The Boy Who Cultivated Roses.
The night in the back alley was brighter than the day in the city.
Since it was a place where those who could only live in the darkness gathered, most people who lived in the back alley were usually active at night.
Among them, if it were a member of Captain Hoover's organization, which was dedicated to smuggling as its main activity, not much needed to be said.
One of Captain Hoover's organization members, Lame Harven.
At this moment, with a document in hand, he was suffering from a headache.
"Jack One-Armed is going crazy..."
The ledger he held in his hand was empty in many places now, but Harven, who had to fill it out, only felt overwhelmed by what he had to write on the documents.
Jack One-Armed, who practically dominated the back alley.
Jorge, the knight of the prostitutes, had fallen, and other organizations were also severely weakened, so now there was no organization that dared to challenge him.
Even Hoover, who engaged in a special business like smuggling, was only slightly freer from Jack's control, but even that was a thing of the past.
"What are we supposed to do if you keep stealing so blatantly?"
Harven sighed deeply as he covered his face with both hands.
Jack One-Armed had always been someone who respected boundaries.
Although he was an expert in squeezing a penny until it turned into a silver penny, he was not someone who would try to corner his debtors.
He wasn't like he was raising geese that lay golden eggs, but at least he had no intention of sinking the ship of people who earned enough to be considered rats.
However, since Jorge died, Jack had shown a completely different side.
He robbed people so ruthlessly that even moneylenders wouldn't dare, and as a result, the economy of the back alley was crumbling.
Someone even said that Jack was immersed in alcohol and wasn't managing the organization, and Harven really thought that might be true.
The worms without anyone to control them were crumbling more and more.
"I must make a report first."
In the end, Harven had no choice but to report to Hoover about the goods looted by Jack's henchmen once again today.
He might hear a reprimand, but it was inevitable.
That was the job Harven had been entrusted with.
Knock-knock-
Coming out of a room large enough to contain only a desk, Harven encountered a young member of the organization entering.
"Harven, did you hear?"
"What thing?"
The organization member in charge of patrolling the area opened his mouth to Harven with an expression indicating he was remembering something important.
"They said the back alley is blocked."
"Why?"
"They said they came from Sturma to catch Jack One-Armed. They say Shohara's guards surrounded the whole place."
"Oh..."
Harven sighed as he heard those words.
It has finally come to this.
Jack One-Armed finally crossed the line.
Harven gripped the cane he held, thinking there would be much to handle after they caught him.
"But you know, weren't you close to that guy?"
"Who are you talking about?"
As Harven was heading to Hoover's office, the organization member's voice came from behind.
"I'm talking about Vlad."
"…Which Vlad?"
When the name he hadn't heard in a long time surfaced, Harven turned to look at the organization member who was speaking to him with a puzzled expression.
"It's just that I didn't see him directly, but…”
"They said the executioner who came from Sturma was blond. Furthermore, he said he himself was Vlad Of Soara. Could it be him?"
"What?"
Harven felt his cane tighten in his grip upon hearing those familiar words.
"…Is this real?"
"Yes. Didn't they just say they're going to put a flag in front of the Smile of the Rose?"
"…."
Blonde hair, Vlad, and the smile of a rose.
They were all words related to someone.
Harven's heart pounded hard.
"Take this."
"What?"
After handing over the stack of documents to the organization member, Harven began to walk out hastily.
"Where are you going?"
"I have to go. I have to go check it out."
Harven, who was sensitive to information and news, already knew about the existence of Vlad Of Soara. The young sprout from Bayezid who showed his bravery in the Deirmar duel and stood out in the Deathworm hunt this time.
"Maybe it's true!"
But just with rumors, he couldn't be sure it was the Vlad he knew. He had done such amazing things.
The Vlad he knew was definitely a plausible candidate, but it was hard to believe he had done something so big.
"And he might get whipped again!"
"Just a little late!"
Harven stepped out into the closed street to confirm if it was the blond boy he knew.
Leaning on his cane, his faltering steps were surely clumsier than before.
***
"Throughout all this time, you could have replaced your teeth."
"Hm..."
Vlad looked at the man lying helpless at his feet. It was the man who had entered with Jack One-Armed during his time as Jorge's right-hand man, knocking over crates of wax.
The man still had empty sockets from the blow.
"They're no longer needed."
Vlad silently pushed his sword into the man's chest as he lay fallen.
"Ah..."
The man, unable to properly groan, let out a bit of foam as he slowly dropped his head with a bleeding neck.
"Stop..."
Vlad sighed for a moment as he looked back along the path he had traveled. A hallway filled with blood. Broken stairs. Quiet prostitutes' rooms.
All of Jack One-Armed's subordinates, more than fifty, were dead from the boy's sword piercing them. None were able to breathe anymore.
[That's enough.]
