When he stood up again (1)
In his office in Sturmah, Peter Bayezid was staring blankly at the man standing in front of him.
Judging by the fact that the ink on the pen he had laid down next to him had not yet dried, it seemed that he was a customer who had come at an unexpected time.
“If you wanted to talk to me, you should have made an appointment in advance. Oh my.”
“The work was urgent. “It was also urgent news.”
A man wearing poorly trimmed animal skin and having colorful braids all over his head.
Age of the Budaat tribe had a stern expression on his face, not even brushing off the snow that had settled on his shoulders.
“good night. “Tell me.”
Age, the son of a chieftain, was clearly an ideal person to talk to Peter, the head of Bayezid’s family.
However, Peter noticed the seriousness of Agge’s expression, so he decided to skip over the trivial details.
“I don’t think I can survive this winter. Not just our tribe, but other tribes as well.”
“why?”
It was common for barbarians to have a hard time in the winter when food was scarce.
Their original habit of plundering also originated from this reason.
However, Age did not simply come to tell us that it was difficult to survive due to lack of food.
“Monsters are running rampant.”
“Isn’t that usually the case in winter?”
“And dragons. “The dragon you call Lindwurm.”
Beyond the northern snowfields, a dragon and monsters were coming from a land that humans could not reach.
As Peter said, it happened every year, but this time the number was much higher, and it was a number that the barbarians, whose power was weakened by the Dragon Slayer Knights, could not dare to handle.
“Dragons? As before?”
“It’s worse. “Unlike back then, this time it’s not just one.”
Peter’s eyebrows twitched when he heard Age say that it was not just one dragon.
It may have been affected only when the pieces of Ravnoma moved, but in the current situation, there was no reason for the dragons to rampage at the same time.
“Is this clear news?”
“Contact between the two tribes has already been lost. “They were the ones who settled in the northernmost part.”
According to Age, the barbarians were now moving south, unable to overcome the pressure of the dragons and monsters that had become violent.
And this will not be very good news for Bayezid.
“It is impossible to send troops to help you now. “We must prepare for war.”
“Then please at least accept refugees. “I hope they get inside your walls.”
“There is no reason for me to do that.”
The refusal he gave was cold and firm.
The agreement between the northern lords and the barbarians was solid, but it was only meant to respect the territory they had, and there was no agreement at all to actively help something like now.
“The land within the walls is small, and there is not enough food to feed my people. “The help you seek already goes beyond the terms of the agreement.”
“…….”
“Stop it. “Don’t forget my consideration for accepting your rudeness.”
Agge bit his lip as he looked at Peter holding up his pen again as if he had nothing more to say.
There was nothing wrong with what he said about not being able to help, but even so, there was nothing he could do about the anger boiling up in his heart.
“We gave up a lot, but in the end it ended up being the same. “It’s no longer the same as before.”
“…….”
“Our loose agreement will eventually be broken. “The children of the next generation will once again be aiming at each other, just like us.”
There was a man who told me not to do that anymore.
A man who suggested that we put aside the hatred that had been building up for a while and join hands for the sake of the next generation.
He was the man who said that in order to do that, we must swallow a poison that is difficult for us to drink now.
“Josef Bayezid would have told me to come in. “He was the one who did that even in the back alleys of Shoara.”
“……stop.”
“Now there is no one in the North who reaches out to others first. “It’s winter again!”
“I told you to stop!”
bang!
A heavy silence came into the office along with a loud noise.
However, Peter’s bloodshot eyes were still wide open as he looked at Age.
“…I thought he might be able to do it. “In the end, it was a mistake.”
Age, who looked at the disheveled Peter, slowly backed away and left the office.
Because I sensed that I would no longer be able to communicate with him.
Unlike before, we came to see Bayezid, who saw us as fellow human beings, but in the end, all he took with him was the cold border between the worlds.
“…….”
Even after Agge left, Peter was standing there with his fists clenched for a long time.
I’ve tried not to be shaken my whole life, but this time it was difficult to calm down my emotions.
Seeing the traces of what his poor son had failed to accomplish, Peter felt like he had no choice but to find a strong drink today.
※※※※
The workers were busy removing the pile of stones, as if they wanted to erase the nightmare of last night.
However, even with their hands, the blood stains scattered everywhere were still there, and the sight of the half-collapsed mansion was just miserable.
Pablo, who was looking at that figure in front of him, carried his heavily dented shield on his back and quietly looked up at the window of the mansion that had not yet collapsed.
“You still haven’t woken up.”
“Just being alive in the first place was brave. “My chest was completely pierced.”
Unlike the bed that looked soft, the room had cracks all over the walls.
The shabby appearance resembled that of Vlad who was currently lying on the bed, and it seemed to inexplicably add to the feeling of desolation.
