CHAPTER 92

The winter in the north may be harsh, but the winter in the west is no less so.

The desolate wasteland of the west treated its inhabitants cruelly with its razor-sharp winds.

Just like it was now.

"....I should have just offered my neck."

The lobby of Gaidar. The knights' hall.

The man seated at the highest point there exuded an overwhelming presence, no matter who looked at him.

"Having your sword taken. Can you still call yourself a knight after that?"

Count Sigmund Gaidar.

The new western conqueror who drove out the Rabnoma family was looking down at his son without hiding his anger.

"I'm sorry, Father."

Stephen, who was trembling with fear as usual, could only bow his head at the harsh words coming from Sigmund.

Thud-!

"Now that I've finally established my position, you're making a mess like this!"

Bloodshot eyes and trembling beard.

The armrests of the chair creaked as they succumbed to the pressure.

The greedy conqueror of the west felt boiling anger coursing through him at the news of his son's defeat.

"Not to that brilliant Rutger, but to this pale-faced brat who just got his knighthood?"

It was a duel that should not be lost.

To be precise, it was a duel he was certain to win.

But Stephen lost, and as a consequence, he handed over his sword.

To be precise, he had handed over all influence over Deomar to Bayezid along with his sword.

"What have you done! While my son was being humiliated, what exactly have you done!"

Painful mistakes and losses.

In the bitterness of defeat tasted after so long, Sigmund's anger spread throughout the hall.

"I am shameful, Count."

Though his anger was harsh, Godin stood tall with a dignified posture.

"I heard you knew him!"

"······If I were to be specific, he would probably be related to the Count."

There was an old connection.

Although it was a cursed bond, Shoara still harbored a lingering thread of connection, despite thinking it had been severed.

"This is the one that escaped knight Jorge raised. He had exceptional talent and the knights surrounding him were also exceptional."

Sigmund paused momentarily at the mention of Jorge's name.

"Above all, he knew how to make the most of a familiar arena's advantages. He was an unexpected adversary."

During the duel that day, while Stephen faced off against Vlad, Godin, who stood as a spectator, was engaged in an unseen struggle against Zayar, who stood on the opposite side.

He was a peculiar knight, emitting an unusual aura to the point where one might wonder why he wasn't well-known in the north.

"Jorge... that bastard."

Sigmund stirred up old memories as he listened to Godin's words.

The knight whom his uncle, the previous head of the family, especially cherished, was also a man who did not acknowledge him until the very end.

So, Sigmund had him killed.

"To the bitter end, he gives me trouble."

The Dwarven Liberation Front was a headache.

And now, with the emergence of the new upstart from the north.

The ashes scattered by the departed knight Jorge continued to torment Sigmund.

"....Gaidar must not be taken away."

Whatever you are holding in your hand, somehow put it into your stomach.

And then, with your remaining hands, you would snatch away what belonged to others.

That was the only way to survive in this harsh west.

A lifetime of taking, destroying, and crushing.

From enemies, from others, and even from his family.

Thus, only one person remained intact in this place.

"Recover my son's sword by any means necessary, Godin."

"Understood."

He was a ruthless usurper who couldn't tolerate defeat. He was Count Gaidar.

※※※※

"Are you really not going?"

The snowy morning in Shoara.

Vlad was standing in front of the stable that Marcella had specially built, looking at Noir.

Heeheehee-

I'm not going to work today.

Vlad clicked his tongue as he looked at the black horse that seemed to be saying that.

"This doesn't seem like a horse."

[It's a problem even if his brain is too good.]

The stable was spacious enough to accommodate five horses.

But within it, there was only one horse resting - Noir.

The hay piled up everywhere and the warm meals showed how well this horse was enjoying its prosperity, as if it were in Rose's Smiles.

".....Who would believe that guy was a wild horse?"

Noir, who gave up his freedom to follow the boy and now enjoys the clear victory of civilization.

Seeing Noir lying comfortably, showing his teeth, Vlad couldn't help but feel envy creeping up.

At least when it was a mission, he came running to Vlad, so he had to take that as comfort.

"Oh, it's cold."

Vlad left Noir, who didn't listen to the end, and headed towards the Shoara City Hall, stepping on snow up to his ankles.

Now that he was a knight, he could have called for a carriage to ride around, but the profound sorrow of hunger ingrained in him made Vlad always a modest person.

"It's the first time I've received a salary."

Vlad had lived his whole life without receiving fair compensation.

From the days when he was a back-alley street rat to when he was Jorge's dagger, and then Josef's squire.

Occasionally receiving pocket money had been his means of survival until now, but it would change from today.

"I'm here, Lord Vordan."

"Sharp as a knife. Come in."

A knight who couldn't wield a sword.

Vlad, standing outside Vordan's office, smelled the sweet scent wafting from all directions as he entered.

"Your face is flushed all over."

In a place cluttered with messy snack piles, there was a chubby man who seemed to need as much care for his health as Josef.

"Shouldn't you do some exercise?"

"If you move a lot, you'll die early."

Vordan said something that was not knightly at all and took out a small pouch from a drawer and placed it on the desk.

