What to give and what to receive (1)
When I opened my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
“I’m dying…”
In fact, it was the ceiling I had been seeing since yesterday.
However, no matter how much I looked at the colorful patterns on the ceiling, they just felt unfamiliar.
For a boy from the back alleys, the aesthetic sense of the nobles was still difficult to follow.
“OMG······.”
Vlad tried to raise his hand toward the kettle next to him, but his bones began to ache as if he had severe body ailment.
Although there was no significant trauma, the current state of Vlad’s body was exactly what the expression that his whole body was throbbing was.
It would have to be that way.
He used all his strength to break the shell that surrounded him.
“······Goat.”
“Why boss? Where are you uncomfortable? “Who should I call?”
Goth, who had been dozing off in the chair next to the bed, suddenly woke up to Vlad’s call and started asking questions in an over-reaction.
“······”
Goth’s reaction, as he could clearly see through his insides, was quite shocking to Vlad, but now he just wanted to do it.
Because I knew very well why he was by my side.
“Give me some water.”
“okay! huh?”
Vlad thought as he watched Goth leave the room, saying there was no water in the kettle.
Still, it’s worth having around at that level.
His intentions were transparent and his purpose was clear, so you might not be able to trust him, but at least he was someone you could keep by your side and be careful about in advance.
In my life, there have been countless people who approach me smiling in front of me but hiding a blue blade behind their backs.
It would be better to have a guy like Goat by your side than to be stabbed by those guys without being prepared.
“······He’s good at his job.”
Even though he was a former mercenary, the fact that he was doing his job as a stable keeper for the Bayezid family meant that at least Got was not so incompetent that he would starve to death somewhere.
I hate to admit it, but since I received some help in one way or another, I thought I would just let him pick up the crumbs that fell from me.
Because he could fully understand Goth’s feelings of trying to cling to him.
click-
While I was taking a moment to gather my thoughts, the door opened and Goth came in.
“Pour some water.”
“······.”
Vlad, who was still staring at the unfamiliar ceiling with blank eyes, naturally ordered Goth to pour water.
If you wanted to call yourself a captain, you had to do that.
Rumbling-
Vlad turned his head as he listened to Goth quietly pouring water into a cup.
And the screams were replaced by the sound of the wind escaping.
“Hmm…”
“Were you resting well?”
The person who was pouring water next to him without saying a word.
“I’m glad you seem to have found your strength.”
The man pouring water with an unusually generous smile was Josef, the person to whom he had sworn to be faithful.
When Vlad realized that he had committed great disrespect, he quickly lowered his head and shouted:
“Sorry, sorry…”
“done. “Relax.”
Regardless of whether his body ached or not, Vlad hurriedly took the cup of water handed to him by Josef and drank it helplessly.
The water that couldn’t get over fell onto the blanket.
“Is there a place in particular that hurts?”
“······doesn’t exist.”
Still, Vlad seemed to have come to his senses due to the cold energy and answered with the polite attitude he had learned from being beaten so many times by Xayar.
“okay.”
Josef sat down on the chair where Goth had been sitting just a moment ago and looked at Vlad.
“Thank you. To be honest, I never imagined it would go this far.”
Thinking of the propaganda that Vlad showed that day, Josef spoke to his squire with sincerity.
“thank you.”
Vlad, who realized that Josef’s words were sincere, clenched his fists and tried to relive the feelings of that day.
Although vague, there were memories that came to mind.
It was a memory like a dried flower that had lost all its scent, but it was a memory that made my heart flutter just thinking about it.
“But the duel…”
If it were a relationship between an ordinary noble and a squire, questions like this wouldn’t even have been asked.
However, Vlad decided that he could come to this point.
He was one of the few sailors on the large ship named Josef, and he knew very well that he was one of those on whom expectations were placed.
Vlad of Shoara was the one who received permission from Josef.
“yes. duel. “I should tell you that.”
From the moment he woke up here, Vlad had been curious about the outcome of the duel.
What happened to the woman with water-colored hair who was crying pitifully?
Did Josef, who asked for just ten minutes to last, achieve what he wanted?
Vlad had a lot of questions, but Goth, who helped him next to him, was only a stable keeper, and the only people who came in and out occasionally were maids who came to take care of his wounds, so he had no one to ask questions until now.
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“You are the party to the duel, so of course you are entitled to hear the results in detail.”
And now, before Vlad’s eyes, there was a person who held everything about the duel in his hands.
Josef nodded in response to Vlad’s question and opened his mouth.
“The duel has become a reservation.”
“If you have reservations…”
“The story is that it was postponed without producing results.”
Josef told Vlad that the sacred rules of dueling and the sword master’s discipline were intertwined, making the situation quite complicated.
Vlad nodded while listening to Josef.
Sword Master’s Discipline.
Although it could not tell the true outcome of the duel, there was a voice that clearly explained what the Sword Master’s rules were.
“To become a knight, you must swear an oath according to the rules of the sword master. Vlad, if things go well for you, the day will come when you will take that oath.”
As the basic procedures for becoming a knight flowed from Josef’s mouth, Vlad felt something tickling deep in his heart.
article.
I have always longed for a word that gives a special feeling just by saying it out loud.
And now the boy has taken one step toward becoming a knight.
It was the moment when dreams became goals.
“I hope you’re taking good care of yourself. “It would be difficult to stay here for too long.”
“Right now…”
“You can’t do that.”
Josef stood up and said.
