CHAPTER 168

Round, round, around the match we go.

Spinning joyfully around the match.

Until the bright red hair turns dark.

Until the song we sang comes to an end.

Round, round, around the match we go.

Let's go around the match until everyone falls.

※※※※

The winter street was frozen stiff.

The clatter of hooves and the creaking of carriages echoed above.

The dry wind of the northern regions, as harsh as the hardened ground beneath, chilled the already heavy atmosphere of the travelers.

"It's time for us to part ways."

Josef, who had dared to open the window despite the cold weather, looked at Vlad and smiled faintly.

At Josef's voice breaking the silence, all the knights turned to face him.

Two paths diverged before them on the long stretch of road.

When they reached the approaching fork in the road, the group and Vlad would have to part ways.

"Take care."

"Please take care of yourself too, Lord Josef."

Josef and the knights had to return to Sturma.

It was natural for Josef, who had been eliminated from the succession competition, to return, and the knights who followed him would probably be assigned new tasks and scattered.

Although parting was regrettable, it was inevitable that the end was heavy for the current group.

"Please, don't run wild as you usually do. Like you did at the convent this time."

"...I'll do my best."

Even amidst this, the constant teasing from Zayar was somewhat welcoming.

While becoming the subject of someone's laughter was not pleasant, the atmosphere seemed to brighten slightly with the laughter echoing from various places.

"We may be able to find our place come spring. Let's hope for that."

"Understood, Lord Josef."

The sight of Josef promising the next with his white lips seemed pitiful, but Vlad believed that Josef's words were not empty words.

The Josef he knew was always someone who prepared for the worst.

".....And don't forget what I said."

"Yes."

Vlad quietly nodded at Josef's last words, which he spoke in a whisper.

The advice Josef quietly gave was derived from strange rumors that had circulated by the Vatican.

"I hope the deacon achieves what he wants."

"May the peace of the Lord accompany you on your journey home, Lord Josef."

With those final words exchanged, Josef quietly gestured that it was time.

Gregory, Maxim, and Cade.

Vlad, who said a final greeting with just one look in his eyes, eventually broke away from the group and turned toward the opposite crossroads.

A black horse and a small donkey are moving further and further away.

Even amidst the biting winter wind, Josef and the knights, who paused briefly, watched their diminishing figures as they moved further away.

A cold wind was blowing, but the sight of Vlad leading the young deacon's path no longer looked awkward at all.

※※※※

"Maybe you didn't know, sir. Lord Andrea shrugged his shoulders every time he heard the name Vlad of Shoara."

The old donkey he was riding was very indifferent, but the young deacon riding on it was talking energetically as if he had finally come to his own world.

"Even though it was a guarantee that could be sold at a high price, everyone made a fuss about how he was throwing it away. But now, I bet no one's making that noise anymore!"

The name of the young deacon who is still chattering was Jean.

In the northern regions, boys with single-letter names were rare, and Jean, with such a name, looked proudly as if Vlad were his own pride.

"Names... Do people sell guarantees if they receive payment?"

"Yes, indeed. They all sold and went about. Especially those who came from the Vatican."

Whether it was because Jean was Andrea's direct subordinate or not, he didn't hide his resentment towards the Vatican.

Jean knew more about Andrea, who had high prestige but roamed only the wilderness, than anyone else.

"Well, even the head nun of Shoara sold something or another."

Jean's words reminded Vlad of the convent in Shoara, and he furrowed his brow.

It was a convent built for the poor, but all the women in it were the children of powerful people.

Chaste maidens close to God.

The head nun of Shoara's convent was nothing but a profiteer who sold her title using the name of God.

"...Let's exchange this for jerky for now."

"Yes?"

Jean widened his eyes as he looked at the bundle of paper Vlad suddenly handed over.

On the somewhat thick bundle of paper was engraved the name "Kanoor."

"The Kanoor family, huh?"

"I have some slight acquaintance with them."

Even the young deacon knew that Kanoor's meat was of excellent quality.

And it's that expensive too.

Vlad was one of the knights sponsored by the Kanoor family.

"It's a long journey ahead, so it's best to have some good food stored. If you fall ill anywhere along the way, it would inconvenience me, wouldn't it?"

"Oh, um, thank you!"

Though he tried to hide it, Jean's blushing cheeks betrayed his feelings.

For a boy who had been living a modest life, receiving meat was a joy beyond words.

Perhaps under Andrea's command, who used to live a humble life, he hadn't even seen such jerky.

"If you have any discomfort, please feel free to tell me anytime."

Though he vaguely knew, the grace Andrea showed through Jean's words was greater than expected.

Watching Jean eagerly reach for a piece of jerky, Vlad hoped that through the ascetic journey of this young priest, he could repay even a fraction of his debt to Andrea.

※※※※

"Oh..."

"What should we do, deacon?"

The road to Mosiam, the capital of Baron Utman.

Whether it was the map that was off or the person holding it, Vlad and Jean finally managed to find a small village after several days of camping.

