocket, pulled out a candle, and lit it.
Soon the thick smoke he was emitting began to fill the room.
“They are both capable, but there is only one place they can go up…”
Knock, knock, knock.
Only the sound of Mirshea hitting the desk was echoing in the room.
Winners get what they want, losers lose everything.
This would be especially true in the case of succession competition between nobles.
Rutger and Josef were people who had been placed on an unavoidable battlefield from the moment they were born.
“I could shake this a little bit.”
No matter how tight-knit the North was, there were bound to be gaps where one could squeeze in.
And Mirshea seemed to see the gap.
after-
The map of the North that was lying on the desk looked hazy, engulfed in Mirshea’s cigarette smoke.
※※※※
“Even in our case, we ended up giving up people. “It wasn’t my intention, but…”
Ramund, who recalled his memories from a long time ago, crossed his arms and sighed.
“In the end, we caught the guy who was attacking the village, so in terms of the method, it wouldn’t be that different from the Dragon Slayer Knights who set up the barbarians as bait.”
A few decades ago, there was a Lindwurm that came down during the cold weather.
The knights of Ramund and Bayezid, who were young knights at the time, were only able to successfully subdue Lindwurm while he was busy biting the villagers.
In the end, there won’t be much difference from the current method taken by the Dragon Slayer Knights when it comes to capturing it through someone’s sacrifice.
“······Since we can’t catch up, we end up having to set up a trap.”
Rutger held his head and began to worry.
“If we don’t catch the dragon, we can use that as an excuse to sit down here.”
Dorothea began to infer the movements of the Dragon Slayer Knights in a quiet tone, as expected from a wizard and Rutger’s advisor.
As she said, it was impossible to predict how the cause would be built up if the opportunity to kill the Dragon Slayer Knights was taken away.
The Dragon Slayer Knights were a group that used the name of the dragon as a shield and acted with central intent.
“It will take a long time for us to build a trap now, right?”
“If you are thinking of driving cattle or sheep from a nearby city, then yes.”
The adjutant, seeing Rutger worried, opened his mouth in a cautious tone.
“······Should we capture the barbarians now? Or you can rob the barbarians captured by the Dragon Slayer Knights.”
“Damn it.”
In response to the adjutant’s opinion, Rutger let out a low curse.
No matter which one you choose, the fallout will be severe.
The barbarians and northerners are, after all, rubbing shoulders with each other, and the idea of using them as bait would ultimately shatter the peace that had been delicately established between the two.
Rutger thought that perhaps this was the result the center intended.
“Let’s leave that as a last resort.”
But Rutger had to keep all options in mind.
Because that was the duty that those in charge had to bear.
“They say Vlad speaks quickly…”
“Don’t even think about riding that horse.”
Ramund shook his head at the words he hinted at just in case.
“Everyone in Shoara knows that he is a disobedient person.”
“Hmm. Is it that much?”
“It will be more than you imagined.”
Rutger was planning to cut down Lindwurm with a short-term sword using the words of Vlad, which was well-known, but he had no choice but to relent due to Ramund’s strong restraint.
“Then there is no way.”
Lindwurm is so fast that you can’t keep up with him.
In order to catch such a Lindworm, you need to invite it in rather than catch up with it, and the best way to do that would be to lure it in with food.
“There is indeed something worthy of the name Yongsal.”
Rutger sighed with mixed feelings.
The Dragon Slayer Knights were forcing him to make an awkward choice just by their presence.
It’s as if it’s being thrust right in front of your face telling you to do this.
“Lord Rutger.”
Because there was no other way, everyone was quiet, and suddenly urgent footsteps and a knocking sound were heard inside the office.
“What’s going on?”
After receiving permission, the driver quickly opened the door, entered, and began reporting to Rutger.
“There are people outside the fort right now asking you to open the gate.”
“······Who is it?”
Rutger frowned, wondering if this was another uninvited guest, but the knight reporting to him had a strangely flushed complexion.
※※※※
In the snowy fields of the north, where the sun was quickly setting, there were men knocking on the door of Bernhem Fortress.
“Reveal your identity!”
Men holding the flag high, listening to the gatekeeper’s words.
The symbol engraved on the flag was a steel gauntlet holding something tightly.
“Tell this to the captain of Fortress Bernhem.”
A man with ponytail hair who looked like the leader of the men spoke to the gatekeeper in a calm voice.
He was a man whose spirit alone made it clear that he was an extraordinary person.
“The ironworkers’ knights have arrived.”
Knights of the steelsmith Baranov family.
They came to Rutger, who was worried because he had no cards in his hand.
The spears in Volkov’s back were sparkling in the setting twilight.
