Chapter 141 - It was also at sea (1)

Inside the tent, illuminated only by the dim light of candles.

There, Sigmund looked at the report published by Godin and ended up laughing.

"They even stole their flag?"

"That's right."

"...And that was just by a brat and ten barbarians?"

Although he was smiling, he felt a deep chill buried deep within his being.

For Sigmund, whose anger had already crossed the critical point and extended far, a cold smile would have been the only way to express it.

Wagner, the commander of the 3rd Cavalry, who was there feeling like a criminal, dared not face his smile and simply bowed his head.

"Furthermore, the city of Nassau was razed and only opened up the intact sailboats and took them away..."

Bitterness increases with every word I spit out.

A port city in flames. Nassau.

The news of Baron Iznik's bankruptcy even before the war began was already spreading throughout the West.

Perhaps it cannot be said that the news of the delayed incorporation of each family is completely unrelated to this matter.

"I don't know how Count Bayezid has been holding back all this time."

Sigmund smiled faintly as he rotated the glass he was holding.

Bayezid's hands move agilely, as if he had been waiting.

The plans that Peter had devised up to now were clearly too painful to have been carried out solely with improvised ideas.

"Well, it's been too easy so far."

Seeing how things were going, Sigmund had no choice but to admit it.

That they were not the only ones who had been waiting for this war.

In the midst of turbulent times, Bayezid was also seeking an opportunity.

"...As expected, it was difficult, but it was the right path."

Sigmund took a sip of his drink and let out a sigh.

Peter Bayezid. As expected, he's not an easy opponent.

It wasn't just one family, but he was gathering forces from the west and advancing, but instead of being shaken, he was trying to take the initiative in the war.

"After all, it should be like this."

However, the reason Sigmund is willing despite being a tough opponent is because Bayezid is a valuable person.

The brighter the hunt, the greater the value of the hunter.

As long as they catch the great man called Bayezid, not only Oesye but no other family will be able to call themselves usurpers.

"God. Be prepared to send a letter."

"Where should I send it to prepare you?"

The tip of the candle flickers.

Sigmund silently opened his mouth as he watched the candles swaying here and there with the wind.

"Dragulia. The Lord of the Dragon's Blood."

I know why they took the last Ravnoma.

They probably wanted to ignite a spark behind the unstable West.

But Bayezid should know better.

"It's time."

It was Dragullia, not the North, who first lit the fire in the rear.

Behind Bayezid, the central forces that were stuck like stakes in Baron Utman's territory were gradually changing the direction of their banners.

***

"It's really wide."

Vlad leaned on the deck railing, gazing at the blue waves under the sky.

It was his first time seeing the sea.

The size was on a completely different level from the gray walls of Soara, which he promised to leave someday.

Vlad was once again amazed by the vastness of the world as he gazed upon the endlessly expanding sea.

"It would have been really unfair if I had died without seeing this."

The blue waves that reached deep into your heart along with the strong salty breeze.

A deep blue wave, which he had never seen in his life, was forming white foam and slowly flowing into Vlad's world.

Crash-

Vlad admired the blue of the sea for a while.

However, even looking at the same sea, each person's impression was different.

"Are you okay?"

"...No."

Cheeks grew thinner, and the skin noticeably paler compared to yesterday.

As he watched Rutiger's eyes narrow more and more, Vlad couldn't help but think of Joseph.

As soon as I cast a shadow on their eyes, wondering if they were brothers, they were two incredibly similar people.

"...Why are you okay?"

"I guess I have the constitution of the sea."

"What kind of person has lived in the city all his life?"

Rutiger simply waved his hand as if Vlad's response made no sense and leaned back on the railing.

"If you were going to buy it anyway, why not buy a bigger boat?"

He had no reason to resent, but he simply wanted to.

It's a small boat that inevitably rocks more because it's small.

Since horses and people were loaded to the limit, the burden for Rutiger, who was prone to seasickness, would surely double.

"If I had more money, I would have bought a bigger boat."

"...Then I told you to come under my command, not Joseph's."

Rutiger's words were unclear whether they were joking or serious.

But knowing that there was no turning back, the two men simply looked silently at the sea.

"Thank you for waiting."

Vlad knew that the reason he was able to board Harven's boat safely was thanks to Rutiger.

If it weren't for Bayezid's knights intercepting hundreds of others, he would probably still be fleeing, wandering the wasteland without rest.

"I just did it because it was worth doing."

With those words, Rutiger began to collapse on the deck as if he had exhausted his last strength.

Even the boastful knight of Bayezid seemed unable to avoid the queasiness coming from within.

'Worth doing...'

Vlad carefully pondered Rutiger's response.

What level of skill must you possess to be able to make such a decision even in the face of hundreds of people?

'I don't know yet.'

Vlad turned around and leaned on the railing, tilting his head up to look at the highest point of the ship.

A red flag fluttering back and forth in the wind.

Vlad, squinting, perhaps due to the piercing sunlight, looked at the flag and murmured softly.

