Vlad of Soara
"…."
A white snake entwined on a tree, alone on a deserted hill.
Invisible in the child's world, it listened silently with closed eyes.
Drip-.
The white snake, shining with radiant light, slowly stretched while listening to the sounds coming from the mansion.
Drip-
Although it was clearly an unfamiliar sound, in that sound were the traces of someone he had imagined for a long time.
Then the snake lifted its head, pleased by the sound.
As high as the sky.
"…!"
Then, it opened its mouth wide and emitted a sound that no one would hear.
That lonely sound, though it started from the ground, was only heard by the sky.
Shoot!
It was raining.
They were responses to the snake's voice.
Satisfied, feeling the raindrops, as the landscape stretched similarly to when it perched on a tree in the past.
The small clouds summoned by the snake gathered, covering today's sun.
The rain, descending from the clouds surrounding the sun, was a warm spring rain.
It was rain just for the child.
***
Everyone was silent.
Tung-
They didn't even exhale a sigh, merely contemplating the spectacle before them.
"Huh!"
Crimson drops of blood sprayed out.
They dripped from the tight grip of the boy.
A plain sword, held tightly as if it would never let go.
A crimson glow flowed through it.
The boy's will manifested through it.
"What the hell..."
Everyone was dumbfounded by what they were witnessing.
The blond boy's movement cutting the knight's sword over the squire.
Boom-boom-boom.
And, perhaps an illusion, but there was the sound of a sword crying.
[…]
This wasn't the sound of a voice in the boy's soul.
The sound came from the unadorned sword the boy wielded, manifested with the dreams of an old man and the tears of a child but resonating through the determination of the boy.
The boy's sword was crying.
"I didn't teach you that!"
Jager, observing the scene, unconsciously touched the bandage, showing his surprise.
Vlad was nervous. While he longed to progress, he couldn't help but see the footprints of the strong blocking his path.
The boy wanted to run fast because he longed to see the end, even though he couldn't advance yet.
He shouldn't have. A strong leap was only possible from solid ground.
So, he showed this spectacle as a temporary measure to calm Vlad's impatience.
"I taught you the basics, and you're already doing this!"
Before I knew it, I was stealing and using what was his.
I was learning and using things I hadn't been taught.
This shouldn't have happened.
This shouldn't have happened.
A bewildered teacher, an amazed crowd, a worried woman.
“……”
Even Joseph, who chose a certain defeat for the sake of the expected outcome.
In the valid silence of each reason, within the hall, only the sound of swords clashing could be heard.
Clang-!
The boy's sword, thin as a thread, though losing its sharpness, was full of firm determination.
I will advance.
Towards those bright things I was not allowed.
"…."
Pablo remained silent as he watched the boy take one step after another towards him.
It could have ended at any moment, but it didn't.
The wobbling the boy showed now was still mixed with intention.
Clang-Clang-Clang.
And the sword was crying.
Pablo watched the boy's sword, listening to its cries, clearer because it was closer.
"It can't be."
He couldn't be sure, but it was a premonition.
He didn't expect it to awaken in this place, but sometimes young seeds take root where they shouldn't.
And if what you think is correct.
"Come at me!"
Pablo must fulfill his duty as a knight.
Because he had sworn to do so.
Determined, Pablo swung his sword against Vlad with all his might.
It wasn't a blow intended to subdue the boy.
It was to face him.
The boy's world had just bloomed.
From the moment he heard the sword's cry, the idea of a duel had long vanished from Pablo's mind.
What he was about to do was a knight's duty, and an honor.
"Stop!"
The boy's sword screamed with each downward blow the knight gave.
Sparks dripped from it with each counterattack the boy made.
"What is that?"
"Is the sword glowing?"
As the crowd watched in awe, a faint glow emanated from the boy's sword.
A shining sword.
Knowing what it meant, the knights began to rise slowly from their seats.
Vlad's teacher, Jager.
Duncan, the old bloodied knight.
Colin, who had just tasted defeat.
"I guess he's not the typical..."
And even Jubert, who started all this mess.
Everyone, friends and foes alike.
Because they were all knights.
Valuable.
The dragging of chairs as the knights pushed them mixed with the clash of sword against sword.
The boy's sword was glowing.
It was about to acquire its own color.
All young and tender things in this world deserve to bloom.
Possibility is something beautiful, and those who can express it in their own world are precious.
