When that snow melts (2)
Before.
Not that long ago, Vlad had a conversation like that with members of Jorge’s organization.
“ah. “I just wish I had 100 gold.”
Common conversations that men usually have when they get together.
A story about alcohol, women, and anything special.
And as these conversations go around, there is a story that comes out naturally.
“What should I do if I have 100 gold?”
“If you have it, instead of doing this, buy a piece of land somewhere and settle down right away.”
“I’ve lived here my whole life, and I guess I’ll just make a living farming.”
A story about money.
These are stories that can only be imagined because they can’t exactly happen.
“Look boss. After all, it is business rather than farming. “Let’s find a nice building…”
“And then it completely collapses. “I think business is easy.”
Life is sad when you can clearly see the future.
So sometimes, trivial stories like this were necessary.
Because you don’t need any qualifications to imagine and talk.
“······.”
You have to buy land, you have to buy a building, no, you have to start a business.
In a conversation that had no meaning, but was still passionate, Burley looked at the boy who was alone in the distance.
“Hey newbie. “What would you do if you had 100 gold?”
The youngest member of the organization, who was quietly pushing while listening to the pointless stories of his seniors.
“Who gave it to you?”
“You can talk about it, right? “I mean.”
The blond-haired boy stopped pushing for a moment and thought quietly about Burley’s question.
What would you do first if you suddenly had money?
“······If I have 100 gold, I should pay off the debt first.”
“what? “Do you owe me 100 gold?”
“That guy’s buds are yellow. “Did you gamble somewhere?”
It was unlikely to happen, but he could imagine it, and even in that imagination, Vlad thought he had to pay off his debt first.
“It’s not gambling debt, but I still have a few things to pay off.”
There was always a list of people he had to pay something to in the back of Vlad’s head.
Most of the list was about people who had grudges, but there were also people who really owed money and had to pay, and the name of the same person was always written at the top of the list.
“······328 gold.”
And now, Vlad, who had to leave Shoara, had well over 100 gold in his hands.
What would you do if you had money?
Although there was no longer Bury to listen to his answers, Vlad decided to do what he had always thought of doing.
There is not much time left to leave.
So now is the time to pay back.
※※※※
“I guess something isn’t right about us.”
“Iknow, right.”
Two people handing out beer to each other amidst the noisy crowd of customers.
Gregory, who had been placed on probation again, and Vlad, who had been punished by being banished, were staring at each other helplessly, excluded from their duties.
“When are you leaving?”
“Are there 5 days left? “I’ll just leave as soon as I’m ready.”
Josef gave Vlad one week.
Although it may seem like a lot of money, it was also a subtly tight time from Vlad’s point of view as he had to leave the city he had lived in all his life.
“······But everything we planned was finished.”
The intentions were good, but the results were not good.
In some ways, Gregory, who was the cause of this incident, wanted to be considerate in his own way for Vlad, who had to leave the city because of the work he had proposed.
“Soon, people from the Kannor family will come to Shoara.”
In any case, Black Bear and his organization disappeared from the back alleys, and an area was created in Shoara that the Kannor family could dig into.
“This is a business that cannot fail. “It has already been coordinated to some extent with Joseph.”
“······.”
As Bordan said, knights are not people who save money through salaries.
The advantage of having a close relationship with powerful people was enough to bring knights to the shiny gold coins.
“Invest at least a nominal amount. Then I’ll take care of it so you won’t be upset.”
The Kannor family advances to Shoara.
Other merchants would go to great lengths to participate in this business, but Gregory was saying that he would open a corner of the door just for Vlad.
Because the knight in front of me was someone who fully deserved it.
“How much?”
“I don’t know how much I received as special allowance, but I put in whatever I can afford.”
Gregory’s eyes looked beyond the beer glass and towards Vlad.
Originally, the plan was to slowly take root in the back alleys with Vlad, who knew the situation well.
“hmm.”
At first glance, it sounded like a typical trick of a conman, but the person sitting in front of Vlad was a knight of Bayezid whose name alone could prove his trustworthiness.
“Is 50 gold enough?”
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“That’s enough.”
It was a ridiculous amount, but it would be enough to make a name for itself.
And since the Kannor family was already one of the families that supported Vlad, they would definitely take care of it without any regrets.
“Please take care of yourself.”
“Please take good care of me here while I’m gone.”
“okay.”
Gregory said he was sorry, and Vlad replied that he would please take care of it later.
Now that we’ve said everything we need to say to each other, all that’s left is to drink.
“······.”
While Gregory raised his glass of beer, Vlad indifferently looked at the snacks in front of him.
Red ripe sausage.
“It wasn’t tasty.”
Before seeing the world, nothing seemed as delicious to Vlad as this sausage.
But Vlad decided that he would no longer be satisfied with the poor sausages produced by the black bear.
※※※※
“what’s this. “I don’t need inn fees.”
“I can’t be here anymore. And there is also a share for old man Ramund, who ran away without paying.”
Vlad handed Marcela 50 gold with a humorous joke.
I don’t think she will accept me if I don’t do this.
“······Our inn doesn’t charge this much?”
“This is an investment. “Return the proceeds later.”
Vlad tried to write down to Marcella exactly what Gregory had said.
“I think Rose’s Smile will do well once she gets over this crisis.”
“······okay?”
Marcella was pouring her own money into converting a window called The Smile of the Rose into an inn.
However, no matter how much money she had saved, most of it was lost due to One-Armed Jack’s interference, and although she did not show it, Marcela was currently struggling with financial difficulties.
“······thank you. “You won’t regret this investment.”
“Instead, from now on, sausages must always be from the Kannor family. “If possible, we should also promote it.”
“Hehe. “If it’s on those terms, I’ll accept it.”
If it was simply to show sympathy for my young heart, I would not have accepted it.
