The Value of Aureo (1)
When Vlad opened the door, the first thing he saw was the old knight Duncan sitting there without knowing what to do.
“Oh oh…”
It seemed like an unbearable tension was weighing him down.
When Duncan opened the door and saw Vlad coming in, he was finally able to let out a sigh that was like a groan.
“…Did something happen here?”
Vlad’s eyes began to sharpen as he looked at Duncan’s pale face.
Because I noticed that something that made even the experienced and seasoned knight cringe was in this room just now.
‘The air is strangely heavy.’
A reverberation of tension that can be felt as a swordsman.
However, the only thing that was here now were two women smiling at them, not any obvious signs of an enemy.
Although both of them were smiling much brighter than usual.
“It looks like you ran all the way here. “When I see you out of breath.”
“Drink this and take a breath. “Lord Vlad.”
Vlad saw two glasses of water being held out towards him at the same time.
I don’t know why the two were sitting in the same seat, but Vlad, who was thirsty at the time, inadvertently reached out for one of the two glasses.
“thank you.”
I was not alert because I believed it was close.
Therefore, Vlad could not sense the cold, flashing gaze of the two women at all.
[Wait!]
“……!”
At that moment, Quijano’s warning resonates more than ever.
Vlad flinched loudly at the sound of Quijano’s voice echoing like thunder in his head.
[The moment you catch even one of those, you’ll be in real trouble.]
‘Why?’
[Look around.]
There is an air that can only be known by experiencing it.
In that sense, no one would be able to recognize the current situation as quickly as Quijano.
For a hero like him, the existence of misfortune was like a disaster that followed him like a shadow.
[It seems that the ominous fortune told by the cat refers to the current situation.]
‘…….’
Prophecy and revelation that can only be known if you touch it directly at that moment.
Vlad looked around the room out of habit, and only then was he able to identify Gemina and Alicia, who looked somewhat strange.
“I’m really glad that nothing happened.”
Vlad, who lived through the back alleys, knew it well.
That there are times when you have to follow the judgment of your instinct rather than reason.
“Please share what you said. “I’ll just leave now.”
Vlad raised his hands as if he wasn’t going to grab anything.
The movements in which he tried to quickly drop the two glasses of water in front of him were more agile than ever.
“Are you not going to drink this?”
“I’ll go down and drink.”
“Here’s what I followed.”
“Thank you for your consideration. “But I have something urgent to attend to.”
Pickpockets need to be tactful.
Whether this moment is a moment where it is okay to reach out or not.
And Vlad was one of the pickpockets who survived so far.
“I will come see you later.”
The blonde knight bowed his head politely as the door quietly closed.
The two women were moistening their lips with their tongues as if they were disappointed at his clean exit, which no one could criticize.
Vlad, who did not ignore the warnings directed to him, was a man who deserved to survive.
※※※※
[I need to be nice to that cat. He’s a really useful guy.]
‘I guess so.’
Vlad’s movements moving down the stairs were quick, as if he had just escaped from hell.
Even as he was going down the stairs, Vlad recalled the situation from earlier and was able to realize the type of tension he felt.
[But the sight of him escaping was quite familiar, wasn’t it?]
‘Because this isn’t the first time I’ve experienced something like this.’
In response to Quihano’s question, Vlad shook his head back and forth as if an old thought came to mind.
‘There must be dozens of girls’ hair that Gemina has captured so far.’
[Somehow, the young lady didn’t really feel like she was being pushed out.]
Even though she was in front of a nobleman, the reason Gemina was able to respond in her own way was because she had a lot of experience.
The struggle of the girl trying to stay by his side was just as daunting as the boy struggling upward.
‘But why with Alicia…’
However, Vlad was still wondering why such tension was created between the noble nobles Alicia and Gemina.
Since Vlad was not ignorant of signals between men and women, he was only more embarrassed.
[It is time for you to realize your own worth.]
Is there any reason for Alicia, a noble noblewoman, to fight with Gemina, a woman from an alley?
And that question was answered by the sight Vlad was looking down on now.
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“…….”
The merchants began to stand up at the same time as Vlad appeared.
Seeing them standing up like waves, Vlad was at a loss for words for a moment.
[Because from now on, your value cannot be evaluated simply by the sword alone.]
The merchants were bowing their heads as they looked at Aureo, a knight and nobleman.
Even Haven took off his captain’s hat from afar.
Vlad was momentarily speechless at the fact that he had created this entire scene he was seeing.
The stairs on the first floor, which I always passed by without notice, have never seemed as high as they do today.
※※※※
Haven and Otar stand up following Vlad’s nod.
Seeing them like that, the merchants around them had their eyes sparkling.
Some of the quick-witted merchants were already putting bribes rather than tips in Ned’s pocket.
“Why are these people here?”
“That’s it, noble nobleman Vlad Aureo…”
“Don’t joke around. “Before they take my wand away.”
The men who came up to Vlad’s room.
Haven’s words were harsh, but he smiled sheepishly as he watched Vlad carelessly dragging a chair.
Although their standing positions may have changed, their relationship did not seem to have changed at all.
“Rumors that the elves have settled in Deremar have already spread throughout the north. In addition, the fact that he broke off relations with the Vitskaya count family.”
As Haven said, one of the rumors that has been causing a stir in the North these days was about elves.
The elves broke off their relationship with Count Vitskaya, with whom they had been doing business, and ran out on their own.
The eyes of the merchants watching them had already turned red.
“I even sold drugs, so of course that would happen.”