That's why you must protect the moment.
Because that's what it means to be a knight.
"Shield! Give me my shield!"
Pablo shouted urgently, finally seeing the light emanating from the boy.
Heeding Pablo's urgent cry, his squire grabbed the shield and tossed it into the dueling arena.
"Come at me!"
Pablo de Arnstein.
Clang!
His sword and shield collided with a loud noise.
A vibrant yellow glow began to envelop his body, starting from his closed left eye.
"I am Pablo de Arnstein!"
Pablo's cry echoed in the hall.
For everyone present to hear.
He looked at the boy and told him he didn't deserve it.
This battlefield is not honorable, and this is not a duel.
That's why he didn't want to give his name.
"Tell me your name, lad!"
But now, with his shield raised, he shouted his name loudly.
Towards a boy who was as worthy as him but had become honorable enough.
"I am..."
In his fading mind, Vlad walked through a fading memory.
Through dark alleys, beyond a forge with a shining star in front.
Through his own home, now shattered, to a place once filled with shining things.
A path, a difference.
Along it, light and darkness separated.
Separate opportunity from chance.
Where you are born, you choose your life.
I walked that path.
A child entered a place he had never been before.
Towards the bright place.
A boy born where he didn't deserve to be but walks toward where it shines.
He has proven his worth.
So he shouts.
"I am Vlad of Soara!"
With a small cry from the boy, the sword began to wrap in light.
While the sword-bearing worlds watched, a new flower bloomed.
"...!"
Rain fell from the sky for the boy.
Although the young seed was rooted in poisonous and filthy mud, it never stopped looking up, never stopped reaching for the stars.
That's why it can grow towards the light here and now.
"Come! Vlad of Soara!"
An intense glow began to fill the hall, created by the collision of the newly blossomed world with the solid world.
With that light, a single flower finally bloomed.
The roots of the flower that the boy had created were an intense white.
The stem of the flower he had created was a flexible green.
And the color of the petals of the boy's flower is.
"Haaaaah!"
The blue of the waning moon.
The blue moonlight filtered through the aura Pablo had created.
The boy who borrowed honor made the moon rise today.
Vlad of Soara.
A new world blossomed today.
***
"Thank you."
Pablo said, embracing the boy with his arms.
Toward the boy whose eyes, although white, had not released his sword in the end.
Red blood ran down the tip of the boy's sword as he clung to it to save his life.
A tribute to the boy who had just awakened to the world, those who knew.
Those who did not know had just begun to talk about the suddenly shining sword of the boy.
"That's... Aura!"
Endre shouted, his eyes fixed on the boy in front of him, jumping to the center of the hall.
"Using Aura in a duel is not allowed! Vlad of Soara is disqualified!"
Profit-driven men see a beautiful flower before them and think about the fruit it will bear when it has withered.
Endre's appearance suited someone worthy of the law.
At Endre's shout, a few people who were finally realizing nodded.
"Aura, it's aura."
"Was a squire able to use aura?"
"A squire of Bayezid, yes. Now that I think about it, the color of the armor he wears is..."
By the time they realized the identity of the glow coming from the boy's sword, there was a small murmur of voices discussing what they had just seen.
"...."
A man descended quietly.
Although he did not say a word, everyone present paid attention to him.
He had a strong presence, and he deserved it.
Joseph of House Bayezid.
A man of noble blood stood before the knight who brought his squire.
"Thank you."
He bowed deeply in gratitude.
"I appreciate you fulfilling your duty as a knight for my squire."
"It was only my duty."
Handing Vlad over to Jager, who followed him, Pablo bowed in unison with Joseph.
"Priest."
After thanking Pablo for doing his best to break Vlad's shell, Joseph turned his head and spoke quietly to the priest.
"Was it Aura?"
"It was, yes."
At the priest's answer, Joseph nodded stiffly.
Disqualified, then.
Since the rules of this duel prohibited the use of Aura or avoiding killing.
But...
"Then let me ask you one more thing."
Joseph asked, looking with cold eyes at the drooling usurper sitting in front of him.
"What is the higher concept, the rules of the Sacred Duel or the discipline of the Swordmaster?"
"...Oh, yes."
The priest sighed, touching his forehead as if he knew what was coming from Joseph's question.
Swordmaster.
An honorable title that only one can hold, recognized for centuries.
