CHAPTER 136

"Will he be able to do well?"

Two people walked along a sunlit corridor.

"Isn't it still early for Sir Vlad? It might be better for him to observe and learn alongside the other knights..."

"It will be enough."

While Alicia wore a worried expression, Josef's face remained calm.

"Sir Vlad was already a leader of his own group from the first time I met him."

"I see."

Alicia silently nodded in response to Josef's words.

Although he belonged to Hainal, Vlad was ultimately a knight of Bayezid. 

Expressing opinions about him in front of Josef required caution.

"What was he like when you first met him?"

"He was a mercenary I had hired. We met during a monster subjugation that started in Varna."

Josef glanced outside the corridor, reminiscing about the winter days.

A 17-year-old with the identity card of a 31-year-old.

Thinking back, he couldn't help but laugh at the audacious behavior of that boy.

"But aren't they all rough people? Barbarians, mercenaries, all of them are new subordinates..."

"Lady Alicia."

Josef stopped walking, turning to look at her with a faint smile as if to reassure her.

"I understand why you're worried about him."

"..."

She had heard it was his first time leading a war.

Nevertheless, the fact that he will become the leader of a group and perform separate missions.

Alicia hoped Vlad, still young, would stick with the other knights and stay in a safe place. But Vlad had already proven himself capable of handling many people's worries.

"Savage barbarians, weathered mercenaries... It must be tough for a knight who hasn't even reached twenty to handle."

With those words, Josef looked out at the scenery beyond the corridor.

A temporary encampment where soldiers from Hainal and Bayezid gathered.

Amidst the clustered tents, people were gathering in one place.

"But don't worry too much."

The bustling noise reached the mansion.

With that noise, men from different affiliations and origins started mingling.

"He's not to be underestimated when it comes to roughness."

"What?"

Josef stepped away from the window as if to take a look, saying something that seemed incomprehensible.

"See for yourself."

Following Josef's lead, Alicia began to observe the scene beyond the window.

"Huh?"

In the temporary encampment where soldiers were gathered, for some reason, a large circle had formed amidst the excited crowd.

And within it stood two men.

"······."

Alicia squinted, trying to make out the distant sight against the sunlight.

Blonde hair shining in the sunlight.

There were fireflies flying around.

Even though it was midday and not night.

※※※※

Strike boldly and decisively!

Cheer up! Knight of Deomar!

Show these barbarians who we are!

"Hoo..."

The relentless shouts from all directions felt like they were shaking even his heart.

Yet Vlad remained calm, taking slow breaths to steady himself.

Before him stood Aage, shirtless and making a grim expression.

The tattoos etched flawlessly over his tense muscles seemed menacing.

"Come on in!"

With a gesture typical of barbarians, Aage began to provoke Vlad.

In response, the soldiers surrounding the circle intensified their cheers.

"These guys are awfully noisy."

Vlad spat roughly, clearly displeased with the current situation.

Having removed his insignia, Vlad stood there as the pure Vlad, slowly recalling memories of Shoara.

With each breath, the madness of the past surged within him.

The roughness of the back alleys began to appear in the knight's blue eyes.

"....Hmm."

Aage, observing Vlad's approach, instinctively adjusted his stance without realizing it.

A peculiarly poised guard.

The close combat skills learned directly from Larmund were indeed covering Vlad's weaknesses.

'What's with that gaze?'

Vlad approaches with both the skills of a knight and the power of a back alley.

Looking at him, Aage swallowed his saliva without realizing it.

'Come!'

The technique of the single-hit kill is about dominating the gap.

Even though he didn't lift the sword, Vlad's own space was already engraved on his body.

'To the left!'

The fist that extends nimbly is sharp.

However, Aage, a warrior with ample experience in close combat, swiftly raised his right arm to shield his chin, aiming for an immediate counterattack.

"Ugh!"

Suddenly, pain shot up from his right ankle.

Along with it, Aage's balance slowly began to falter.

"You should have kept your eyes open."

"...!"

The left was a feint.

Or perhaps it wasn't just a feint, but rather not as fast as it seemed.

Vlad, who changed his striking point based on Age's reaction, succeeded in hitting Aage's right ankle with a low kick.

'Darn it!'

Looking at the smirking Vlad, Aage could once again recall the person before him.

The one who drove Lindworm into a corner, chased after him, and ultimately killed the dragon.

Vlad was the hunter who captured the biggest prey Aage had ever seen.

"Don't bark at me again."

The momentum, starting from his blue eyes, formed a single line and began to charge at Aage.

"Grrr!"

Aage rushed to hug Vlad in an attempt to overturn his momentum, but his eyes began to turn white from the continuous blows that started immediately.

Vlad's attack is persistent, as if he will never end it in one blow.

Thunk! Thunk-thunk-thunk!

The relentless punches relentlessly hammered Aage's ribs and abdomen to the point where he could barely catch his breath.

Each extending fist felt like a hefty blow of a log rushing towards him.

'...!'

Though it seemed like mere instinctual movements on the surface, Aage, facing them directly, could feel it.

To overcome the difference in physique, one must dismantle from the bottom.

Vlad, who had been fighting opponents bigger than himself since he was young, was well aware of this fact, and was now mercilessly unleashing the experience he had accumulated against Aage.

