CHAPTER 130

The laughter of children filled the village.

The sky, without a single cloud, was a deep blue, and the flowers adorned throughout were especially vivid today.

It was as if the world were being viewed through the eyes of voice.

Amidst the bustling people, Vlad sat alone, quietly.

"..."

Vlad scratched his cheek for no reason as he looked at the people with smiles on their faces.

Vlad felt somewhat out of place amidst their harmonious world.

He didn't even want to enter their world.

"Captain. Thank you."

"For what?"

Vlad, who was pulled out of his thoughts by Gott's voice, turned his head.

Just yesterday, they were wandering together, but now Gott seemed to be in a different world altogether.

Gott, within the family circle, seemed so unfamiliar.

"Don't mention it."

Vlad turned his head in the direction Gott was squinting his eyes.

A whole roasted pig that rotates continuously with an apple in its mouth.

The sight of children happily chasing after the direction the pig was turning amused Vlad.

".....The village chief gave it to me. Give it to me for a gold coin."

Watching today's wedding, Vlad remembered Jorge from the past.

Whenever there was something worth celebrating among the organization members, Jorge would send a bottle of liquor in the boss's name, and the recipients always appreciated it.

"Marie loves it. It's like receiving a blessing from a knight."

"....Is that so?"

Alright then.

Indeed, Jorge's way of doing things was right.

The presence of a male adult whom he could see and learn from for the first time was still showing Vlad how he should behave.

"You said the groom has relatives in Marcia, right?"

"That's true."

"Then, after this wedding, send your family there for the time being."

It wasn't that Vlad couldn't participate in this atmosphere simply because he was a stranger.

Unlike the villagers enjoying the wedding, Vlad was looking elsewhere.

"Look. It seems to be starting now."

Although the wedding had been moved forward by two days at Vlad's behest, it was still fortunate that it started smoothly.

"Yeah. I should go."

With those words, the village's troublemaker and swindler began to run briskly ahead.

But today, he is probably a more confident man than anyone else.

Gott, who had proven himself through Vlad, hurriedly rushed into his position to brighten his sister's future.

"Thank you all for attending today's wedding..."

The wedding ceremony began with a congratulatory speech from a priest from a nearby village.

The groom and bride waited to enter, stepping on the red cloth.

"Ha..."

However, sadly, rather than the sight of happy people, Vlad's eyes first caught the signs of impending threats.

From afar, he could see Stefan looking at him with a troubled expression.

"Kid."

"Yes?"

"Give me one of the flowers from the basket."

Vlad called the child holding the flower basket and quietly picked out the flower.

There happened to be a conspicuous flower.

Congratulations, Marie!

You must live well!

As the bride and groom walked hand in hand at the priest's call, the departing knight threw a single red rose from afar for them.

Congratulations and cheers. Leaving behind the beautiful scene.

"As you suggested, it was wise to spread out the scouts. We've received reports that unidentified armed personnel are approaching, sir."

"What's the time?"

"It seems they'll reach within two hours," Stefan reported, and Vlad, with a stern expression, quietly left the wedding venue.

"What should we do about the wedding? Should we end it now?" Stefan asked, as Vlad turned quietly to look back.

People standing in the same place but in different worlds.

Vlad wanted to finish the wedding for them as much as possible.

Wouldn't protecting something mean having to protect a scene like that?

"...Just wait for ten more minutes, then we'll end it."

The cheers of the people behind Vlad were gradually receding as he went outside.

So Vlad walked forward, leaving behind the red rose he had thrown.

※※※※

'....Damn it.'

Colin spat out the curse words he could barely contain, his eyes burning with anger.

The unexpected sight before him was completely beyond Colin's imagination.

"Are those hanging over there right now our men?"

"....Yes. They're the scouts we sent."

He thought it would be an easy mission.

To be precise, it was just a trivial mission that he did not want to undertake.

But the scene before him now was completely different from what Colin and his men had expected and imagined.

"······I guess there was a knight hidden there."

A hastily erected, poorly constructed wooden fence.

Though it looked flimsy enough to break at any moment, the corpses hanging from it were sending a clear warning.

The fence, with death hanging from it, seemed to be warning that this place wouldn't be easily overcome.

"What should we do?"

"What do you suggest? Retreat from here?"

Despite sending three scouts, not a single one returned, all captured. 

These soldiers were beyond what a single village could handle, indicating something unexpected inside the village.

"I'll take the lead."

Despite the blatant warning from someone, Colin didn't hesitate. An easy mission meant a mission that couldn't fail.

Colin, whose position had already been diminished due to the duel of honor in Deomar, was a man who could no longer back down.

"Come out!"

With a force that couldn't be considered mere bandits, Colin began to loudly reveal his presence, as if he wouldn't hide anymore.

