Chapter 217 - In the Continuous Flow (2)

It was early in the morning.

In the distance, the sky near the horizon was tinged yellow with the rising sun, but the sky above was still shrouded in darkness.

Inside a swaying carriage, Joseph was scribbling with a pen.

The palm-sized notebook he held was filled with carefully written letters, and the pen he had just passed over had drawn a name that had been written there.

"…Baron Moldavir is out."

A thick black vertical line was drawn where Joseph's pen passed.

It wasn't clear what that line meant, but Joseph's notebook was full of names of nobles crossed out in a similar manner.

"I wanted to talk a bit more with him, it's a shame."

"There was no other choice."

Jager, who was sitting across from Joseph, clicked his tongue in disappointment and opened his mouth.

"Vlad practically wrecked the Kisignor market. No wonder Baron Moldavir got furious and threw us out."

At the end of Jager's gaze, as if asking him to take a look, was Vlad silently following behind the carriage.

Vlad, mounted on a fiercely tempered black horse, smiled awkwardly when he noticed Joseph's gaze.

"I suppose I would have thrown him out too if I were the baron."

However, Joseph's dark eyes were not on Vlad.

He was only observing the knights following him with a banner held high.

"The Imperial Guard."

The black banner with a distinctive white lightning bolt.

Although its prestige had diminished compared to before, the Imperial Guard, responsible for the security of the imperial capital, was still one of the knightly bodies envied by knights across the continent.

"You have quite an impressive banner behind you now, Vlad."

Joseph smiled cheerfully at the sight of Vlad following the flames rising from behind.

Although the journey was bleak, the new wind brought by Vlad seemed to ease Joseph's tension a bit.

***

"They say the successor of the Bayezid family is already decided and will be Rutiger."

"…"

"Well, I had already investigated your special relationship with Joseph Bayezid."

An unwelcome voice sounded behind him as he walked silently.

The voice belonged to the man who had been following Vlad since the city of Kisignor.

"…Why the hell are you still following me?"

As soon as he heard the noise of the carriage window in front of him, Vlad immediately turned around and began to growl.

"I told you to find the real culprit behind Lord August's death."

For other knights, encountering the Imperial Guard would be an honor, but for Vlad, these men were not welcome.

Not only had they accused him of being a criminal, but they had also caused his expulsion from Kisignor.

"I'm looking for you now."

"I told you it wasn't me."

"I know, but the investigation procedure is like this."

Rodrigo, who was once full of fury, now showed himself as a cunning investigator.

"You were the last witness to be with Lord August. At the very least, I have to hear your testimony to make it right."

"Huff."

After hearing Rodrigo's response, Vlad shook his head and let out a brief sigh.

There was nothing wrong with what Rodrigo said, but he knew his interest was something entirely different.

"Don't misunderstand this. I'm telling you this is not the Sword Master's blade. It's just my sword."

Buzz!

Vlad secretly showed the sword to the knights, who clearly misunderstood something, and revealed the truth, but the dragon-slaying sword that came out only screamed without warning, contrary to the owner's thoughts.

"Oh, oh!"

"The real Silver Knight!"

Beings who rejoiced at meeting because they came from the same metal.

The imperial guard knights took out the coins they had and began to exclaim as if they were excited by the sound of the resonant metals.

"…It's not like that."

"Even if it's not, my subordinates have reasons to think so. The true silver coins only react to the true silver."

"I told you before. This happened because their coins melted and became this."

The silver coin was an honor price awarded only to knights who sacrificed themselves.

It was a precious gift that no one but Ramund, who wandered the continent after retiring to train the next generation, the Iron Duke, the oath keeper, or the current knights who gave up their surnames to join the Imperial Guard, could receive. It was a precious coin.

"No, these coins cannot melt, Lord Vlad."

Because it was such a rare coin, Vlad had no choice but to not know its inner history.

Nor how absurd his words sounded.

"True silver is an immutable metal. It doesn't rust or break under pressure."

"…"

Rodrigo responded softly, smiling at Vlad, who was furious and said no.

"It doesn't melt with heat either. Even the latest dwarven forges could only persuade true silver."

