Vlad walked close to the wall, running his hand along it.
He closed his eyes and felt the rough tremors beneath his fingertips.
Then, he sharpened his hearing as if trying to catch something.
"…"
Keen hearing.
Vlad was searching for something, utilizing that sense of hearing Jorge had acknowledged.
A sound, the noise of someone moving swiftly.
Where the other knights were.
And how they were warming up.
"There they are."
Just as Alicia Heinal had gathered three knights to defend her honor, Endre, who had accused her of infidelity, had used his connections to gather them.
A prelude to a duel of honor, using connections and influence.
And there, on the other side of the wall, out of his reach, were the men who would decide everything.
"Take this!"
Vlad leaped upward, grabbing the edge of the wall with his hands.
Three meters were seemingly an insurmountable height, but for Vlad, walls did not exist.
Carefully, and so that no one could hear him.
With that feeling he had when he stole from others.
Vlad jumped over the wall with the swiftness of a thieving cat, strolling through the garden with an indifferent expression.
If anyone looked, it seemed like he had been here all along.
Clang-Clang
"There."
Vlad followed the sound of clashing weapons.
Joseph had instructed Vlad to see the faces of the knights present here.
Although Vlad was the first to hear the request, he had no intention of disobeying Joseph's orders.
In truth, he wanted to see them.
Vlad could count on one hand the number of knights he had seen in his life.
Jorge, Knight of the Whores.
Godin, Knight of the Blue Moon.
Jager, One-Eyed.
'Sir Bordan is also a knight.'
Vlad, who in more than one sense was related to the knights, was eager to catch a glimpse of the world he admired.
It was a childhood habit to follow shiny things.
"Hmm."
Vlad decided not to get too close, not trusting to deceive the senses of the knights.
He merely used his natural sight to observe them from a distance.
It would be enough to see and sense something, as Joseph had said.
In front of him, two knights crossed swords.
Not violently, but with gestures sufficient to at least warm up their bodies.
They were busy preparing for the duel tomorrow.
"Greatsword."
The first knight Vlad saw was a huge man, wielding a greatsword almost as large as himself.
He had dark skin, though not as much as Othar, and seemed to be at least mixed-race.
Even from a distance, the momentum of the greatsword was palpable.
"Sword and shield."
And a knight against him.
The knight with dark skin, wielding his sword with all the strength he could muster, stood firm in defense, constantly stripping the greatsword and advancing.
Even to Vlad's inexperienced eye, the knight seemed to have the advantage in the shield game.
"It doesn't look easy to break through, does it?"
"…!"
Vlad jumped at the sound of someone's voice next to him.
"Who..."
"Shhh!"
Someone quickly put a hand over Vlad's mouth.
With no time to protest, Vlad was swiftly gagged and looked with wide eyes at his captor.
"Are you going to come all the way here to get caught?"
It was a man with a roguish mustache.
He had a friendly smile on his face, but Vlad was breaking out in a cold sweat.
"What speed!"
He couldn't escape the hand that had just closed his mouth.
He had been subdued in an instant.
"It seems you have a pretty good idea of what you're looking for, but let's watch in silence."
Said the mustached man with a playful glint in his eyes.
"Squire of Lord Jager."
"…Who are you?"
The man didn't answer Vlad's question, only pulled a small dried fruit from his chest and handed it to him.
"Let's eat and watch. A good show needs food."
"…"
Vlad had no choice but to accept the dried fruits the man offered.
He didn't know what else to do.
There was no way to escape from this man.
Looking at the man who had so cleverly blocked all escape routes, Vlad realized that there would be no easy way out.
At least not without his permission.
[I barely sense any malice from him, which means he has no ill intentions. Don't be alarmed.]
The voice was of a quality hard to discern, so Vlad decided to wait and see.
"Take something expensive..."
"Hmph. Money is what you make of it."
