Now is the time to go back (1)
“Does this look like the Hainal family crest?”
A green-haired woman was squinting under the orange-tinged sunlight.
The small glasses on the bridge of her nose were moving up along the frowning woman’s face.
Oksana looked closely at the book the maid was holding up, then turned her head again and touched the needle to the cloth.
“This is my first time making something like this. Actually, when I was young, I only saw my mother making it.”
“Isn’t it that valuable?”
“yes.”
Unlike the bridge of her nose that was frowning to concentrate, the corners of Oksana’s mouth were turned up.
It is one of the precious traditions that is now being forgotten in people’s memories.
It was now coming out into the world again from the fingertips of a noble woman.
“Is this enough?”
A white tree slowly taking shape at Oksana’s fingertips.
A white tree planted on a low hill was engraved on black fabric in the form of luxurious embroidery.
“Then, would you mind if I engrave the next sentence?”
“here······.”
“That’s enough. “It’s definitely stuck in my head.”
Oksana stopped the maid from opening the book containing the family coats of arms and threaded a new thread onto the needle.
Oksana is probably right.
Because the embroidery she was currently engraving was a family crest that she could not have known.
The tip of the needle was being swung around in a frown again.
A solid castle wall being built with Oksana’s fingertips on a newly brought out cloth.
And a sword floating above it.
It was Bayezid’s emblem.
Oksana’s living room is so quiet that not even the sound of breathing can be heard, so everything seems to be at a standstill.
In a space where only the small dust visible through the sunlight showed the passage of time, there was a single flag standing upright in the center of the drawing room.
A flag with nothing engraved on it and only a white background.
The white background of the flag reflected the same color as the world in which the boy was rooted.
An unadorned sword given by an old man and a girl.
An identity card certified by a priest.
A handkerchief given by a noble lady with her name engraved on it.
And even a white flag with the family emblem engraved on it.
These were all things that would establish the boy’s roots.
These were all things that the boy had achieved.
※※※※
A night on the meadow after the sun has set.
No matter how close the weather was to summer, it was still inevitably cold at night in the open plains.
Therefore, the knights built a wall with carriages and carts and prepared to camp inside it.
When the busy time of preparing for camping ended and a short break came, the knights gathered together as knights and priests as priests and began to have some time for themselves.
“······.”
It was nice to see them all, but the boy could not feel a sense of kinship anywhere, so he quietly settled down in a place where no one was around and lit a small bonfire.
Grumbling-
While listening to the sounds of priests praying from all over, Vlad took out his unadorned sword.
The surface of the sword reflected in the bonfire was stained red.
Although the light reflecting from the campfire was scattered here and there due to the wounds.
‘You’ve worked hard too.’
Vlad, who was looking at the red color that reminded him of someone he missed, took out a whetstone and placed it on an unadorned sword.
Swoosh-swoosh-
The sight of the boy carefully tending the unadorned sword resembled the sight of the priests praying in front of him.
Perhaps the boy was praying with an unadorned sword.
For those who still remain where the boy and the sword left.
The sound of a sword sharpening on a whetstone mingled with the crackling of a bonfire.
The boy’s expression was slowly relaxing as he felt the warmth of the bonfire and the peace he felt alone for the first time in a long time.
“Why are you shaking alone?”
“······Rutger.”
A young man with black hair approached Vlad while holding a bottle of alcohol.
Rutger sat down in front of the small bonfire that Vlad had made.
“Why are you alone?”
“Everyone is busy.”
Just as much as the heat from the bonfire coming from in front of me, I felt the warmth from Rutger talking to me next to me.
“What about the fat guy?”
“Dorothea took her. “They make me work.”
“What about Priest Andrea?”
“Pray.”
Rutger shrugged his shoulders at the boy’s answer and held out the bottle of alcohol he was holding.
“Would you like to take a sip?”
“I’m currently polishing my sword.”
“You’re refusing again.”
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“······.”
I didn’t want to be disturbed because I was creating a good atmosphere, but I didn’t know what would come flying into Josef’s office if I refused again this time.
“It’s whiskey.”
“It’s a nobleman’s drink.”
Feeling the scent of wood passing down his throat, Vlad looked at Rutger with a slightly strange expression.
The scent of alcohol on the tip of the boy’s tongue was similar to the alcohol that Joseph had given him back then.
No matter how much they were fighting over the same thing, it seemed like they couldn’t do anything about their tastes that came from the same blood.
“I guess I’ll have to take a look at that sword when I get back.”
“······Yes, that’s right.”
At Rutger’s words, Vlad once again held the unadorned sword in the light of the campfire.
A sword made in a back alley by an inexperienced blacksmith.
The sword that someone had struck with everything they had accumulated over a lifetime was still protecting its owner with a steadfast appearance, even though it had cut down numerous enemies so far.
“But they said I couldn’t do it.”
“huh?”