“…”
Listening to the voice's words, Vlad wielded his sword to clean the blood.
The young man had pushed himself onto a path of suffering. With the aim of assassinating the blue moon knight, Vlad also had to closely follow the steps the man had left behind.
"Yes, this should be enough."
And although it wasn't perfect, Vlad was able to recreate to some extent the scene of that day. It was filled with roses that the young man had cultivated.
"I have to finish this."
Vlad, wiping the sweat or blood from his forehead, looked at the stairs leading to the fourth floor as he leaned against the wall.
The first floor was the lobby. The second and third floors were bedrooms. And the fourth floor was the organization members' space.
There used to be Jorge the knight of prostitutes who always sat with the same appearance, eating his designated meals.
“…”
Vlad climbed the stairs leading to the fourth floor one by one.
Knock-knock-
The ominous sound from that day still echoed here. Though the stairs needed repair, the fact that they had been left unrepaired for half a year also meant that the smile of a rose had not been properly attended to during that time.
‘Marcella would be scared.’
Climbing the stairs he missed, Vlad had a casual thought as he did before. But the boy climbing the stairs was no longer the Vlad who sold candles.
"I'm here. Boss."
"Oh, yes. Promising boy. Come here."
On the fourth floor, where all the subordinates had crowded, only Jack One-Armed was seated.
Jack turned his head as if glad to see him, but Vlad didn't move an inch.
"It's boring."
When Vlad, without saying a word, stood there with a grim look, Jack chuckled to himself and raised his liquor glass.
This would be his last sip.
"You're really Vlad Of Soara. I heard the rumors."
"Did it spread all the way here?"
"I should have brought you here two years ago. Who was in charge back then?"
Jack frowned, thinking for a moment before laughing.
"Well, that bastard's already dead."
Drinking from his glass, Jack, who was standing with difficulty, positioned himself in front of the young man.
"Still, it's good to meet someone familiar."
With one hand on his hip, Jack, dressed cleanly, held a short sword that looked like a knife in one hand and a hook in the other as he looked at Vlad.
"Although I didn't want to leave you alone, I'm someone who always finishes what he starts."
An intertwined fate. A world devouring its own world.
But the Jack One-Armed that Vlad found in front of him didn't seem to have the presence that the young man was looking at right now.
Though he had also fallen, the young man's world had expanded so much as to explain that downfall.
Jack One-Armed's world could no longer contain the young man.
"I'll do it."
Though he was someone like a mortal enemy, Vlad decided to show the last respect to Jack One-Armed.
Clang!
Though it was a rough gesture like that of an alleyway, it was a courtesy.
"Ugh!"
Jack crossed his sword and hook to block Vlad's sword.
He thought he should do something like this to block it, but Vlad's strength that he faced head-on easily exceeded his expectations.
"That's it! You've come this far already!"
Jack was sincerely impressed seeing the boy's growth.
Jack also had dreams. He too was a man who had stars in his heart, though in a different way. That's why he could understand the hardships the boy had faced.
"Impressive!"
Sparks flew as the swords clashed.
The young man fought desperately against the world that had bound him for so long. He knew he could no longer be trapped by Jack's world.
"Ugh!"
Jack did his best to withstand the young man's sword. He might stagger, he might seem pathetic, but perhaps that was the last appearance and choice he could make.
"Jorge would be happy to see you!"
"Shut up!"
Vlad fiercely shouted at Jack for daring to mention Jorge in a conversation about revenge.
He was someone who couldn't be forgiven. He had helped kill Jorge and had sold Marcella after swallowing the broken smile of a rose.
You should die miserably.
"Ugh! Ugh!"
Between pain, regret, disillusionment, and calmness, Jack swung his hook with his left arm.
The dagger he held was already rolling on the ground along with his right arm. He knew this day would come eventually.
He had simply lived intensely believing that today wouldn't be the last day.
"I guess it's better this way!"
Jack One-Armed sincerely thought.
It would be better to die crushed by a young world trying to climb over him than to die crushed by a big world like Jorge.
If his life was going to end like this anyway, he wanted it to end by his own choice.
"You'll climb higher than me!"
"Shut up!"
The boy, still not mature enough to understand what Jack was saying, just struck out in rage.
"Ugh!"
But the boy's heart might be hot, but the sword in his hand was cold.
A shiver ran through Jack's bowels and up his spine.
Crimson drops of blood dripped from the bloody tip of the sword.
Truly free, free from the shackles that bound him.
"Any last words?"
The boy was panting.
Seeing that the boy had crawled this far with all his might, Jack silently raised his hook and gestured towards where he had been sitting.
"…Rest. You did a good job."
"…What?"
With unknown words, step by step, slowly retreating, Jack One-Armed withdraws the sword from Vlad.
"Ugh!"