The mustached man from Kaiser handed Vlad another piece of dried fruit, satisfied that he had the audacity to speak to him despite being dominated.
"You're as strong as I've heard."
"Do you mean Sir Colin?"
Vlad hadn't seen him in person, but Joseph had told him the brief details.
"For something called a mud boar. If it catches you, your bones will break."
"I agree."
Vlad decided to punch him, since he couldn't escape anyway.
If he was going to do something about it, he might as well have done it himself.
"I think the knight he's dealing with is the strongest man."
"Ah. Pablo."
The mustached man answered, munching on dried fruit.
"A knight from Arnstein, a promising family from the center of the country, not my favorite type of knight."
"Why?"
The man smiled at Vlad, who suddenly felt more at ease.
"Because he's boring. He's defensive."
"Ah."
The Arnstein family was known for their knights forming a closed formation, creating a wall, and Pablo the Knight certainly had that trait.
"I'll give him credit for the shield game. He can stop anything in his way."
"Hmm."
Whoever this guy is, he sure has a big mouth.
Maybe he's lucky.
"And the other guy? Is there one more?"
Internally, Vlad hoped to find out about the other through him.
"…"
Before he knew it, the mustached man was gone.
[He disappeared just as he arrived.]
"Damn."
And then he vanished, like the wind, leaving no trace behind.
Sensing danger, Vlad managed to quickly step aside, though not as swiftly as the man who had disappeared without a trace.
Retracing his steps, Vlad leaped over a high wall and successfully returned to the designated area for Alicia.
"Why are there so many monsters in the world..."
Barely making it back, Vlad leaned against the wall and sighed.
It was a sigh of relief for not being caught, but also a sigh of frustration facing the enormous wall ahead once again.
"He was a knight, wasn't he?"
[Indeed, he was a knight, not a mage.]
Most likely, he was a knight because if he wasn't, it's an inexplicable skill.
"Is that what it takes to be a knight?"
[Lord Bordan is a knight.]
"No..."
Vlad, somehow drained of strength, simply rested the back of his head against the wall instead of responding to the absurdity of the voice.
"Not all knights are the same."
It wasn't disrespecting Bordan, but the boy had a clear goal.
The Moonlight Knight.
When he was a frog in a well, fresh out of Soara, it was a goal he would surely surpass, but from the moment he stepped into the light, Vlad was aware of his place.
Knowing where he stood, Vlad kicked futilely as he contemplated a goal he barely dared to pronounce.
The sweetness of the nuts still lingering in his mouth was unnecessary.
***
At noon the next day.
Although small in size, the central hall of the Heinal mansion rivaled that of any other noble house.
People gathered in masses.
Knights with swords, squires with knights, and priests.
And two Heinals.
Alicia Heinal and Endre Heinal.
Once they had been uncle and niece, but now a great and irreparable chasm lay between them.
A soft yet fierce momentum was forming among the groups, split exactly in half around the two Heinals.
A duel of honor, but with everything at stake.
It was the momentum of warriors in dueling.
"It's impressive."
"Yes."
Even Vlad, who was accustomed to witnessing Jager's power, felt a tingling nervousness he had never felt before, and his eyes became fierce against his will.
"Look at this. A duel of true knights is not something you see every day."
"Yes."
"And…"
In moments, Jager would duel on behalf of Joseph and Alicia, but there was only a glimpse of calmness in the lone eye he had left.
"I don't know what happened yesterday, but don't forget you're still a kid."
"….."
"A brat starts by walking. Not running."
The world is big, and you are small.
Vlad, who had seen, felt, and experienced the untouchable, grew impatient.
He's talented, but not yet polished.
With lofty aspirations and the road ahead, Jager's words touched a sensitive chord deep within him.
"I see."
"Nothing in this world is easy."
After saying what Vlad needed to hear right now, even if briefly, Jager adjusted his eye patch one last time and stood up.
"Go."
"Okay."