“Because I am a person who knows how to save what needs to be saved.”
Josef looked at Vlad and smiled.
“There will be a reward for this. So, rest in peace.”
An explanation of the results, a sincere word, and even a promise to give you what you deserve.
Josef, who came here and said only what he had to say, quietly walked out the door.
“······.”
Vlad quietly thought about what Josef had said and turned his head to look at the sword that had been placed next to the bed.
The red light of the sun that was about to set came through the window and dangled on the unadorned sword.
“It’s a reward.”
Josef’s words that he would give him what he deserved because he did what he had to do was not always true.
Especially in the back alleys where the boy lived.
Rewards did not always come with effort, and sometimes they were not given even though there were results.
So you were lucky.
I met a man named Josef.
Vlad thought so and stretched out his hand toward the sword that had been with him since he left Shoara.
The last sword created by an inexperienced old blacksmith with all his might.
No matter the effort or result, the one person you can always rely on.
“Did I do okay then?”
The sword was crying at Vlad’s question.
This time, it was not a sound made by an unadorned sword, but a voice within the soul.
※※※※
An empty hallway dyed red at dusk.
There was a man walking along a hallway that seemed like no one would walk there.
A knight without honor.
Joubert of the Shahzad family was about to leave after completing all his duties in the Hainal family.
It was a mission that could have been a failure if it had failed, but his master would also understand when he heard the current situation.
You can’t blame the sea because the waves are crashing, and you can’t blame the sky because the wind is blowing.
What happened that day was beyond anything even Joubert could do anything about.
It was some kind of disaster.
‘The more I think about it, the more absurd it becomes.’
I can’t believe the situation fits like that.
The more he thought about it, the more he remembered the absurd events at the duel, and Joubert moistened his dry lips with his tongue.
When I was lost in thought while walking down the hallway.
“Uh huh… your greeting is too extreme.”
There was a sword suddenly sticking out from the shadows at the end of the hallway.
“······You don’t have to go this far.”
“I really want to do this.”
A one-eyed man walked out of the dark shadows.
Bayezid’s knight Zayar.
He was waiting in the dark for the honorless knight, hiding his anger in his left eye, which was covered with an eyepatch.
“How long have you been waiting? “Don’t you have anything to do?”
“Today is vacation.”
“Isn’t it a waste to spend your vacation like this?”
Even though the cold blade of the sword touched his neck, Joubert did not give up the smile on his face.
He seemed like a man who would die with a smile on his face until the very moment he died.
“You always have to get things done while on vacation.”
However, judging from his twisted personality, Zayar was also not an easy person.
Two knights were facing each other with fake smiles and cold expressions.
“I know you feel sorry, but I couldn’t help it either.”
“I guess the same goes for me as well.”
A drop of bright red blood began to flow from the tip of Xayar’s sword, which was holding down Joubert’s neck.
A drop of blood seeped into the red carpet on the hallway floor.
“Are you trying to kill me?”
“······.”
In response to Joubert’s question, who still remained calm even though blood was flowing from his neck, Jayar simply answered with silence.
“I’m sorry. “We both have the same job, so you need to understand this.”
Although Joubert was saying he was sorry, he was gently pushing away the tip of Xayar’s sword with two fingers together.
A faint light appeared at the tips of his fingers.
“What can I do? “If the owner tells you to bark, you should bark.”
What is important to a knight is his lord’s orders first and his own honor second.
Therefore, for a knight without honor, only one thing is important. It was just an order from the lord.
“Aren’t you a dog that bites only when its master tells it to? “Others describe us as swords, but in reality, we are not like that.”
Xayar did not reply to the man who was frowning in front of him.
Wow!
“Ugh!”
Instead, he just threw a fist filled with anger.
Bright red blood spurted from Joubert’s face.
“My lord has a good personality, so a little biting is okay.”
“Ugh… let’s just say it.”
Joubert laughed, spitting out something fishy from his messed up mouth.
“Is this enough?”
“One more shot.”
No sooner had Joubert finished his question than Zayar’s sharp knee dug into Joubert’s abdomen.
“Cluck-cluck-.”
“You’re in the same industry, so you’ll understand this, right?”
“Cough- hmmm. Indeed… it is appropriate.”
Jayar frowned as he looked at Joubert, who was still relaxed despite being beaten.
At the duel that day, a knight without honor deceived Alicia and played a joke on Josef.
It was a problem that Xayar, whose master’s honor had been violated, could not overcome.
However, killing the knight in front of him was a problem that neither he nor Josef could easily decide on.
There was no need to call it a relationship, their relationship had already turned sour, but here they were just invited guests.
Moreover, the act of killing a knight of a certain family was tantamount to declaring war.
Although his relationship with Shahzad was broken, deciding whether to act on it was beyond Josef’s authority.
There is only one person who can decide that. There was only Peter Bayezid, the owner of the Bayezid family.
“I hope to see you next time.”
“Well, I guess I’ll see you soon.”
The two knights, who were aware of the circumstances, exchanged a little bit about what they had to give and what they had to receive.
“Isn’t it a time when the empire is broken down and people come together according to their will?”
Even Jayar was holding his tongue as he looked at Joubert, who was smiling as if nothing had happened even though he had been beaten.
“See you next time.”
Looking at Joubert’s back as he walked, waving his hands above his head, Xayar quietly sheathed his sword.
Perhaps Joubert is right.
That time was coming.
A time when a sword is needed more than ever.
