Chapter 110 - Man in the fog (1)

The world of the voice is a world of deep colors.

The amber stone that Alicia saw through that world contained an autumn scene.

A maple tree stands amidst vast fields of wheat.

Vlad still remembered the leaves falling in the red twilight.

It was an intense, beautiful, yet somehow sad landscape.

"But I can still see a little."

Vlad closed his left eye and looked at the amber stone embedded at the end of the handle.

Although he couldn't see it as dark and clearly as in the world of the voice, he could see the maple swaying in the wind.

"Where is this?"

Vlad, who was already talking to himself, sat on the bed and murmured softly, but no one was responding to his words anymore.

Only the blue moonlight streaming through the window caressed Vlad's shoulders.

Ppajik-

A small beam shot out from Vlad's closed left eye.

Vlad couldn't respond when a voice asked him to meet in a deeper world.

However, if the voice asks me again now, I will be able to respond with certainty.I will.

Let's meet again in a deeper and wider world.

In a dark room illuminated only by moonlight, a beam of white light caught Vlad's attention.

***

"How is he?"

Count Vitskaya, who was dining at a table full of vegetables and fruits, lifted a cup of hot tea and asked.

Although he maintained a healthy diet that only elves would eat, his face was filled with furrowed brows and wrinkles after finishing his meal.

"It was clear that the knight named Vlad was a dragon slayer."

Reviewing the work two or three times is not enough.

Especially when it comes to identifying suspicious individuals.

"And?"

"…I also confirmed his skills. Among the remaining knights, there was none who could match the knight named Vlad."

There were five knights who attacked Vlad under the pretext of training.

And three of them were so beaten that they couldn't carry out their mission for the time being.

If it had been a real fight, I would have lost my head.

"And you?"

The commander of the knights bit his lip in response to the count's question as if he were being provoked.

"Nine times out of ten, I'll win."

"…If you fight ten times, you might lose once or twice."

Count Vitskaya remembered well how much gold the knight bowing before him received.

'Just an 18-year-old…'

Even his own knight commander, who was quite famous when he was young, cannot guarantee a complete victory.

Therefore, those who cannot even use Aura don't stand a chance.

"What about hanging the guards?"

"Yes?"

He was a true knight, but I didn't recognize him.

The first impression was so terrible that they left him outside, in the cold, so they wouldn't move him easily.

"It would be good if he were a bit more mindful…"

Knights are people who value honor.

What he did was clearly rude, but there would still be a chance.

The count only hoped that the young knight had some idea of how the world worked.

***

"…"

Vlad looked at the tea in front of him.

A bright green light shining in the sunlight.

Vlad unconsciously leaned in as the color of the tea showed through to the bottom of the cup.

I don't know what was prepared, but the strong smell of grass entered my nose and refreshed my eyes.

"I understand that the culture of drinking tea in this way hasn't developed in the North?"

"They prefer grabbing a bottle of liquor rather than drinking something made from crushed leaves."

Count Vitskaya smiled happily as he watched Vlad, who spoke bluntly but couldn't take his eyes off the knight.

Indeed, even as a northerner from the North, he couldn't help but feel interested in seeing this knight.

"It's elf tea. It's a specially processed product extracted from a forest in the Far East."

"Elf…"

As soon as Vlad heard the word "elf" from the Count's mouth, he licked his lips with his tongue.

However, he quickly straightened his posture and looked at the Count as if nothing had happened.

You mustn't reveal what you want during a transaction.

Marcella, the Rose of Soara, had said so.

"One of the main businesses in our territory is handling these special elf products. I suppose people from the central region can't use anything related to elves."

Until now, Count Vitskaya's family had not differed from a rural family, but after the current Count Vitskaya ascended to the title, they acquired a completely different appearance.

He risked it for his declining family and finally managed to become one of the few passages connecting elves and humans.

"For example, the tea you have in front of you now is worth more than its weight in gold."

"…"

The elves are a long-lived race, and their mysterious ecology was enough to arouse the curiosity of central nobles.

There were ridiculous rumors that it would extend the lifespan of the person in front of Vlad at the moment.

"Is the tea worth it?"

"I don't know if it really increases your lifespan, but at least it's definitely good for your health. It's a special medicine, especially for coughs."

Rumors tend to be exaggerated, and elf tea is not a mysterious herb that increases lifespan.

However, unlike elf tea, the blonde knight in front of him really was the dragon slayer as rumored, so the Count's attitude towards the real person could not help but be cautious.

"Do you want me to get you one?"

It was only after hearing the Count's words that Vlad raised his head.

He seemed to have lost his mind for a moment when he heard that it was not only good for the body but also effective for coughs.

"Am I worth that much?"

Vlad asked again, looking at the Count with a small smile.

There must be a reason why the Count called him and tried to show him favor.

"As expected, Northern knights are truly ostentatious! I like that!"

When the Count realized that Vlad was willing to listen to his proposal, he smiled and raised his tea cup.

He said he was from the North, so I thought he would be a reserved type, but surprisingly, he was a type I could communicate with.