"Urgh!"

More savage than a barbarian.

More viscous than worn-out mercenaries.

The beast that jumped out of the back alley was rushing towards Aage, wearing the skills of a knight.

"...I've lost."

Vlad finally pushed over the large northern tree.

Feeling the cold touch of the ground on his back, Aage looked up at the hunter pressing down on him under the blue sky.

Vlad's face, with the sun at his back, was nothing but a silhouette.

"Speak politely."

"...I've lost."

Stepping away from Aage, Vlad shrugged and looked at the barbarians in front of him.

"If anyone still has a grudge, come at me. But this time, I'll face you not with my fists, but with my sword."

The barbarians simply fell silent at Vlad's murderous gaze. 

Barbarians had agreed to come along according to the contract but had vowed not to bow to the people of the empire.

However, no matter how much they did, they had no choice in the face of rules that apply in any world.

Vlad succeeded in making them understand through force.

"Wait!"

"...What now?"

Aage, who had been lying down just a moment ago, shouted a few words and stood up, loudly calling out to Vlad.

"The captain is supposed to... No, let the captain do it!"

"What do I do?"

Aage's eyes began to search for the scarlet hidden in the crowd.

Aage, a warrior of the Budart tribe, had not completely backed down yet.

"Not even an adjutant!"

"....Ha."

I'll follow your orders since I've lost, but that doesn't mean I'll just hand over my position as second-in-command.

Aage had no intention of bowing even to Stefan.

"Oh, this is crazy."

"You two sort it out yourselves."

Stefan, who noticed that Aage was targeting him, scratched his head as if he had a headache.

In the end, Stefan came forward as if pushed by his subordinates.

Seeing him like that, the soldiers' shouts began to get louder again.

"If you step down from your position as an adjutant, your pay will be docked."

".....He took a lot of beating, didn't he?"

Watching Aage spit out blood, Stefan began to loosen his collar.

The fight between barbarians and mercenaries resumed.

The excited cheers of the soldiers spread loudly, echoing in the air.

"Make way."

Vlad came out of the circle, shaking off the men approaching from everywhere.

"······."

"······."

Vlad went outside to the quiet outside and made eye contact with the noble lady who was frozen in shock on the railing of the hallway in the distance.

Vlad bowed his head to her with an awkward smile, but Alicia was just looking at Vlad with blank eyes, probably shocked by the confrontation just now.

"How are you? Do you think he'll continue to do well in the future?"

"······Yes."

Watching Vlad swiftly subdue the barbarians, Alicia found it difficult to speak.

Vlad, the young knight who always presented himself with honor.

But the sight he showed today was rough, like a hungry beast.

"He is doing well. And I believe he'll continue to do well in the future."

And Alicia didn't feel entirely displeased by this different side of Vlad.

Vlad leaves for the hills with a greeting.

Alicia's eyes were fluttering slightly as she discovered the new aspect of Vlad.

※※※※

The West must stretch endlessly.

While they dominate vast lands, the lands they possess are nothing but desolate plains where not even a blade of grass grows properly.

That's why the West has always lived by taking from each other, plundering and pillaging, until the fallen dragon turns their heads away.

"Lord Baron! Lord Baron!"

The city of Nassau.

A port city ruled by Baron Iznik.

Baron Iznik, responsible for a major part of Western maritime trade, but the reports he was hearing now were enough to make him doubt his ears.

"······Everything's been looted?"

"That's······"

"Everything?"

"······Yes, everything."

As the butler's report dwindled, the Baron's carefully groomed mustache began to tremble.

"What utter nonsense is this!"

With a loud bang, Baron Iznik slammed his desk.

Unable to contain his rising anger, he unleashed a string of curses.

"Who the hell crawled in here and plundered everything!"

Are they pirates?

Or perhaps nearby lords were responsible?

It would have been plausible when the Rabnoma family and Gaidar family were fighting, but considering the area had already established some semblance of order, the report of looted supplies was hard to believe for the Baron.

"Who is it! You don't even know who did this!"

Looking into the eyes filled with, the knight commander could only shake his head in disbelief.

"That's... they say it's the forces of Hainal."

"What?"

"Hainal's... a knight of Lady Alicia..."

The Baron, in response to the commander's report, widened his eyes in disbelief.

"Hainal? Deomar? No, how far is this place from there?"

Indeed, Deomar and Nassau went over a week's ride without rest.

It was unimaginable for anyone to easily conceive that soldiers from Hainal, who should have been crouched in preparation for the upcoming battle, would come all the way here.

"How on earth did they crawl in here!"

From afar, unnoticed.

And the looters who disappeared like the wind, leaving no trace.

However, the situation had already occurred, and all the supplies the Baron had sent were burned.

The only clue they left behind was the name of Lady Alicia.

"Find them immediately! Find them and bring them to me!"

In the West, being plundered meant nothing short of death.

However, even the looters who plundered were a cunning bunch, now lurking between the night skies of the West.

Knight of the back alley, barbarians of the North, and worn-out mercenaries.

It was a young, evil strike force put together by a man with dark eyes.

War between the West and the North.

The earliest beacon of the North against the approaching malevolence of the West belonged to Lady Alicia's knight Vlad.