"When I return to Soara later, I'll first have to ask them to change the name of the boat."

A small boat heading north between the calm waves.

The red-haired Zemina was currently heading to a small port city near Deirmar.

***

Three men huddled beneath the night sky.

The night sky of the sea, which had more stars than the city's night sky, looked bright even if you didn't bring a lantern.

"I think Noir has lost a lot of strength. I guess he's not cut out for the sea."

"...I suppose so."

Vlad could only silently nod at Otar's report.

Noir had no choice but to be loaded into the trunk because the boat was narrow.

Regardless of his damn temper or whatever, Noir couldn't regain consciousness on the swaying boat.

"But you're really something too. There are people who don't get seasick like that."

Vlad simply suppressed his temper silently as he watched Harven smiling at him.

As it was Harven who waited at the port until the end, this incident had to be overlooked silently.

"...But isn't it a bit strange to put Zemina's name on a boat?"

"Did I do it because I wanted to? Zemina said I had to do it, so I did."

Harven slyly turns the wheel with his response.

Watching him now driving a boat seemed as familiar as the captain's hat he wore on his head.

"You said you have a stake in this boat. You said it all started with the sword she gave me."

"That!"

Vlad stopped snorting after hearing Harven's words.

No, according to that logic, does it mean he'll go step by step in everything he does from now on?

"It's not exactly wrong, but it's wrong."

"Well, you two can figure it out on your own."

They were told to figure it out together, but the way they smiled was very suspicious.

It was clear that when Zemina told him to put her name, he thought it was right and accepted it.

"No, I wanted it to be Marcella, the smile of a rose."

"…Why are sailors so eager that they can't name their boats after women?"

The world of sailors sensitive to superstitions.

It was a superstition that I don't know where it started, but even at that moment, countless women would be wading the sea, cutting through the wind.

"Well, let's go. I don't know about that."

"..."

Harven has always felt a little intimidated.

However, seeing him naturally take a swig from the rum bottle beside him filled him with nothing but laughter.

Now, relying on the wheel instead of a cane, his appearance seemed to have no intimidation at all.

It's a strange name, but it was good to have a boat bought for him.

"Anyway, is business going well?"

"Our situation is fine. Because we have regular customers."

Before Vlad left Soara, he had connected the Kannor family with Harven.

Perhaps his skill in handling animals came from the experience he gained from trading with Kannor.

"But winter is inevitable. Because the river freezes."

This was inevitable in the cold north.

This was the reason why Soara didn't have a navy despite having a wide river leading to the sea.

"That's why all the traders from Soara were driven out during Nassau. It's a floating port that doesn't freeze even in winter."

"Is that so?"

War is an opportunity.

I heard that the traders from Soara volunteered for this job to seize the opportunity that might arise.

If Bayezid gains control of Nassau through this war, the traders who followed this raid will be able to settle in the new northern port.

"If we only had Nassau, the northern route would be quite diverse. It's an opportunity for us too."

Harven, who had been rotting away in a small room by the riverbank, was now looking further ahead.

Vlad wasn't the only kid in the alley who was hungry for opportunities.

"Please continue treating me well, sir knight."

"If you wish to ask for something in the future, please be kind enough to return it."

Feeling embarrassed for some reason, Vlad took the bottle from Harven.

"Eh?"

Vlad, who had been following the calm flow of the sea near the helm and looking away, soon spotted luminous objects glowing around the boat.

"Shelter. What's that?"

"What where?"

As I moved my gaze along Vlad's fingertips, I saw groups of light beginning to attach around the boat, as if blue paint had been released.

Otar, who was silently observing the scene beside Harven, quickly passed through the deck and looked underneath.

"Otar, what is that!"

"...Hmm."

Instead of responding to Harven's words, Otar quickly grabbed a harpoon and began to look beneath the boat.

A dark-skinned man who always shows his actions more than his words.

"Sigh!"

At the end of the harpoon, which had been powerfully released from his hand, there was something struggling helplessly.

"Squid."

"What?"

"This is squid."

A white sea creature wriggling on a black hand.

What Otar had in his hand was a squid that looked substantial and the size of a person's forearm.

"...Squid?"

Vlad, curious to see sea creatures for the first time, ran towards Otar, but Harven, who was watching, only furrowed his brows.

"Is it okay as a side dish with drinks? This is the first time I've eaten sea fish!"

Vlad takes the squid from Otar and shakes it as if he's excited.

However, while Harven watched Vlad like that, he simply tilted his head as if he didn't understand.

"...It's summer now."

Although he had little experience at sea, Harven had certainly learned to have common sense and knew very well that there was no way squid could be in the south at that time.

Squid, a fish of cold currents that moves through cold waters.

However, the things that were currently glowing with a pale light and surrounding the redhead Zemina were clearly squids.

And it's so big that we can't even count it with our eyes.

From Vlad's sword, which he was happily holding a squid, small sparkling pollen was emanating unknowingly from its owner.

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