"But this blade was sharpened by a blacksmith…"

"Then that blacksmith must have persuaded the sword well."

Do what you have to do where you need to be.

True silver was a noble metal that knew where it had to go.

"Anyway, this is not the Founder's sword. It is really my sword."

"Let's say it is."

Rodrigo, who had brought his horse closer, looked at the dragon-slaying sword, still buzzing, and continued speaking.

"Anyway, you've been chosen by the true silver sword, that's for sure."

What is inherited is not the form, but the name.

They didn't know where it came from, but the royal court sword and the silver sword were blessed by the true silver.

Vlad had denied it for a long time, but Rodrigo was sure his will had been fulfilled.

"Was there a Sword Master's blade in the elf forest? Lord August reported that someone had taken the sword."

"…I really don't know anything about that."

Vlad could see that Rodrigo's eyes, looking at him from before, were filled with a strange desire.

He knew that if he confessed to having taken the Silver Knight's sword, that fervor would only increase.

"Well, since we have plenty of time, let's take our time and investigate. Now we're also heading to the next city."

"Do you plan to follow me there too?"

The city rising before Joseph's carriage, which was ahead, began to appear.

It was a city so large it was hard to compare it with Kisignor, the city we passed through earlier.

"It would be better if you joined us until there. The city of La Valetta is for us like a supply base."

The city of Valetta.

A city with the strongest walls in the central region.

And it is also the capital of the County of Arnstein.

"Count Arnstein, the owner of Valetta, is a close friend of the Crown Prince."

Rodrigo offered to reward the expulsion from Kisignor in Valetta, but Vlad was not interested.

"…Arnstein."

The city of Valetta, getting closer, was surrounded by walls as high as those of Sturma in the north.

Vlad thought that the figure of Valetta, which seemed solid and without dents, resembled exactly a knight he had met before.

***

On a night with a full moon, a carriage advanced in the darkness.

The carriage, escorted by headless knights, seemed displeased with the moonlight shining in the night sky and moved only through black shadows.

"As expected, you're not running."

The woman with hair that started green but ended black placed her hand on Frausen's chest, who was sitting across from her, and smiled.

"When you face dragons, your heart beats strongly."

"…"

The woman's smile was so gentle that anyone would want to embrace her, but Frausen, who had lost all color, sat there like a corpse.

It was as if no smile could make Frausen's heart beat.

"…How are your preparations going? You said you were looking for a place to put down roots."

"Thank you for showing interest in me, Your Majesty."

Frausen frowned for a moment at the title given by the woman, but his expression soon returned to its rigid state.

"It's going well. This time I have found a good talent."

The Fallen Saint, Lamashu, nodded gratefully, while her hands opened Frausen's chest.

For the revived Emperor to act according to his wishes, he needed the rituals Lamashu had inscribed in his heart.

"Is it someone trustworthy?"

"I don't know if they are trustworthy."

Following her fingers that moved fluidly, red flakes began to flow over the blackened bloodstains.

It was the beat of the most perfect piece that originated from the most perfect dragon, but had now become Frausen's heart.

"But I believe everyone fears imminent death."

"…"

Frausen's focus gradually returned as his heart began to beat little by little.

The first thing he looked at was the jewelry box the woman had carefully kept.

"If we keep moving forward little by little, we will find a place for my children."

The woman who fled from death was mad, and the emperor who returned from death was exhausted.

However, there was only silence in the carriage where the two faced each other.

"Unlike Moshiam, I hope this time you achieve what you set out to do."

The jewelry box that Frausen was looking at was filled with tree tears, now cold.

They came from fragments of the World Mother Tree that Frausen himself had transplanted long ago, when his heart was still beating.

"…Only then will I be able to complete what I want to do."

For a world where children could laugh, without the pain and agony caused by adults.

For a world where possibility was not crushed by the most perfect dragon.

"…"

To create that world, Frausen looked away from the weeping jewelry box.

The young knight Kihano wouldn't have done it, but the old emperor Frausen had learned to compromise.

The carriage was on the move.

The carriage, which did not tread on the world created by the gods, advanced smoothly towards somewhere in the central region.

Frausen closed his eyes as he caressed the Silver Knight who no longer cried.

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