However, Vlad was proposing a business of his own and was giving her gold coins in the name of investment.
Since they were looking at each other as equals, not as adults and children, there was no reason for Marcella not to accept it.
“Please take care of Jemina while I’m away.”
“I can’t guarantee that.”
Seeing Marcela making a subtle expression, Vlad just smiled bitterly.
After hearing that she was being expelled from Shoara, Zemina stayed in the corner of her room and did not come out.
Her sense of loss was something that only Vlad could fill.
“Where are you going?” “I’m a bit busy.”
Vlad, who was going down the stairs to do his next job, paused for a moment and turned his head.
There was Marcella holding the bag of gold coins she had given her.
“Thank you.” “Huh? what?”
Jorge picked it up, but she washed it.
Before Marcela washed his hair, Vlad’s hair was just gray and full of dust.
Now her inn will receive high-quality meat from the Kannor family, and she has enough money to not worry about deficits for the time being.
So Vlad decided to erase Marcella’s name from the names written in his head.
“I’ll be back.”
Now, the time I received from Josef is only a few days left.
Vlad hurried out of the inn and went to the tomb in the monastery to clean the old blacksmith’s headstone.
I felt like my hands would freeze in the cold weather, but I decided to do it anyway.
“Thank you.”
Because I wanted to say my last goodbye to the old blacksmith whom I won’t see for a long time.
With his final greetings to him, Vlad crossed the old blacksmith’s name from the list in his head.
“I just paid for my life.”
“But I really wanted to say thank you.”
Vlad went to the city hall and bowed his head to the knight who protected the rose’s smile on his behalf.
Although he was saying he had paid his debt, Knight Maxim volunteered to confront the bishop’s soldiers.
Vlad bowed his head to Maxim, who had taken revenge on him, and when he saw the man who had accepted his greeting, he crossed off another name from the list.
He brought his favorite snacks for Bordan, who had recited the command on his behalf.
He bought Otar, who believed in him and followed him, a nice axe.
Every time he gave it to someone and bowed his head in gratitude, the names in Vlad’s head were erased one by one.
“······.”
There were also people who did not dare to repay, such as Joseph, Zayar, and the priest Andrew.
Vlad was not in a position to tell them anything yet, so he decided to wait until later.
And now only one name remained, the oldest on the list.
“Why did you ask to come here?”
“To pay off some debt.”
“What debt?”
Haven, who followed Vlad with a limping step, soon saw a large building leaning against the side of the frozen river.
“This is a shipyard.”
“okay. “This is the shipyard.”
The harsh weather in the north caused the lifeline rivers to freeze for about half of the year, but Shoah, the southernmost city in the north, was able to escape some of the effects.
This shipyard was proof of that.
“But why did you come here?”
“I heard you’re paying off your debt.”
A shipyard was not only a place to build ships, but it was also a place to sell ships.
Of course, the process would require difficult procedures, but this did not apply to Vlad, the knight.
“Huh… Look at that. It’s a Nao-class ship. Are you trapped by the river? “The captain is going to have a hard time.”
“That was too expensive.”
“huh?”
Haven entered the shipyard with Vlad’s guidance and began to look around happily, like a child.
“I’ve always wanted to come here at least once.”
“······.”
Haven has loved pears since he was young.
We kept talking about how one day we would buy a boat and that we would cross the river and escape the back alleys.
As if he was promising, as if he would never forget.
And young Vlad learned how to look at the stars by watching Haven.
“Do you still want to go on a boat?” “Yes.”
“Do you want to go far away in Shoah?”
“of course. what. “Why are you doing that?”
Haven said that he would definitely go out to sea before he died.
However, Haven ended up trapped in a dark alley for Vlad and Jemina.
“That was 200 gold.”
There was a day when he whittled down a shabby cane for Haven, who had fallen for him.
On that day when he was squatting down somewhere in a back alley, carving wood, Vlad made a decision.
I will definitely repay my debt to Haven.
So, I engraved his name deep in the highest place in my mind.
“Cog?”
Where Vlad pointed.
A small ship stuck in the corner of the shipyard.
Still, the ship with one horizontal sail, as if to indicate that it was a sailing ship, was a cog ship most often used by merchants using the river.
“That one was a bit cheap. “So I bought it.”
“huh?”
Haven, who did not understand what was just said, made stupid noises and asked back, but Vlad just waved his hand and called the shipyard employee.
“It’s yours now.”
“······.”
Vlad said, holding out a piece of paper brought by a shipyard employee.
“Sign. “In your name.”
A white piece of paper held by a shipyard employee.
It was a ship certificate certifying the ownership of the ship.
“No, this is it now…”
Haven was embarrassed by what had suddenly happened and stuttered, but soon he felt something covering his head and stopped stuttering.
“Starting today, you are Captain Haven.”
What the shipyard worker brought with him was not just a certificate awaiting signature.
A triangular-shaped hat with a stiff feel.
It was a captain’s hat that could only be worn by those who owned a ship.
Crippled Haven.
But from today, he threw away his old, back-alley name and was given a new name.
“······Captain Haven.”
As he looked at the smiling Vlad, dark moisture was spreading from his shaking pupils.
What would you do if you had 100 gold?
There was no one left to listen, but Vlad was now answering the question.
“Captain Haven, Captain…”
Every time Haven’s name was engraved in the blank, white signature line, his name was being erased from the list in Vlad’s head.
There was a day when he cut down a tree while crying for Haven, who had fallen for him.
But the one who was shedding tears now was Haven, and in his hands was a boat with a flimsy wooden staff as its sail.
Haven, whose ankle was cut, will still walk around with a limp, but he will be more confident than anyone else if he is in the sea instead of on land.
Because it was a world driven by sails, not feet.
