Side Story – The Beginning of Summer
The spring of that year was a very harsh time.
The air I felt was warm, but the ground I stepped on was soggy with blood, and it was the season when farmers who had to plow the fields had to pick up spears instead of plows.
A period of trouble created by the oldest dragon.
However, even though the earth was stained with blood, nature still sprouted and now the year has passed, ushering in a new summer.
“…This place hasn’t changed.”
The western city of Trinova.
There was a person walking through the mansion with a sonorous voice.
The girl walking towards us wearing a large cape that looked as if she had gotten it somewhere had green hair that resembled the color of summer.
“Has it been three years?”
The girl’s height, which had grown significantly compared to before she left, raised her gaze.
However, unlike the girl, the scenery of the mansion was still the same as it was then, making Charles return to the child he was back then, if only for a moment.
“…….”
In the garden you can see over there, my mother was taking care of the flowers.
Right around the corner in front of me was the training ground where my brothers trained.
And if you walk along this road that I am currently walking on, there is the hall of Ravnoma where my father was.
“Put it away.”
“yes.”
A place where it seemed like my father, the owner of this land, would always sit.
However, what now adorned the entrance to the hall was Gaidar’s faded emblem. The door to the
mansion
was opening behind the flag that the soldiers hastily removed.
The place was completely dark, in contrast to the bright summer, and was filled with rolling dust and the foul smell of death.
“…Are you here now? bantling.”
A strange man sitting where my father was sitting.
The corners of his mouth, which even the midday sun could not bear to shine on, were filled with dark red blood flowing ceaselessly.
“Sigmund Gaidar.”
His father’s enemy and his family’s enemy.
And Sigmund Gaidar, who would become the final loser of the continental war waged by the oldest dragon.
When Charles looked at him like that, there was a coolness in his eyes that was not appropriate for his young age.
“Is my son dead?”
“Not yet.”
“Hehe. “That guy doesn’t really listen to me either.”
A long sigh began to flow along with his back being deeply stretched.
A deep and heavy sigh that comes from the end of life.
Perhaps it was the last trace of life that Sigmund could spit out.
“I told you to commit suicide because you thought you couldn’t die well.”
“Istvan’s safety has already been secured by Nidavellir. “Sigmund.”
Charles Ravnoma walking up the long carpet and up the stairs of the hall that only the monarch can climb.
Before she knew it, a sword with a black edge was in her hand.
“So now the only one left is you.”
To Gaidar, the girl who became the last Ravnoma may have been the last.
The tip of the sword stretched out like that suddenly stopped at the nape of Sigmund’s neck, sharply connecting their worlds.
“A cowardly usurper who deceived his father.”
“Cluck, cluck, cluck!”
“…And a coward who will not pay the fair price until the end.”
A western usurper who stained the girl’s mansion with blood through a false surprise attack.
And Charles’s brow was furrowed as he looked at Sigmund, who was drinking poison as if he was refusing even the defeat he had to accept.
“Any last words?”
“……”
But even so, Charles was trying to fulfill his duty as a winner.
The coolly shining tip of the sword was shaking as if it wanted to stab Sigmund right now, but the reason I tried to do my duty anyway was because I wanted to prove that you and I were different.
“…Hehe.”
He swallowed poison in order not to die in servitude, but in the end, he was made out of the consideration of the winner at the last moment.
In that moment, Sigmund was thinking of a man.
The knight of that day who hid the frightened dwarves behind his gigantic appearance.
“……Jorge.”
I was confident that I would win, but in the end I became a loser and lost everything I held on to.
Where did all this start?
Since when my soldiers failed to cross Deermar? Or from when they burned the flag of Ravnoma?
“In the end, you stabbed me.”
No, it probably started when I met a guy named Vlad.
From the moment I met the northern knight born in the cold back alleys.
“…With the sword you raised.”
A blue blade began to rush towards Sigmund’s head as he spat out his final words full of regret.
The name of the sword rushing towards me now is Charles Ravnoma.
The name of the knight who brought that sword here is Vlad Aureo.
And the one who raised the sword was Jorge, a knight of the courtesans who chose benevolence over duty.
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Suddenly!
From sword to sword, from world to world.
The tip of the girl’s sword was putting an end to a very painful war.
With Sigmund’s head tumbling down the stairs.
Spring after winter.
And now it was the beginning of a new summer.
※※※※
“Mr. “There is no end to this no matter how many times I pull it out.”
A landscape of a small rural village full of large green wheat fields and rows of cabins behind them.
It was a peaceful place filled with only the sound of cows meowing from afar, but it was also filled with the babbling sounds of someone who did not fit in at the moment.
“Is this ever going to end?”
The summer wheat fields that had not yet ripened were all green.
However, the blond hair sticking out from above had the color of ripe wheat.
“Hey. “If I had used my hands instead of talking, it would have ended a long time ago.”
“Why is it already over? “There’s still so much left.”
A man wearing no armor, but with a sword sheath wrapped around his back as if he could not give up his sword.
Other than that, Vlad, who was dressed like an ordinary farmer, raised his head and began to look around the wide wheat field.
“No, at this level we need to use someone.”
“If you use people, it costs money.”
“You made a lot of money. “I know that I received a big share this time too.”