Vlad, having fulfilled all his duties as a squire, positioned himself behind Jager and waited.
"Alicia Heinal, please enter!"
The vestibule door began to open, accompanied by the voice of an elderly man who couldn't be identified as a servant or butler.
"Come to think of it, I've never seen her before."
He was with Joseph, a high noble, but Vlad was just a squire.
He hadn't even met Fether, the head of the Bayezid family he served, so it was no wonder he hadn't seen Alicia Heinal, the owner of Deirmar.
They say she's young.
Young and beautiful, and moreover a woman and baroness.
Everything about her was enough to arouse Vlad's curiosity, who was already of age.
"Everyone, get ready!"
A woman dressed in ornate robes entered the hall, escorted by Duncan, the elderly knight who would this time engage in the duel of honor with Jager.
The figures on Endre's side of the hall simply didn't bow, but those standing for her were expected to, as she was the land's lord.
Vlad was about to bow too.
"……"
Their gazes met.
With her aquamarine hair.
The woman with aquamarine hair accompanied Duncan.
Her expression, stern and cold, seemed too unfamiliar to be the same person he had seen that day.
[Now there's an additional charge for insulting a noble.]
"……"
Alicia Heinal's gaze paused for a moment as it swept over Vlad, who remained stiff, not daring to lower his head.
Those large eyes fixed on the figure of the blond boy for a moment, then passed by him, seemingly indifferent.
She headed towards the only chair in the hall.
Towards the lord's seat, where only one person could sit, at the highest point of the place.
Vlad looked perplexed.
And at Endre's fierce gaze.
Basking in the attention of everyone present, the woman with aquamarine hair took her place where she was supposed to be.
"Now that all parts of the duel have arrived, let's proceed!"
Starting with the words of the priest who had been specially invited by the center for this duel.
"The gods behold this place, and today's rising sun is proof of it!"
The doors of the hall closed.
The duel with everything at stake was about to begin.
An honorable yet brutal duel.
Vlad walked close to the wall, running his hand along it.
He closed his eyes and felt the rough tremors beneath his fingertips.
Then, he sharpened his hearing as if trying to catch something.
"…"
Keen hearing.
Vlad was searching for something, utilizing that sense of hearing Jorge had acknowledged.
A sound, the noise of someone moving swiftly.
Where the other knights were.
And how they were warming up.
"There they are."
Just as Alicia Heinal had gathered three knights to defend her honor, Endre, who had accused her of infidelity, had used his connections to gather them.
A prelude to a duel of honor, using connections and influence.
And there, on the other side of the wall, out of his reach, were the men who would decide everything.
"Take this!"
Vlad leaped upward, grabbing the edge of the wall with his hands.
Three meters were seemingly an insurmountable height, but for Vlad, walls did not exist.
Carefully, and so that no one could hear him.
With that feeling he had when he stole from others.
Vlad jumped over the wall with the swiftness of a thieving cat, strolling through the garden with an indifferent expression.
If anyone looked, it seemed like he had been here all along.
Clang-Clang
"There."
Vlad followed the sound of clashing weapons.
Joseph had instructed Vlad to see the faces of the knights present here.
Although Vlad was the first to hear the request, he had no intention of disobeying Joseph's orders.
In truth, he wanted to see them.
Vlad could count on one hand the number of knights he had seen in his life.
Jorge, Knight of the Whores.
Godin, Knight of the Blue Moon.
Jager, One-Eyed.
'Sir Bordan is also a knight.'
Vlad, who in more than one sense was related to the knights, was eager to catch a glimpse of the world he admired.
It was a childhood habit to follow shiny things.
"Hmm."
Vlad decided not to get too close, not trusting to deceive the senses of the knights.
He merely used his natural sight to observe them from a distance.
It would be enough to see and sense something, as Joseph had said.
In front of him, two knights crossed swords.
Not violently, but with gestures sufficient to at least warm up their bodies.