And with that honorable title came a discipline that only one man in the history of mankind has carried.
It was a code that all knights must follow.
"It is not for me to decide... here and now."
The priest presiding over the duel raised his hands in surrender.
"The discipline of a Swordmaster is an honor and a duty, and it also implies royalty. It is an area that I, as a follower of the Divine Will, dare not decide."
"...Is that so?"
Joseph smiled at the priest's answer.
So it was.
"Endre Heinal."
Endre, who had a subtle look as if things were about to get weird, responded to Joseph's call.
"What's going on?"
Joseph thought as he looked at Endre, who looked at him with a perplexed expression.
I asked you to give me time, and you created an opportunity.
I asked you to choose the lesser of two evils, and you brought me the second best.
So I will take advantage of this opportunity you have given me.
"The duel is suspended."
Before Joseph's answer, cracks began to form on Endre's face like dry mud.
Suspended.
A word that was not disqualification, nor defeat, much less abstention.
Joseph was now saying that he would postpone the outcome of the duel.
"Well, what the hell."
"Discipline and rules."
Said the man with dark eyes with a smile as dark as the shadows.
"No one here can say what takes precedence, and I believe I must report what happened to the capital, where the Holy See and the royal family reside."
Pablo raised his shield of his own will to fulfill his duty as a knight.
From the moment he raised his shield, what was happening here was not an honorable duel.
The discipline of the Swordmaster.
Pablo vowed to follow that discipline to become a knight, and today he helped awaken a new world as someone had intended long ago.
Honor or duty.
No one here can answer that.
The nobles who can answer that question are not here but in the imperial capital of Brigantes.
"Until a clear decision is made there, I propose that the result of today be suspended."
Endre stood with his mouth open, incredulous.
I don't care what words come out of that mouth from now on.
Because Joseph had no intention of listening to anything that came out of his mouth.
Because this was an opportunity that no one was paying attention to, and he had not foreseen.
***
All that is young and tender in this world deserves to bloom.
Possibility is a beautiful thing, and those who can express it in their own world are precious.
All those who bear the swords of honor.
Swear in my name.
That you will fulfill your duty.
As Swordmaster, and the founding king...
... I, 'Frausen,' declare this as my first code.
Vlad of Soara
"…."
A white snake entwined on a tree, alone on a deserted hill.
Invisible in the child's world, it listened silently with closed eyes.
Drip-.
The white snake, shining with radiant light, slowly stretched while listening to the sounds coming from the mansion.
Drip-
Although it was clearly an unfamiliar sound, in that sound were the traces of someone he had imagined for a long time.
Then the snake lifted its head, pleased by the sound.
As high as the sky.
"…!"
Then, it opened its mouth wide and emitted a sound that no one would hear.
That lonely sound, though it started from the ground, was only heard by the sky.
Shoot!
It was raining.
They were responses to the snake's voice.
Satisfied, feeling the raindrops, as the landscape stretched similarly to when it perched on a tree in the past.
The small clouds summoned by the snake gathered, covering today's sun.
The rain, descending from the clouds surrounding the sun, was a warm spring rain.
It was rain just for the child.
***
Everyone was silent.
Tung-
They didn't even exhale a sigh, merely contemplating the spectacle before them.
"Huh!"
Crimson drops of blood sprayed out.
They dripped from the tight grip of the boy.
A plain sword, held tightly as if it would never let go.
A crimson glow flowed through it.
The boy's will manifested through it.
"What the hell..."
Everyone was dumbfounded by what they were witnessing.
The blond boy's movement cutting the knight's sword over the squire.
Boom-boom-boom.
And, perhaps an illusion, but there was the sound of a sword crying.
[…]
This wasn't the sound of a voice in the boy's soul.
The sound came from the unadorned sword the boy wielded, manifested with the dreams of an old man and the tears of a child but resonating through the determination of the boy.
The boy's sword was crying.
"I didn't teach you that!"
Jager, observing the scene, unconsciously touched the bandage, showing his surprise.
Vlad was nervous. While he longed to progress, he couldn't help but see the footprints of the strong blocking his path.
The boy wanted to run fast because he longed to see the end, even though he couldn't advance yet.
He shouldn't have. A strong leap was only possible from solid ground.
So, he showed this spectacle as a temporary measure to calm Vlad's impatience.
"I taught you the basics, and you're already doing this!"
Before I knew it, I was stealing and using what was his.