Vlad responded indifferently to Rutger’s words, picked up the whetstone again, and silently began sharpening the edge of the unadorned sword.
“The connection between the handle and the sword body was made too arbitrarily. So, they said that unless you go to the person who made it, you will have to break the handle to repair the blade.”
“It is a sword that is as unruly as its owner.”
Rutger looked at the rough-looking sword and raised the bottle.
The blacksmith of the Bayezid family said good things, but in the end, he made such a mess that everything except the sword body had to be destroyed.
But perhaps that was the old blacksmith’s best.
“So I have to go to the person who made this and ask them to fix it.”
“Where is he?”
Vlad raised the sword vertically to check the sharp blade.
The red afterimage reflecting from the blade was illuminating the boy’s eyes.
It was as if the unforgettable red hair came to mind.
“Shoah.”
“Well, you always go around shouting that you are Vlad of Shoara.”
Rutger said that was a very fitting title and took a sip of whiskey, but the boy just stared at the unadorned sword.
A skilled blacksmith offered to take care of the work, but the boy refused.
Because I didn’t want to lose anything contained in this sword.
Each piece engraved on this sword was like the history the boy had built up.
“······.”
Rutger saw the boy looking at the sword.
The blue eyes of the boy, who was looking at the sword with many emotions, were twinkling little by little.
That’s why it was like that.
This is why my younger brother was so busy running around.
Rutger nodded as if he finally understood and took a sip of the bottle.
“······Wouldn’t it be possible to fix it soon?”
“yes?”
The boy asked a question, but Rutger did not answer and simply stood up.
“If you wish for something earnestly, someone will know.”
“······?”
“It means that you have lived well so far.”
Vlad looked puzzled as he watched Rutger say something incomprehensible, but all that came out of his mouth was the spicy scent of whiskey.
“I guess I should get ready for work tomorrow.”
Vlad was looking at Rutger’s back as he tapped his shoulder and turned away.
“······.”
Left alone again after Rutger left, in front of the campfire, Vlad began putting the finishing touches on an old cloth by oiling it.
I felt sorry for the sword’s wounds that could not be repaired with just a whetstone and oil, but they could be repaired someday.
Because the unadorned sword and the boy had a place to return to.
A night in the meadow when the boy quietly decided.
From the hill above, a horse as black as the night sky was looking at the boy sitting at the campfire.
Even though it was a small light, Mal really liked the colors the boy created.
※※※※
The next morning.
Carriages running on green meadows.
And a herd of wild horses running side by side next to a procession of carriages.
It must be a rare sight to see a group of humans and nature running together on the grassland.
The priests riding in the carriage and the knights escorting the carriage knew this very well.
Everyone was looking at a herd of wild horses running together to catch their first, and possibly last, sight.
“······.”
The blond boy also rested his arm on the carriage window frame and quietly looked at the scenery outside.
Vlad was furrowing his lips here and there for no reason as a strange feeling rose up from within his chest.
Vlad knew.
That it’s time to break up.
Just as he had a job to do, the pitch-black guy had a duty to lead the group.
Hehehehe-
The jet-black guy who was running ahead of the group was slowly coming to a stop, glaring.
When the leader who was running in front stopped, the herd of wild horses naturally came to a halt.
That’s it.
A place where we can be together.
Vlad’s head naturally turned to the side in order to take a long look at the pitch black guy moving further and further away.
Wild horses come up to the top of the hill as if to welcome them and watch the group running below.
The boy’s blue eyes were filled with his eyes, which were blacker than the night sky.
“······bye.”
The boy, who was not used to talking about breakups, awkwardly raised his hand and waved it.
It was a small wave of farewell as if someone was embarrassed to see it, but the pitch-black guy could see it.
Heeeeeee-
A moonless night when we see the procession off with our paws raised.
Vlad put his head into the carriage with a strange expression as he seemed to be lifting his front paw in time with the shaking hand.
A pitch-black guy with whom I had a deep connection, even if it was only for a short moment.
The depth of the relationship was not determined solely by the time spent together.
“Don’t be too sad about the breakup.”
The priest sitting in front of the boy nodded as if he understood everything.
“······It’s just words.”
“haha. “It’s very difficult for people to be honest.”
Andrea smiled and opened the Bible he was holding.
“Our lives are a series of separations and encounters, and the seeds shed through tears of separation will one day return as the joy of encounters.”
“······.”
The boy did not understand exactly what the Bible verses the priest was reciting meant, but he at least sensed that they were words meant to comfort him.
“From what I can see, it was a really wonderful relationship, so I’m sure we’ll meet again someday.”
“If it’s too late, you have to find something else to say.”
“That must also be fate.”
Vlad turned his head again and looked out the window.
As he gazed at the wonderful scenery, the boy was recalling memories of yesterday.
The feeling I had when I ran through the green meadows with the death worm hanging from my back.
Because I had the most relaxing and intensely colorful experience I have ever had in my life.
Vacation is over.
Now is the time to go back.
