CHAPTER 74

Life is a series of endless choices.

There comes a moment when one must endure alone because no one else can do it for them.

"I cannot follow such dog-like orders."

And it is when that moment of choice arrives that people truly realize what kind of beings they are.

That moment is when they can shed the shell that has surrounded them thus far.

Under the moonlit sky, dwarves wept as they could not bring themselves to board the boat before them.

Their withered faces and disheveled beards portrayed their arduous lives.

"This is not right."

A towering knight.

The knight with his sword drawn took a step forward and covered trembling dwarves with his own body.

"Are you going to disobey orders, Jorge?"

"You are not my lord, Sigmund."

The towering knight, Jorge.

He spoke with a fierce gaze fixed on the man before him.

"I have pledged allegiance to Count Gaidar, not you."

"The seal of my father, Count Gaidar, is stamped on the orders I have brought."

Sigmund shook the orders roughly in front of Jorge.

The insignia of the Gaidar family, illuminated by the moonlight, was the undeniable truth.

"······."

Regardless of the sincerity contained within the orders, Sigmund's procedures and justifications were flawless.

A knight who does not follow his orders will disobey the command, forsaking his oath.

"I am a human. I cannot follow such orders."

"······."

And Jorge made his choice.

To reject the false orders and spit out the knight's oath along with them.

With his words, the knights began to move.

Those who echoed Jorge's words stood by his side.

Anyone who wants to follow their lord's orders, even if they are false, should go to Sigmund's side.

As their fleeting gazes met, the knights bit their lips in silence.

Godin looked at Jorge with a hesitant expression, but his senior only nodded with the same indifferent expression as always.

"Do what you want to do."

"······I'm sorry."

"Go ahead."

In the crossroads of a choice where neither side could be deemed right or wrong, Godin took a step forward.

Toward glory and honor.

And towards a world that could shine even brighter.

Godin was a knight.

※※※※

"Come in."

Vlad took a deep breath at the sound coming from inside and opened the door to the mayor's office.

The bright afternoon sunlight streaming in through the wide-open curtains.

Sitting with his back to the sunlight, there was a man with deep shadows under his eyes and his knights.

"I heard you called."

"Yes."

Josef sat upright in his seat, looking at Vlad who had entered after opening the door.

The appearance of the boy, whom he saw for the first time after issuing the prohibition command, seemed somewhat more serious compared to when he had challenged him.

"Have you been busy?"

"······A little."

Josef smiled lightly as he watched Vlad hesitantly answering.

Though sometimes he would rush in like a wildfire, in cases like this where he was solemnly holding his ground, he was an unpredictable fellow.

"It seems rumors are spreading through the city. About a black horse and all."

A mischievous glint briefly appeared in Josef's smile as he looked at the boy.

"Like Lady Zemina?"

"······."

"Baroness Alicia must be heartbroken if she hears about it. Do you still keep her handkerchief well?"

As the story of Zemina came up, Vlad could only smile awkwardly.

Honestly, he couldn't have imagined things would escalate to this extent.

While it might have been a nickname someone called out as a joke, the name Lady Zemina was circulating around Shoara alongside the reputation the boy had built up.

"I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize to me for. Just be careful not to spark any more trouble later on."

Josef nodded slowly as he watched the boy moving forward towards the goal of becoming a knight.

Now, the boy's worth had increased to the point where it could even stand for someone else's honor.

So, it had to be clarified here.

He couldn't just let him run wild like a thunderbolt forever.

"The reason I called you here today is to tell you something."

"······?"

Vlad lifted his head at Josef's suddenly serious tone.

"That day in the village under Baron Utman's rule, you disobeyed my orders and saved the children. Remember?"

"Yes."

As the events of that day were brought up again by Josef, Vlad became cautious once more.

But Josef had no intention of scolding Vlad again for something that was already settled.

Vlad had already paid for his sins through his repentance.

"If such a thing were to happen again, what would you do? Would you ignore my orders again?"

Looking at Josef who suddenly brought up that day's events, Vlad was momentarily taken aback.

He quickly glanced around at the other knights nearby, but they all wore subtle expressions and there was no one offering advice.

Now, it was solely Vlad's responsibility to think, answer, and endure before Josef.

"The children were dying."

Vlad bit his lip and answered Josef's question.

Even if he were to face punishment again, there was nothing he could do.

He had pledged his loyalty to Josef, and he couldn't lie before him.

"If you ask whether I would do the same thing again, then yes."

Although his body hesitated, Vlad, whose gaze remained steady, made Josef nod.

Indeed, he was making the same choice again.

Vlad's answer left Josef with a bitter yet somewhat gratifying feeling.

It was because of moments like this that he chose the boy.

"Honor is the light that shines upon others, but conscience is the light that shines upon oneself."

Josef slowly rose from his seat, his imposing presence naturally drawing Vlad's attention.

"Moreover, it's the compass that guides you when you've lost your way."

With Vlad's recent response, Josef understood him clearly, and Vlad likely understood himself as well.