I was learning and using things I hadn't been taught.
This shouldn't have happened.
This shouldn't have happened.
A bewildered teacher, an amazed crowd, a worried woman.
“……”
Even Joseph, who chose a certain defeat for the sake of the expected outcome.
In the valid silence of each reason, within the hall, only the sound of swords clashing could be heard.
Clang-!
The boy's sword, thin as a thread, though losing its sharpness, was full of firm determination.
I will advance.
Towards those bright things I was not allowed.
"…."
Pablo remained silent as he watched the boy take one step after another towards him.
It could have ended at any moment, but it didn't.
The wobbling the boy showed now was still mixed with intention.
Clang-Clang-Clang.
And the sword was crying.
Pablo watched the boy's sword, listening to its cries, clearer because it was closer.
"It can't be."
He couldn't be sure, but it was a premonition.
He didn't expect it to awaken in this place, but sometimes young seeds take root where they shouldn't.
And if what you think is correct.
"Come at me!"
Pablo must fulfill his duty as a knight.
Because he had sworn to do so.
Determined, Pablo swung his sword against Vlad with all his might.
It wasn't a blow intended to subdue the boy.
It was to face him.
The boy's world had just bloomed.
From the moment he heard the sword's cry, the idea of a duel had long vanished from Pablo's mind.
What he was about to do was a knight's duty, and an honor.
"Stop!"
The boy's sword screamed with each downward blow the knight gave.
Sparks dripped from it with each counterattack the boy made.
"What is that?"
"Is the sword glowing?"
As the crowd watched in awe, a faint glow emanated from the boy's sword.
A shining sword.
Knowing what it meant, the knights began to rise slowly from their seats.
Vlad's teacher, Jager.
Duncan, the old bloodied knight.
Colin, who had just tasted defeat.
"I guess he's not the typical..."
And even Jubert, who started all this mess.
Everyone, friends and foes alike.
Because they were all knights.
Valuable.
The dragging of chairs as the knights pushed them mixed with the clash of sword against sword.
The boy's sword was glowing.
It was about to acquire its own color.
All young and tender things in this world deserve to bloom.
Possibility is something beautiful, and those who can express it in their own world are precious.
That's why you must protect the moment.
Because that's what it means to be a knight.
"Shield! Give me my shield!"
Pablo shouted urgently, finally seeing the light emanating from the boy.
Heeding Pablo's urgent cry, his squire grabbed the shield and tossed it into the dueling arena.
"Come at me!"
Pablo de Arnstein.
Clang!
His sword and shield collided with a loud noise.
A vibrant yellow glow began to envelop his body, starting from his closed left eye.
"I am Pablo de Arnstein!"
Pablo's cry echoed in the hall.
For everyone present to hear.
He looked at the boy and told him he didn't deserve it.
This battlefield is not honorable, and this is not a duel.
That's why he didn't want to give his name.
"Tell me your name, lad!"
But now, with his shield raised, he shouted his name loudly.
Towards a boy who was as worthy as him but had become honorable enough.
"I am..."
In his fading mind, Vlad walked through a fading memory.
Through dark alleys, beyond a forge with a shining star in front.
Through his own home, now shattered, to a place once filled with shining things.
A path, a difference.
Along it, light and darkness separated.
Separate opportunity from chance.
Where you are born, you choose your life.
I walked that path.
A child entered a place he had never been before.
Towards the bright place.
A boy born where he didn't deserve to be but walks toward where it shines.
He has proven his worth.
So he shouts.
"I am Vlad of Soara!"
With a small cry from the boy, the sword began to wrap in light.
While the sword-bearing worlds watched, a new flower bloomed.
"...!"
Rain fell from the sky for the boy.
Although the young seed was rooted in poisonous and filthy mud, it never stopped looking up, never stopped reaching for the stars.
That's why it can grow towards the light here and now.
"Come! Vlad of Soara!"
An intense glow began to fill the hall, created by the collision of the newly blossomed world with the solid world.
With that light, a single flower finally bloomed.
The roots of the flower that the boy had created were an intense white.
The stem of the flower he had created was a flexible green.
And the color of the petals of the boy's flower is.
"Haaaaah!"
The blue of the waning moon.
The blue moonlight filtered through the aura Pablo had created.
The boy who borrowed honor made the moon rise today.
Vlad of Soara.
A new world blossomed today.