They were busy preparing for the duel tomorrow.
"Greatsword."
The first knight Vlad saw was a huge man, wielding a greatsword almost as large as himself.
He had dark skin, though not as much as Othar, and seemed to be at least mixed-race.
Even from a distance, the momentum of the greatsword was palpable.
"Sword and shield."
And a knight against him.
The knight with dark skin, wielding his sword with all the strength he could muster, stood firm in defense, constantly stripping the greatsword and advancing.
Even to Vlad's inexperienced eye, the knight seemed to have the advantage in the shield game.
"It doesn't look easy to break through, does it?"
"…!"
Vlad jumped at the sound of someone's voice next to him.
"Who..."
"Shhh!"
Someone quickly put a hand over Vlad's mouth.
With no time to protest, Vlad was swiftly gagged and looked with wide eyes at his captor.
"Are you going to come all the way here to get caught?"
It was a man with a roguish mustache.
He had a friendly smile on his face, but Vlad was breaking out in a cold sweat.
"What speed!"
He couldn't escape the hand that had just closed his mouth.
He had been subdued in an instant.
"It seems you have a pretty good idea of what you're looking for, but let's watch in silence."
Said the mustached man with a playful glint in his eyes.
"Squire of Lord Jager."
"…Who are you?"
The man didn't answer Vlad's question, only pulled a small dried fruit from his chest and handed it to him.
"Let's eat and watch. A good show needs food."
"…"
Vlad had no choice but to accept the dried fruits the man offered.
He didn't know what else to do.
There was no way to escape from this man.
Looking at the man who had so cleverly blocked all escape routes, Vlad realized that there would be no easy way out.
At least not without his permission.
[I barely sense any malice from him, which means he has no ill intentions. Don't be alarmed.]
The voice was of a quality hard to discern, so Vlad decided to wait and see.
"Take something expensive..."
"Hmph. Money is what you make of it."
The mustached man from Kaiser handed Vlad another piece of dried fruit, satisfied that he had the audacity to speak to him despite being dominated.
"You're as strong as I've heard."
"Do you mean Sir Colin?"
Vlad hadn't seen him in person, but Joseph had told him the brief details.
"For something called a mud boar. If it catches you, your bones will break."
"I agree."
Vlad decided to punch him, since he couldn't escape anyway.
If he was going to do something about it, he might as well have done it himself.
"I think the knight he's dealing with is the strongest man."
"Ah. Pablo."
The mustached man answered, munching on dried fruit.
"A knight from Arnstein, a promising family from the center of the country, not my favorite type of knight."
"Why?"
The man smiled at Vlad, who suddenly felt more at ease.
"Because he's boring. He's defensive."
"Ah."
The Arnstein family was known for their knights forming a closed formation, creating a wall, and Pablo the Knight certainly had that trait.
"I'll give him credit for the shield game. He can stop anything in his way."
"Hmm."
Whoever this guy is, he sure has a big mouth.
Maybe he's lucky.
"And the other guy? Is there one more?"
Internally, Vlad hoped to find out about the other through him.
"…"
Before he knew it, the mustached man was gone.
[He disappeared just as he arrived.]
"Damn."
And then he vanished, like the wind, leaving no trace behind.
Sensing danger, Vlad managed to quickly step aside, though not as swiftly as the man who had disappeared without a trace.
Retracing his steps, Vlad leaped over a high wall and successfully returned to the designated area for Alicia.
"Why are there so many monsters in the world..."
Barely making it back, Vlad leaned against the wall and sighed.
It was a sigh of relief for not being caught, but also a sigh of frustration facing the enormous wall ahead once again.
"He was a knight, wasn't he?"
[Indeed, he was a knight, not a mage.]
Most likely, he was a knight because if he wasn't, it's an inexplicable skill.
"Is that what it takes to be a knight?"
[Lord Bordan is a knight.]
"No..."