Vlad had set his own standards to avoid being swept away in the tumultuous back alley, allowing him to gaze upon the twinkling stars.

And if those standards were to be expressed in a single word, it would be conscience.

"Now that you've found your path, I hope this armor will help protect your conscience."

With those words, Josef removed the cloth covering the armor standing beside him.

The armor gleamed in the afternoon sunlight.

Vlad, seeing the light reflecting off the armor towards him, was left speechless.

"This is..."

"It's armor sent from San Rogino. It incorporates various techniques as they are the most adept with iron armor."

As Josef finished speaking, Vlad looked down at his patched leather armor.

Each scar represented the path he had walked, but now it was armor that could no longer protect him.

"Go ahead."

Watching Vlad, who had been sitting quietly at the reception table, Larmund urged him on with a nod.

He couldn't keep wearing his broken shell forever.

The presence of Vlad had grown to the point where it couldn't be fully encapsulated by the mere possibility of being noticed by Bayezid.

"Yes."

The boy took a step towards the armor illuminated by sunlight.

He had done what he wanted to do and what he needed to do.

San Rogino testified to the struggles of such a boy.

With the knights here as witnesses.

The boy donned the armor provided by San Rogino.

Engraved on one piece of the gleaming chest plate was a phrase testified by the holy knights from that day.

"A knight who saved the lives of children."

※※※※

"As expected, we need to pay attention to the blacksmiths and the knights of Bayezid in the north. There have been rumors lately about unusual movements among the knights of Baron Utman..."

Inside the candlelit study room, Gaidar's knights and aides were gathered as Godin reviewed the report.

"Speak."

"Yes."

At Godin's instruction, the adjutant began reciting the list of knights that had been investigated so far.

"From the Baranov family of the Iron Duke: Sir Shuvanden, Sir Mikhail, Sir Bastro..."

"From the Count Bayezid family: Sir Antalas, Sir Rutger, Sir Agos..."

Godin listened attentively to the names of the knights being mentioned.

The Gaidar family, who had driven out the Rabnoma family, had now become the loser of the West in name and reality, and their gaze was now directed to regions other than the West.

"It seems there are no new names for the Bayezid family."

"Except for Rutger, the son of Count Bayezid, there are no particularly noticeable individuals."

While new names were emerging from the Baranov family of the Iron Duke, there had been no changes in the Bayezid family since the names were reported several years ago.

"It appears they've failed in generational change."

".....We can't jump to conclusions."

At the sound of a voice from beside him, Godin turned his head.

The weight carried by the name Bayezid couldn't be gauged by just a single report.

Perhaps there might be knights whose names were not revealed like his former self.

"Speaking of which, there seems to be a slightly unusual trend within the Bayezid family."

"Tell me."

As the adjutant hesitated for a moment whether he should mention this, he saw Godin urging him with his gaze, and he spoke out a name not written in the report.

"There's a boy among the Bayezid's squires who's showing promise, although he's not a knight."

"His name?"

The adjutant rummaged through his mind for a moment and then extracted a name that had been buried in his memory.

"His name is Vlad. He hails from Shoara in the County of Bayezid."

Godin furrowed his brows upon hearing the adjutant's words, looking into the distance.

Although it was a name he remembered, it didn't readily come to mind.

"This is the boy who first appeared in Deomar's honor duel, but... There were only unbelievable rumors, so we couldn't confirm it accurately."

The adjutant hesitated to utter Vlad's name for a reason.

"He's said to have unleashed the aura at that moment, but... it's not certain."

"Aura? A squire?"

The other knights present laughed at the report from the adjutant.

It was more credible to assume that the information gathered was incorrect than to believe that a boy, who wasn't even a knight, had already unleashed aura.

"Shoara... Vlad..."

However, Godin simply closed his eyes amidst the knights' mockery, recalling the events of that day.

He could remember the unfamiliar name of the city where they met, and the blond boy he encountered on the snowy plains.

The boy sitting beside the campfire, his blue eyes shining like stars as he looked at himself.

"....Understood. Everyone, familiarize yourselves with the current names."

Godin, the new commander of Count Sigmund's knights, with his authority, dismissed the knights from the commander's office.

"Vlad, Vlad..."

Godin sat back in his chair, wetting his throat and smiling quietly.

He was a bold lad.

He wanted to bring him if possible, but fate had separated them like destiny.

Although Godin had no idea that Bayezid's squire, who was said to have used aura, was the boy he had seen, he could only recall the faces of the people in his memories.

"Do what you want."

Another person who came to mind with the boy's name.

Godin silently pondered what Jorge had said to him that night.

If he had followed Jorge then, how would it have been?

"...There's no way."

Godin sighed with a bitter smile, shaking his head.

At the crossroads of choice, Godin crossed the line towards Sigmund, not Jorge.

As he stepped forward and crossed that line, Godin realized who he was.

What he wanted, what he desired.

And even what he needed to do in the future.

"I wonder if he's doing well."

In the empty office, Godin's quiet whistle echoed.

The sound the blue-eyed boy made when he called to him from far away.

It was the sound of a cuckoo at the end of summer.