***
"Thank you."
Pablo said, embracing the boy with his arms.
Toward the boy whose eyes, although white, had not released his sword in the end.
Red blood ran down the tip of the boy's sword as he clung to it to save his life.
A tribute to the boy who had just awakened to the world, those who knew.
Those who did not know had just begun to talk about the suddenly shining sword of the boy.
"That's... Aura!"
Endre shouted, his eyes fixed on the boy in front of him, jumping to the center of the hall.
"Using Aura in a duel is not allowed! Vlad of Soara is disqualified!"
Profit-driven men see a beautiful flower before them and think about the fruit it will bear when it has withered.
Endre's appearance suited someone worthy of the law.
At Endre's shout, a few people who were finally realizing nodded.
"Aura, it's aura."
"Was a squire able to use aura?"
"A squire of Bayezid, yes. Now that I think about it, the color of the armor he wears is..."
By the time they realized the identity of the glow coming from the boy's sword, there was a small murmur of voices discussing what they had just seen.
"...."
A man descended quietly.
Although he did not say a word, everyone present paid attention to him.
He had a strong presence, and he deserved it.
Joseph of House Bayezid.
A man of noble blood stood before the knight who brought his squire.
"Thank you."
He bowed deeply in gratitude.
"I appreciate you fulfilling your duty as a knight for my squire."
"It was only my duty."
Handing Vlad over to Jager, who followed him, Pablo bowed in unison with Joseph.
"Priest."
After thanking Pablo for doing his best to break Vlad's shell, Joseph turned his head and spoke quietly to the priest.
"Was it Aura?"
"It was, yes."
At the priest's answer, Joseph nodded stiffly.
Disqualified, then.
Since the rules of this duel prohibited the use of Aura or avoiding killing.
But...
"Then let me ask you one more thing."
Joseph asked, looking with cold eyes at the drooling usurper sitting in front of him.
"What is the higher concept, the rules of the Sacred Duel or the discipline of the Swordmaster?"
"...Oh, yes."
The priest sighed, touching his forehead as if he knew what was coming from Joseph's question.
Swordmaster.
An honorable title that only one can hold, recognized for centuries.
And with that honorable title came a discipline that only one man in the history of mankind has carried.
It was a code that all knights must follow.
"It is not for me to decide... here and now."
The priest presiding over the duel raised his hands in surrender.
"The discipline of a Swordmaster is an honor and a duty, and it also implies royalty. It is an area that I, as a follower of the Divine Will, dare not decide."
"...Is that so?"
Joseph smiled at the priest's answer.
So it was.
"Endre Heinal."
Endre, who had a subtle look as if things were about to get weird, responded to Joseph's call.
"What's going on?"
Joseph thought as he looked at Endre, who looked at him with a perplexed expression.
I asked you to give me time, and you created an opportunity.
I asked you to choose the lesser of two evils, and you brought me the second best.
So I will take advantage of this opportunity you have given me.
"The duel is suspended."
Before Joseph's answer, cracks began to form on Endre's face like dry mud.
Suspended.
A word that was not disqualification, nor defeat, much less abstention.
Joseph was now saying that he would postpone the outcome of the duel.
"Well, what the hell."
"Discipline and rules."
Said the man with dark eyes with a smile as dark as the shadows.
"No one here can say what takes precedence, and I believe I must report what happened to the capital, where the Holy See and the royal family reside."
Pablo raised his shield of his own will to fulfill his duty as a knight.
From the moment he raised his shield, what was happening here was not an honorable duel.
The discipline of the Swordmaster.
Pablo vowed to follow that discipline to become a knight, and today he helped awaken a new world as someone had intended long ago.
Honor or duty.
No one here can answer that.
The nobles who can answer that question are not here but in the imperial capital of Brigantes.
"Until a clear decision is made there, I propose that the result of today be suspended."
Endre stood with his mouth open, incredulous.
I don't care what words come out of that mouth from now on.
Because Joseph had no intention of listening to anything that came out of his mouth.
Because this was an opportunity that no one was paying attention to, and he had not foreseen.
***
All that is young and tender in this world deserves to bloom.
Possibility is a beautiful thing, and those who can express it in their own world are precious.
All those who bear the swords of honor.
Swear in my name.
That you will fulfill your duty.
As Swordmaster, and the founding king...
... I, 'Frausen,' declare this as my first code.