But their joy at finding the village was short-lived as they soon stopped in their tracks, seeing the strange scene below the hill.

"What should we do? Shall we descend?"

"Just a moment... just a moment."

Jean frowned, still showing signs of youth, and was wondering what to do.

Watching Jean deep in thought, Vlad simply remained silent.

The one in charge of this ascetic journey was none other than the young deacon, and Vlad knew well that the boy's growth through this journey was what Bishop Andrea hoped for.

"Let's go down. We might need to intervene."

"Understood."

At the young deacon's words, Vlad nodded his head.

The first path to asceticism is to look without looking away.

Below the hill, following not the easy path but the difficult one, a festival was in full swing.

A small village, unnamed even on the map Vlad held.

Yet, despite its size, the square below was packed with people, all gathered for the festival.

"Save me! I didn't do it!"

A festival must have an appropriate offering. Someone caught for the festival struggled and screamed.

With a mask tightly affixed as if glued, the figure appeared quite eerie.

"I didn't do it! You're making a mistake!"

The man, not only wearing a strange mask but also all black clothes, screamed non-stop, but the villagers just shoveled firewood in and made the fire.

Among them, there were people who covered their ears with their fingers as if they did not want to hear it at all.

"Don't be fooled! It's common for evil beings to deceive people using their tongue!"

A man in white robes stepped forward, shouting loudly.

Though his affiliation was unclear, he appeared to be a priest based on his attire.

"You all know about the evil being that originated from Mosiam!"

As the priest mentioned Mosiam, the crowd's attention shifted to him.

A city marked with an ominous and fearful name.

Even in this distant village, anything related to Mosiam stirred unease.

"Why did the healthy barley fields rot and the well water dry up? It's all because of this guy who came from Mosiam!"

The priest's finger pointed towards the struggling man bound to a post.

"That's why he must be burned!"

"This madman! Why burn innocent people?"

The strange man struggled against his bindings, but he was already tied up, and smoke was slowly rising from below.

From afar, he looked like a crow roasting over a bonfire.

".....Hmm, this seems suspicious."

Vlad, who had dug into the center of the village to avoid the eyes of the few vigilantes, was scratching his head and looking at the center of the burning festival.

"Doesn't it?"

"No, it doesn't."

Perched on Vlad's shoulder was Jean, riding a horse.

Jean was also wearing a pure white robe, but the eyes of the village people had been focused on the priest in front of them for a while.

Jean took advantage of the opportunity to take out a small magnifying glass and focused on the man who was about to be burned at the stake.

"Can't see anything even with this. Of course, he might be the type of being that even this magnifying glass can't find..."

"Well, if he was that elusive, he wouldn't have been caught in the first place."

While it was possible that they didn't recognize him as just a human, if he was of that caliber, he wouldn't have been apprehended by the villagers in the first place.

"But, well, I think we can guess without needing to confirm."

Both Vlad and Jean on horseback were looking at the same spot.

"We must increase the smoke! So that even the God above can see!"

As the fire from the firewood spreads bright red, offerings pile up in front of the priest.

The villagers who followed the frantic cries laid down the belongings they had brought with them in front of the priest and repeatedly bowed their heads in prayer.

Though they cried out in the name of God, their gaze fell upon the false priest.

As the mountain of offerings grew, so did the voice of the priest, echoing across the square. Observing this, Vlad furrowed his brow.

"That guy's a fraud."

Birds of a feather flock together.

Whether he was truly a priest or not was uncertain, but recognizing his cunning tricks, Vlad reached up and pulled Jean down from his shoulder.

"What should we do?"

"We have to intervene. We can't just stand by and watch tragedies unfold in the name of God."

Jean quickly took out the Bible from his pocket and looked at Vlad with stern eyes.

The boy who had been delighted by the manipulated jerky just moments ago was nowhere to be seen.

"Understood. Do as you wish, deacon."

Jean must have been encouraged by Vlad's nod, so he hurriedly opened the Bible and flipped through the pages.

It was a Bible meticulously inscribed by Bishop Andrea, letter by letter, for his young deacon.

The spot where the young deacon's hand paused as he turned the pages was a hymn praising God.

-Throw away the vain idols of the world.

-Discarding all falsehoods and injustices of mankind.

-Wherever the call leads, this body will go.

The villagers began to slowly circle around the stake, following the screams of an unknown man.

However, the people who were circling the bright red light suddenly turned their heads when they heard a noble voice.

"You there."

"W-What?"

A knight emerged, walking along the path created by the young deacon's voice.

The knight's left eye had a golden glow that anyone could see.

"Are you really a priest?"

"U-uh..."

The false priest bit his sly tongue as he beheld the menacing figures before his eyes.

With offerings piling up and the silent priest, as well as the innocent sacrifice still struggling atop the flames, the knight proposed, "Shall we extinguish the fire first and then have a talk?"

People who are where they are supposed to be and doing what they are supposed to do.

Bishop Andrew's sword and young voice held the false flame at bay.

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