“Well, anyway, the merchants are very interested in the elves in Deremar right now. “But you said you brought those elves?”
“I didn’t bring him with me….”
Although he wasn’t brought with me, it would be true that he followed me.
In any case, it was true that Vlad had some influence over the elves.
“There are dwarves there, right? “That part was also unusual.”
“Why are you there again?”
This time, Otar, not Haven, answered Vlad’s question.
“this.”
“Why the axe?”
A dark hatchet was pushed smoothly to Vlad’s side.
Vlad unconsciously grabbed the ax and was startled for a moment when he felt a heavy feeling wrapping around his palm.
“Is this good? Even knights coveted it.”
A simple-looking ax made solely for practical purposes without any decoration.
However, unlike how it looks, this feeling of fitting comfortably in the hand was the feeling of a luxury product that only those who have used it can understand.
“The dwarves didn’t just drag the ship. “As a test, I released some items as trade goods, but the quality of all of them was terrible.”
Vlad knew well that Haven was a person who did not enjoy exaggeration or lies.
However, now that he was explaining using hand gestures, it was easy to imagine the shock he would have had when the trade goods were released.
“Some merchants I know said that the quality is incomparable to the weapons that the West was obsessed with. In fact, there is bound to be a difference from what slaves were forced to make.”
The cavalry of the West was superior not only because of their skills, but also because of the excellent weapons they had.
However, the weapons brought by the dwarves of Nidavellir were made by craftsmen, not dwarf slaves, and the difference between the two could be seen without any comparison.
“And those dwarves also got drunk whenever they got the chance and called you and Joseph by their names. Honestly, this is enough.”
Haven gently took the cane that Otar brought and shrugged his shoulders and said.
“Even if it were me, I would come here. “Don’t you think so?”
“……”
After listening to Haven’s words, Vlad was able to vaguely realize what position he was currently standing in.
A position where one is not the decision maker but can have a significant influence.
Even among the large concentric waves, the person who would be at the center was a man named Vlad.
“…You said it before when you handed over the ship to me. “This might be my chance.”
Vlad, who opened a deal with the Kannor family along with a ship worth 200 gold, spoke to Haven.
Right now is your chance to turn your life around.
“But the way I see it, it seems like that moment has come for you too.”
Haven, who picked up his now polished captain’s hat, looked at Vlad and smiled cautiously.
“This is an opportunity. yes?”
Vlad has so far relied on the wind and waves created by others.
But now he knew he had a chance to make them himself.
Vlad, who had been lost in thought for a while, looked at Haven smiling at him and nodded silently.
※※※※
“Still, you arrived on time.”
After roughly finishing his work at The Smile of the Rose, Vlad visited the mayor’s office in Shoara, where Rutger was, as he had mentioned during the day.
“Furniture has changed a lot.”
“They say that’s exactly what the mayor here did as soon as he took office.”
The cabinet that had neatly contained liquor bottles was lined with paintings and sculptures of unknown meaning.
Looking at the mayor’s office, where there was no trace of Josef anymore, Vlad began to feel uncomfortable in this place.
“Where is my wizard? “Didn’t you follow along?”
“That b*stard stretched out.”
Rutger shook the empty liquor bottle next to his desk and laughed mischievously.
“I only drank half a bottle of rum. “Seeing as how worse Dorothea was, I guess she’s not from the North.”
“Hmm. okay.”
The method of confirming one’s Northern origin through alcohol intake is an old custom that has been around for a very long time and is also a highly reliable method.
In order to survive the cold climate, people in the North had to get used to alcohol, and those who couldn’t survive would have died long ago.
“Shall we have a drink?”
“thank you.”
Today, a large and bright moon was coming down through the window in the room where only the two of us were.
Although many things around him had changed, Vlad felt a little reassured that the current scenery had not changed.
“Is it since Peanuts? “The first time we met.”
“……Hmm. “Yes, I did.”
There was a memory that felt as bitter as the taste of alcohol on the tip of my tongue.
A scruffy boy who immediately rejected the favor offered by the eldest son of the Bayezid family.
Vlad’s mistakes towards the nobility began right then.
“When I first saw it, I thought there were all these guys. “I was also worried about Josef, who worked so hard to bring you here.”
However, unlike Vlad who was frowning, Rutger, who spoke, was smiling widely as if the memory of that time was enjoyable.
Vlad laughed along with Josef without even realizing it, with a laugh that was similar to Josef’s but different from that of his in a lively manner.
“It was like that during Yongmul, and you were a fun guy anyway.”
“Thank you for thinking that way.”
The two’s voices began to loosen as the drinks passed.
As I said just now, Vlad is like a comrade in arms who has been through a lot with Rutger.
If it weren’t for Josef, the two might have had a closer relationship than they do now.
“okay. “I think so well of you, so don’t hate me too much.”
“…What does that mean?”
Vlad, who had been laughing for a while, put down the glass he was holding at Rutger’s incomprehensible words, but when he faced him, only a pitch-black shadow was cast across his face.
“It means that the time has come to do what needs to be postponed.”
Rutger begins to say something different from his usual temperament.
Vlad tried to see his expression, but the shadow created by the moonlight completely obscured his face.
“So, I hope you don’t refuse the peanuts I offer you then, Vlad Aureo.”
However, even without seeing it with his own eyes, Vlad felt like he could tell Rutger’s expression.
This is something that must be done because you are the rightful successor.
Rutger, who talks about the destruction that will soon come, is probably smiling sadly in the shadows that no one can see.
