CHAPTER 105

On a dark night, Vlad lay flat on the ground with soldiers on a rugged hill.

Though the sight was somewhat comical, hiding like this was the best option to observe who was passing through the barley fields ahead.

"The child who went missing this time disappeared near here."

"..."

The basis of hiding is secrecy.

It would be common sense that they would hide closely as if they were not there, but the knight commander who kept chattering next to Vlad seemed to have no such concept in his mind.

"There was a deep pit right next to where the child disappeared."

Vlad knew why he was sticking so closely as if they were friends.

He probably wanted to exploit the knight who could be used for cheap.

Perhaps the Baron Damatia wanted to leave Vlad with the responsibility of the missing child this morning.

'That's not possible.'

The disappearance of the child was regrettable, but that didn't mean Vlad could take on all of Dobrechty's affairs.

The task of guarding this barley field was simply perceived as being related to spirits.

"Such a good girl, it's such a pity. Today, her mother came to the manor crying and wailing..."

"Wait."

The knight commander's mouth was suddenly blocked by Vlad's hand.

It wasn't intentional on Vlad's part, but because of the mouthful of dirt, the commander's face involuntarily wrinkled.

"Don't you hear it?"

"Phew, what's this..."

In the darkness, Vlad's ears began to twitch sensitively.

Vlad's hearing, which had been trained since childhood for smuggling, was doing its job.

"Oh no."

Just moments ago, Vlad had been trying to hide even his breathing, but now he was darting down the hill like a wolf chasing its prey.

"Follow, follow Sir Vlad!"

The soldiers who had been hiding together with Vlad hurriedly followed, but they only stumbled and tumbled in the dark hill.

It was oddly eerie to see Vlad making nimble movements in the darkness where not even a single ray of moonlight could be seen.

"Ugh, ugh. Sir Vlad, why suddenly..."

But what the soldiers, who had barely made it down the hill, saw was Vlad, with a disappointed expression, staring down at the barley field.

"We were robbed."

"Pardon?"

Upon Vlad's hurried words, torches were lit to illuminate the barley field below, revealing indeed that the seeds sown during the day had mysteriously vanished.

"How... how can this be?"

The Dalmatia knight commander was bewildered at the sight before him, finding it hard to believe.

Even though it was dark, they had surely been watching, so how could this have happened?

"Did anyone bring a shovel?"

"Yes, here."

While both the commander and the soldiers were flustered and unsure of what to do, Vlad, on the other hand, took a shovel from the soldier standing beside him and began to dig into the barley field.

The deed couldn't be undone, but to find a clue, he had to try his best until the end.

'I definitely heard it.'

Surely, he had heard something moving.

But now, there were no footsteps left nearby, and from his vantage point atop the hill, where he had keenly focused his senses, there was nothing that had moved.

Then, there was only one possibility left.

".....Commander, how far is the place where the child went missing from here?"

"Not far at all. Just up that hill."

Finally finished with his digging, Vlad's demeanor as he peered into the hole he had made seemed unsettling.

"However, why is that..."

"A torch."

Instead of answering the question, Vlad took a torch from a soldier and shone it into the hole he had dug.

"What is this..."

"Huh."

Finally, beneath the barley field they saw with the help of a torch.

The commander and the soldiers couldn't help but be astonished at the sight before them.

Despite Vlad not having dug it, a deep hole was already present, so deep that even the light of the torch couldn't penetrate its depths.

"Was there a hole where the child went missing?"

A single, small hole beneath the barley field.

Though small in size, it was so deep that its depth couldn't be determined, and the black hole was so dark that even the light of the torch couldn't reveal what lay below.

"I suppose we must go there, to that place."

No one dared to speak upon seeing the hole that clearly seemed not to have been dug by human hands.

Everyone could see that something inexplicable was enveloping Dobrechti.

In the dark night, standing alone under the torchlight, Vlad quietly closed his left eye while gazing down into the dark hole.

※※※※

It was too strange to be the work of animals or monsters.