Vlad, somehow drained of strength, simply rested the back of his head against the wall instead of responding to the absurdity of the voice.
"Not all knights are the same."
It wasn't disrespecting Bordan, but the boy had a clear goal.
The Moonlight Knight.
When he was a frog in a well, fresh out of Soara, it was a goal he would surely surpass, but from the moment he stepped into the light, Vlad was aware of his place.
Knowing where he stood, Vlad kicked futilely as he contemplated a goal he barely dared to pronounce.
The sweetness of the nuts still lingering in his mouth was unnecessary.
***
At noon the next day.
Although small in size, the central hall of the Heinal mansion rivaled that of any other noble house.
People gathered in masses.
Knights with swords, squires with knights, and priests.
And two Heinals.
Alicia Heinal and Endre Heinal.
Once they had been uncle and niece, but now a great and irreparable chasm lay between them.
A soft yet fierce momentum was forming among the groups, split exactly in half around the two Heinals.
A duel of honor, but with everything at stake.
It was the momentum of warriors in dueling.
"It's impressive."
"Yes."
Even Vlad, who was accustomed to witnessing Jager's power, felt a tingling nervousness he had never felt before, and his eyes became fierce against his will.
"Look at this. A duel of true knights is not something you see every day."
"Yes."
"And…"
In moments, Jager would duel on behalf of Joseph and Alicia, but there was only a glimpse of calmness in the lone eye he had left.
"I don't know what happened yesterday, but don't forget you're still a kid."
"….."
"A brat starts by walking. Not running."
The world is big, and you are small.
Vlad, who had seen, felt, and experienced the untouchable, grew impatient.
He's talented, but not yet polished.
With lofty aspirations and the road ahead, Jager's words touched a sensitive chord deep within him.
"I see."
"Nothing in this world is easy."
After saying what Vlad needed to hear right now, even if briefly, Jager adjusted his eye patch one last time and stood up.
"Go."
"Okay."
Vlad, having fulfilled all his duties as a squire, positioned himself behind Jager and waited.
"Alicia Heinal, please enter!"
The vestibule door began to open, accompanied by the voice of an elderly man who couldn't be identified as a servant or butler.
"Come to think of it, I've never seen her before."
He was with Joseph, a high noble, but Vlad was just a squire.
He hadn't even met Fether, the head of the Bayezid family he served, so it was no wonder he hadn't seen Alicia Heinal, the owner of Deirmar.
They say she's young.
Young and beautiful, and moreover a woman and baroness.
Everything about her was enough to arouse Vlad's curiosity, who was already of age.
"Everyone, get ready!"
A woman dressed in ornate robes entered the hall, escorted by Duncan, the elderly knight who would this time engage in the duel of honor with Jager.
The figures on Endre's side of the hall simply didn't bow, but those standing for her were expected to, as she was the land's lord.
Vlad was about to bow too.
"……"
Their gazes met.
With her aquamarine hair.
The woman with aquamarine hair accompanied Duncan.
Her expression, stern and cold, seemed too unfamiliar to be the same person he had seen that day.
[Now there's an additional charge for insulting a noble.]
"……"
Alicia Heinal's gaze paused for a moment as it swept over Vlad, who remained stiff, not daring to lower his head.
Those large eyes fixed on the figure of the blond boy for a moment, then passed by him, seemingly indifferent.
She headed towards the only chair in the hall.
Towards the lord's seat, where only one person could sit, at the highest point of the place.
Vlad looked perplexed.
And at Endre's fierce gaze.
Basking in the attention of everyone present, the woman with aquamarine hair took her place where she was supposed to be.
"Now that all parts of the duel have arrived, let's proceed!"
Starting with the words of the priest who had been specially invited by the center for this duel.
"The gods behold this place, and today's rising sun is proof of it!"
The doors of the hall closed.
The duel with everything at stake was about to begin.
An honorable yet brutal duel.