“They say even bad luck is luck. “I really didn’t think you would survive.”
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“For someone to say that, you seem to be treating him pretty diligently.”
“…That’s because I swore before God that I would do that in front of the sick!”
Pierre was screaming, unable to hold back his rising anger, but the hand he showed Vlad at that urgent time was sincere.
Although he was a former Inquisitor, he could not use healing techniques, but if it were not for his skillful treatment, Vlad might have been lying in the coffin by now.
“Still, I hope it happens quickly. “It’s unusual how servants look at us these days.”
“hmm. “That’s something that can’t be helped.”
Arnstein’s mansion, which was almost half destroyed, was like a deep scar left in the city of Valletta.
The broken flags, collapsed walls, and the knights and soldiers who died in that attack were damage that would only be healed after a long time had passed and were costly losses.
And the fact that Josef’s betrayal was at the center of all this was making the party, who had not yet left the mansion, increasingly uncomfortable.
“But did you really not notice anything? “I heard we’ve been going together all this time.”
“Not at all. “I can say that at least there was no mystery involved.”
If it had just been said by an ordinary beastman, I wouldn’t have believed it.
However, Pierre, who had worked with Nibelun, knew very well that he was as incapable of telling lies as he was mentally ill.
“Well, he was a really smart guy. “It’s one of the best in the North.”
Pierre slowly scratched his chin, remembering Josef who had confronted him.
Bayezid’s second son, who was resourceful enough to push him out of his position in Shoara for a long time.
Since he was like that, he could have fooled even a stupid cat and a cute dragon.
“……Actually, I was a b*stard. “That guy too.”
However, even if he was such a talented person, he eventually fell into a dark temptation and was unable to guess what was going on in the world.
“Where are you going?”
“why? “Do I have to report to you every time I go somewhere?”
“It’s not like that, but…”
He noticed that I was alone, so I asked him to stay with me, but what came back was only the old man’s unique, eccentric, harsh words.
Pierre turned the creaking doorknob and went out into the hallway alone, sighing and muttering to himself.
“I never thought I would grow old and have to take care of dragons.”
From Vlad, who lost his mind, to Radu, who is now old.
Pierre left the room and walked down the hallway, lamenting how his life had turned out and began to walk briskly.
In this mansion full of uncomfortable gazes, Pierre was the only one who took action for Dragulia’s sons, who had no one to take care of them.
※※※※
It was an autumn scenery.
The wheat field below is full of rich golden light, and the hill I’m sitting on is full of falling autumn leaves.
The sight of the Mother World Tree in Quihano’s world was a sight that would make anyone who saw it smile, but Vlad was just sitting there depressed.
“Why did you leave like that?”
[Only you will know that.]
It was a quiet hill where only the sound of the wind could be heard, but Vlad was not the only one sitting there.
I still couldn’t see his face, but a man with brown hair was sitting next to Vlad.
[It is close to impossible to fully understand a being other than myself. That’s what the world meets the world.]
“…….”
Hearing Quihano’s words, Vlad buried his head in his knees.
I knew he was trying to comfort me, but last night’s breakup was too terrible for me to be comforted by those words.
Vlad, who buried his head deeply as if he didn’t want to see anything, only reproached himself for not knowing anything until something happened like this and resented Josef for not saying anything during that time.
“I’m tired now. There is no end to it. “I can’t rest.”
[……I understand.]
The hope of looking up and dreaming of stars was green, but nothing lasts forever in this world.
Every time he climbed a flight of stairs, Vlad got tired, and every time he defeated someone one by one, some part of his soul was chipped away.
And now that he had lost the person he trusted, it was worth it for Vlad to bow his head.
[If you want to rest, rest. If you want to run away, you can run away. No one can force you to do something.]
Quijano did not urge Vlad to do so.
I just told you to rest as much as you want.
Quihano was comforting Vlad, who had run away to his own world because it was too much to look at.
“…Can I really do that?”
[Okay then.]
Quijano patted Vlad on the back and said, looking at the twilight in the distance.
[You can do that.]
Red maple leaves fluttering in the middle of the autumn landscape.
Today’s twilight seen under the Mother World Tree, which is no longer there, still stayed there even though time had passed.
[Because all you have to do is get up again at any time.]
You are young and young, and your time is still flowing appropriately.
Unlike my time, which cannot be turned back or passed over.
Your time, which can go anywhere because it is flowing, will not just pass by in vain even at this moment of worry.
“…The sound of the wind is nice.”
[It’s a sound that can only be heard when the surroundings are quiet.]
Quihano and Vlad sat in the same spot for a long time under the bright red maple tree.
In this place filled with only the blowing wind, there was neither Josef who betrayed me nor Frausen who stabbed me, but only Quijano who waited patiently.