If hungry creatures from the forest had descended, would they really need to dig up seeds, leaving behind the houses and livestock right in front of them? 

And to go through the trouble of digging a hole?

"So, what is Sir Vlad doing now?"

The knight commander who had guarded the barley field with Vlad last night reported to the Baron Dalmatia, scratching his head.

With only two knights in the territory, the commander, who was both a knight and an advisor, had to show his face in various places.

"Sir Vlad has accompanied me to the place where the child went missing... and now he's gathering the elders of the village."

"The elders? Why on earth?"

Though it was a requested task, it seemed a bit excessive.

Still, what couldn't be helped was the fact that behind a knight named Vlad, there was the formidable backing of Bayezid.

Restricting his investigative authority here could lead to a great insult, and potentially even more trouble in the future.

"It seems he wants to ask the elders about past events."

"Past events?"

Baron Dalmatia, upon hearing the commander's words, made a slightly sour expression.

In the rural outskirts of the central region, where the influence of the church did not extend, old traditions had been passed down.

"The old folks won't say anything strange, will they?"

"As they've aged, they've surely become wiser, haven't they? They also won't say anything that could get the church in trouble in front of an unfamiliar knight."

At the commander's response, the Baron Dalmatia sighed, rubbing his temples.

He hadn't expected the situation to escalate to this extent just from dealing with a single monster.

"Stick someone by his side. So he won't poke his nose into unnecessary matters."

"Understood."

Yet Vlad remained a necessary figure to resolve this issue.

Surely, his sword would be sharper than the commander who now scratched his head before him.

※※※※

"Elders. Don't you feel sorry for the missing girl? Each clue you provide could potentially save her life!"

The elderly may be wise, but they may not be able to always make the right decisions, especially when faced with a skilled swindler right in front of them.

"She might still be trapped in some hole, crying for help..."

"The knight I serve isn't here to harm you. He's only passionate about resolving this matter!"

Gott relentlessly manipulated the gathered elders, never giving them a moment's rest with his tongue.

Watching him, Vlad couldn't help but think of a quack peddling medicine.

"Well, there were some strange occurrences..."

Trust in Vlad, sympathy for the missing child, and the looming threat of danger.

"Oh, dear. Finally."

As the swindler's tongue wove threats and persuasion, one elderly person finally began to yield.

"Barley disappearing has been happening for a long time."

"When we were young, we used to perform rituals..."

"But then the church came and told us not to do that stuff."

As soon as one person fell for the deception, testimonies began to emerge from all sides.

It seemed the elders were also feeling the frustration of the current situation.

"But the child never disappeared."

"Even if there were cases of wolves attacking, there were never cases of being sucked into a hole. No, never."

The Dalmatia knight who was listening to the old men began to get restless.

That's because the smile Vlad showed was deep and meaningful.

"What kind of rituals were these?"

"..."

The old men turned their heads at the sudden question, looked at Vlad's eyes shining blue, and began to close their mouths again.

"What kind of rituals? Elders, if you don't speak up, we can't save the child."

"Land spirits. There are land spirits in the forest."

"They're not all bad; they make the land fertile if you perform the rituals."

"But nowadays, they burn down the forest to clear the land."

Gott shrugged his shoulders as he listened to the elders, glancing back at Vlad standing behind him, clad in armor that sparkled with a sharp glint in his eyes. 

It was a reaction that couldn't be coaxed out of Vlad, no matter what.

"Find out what these land spirits are about. They should be outside."

"Got it."

As soon as Vlad realized that he was only in the way, he quietly whispered to Gott and went out.

Indeed, people had to be used in the right place at the right time, and Gott was more suited to being a swindler than a stable boy.

"Sir Vlad, there is nothing strange about the rituals."

"I understand."

As the knight made his excuses, Vlad's face, which had been bearing a meaningful smile just moments ago, began to wear a dignified smile.

It was the smile that Countess Oksana had taught him to wear in front of women.

"As you have lived for a long time, there are rules that you have no choice but to follow. I understand."