"You know how to read, right? Then wait for the statement along with the coin."

Many nobles in knight positions didn't know how to read. However, Vlad, although hesitant, could read and understand, so it would be appropriate to write it down on paper instead of conveying it orally.

"..."

With a scratching sound, Vordan began jotting down the statement. Watching him, Vlad quickly checked the contents of the coin pouch.

It was indeed a nimble movement reminiscent of a former pickpocket.

"It's 4 gold."

Although his eyes were on the paper, Vordan's ears seemed to be directed towards Vlad as he casually stated the amount of this month's salary.

"Why? Are you disappointed?"

"N-no. Not at all."

Although he said so verbally, Vlad was honestly disappointed.

'If you consider it for a year, it would be 50 gold...'

Before meeting Josef, Vlad had saved up almost 1 gold his whole life. The now broken, unadorned sword was worth 5 gold.

While it might have been a considerable sum in the past, 4 gold was clearly insufficient for Vlad now that he was a knight.

"You're still a newbie."

Vordan sighed softly, looking at Vlad who still seemed awkward.

He seemed to understand why Zayar still kept the boy with him.

"Knights don't save money with their salary."

"They don't?"

Vordan put down his feather pen with a clicking sound, as if he had finally finished filling out the statement, and looked at Vlad with a meaningful smile.

"Knights should pursue honor, bear duty, and take responsibility accordingly."

"But..."

As Vordan suddenly shifted from money talk to the fundamentals of being a knight, Vlad became puzzled and stopped speaking.

"That's all about money."

All valuable things can be quantified in terms of money.

Vlad knew that money was valuable, but he was ignorant about how to earn it.

Despite longing for it as much as he had suffered from hunger all his life, he didn't know what to do because he had never experienced it.

"The value of honor will be paid at the end of the year, under the guise of a special bonus."

A well-fed cat doesn't hunt mice.

If you want to gain money and honor, you have to put in the corresponding effort.

"You can look forward to it."

As Vordan said, the boy had been one of the protagonists who had raised the name of Bayezid during the past year.

Even Rutger, who had borrowed the boy, and Josef, his master, would surely take that into consideration.

"What about the value of duty and responsibility?"

Now starting to understand Vordan's words, Vlad sparkled with anticipation for the next coin, but Vordan just shrugged.

"That's not a question someone who brought the treasure of the Hainal family would ask."

"That's not mine. I borrowed it, strictly speaking."

Vlad protested to Vordan with an unjust voice.

He felt as if he was being ridiculed by the senior knights he encountered on his way to Shoara.

"If you knew that, you shouldn't have accepted it."

"Okay. Keep that attitude in front of others. That's your justification."

"······."

Vlad hadn't realized that the amber could be interpreted like this.

It was just an amber stone brought to be handed around to Alicia, and if it had such a profound meaning, he would have reconsidered.

"Even if you become a noble later, you must not forget me."

What does it mean to strive for success as a knight?

Vordan looked at Vlad, who was trying to hide his fiery ambition, and nodded knowingly without saying anything, along with the words that Josef is looking for him.

"You knew, didn't you?"

[...That's nice. Nobles.]

Vlad, walking down the corridor, sighed at the response he heard.

There was no one to trust in this world.

In a world where the victim was the sinner, Vlad blamed his momentarily softened mental state.

※※※※

"I will give you a patrol area."

A wine bottle heated near the stove with a fragrant smell.

A one-eyed knight sitting at the guest table, leisurely closing his eyes.

And there stood Stephen's sword against the wall.

"Now that you're a knight, you must bear more responsibility and duty."

Finally putting down the documents, Josef picked up the wine bottle beside the fireplace and began pouring it into the glass.

Although he preferred whiskey among drinks, he enjoyed a warm spiced wine during the cold winter.

"Am I doing it alone?"

"I will provide guards, but you'll be solely responsible."

Vlad had done well so far.

He had performed his duties excellently and brought more value to Bayezid than expected.

So, he needed to be nurtured further.

"It's a completely different position from your mercenary days."

"I understand."

Taking the wine glass handed to him by Josef, Vlad embraced the warmth rising in his hands.

"A back alley would be a good area, right? Other people would find it a pain in the ass, but for you, it's like home."

"That's right."

From the time he opened the castle door with just a single word on a dark night until now, Vlad was still unaware of his position.

But it was okay.

Time and experience would be his remedy.

"We might be short on manpower. Guards not only patrol but also serve various other purposes."

There were only six knights in Shoara.

Except for Zayar and Vordan, who had special missions, everyone, like Vlad now, was responsible for their own areas' security.

And to ensure their duties were carried out properly, Josef maintained security by hiring his own people, not just the troops he provided.

That was the duty of a knight and also a privilege.

"I'll support up to four men's salaries. Hire your own people to work under you."

A knight is a leader.

Someone who can represent anywhere.

Now that Vlad was a knight, he had the right to employ his own people and give orders.

"Now you have to live up to the name of a knight."

More responsibility, more duty.

And more benefits.

Even now, Rose's Smiles was full of merchants waiting for Vlad.

They were all people who had foreseen the current situation.