Next to Vlad, who continued to complain, was Ramund, wearing a straw hat pulled down deeply.
He had a very fitting appearance, as if he had been a farmer since birth, but until last year, he was a ruthless man who was constantly cutting down enemies on the front lines of Deremar.
“If you blindly spend what you have earned, you cannot avoid becoming a beggar. Anyway, young people these days don’t know the virtue of frugality.”
Seeing Ramund tsk and click his tongue with those words, Vlad began to frown as if he was fed up.
“You have to save what you save. “And then your old body just starts to wither away.”
“It’s so noisy! Anyway, I keep my mouth shut for fear that someone might call me a city guy.”
Ramund yells as if he can’t take it anymore.
However, as if what Vlad had said was right, the sun was slowly setting behind him.
“Even though I was born in the city, I know that the days in the countryside are short, right?”
Ramund’s manor is dyed in the red light of sunset as the sun slowly sets.
Vlad, standing below him, was smiling heartily as he watched the surroundings becoming increasingly dark.
“So, let’s stop pulling weeds and go eat dinner.”
“……but. “It was my mistake to ask a guy like you to help with farming.”
It was probably only natural that a city guy who had never farmed was asked to do this.
In the end, the day ended with me not being able to complete the set routine and only accepting Vlad’s grumbling words.
“let’s go. “Even though I couldn’t pay for the bread, I’ll give you at least some soup.”
“Hehe. “The food here is so delicious.”
Nevertheless, Ramund did not particularly regret letting Vlad hold the plow.
Because Vlad’s expression looked a little relaxed as he put down his sword for a moment.
※※※※
“How old are you?”
“4 years old.”
“…But why are there five fingers?”
Under a table full of food, a young girl was spreading her palms wide as if she were proud.
“Are you going to turn five in a little while?”
“no. “It’s been less than a month since I turned 4.”
Even though he gave the wrong answer, he has chubby cheeks that make anyone want to pinch him.
Ramund picked up his youngest granddaughter, placed her on his lap, and spoke.
“It’s just that I’m still young and can’t fold my fingers as I want.”
“aha.”
Her clenched fists looked as chubby as her cheeks.
This probably means that he ate well and grew up well.
A small smile appeared on Vlad’s face as he looked at the child.
“Anyway, I’m glad the war ended quickly. “Unlike last year, it would be nice to look forward to a good harvest this year.”
Before we knew it, the table was filled with white bread brought by Ramund’s daughters-in-law.
It was freshly baked white bread that I was able to taste for the first time after meeting Priest Andrea.
“Iknow, right. “I didn’t expect the Golden Ball to surrender so quickly.”
“It was said that he was a person who prioritized profit and loss, like a businessman, rather than duty or honor. “I think they quickly calculated that it would be difficult to win.”
The continental war that started with the call of Sarnus, the Dragon Blood Duke, was now in its second year and was nearing its end.
At the beginning of the war, the central army had a strong momentum that seemed as if it would devour the north, but now it was fading away like a fire that had gone out.
“Of course, the impact of losing focus in the early stages of the war would have been significant. “Because of you.”
“…Well, there must be a reason for that.”
Different races began to rise up in various places along with the strong resistance in the north.
And although it is said that the forces of the courtiers, who had been oppressed by the central nobles, joined together to resist, the biggest variable would have been the duel between Vlad and Sarnus.
“But that’s not what’s important anymore.”
A war that might have stained everyone on the continent with blood.
The reason the war was able to end with minimal sacrifice was because of the man sitting in front of him, but now he was just handing shredded bread to a young girl with a face covered in dirt.
“Anyway, starting this year, there won’t be many children going hungry. Yes?”
“……yes.”
A hero of the continent praised by everyone.
A new sword master of this era who appeared after the founding of the country.
But now he is just an ordinary-looking young man handing bread to a young girl.
“Anyway, when do you plan on going to Rutger’s succession ceremony? “If it were you, I would have wanted you to be there in advance.”
“I have to go.”
Vlad, who was puffing on bread as if it was his turn now, said with a grin at Ramund.
“Because there are already a lot of people to go and see.”
“What are you going to do? Shall we go together?”
Ramund’s manor was located right next to the city of Varna.
Therefore, he was in a position to go straight up to the Sturm where the succession ceremony would be held, but in reality, Vlad just shook his head.
“I have to stop by Shoara first before I go there.”
“why? “Is there any need to go down?”
Shoara is the southernmost city among the cities of Bayezid County.
Ramund was puzzled by Vlad’s words that he should go down there again, but he could not help but nod at what he eventually heard.
“Whenever I go somewhere, I have to say I’m going. “Now I have promised to do so.”
“Tsk tsk tsk. “I live very tightly.”
From a sharp boy to a young man who can now laugh.
That may have been possible because he had a nest he created himself, rather than a small nest he had to leave.
“But make sure you don’t arrive too late. If you are worthy of your name, you should arrive a month in advance so it will be easier to prepare.”
“all right.”
Vlad nodded at Ramund’s words, raised his head for a moment, and began to take in the current scene.
Soft bread, steaming warm soup, and even a child smiling at me.
“…….”
Peaceful scenes that I would never have dared dream of before.
However, as his eyes filled with those scenes, Vlad had an inexplicable feeling of loneliness lingering in a corner of his heart.