"I admire your ability even to kill a dragon. So, there's something I'd like to ask you…"

His tricks are superficial, and his actions capricious.

However, there's no need to shy away from taking each other's hand if both parties have something to offer.

"Recently, there's a guy hiding on the trade route and stealing my goods. It's a headache."

"Is he a bandit?"

Vlad picked up the tea cup and took a sip.

It had no flavor.

"He's probably not a bandit."

Count Vitskaya smiled as he watched the northern knight holding a tea cup and making an astonished expression.

That smile actually contained many meanings.

"Because all my knights escorting the upstream route lost track of him."

It might have been a lie, but there was no shame in the Count's words.

He was a man who didn't hesitate to extend his hand even to the knights he had ignored to seek help.

"You mean even the knights?"

"Yes, that's why it's a pain in the side."

Vlad's expression frowned when he heard that not even the knights could do anything.

Count Vitskaya's knights' skills, judging by the combat, clearly weren't that good.

Rather, through this combat, I could get a real idea of what kind of place Bayezid was.

"Even Count's knights couldn't handle him, so you say I can?"

Still, Vlad didn't hesitate to let out a sigh.

Like the Count in front of him, the alley knight was a man who didn't mind showing weakness to increase his value.

However, the Count cut off Vlad's foolish movement with just a smile.

"Vlad of Soara and the Lindworm Slayer."

"…"

"I think if you've been recognized not only by Saint Rogino but also by many northern families, you'll do enough."

With those words, the Count handed him a small black bag.

Inside the bag, which was left slightly open on purpose, a bright golden light leaked out.

"I'll give you even more if you defeat the unknown marauder."

"It may be difficult for me alone."

"It's still fine."

Count Vitskaya looked at Vlad with a deep smile.

The Count has a golden rope that never dries, but an unknown marauder is blocking that same rope.

It's worth waiting for now, but if this strap continues to get caught, eventually your own strap will get caught too.

"I'm satisfied if you chase him for a while."

No matter how much of a dragon slayer the boy in front of you is, there are many knights with this level of skill in the central region.

There would be nothing to look forward to if it were resolved completely, but since it's used anyway for little money, it would be good to wait until a truly famous knight is invited.

"…All right. Count. I'll do my best."

Vlad smiled at the Count, who had finally revealed his true intentions.

"Instead, I'd like to receive something more than just gold coins."

With those words, Vlad took out some gold coins from his open pocket and silently returned them to the Count.

"…Is there anything else you want from me?"

Value is relative.

For the Count, gold coins abounded, but Vlad was not a man driven by money.

"I want to see the world as a wandering knight."

Even as he stood in the mud in the alley, Vlad tried not to lose himself.

Even now, in Soara, there will be a man who controls his cough with warm wine.

He was a man who had vowed to be faithful.

The sound of Joseph's slight cough always weighed heavily on Vlad's heart.

"…Do you want to enter the city of the elves?"

Seeing Vlad asking for something completely unexpected, Count Vitskaya leaned back deeply.

After all, boys with unbreakable authenticity were the ones who couldn't be seduced by the shiny gold.

"In those conditions, just finding out his identity isn't enough."

The Count frowned as if he were worried.

Although Vlad spoke easily, it wasn't just a matter of adding one person.

Interacting with the elves was a small hole in the family's future and his entire life, so the compensation Vlad demanded was nothing short of an act that posed a great burden on the Count.

"We'll figure it out."

However, not even Vlad could yield at this point.

Now that he knew that no one could enter the city of the elves, he somehow had to get the Count's cooperation.

"So that the unknown marauder never again covets the Count's trade route."

The central count and the northern knight were making eye contact.

As long as we have something to offer each other, we'll be able to smile even if we drink bitter tea and show kindness to those who ignore us.

"Fine."

Because that's the deal.

Their clasped hands trembled silently over the bag of gold coins.

***

On a dark night, upon a stone bridge spanning a very high cliff.

The coachman trembled in the dense, damp fog with every breath.

The reason the coachman trembled wasn't simply because the atmosphere was unsettling.

"Ugh, huff…"

Right in front of me lay men sprawled on the bridge as if dead.

Among them fluttered the tattered flag of Vitskaya.

All the fallen were knights the Count had selected and dispatched.

"Is there any elven object among them?"

"Hey, hey…"

An unidentified man wearing a gray hood that reached his knees.

His sharp voice, like scraping metal, instilled a strong feeling of revulsion in the listener.

"You're right! Please, save me!"

The coachman quickly fell to the ground and cried out loudly.

It felt as if the thick fog swallowed my voice.

Crunch!

A horrible sound was heard from behind, but the coachman didn't take his eyes off the knight lying on the ground.

He was afraid that if he opened his eyes, he would find himself facing a hooded man.

In the thick fog, a dim light fell from a thin stone bridge descending down the cliff.

With a heavily laden carriage.

As soon as the faint light vanished from the bridge, only darkness remained on the stone bridge.

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