Offering rituals to beings other than God was tantamount to idol worship.

Although traditions regarding ancient beings persisted not only in Dobrechti but elsewhere, all such practices were forbidden by the Church.

If exposed, it could lead to severe repercussions, which was why the knight found himself in a dilemma.

"I swear to God, I will only focus on finding the missing child and the barley thief."

However, Vlad pretended not to know what had happened and said he would ignore it, so the Dalmatia knight had no choice but to nod.

"Ah, thank you, Sir Vlad."

Inside, a swindler was deceiving people, while outside, a pickpocket was at work.

Yet, what made them different from before was their dedication to resolving the issues in Dobrechti.

With flag in hand, Vlad and Gott were no longer criminals but a knight and squire.

※※※※

"It's like some kind of spirit. They used to offer rituals to them in the past."

"Hmm. Alright."

It was fortunate that there were still remnants of old customs in this remote village.

Indeed, in Dobrechti, customs related to spirits had persisted.

"They say the lord decided to expand the fields and cleared the forest. And the barley field you dug yesterday was the same one where they used to hold rituals. Gives you chills, doesn't it?"

Even though it was his own words, Gott wrapped his shoulders with both hands, as if feeling a shiver.

From Gott's perspective, it might sound like an outdated tale.

Offering rituals and sacrifices to unknown entities.

However, from Vlad's perspective, listening intently, it felt like finding water in a desert.

"What are land spirits?"

"Nowadays, land spirits are related to farming."

The beings revered in Dobrechti had always been associated with the land.

For the people living off the harsh land, there might have been no greater reliance than the land-related spirits.

"They say if you offer rituals, the land becomes fertile. To farm, you need to dig deep into the ground. They say land spirits help with that. Ridiculous, isn't it?"

Why would it be ridiculous?

There is a snake that lives on a tree.

Moreover, that snake even has the ability to warm the weather.

Compared to a white snake that can make lemons grow in the cold north, making the land a bit more fertile should be a simple task.

"...Anyway, it seems like it like barley and dwell underground."

Vlad raised his head, looking up at the sky.

Night was coming.

"It seems to like dark places too."

Barley always disappeared at night.

If it lived underground, it was only natural that it preferred darkness over sunlight.

Whether there was a connection or not, it was a cold night, and they needed to move quickly to find the missing girl.

"Go get some barley."

"Barley?"

Josef always liked predicting the opponent's moves.

He enjoyed strategizing and predicting, creating outcomes accordingly.

"Yeah. Barley."

Though Vlad didn't know the exact identity yet, he knew what it liked.

If so, he could make some predictions as well.

He had learned something from watching the man with the dark shadows under his eyes all this time.

Night was coming.

※※※※

The pitch-black night.

Vlad and Gott.

Whoooosh-

And a dark mountain road with only Noir.

"Captain, will this work?"

Gott looked at Vlad with a skeptical expression. They had scattered barley all over the mountain path throughout the night, but would this be enough to find the barley thief?

"But why do we need to place it on top of rocks?"

"Shh."

Still, Vlad believed it could work.

They knew the creature dug into the ground, but it hadn't cracked rocks yet.

The solid feel of the rock they encountered while digging testified to that fact.

"I see."

Then, whatever it was, it would have to come up onto the rocks to get the barley.

In the dark night, something caught the scent of the scattered barley seeds and began digging up from the ground.

Sniffing the damp scent, it climbed up onto the ground and onto the rocks.

Squelch-

Remnants of the voice, the white snake's protection, and Alicia's amber stone. And even a black horse with the blood of a unicorn.

Vlad, carrying everything related to spirits, finally closed his left eye softly as he saw the creature crawling up onto the rock.

"It's a mole."

"It's not just any mole."

A tiny mole reflected in the moonlight.

Despite the dark night, the mole seen with the remnants of the voice emitted a faint yellow light.

"A glowing mole."

Even now, as the church spread the will of God under one name, the forests of Dobrechti still held mysteries.

And the name of that mystery was the glowing mole.