"Who dares to cut the throats of my men?"

The enraged cries of the warthog filled the forest village with echoes.

The village, just moments ago filled with laughter, was now filled only with the stifling unease.

"If you don't open the gate right now, I'll cut all your throats!"

Open the gate and your lives would be spared.

Colin, confidently asserting his authority, shouted boldly, but the response he received was stoic.

"Knight of Pilos, Colin the Warthog."

With the voice of the man, the gate of the fence began to open, just enough for one person to pass through.

"It's been a while, but I can't say I'm glad to see you."

"....Who are you?"

A blond man walking alone from the village.

Even at a glance, the man looked like a knight. Instead of answering the question, he threw the object he was holding towards Colin.

Thunk-

The rolling heads came tumbling towards Colin's feet.

As Colin watched the heads rolling with their eyes wide open, he furrowed his brow in annoyance.

'They all fell at once.'

The wounds on their necks left no room for doubt. They were cleanly cut without hesitation, each with a single stroke.

He didn't know who the knight in front of him was, but he could gauge his skill to some extent.

"Today is a good day, Colin. So if you turn back now, I won't blame you for your rudeness."

"I already asked who you are!"

Blond hair, blue eyes. A knight with a splendid appearance that looks like an aristocrat, but whose spirit is as ferocious as that of a beast.

There was no way he wouldn't remember a guy with such a strong impression.

"Too bad. Didn't you draw your sword for me that day?"

"...What?"

The somewhat relaxed smile irritated Colin.

Although he wasn't the one in front of him, Colin remembered a knight who smiled like that.

"Vlad of Shoara."

The one-eyed knight of Bayezid.

The bastard who handed him a humiliating defeat.

"I was a squire of Sir Zayar."

Now that he thought about it, he looked just like that guy.

In his actions, his swagger, and even that seemingly relaxed smile.

"Your envy..."

Now, Colin's eyes, finally recognizing Vlad, began to turn red with anger.

He remembered the scent of lemons that filled the air.

The one-eyed knight who had mocked him, the tongue-wagging Jubert.

And even Pablo shining brightly, along with the blond lad.

"You damn Bayezid!"

Now it all came flooding back.

The knight's squire who had handed them defeat.

It could have been hard to recognize him at first glance.

But now, the boy who had become a knight in his own right bore only traces of his former self, as if he had always been this way from birth.

"I'll kill you! You northern bastards!"

What had been a simple mission now turned into a burning desire for revenge.

That day, I drew my sword to protect you, but not today.

Today, I will kill you and erase the defeat of that day that I couldn't bear to remember.

"S-Sir Colin!"

The furious boar's eyes locked onto his target.

Colin, the Warthog of Pilos.

With no concept of retreat, the charging commander began his relentless assault towards Vlad.

"Damn it! Follow him in! Attack now!"

"Follow Sir Colin!"

Even the Pilos soldiers disguised as bandits quickly rallied to their knight's side and charged forward.

As trained soldiers, they maintain their formation even in sudden situations and rush to the fence.

"Kwaaaaaak!"

"It's a trap, it's a trap!"

However, Vlad did not waste the time given to him.

Traps made by experienced mercenaries and villagers began to attack the soldiers of Pilos from various places.

Crash!

"Die, you bastard!"

"It is Vlad of Shoara."

Vlad, who blocked the boar's charge with his whole body, gritted his teeth and smiled weakly.

While Vlad couldn't completely stop their advance, allowing them entry into the village, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Stefan! Close the gates!"

"Yes, sir!"

The crude but functional gates of the wooden fence began to close. Through the gap between the commander and his soldiers, screams and blood began to flow.

"Today, I'll kill you and take your head to my lord!"

"...Is my head worth enough for you?"

Indeed, he was worthy of being called a Warthog.

Isolated but unyielding, his eyes pierced through Vlad with a predatory gaze.

"······Then I'm glad."

Colin widened his eyes as he looked at Vlad. 

The smile that he thought resembled Zayar's just a moment ago was now distorted and showing its true form.

No one else's smile but only Vlad's.

The beginning was noble, but the end was the smile of a cruel predator.

"What is the worth of your neck?"

"What?"

A cruel smile that only a predator could wear appeared on Vlad's face.

"I am asking how much you're worth to kill?"

Stabbing the fastest dragon, Lindworm.

Cut down the sharpest dragon, Nidhogg.

However, Vlad, who had never faced a life-or-death situation against a human being, was always curious.

What are my limits?

How far have I reached?

"I asked you something."

Vlad was still chasing the shadows of the men who had guided him.

He wanted to be like them, and surpass them.

Now was the time for the boy who had become a knight to find out where he stood.

With his left eye closed, Vlad's world began to burn brightly.