Despite the pain of his entrails being ripped out, he stood up with difficulty and stepped back towards the railing.
"······This should be enough."
Jack sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
Looking at the lights passing through the splendid chandelier, he reflected on his life.
"This should be enough."
He was satisfied.
Although he lived poorly, his life was tough.
Even though he was ultimately crushed by a vast world and left shattered, it wasn't solely his fault.
“·····.”
For the last time, Jack shouted to the building he could never have.
"I had fun. Goodbye, Jorge!"
Vlad watched as Jack slowly fell backward.
Passing through the railing to the lobby.
He observed Jack's last appearance as he fell from the fourth floor to the first.
¡BANG!
A world collapsing, like Jorge's that day.
In the silence that was like death, only the falling drops of blood showed the passage of time.
"..."
Revenge is sweet.
It's something that must be done.
But there was a bitter taste that the boy couldn't shake on the tip of his tongue.
Having done all he had to do, Vlad now, with weary steps, headed towards the table where Jack had been sitting.
“···Damn it.”
There were two glasses of alcohol waiting for the boy.
With his head bowed, the boy sat in the chair.
"...I'll pay you back, boss."
And a single shiny gold coin.
The boy returned the gold coin that Jack One-Armed had given him that day.
Because a knight should only take what is rightfully his.
This was the place of the broken smile of a rose.
A place where people paused for a moment as they passed by.
A single drop of water that had been held there escaped into the outside world.
Leaving a small footprint of the young man's world.
The Boy Who Cultivated Roses.
The night in the back alley was brighter than the day in the city.
Since it was a place where those who could only live in the darkness gathered, most people who lived in the back alley were usually active at night.
Among them, if it were a member of Captain Hoover's organization, which was dedicated to smuggling as its main activity, not much needed to be said.
One of Captain Hoover's organization members, Lame Harven.
At this moment, with a document in hand, he was suffering from a headache.
"Jack One-Armed is going crazy..."
The ledger he held in his hand was empty in many places now, but Harven, who had to fill it out, only felt overwhelmed by what he had to write on the documents.
Jack One-Armed, who practically dominated the back alley.
Jorge, the knight of the prostitutes, had fallen, and other organizations were also severely weakened, so now there was no organization that dared to challenge him.
Even Hoover, who engaged in a special business like smuggling, was only slightly freer from Jack's control, but even that was a thing of the past.
"What are we supposed to do if you keep stealing so blatantly?"
Harven sighed deeply as he covered his face with both hands.
Jack One-Armed had always been someone who respected boundaries.
Although he was an expert in squeezing a penny until it turned into a silver penny, he was not someone who would try to corner his debtors.
He wasn't like he was raising geese that lay golden eggs, but at least he had no intention of sinking the ship of people who earned enough to be considered rats.
However, since Jorge died, Jack had shown a completely different side.
He robbed people so ruthlessly that even moneylenders wouldn't dare, and as a result, the economy of the back alley was crumbling.
Someone even said that Jack was immersed in alcohol and wasn't managing the organization, and Harven really thought that might be true.
The worms without anyone to control them were crumbling more and more.
"I must make a report first."
In the end, Harven had no choice but to report to Hoover about the goods looted by Jack's henchmen once again today.
He might hear a reprimand, but it was inevitable.
That was the job Harven had been entrusted with.
Knock-knock-
Coming out of a room large enough to contain only a desk, Harven encountered a young member of the organization entering.
"Harven, did you hear?"
"What thing?"
The organization member in charge of patrolling the area opened his mouth to Harven with an expression indicating he was remembering something important.
"They said the back alley is blocked."
"Why?"
"They said they came from Sturma to catch Jack One-Armed. They say Shohara's guards surrounded the whole place."
"Oh..."
Harven sighed as he heard those words.
It has finally come to this.
Jack One-Armed finally crossed the line.
Harven gripped the cane he held, thinking there would be much to handle after they caught him.
"But you know, weren't you close to that guy?"
"Who are you talking about?"
As Harven was heading to Hoover's office, the organization member's voice came from behind.
"I'm talking about Vlad."
"…Which Vlad?"
When the name he hadn't heard in a long time surfaced, Harven turned to look at the organization member who was speaking to him with a puzzled expression.
"It's just that I didn't see him directly, but…”
"They said the executioner who came from Sturma was blond. Furthermore, he said he himself was Vlad Of Soara. Could it be him?"
"What?"
Harven felt his cane tighten in his grip upon hearing those familiar words.
"…Is this real?"
"Yes. Didn't they just say they're going to put a flag in front of the Smile of the Rose?"
"…."
Blonde hair, Vlad, and the smile of a rose.
They were all words related to someone.
Harven's heart pounded hard.
"Take this."
"What?"
After handing over the stack of documents to the organization member, Harven began to walk out hastily.
"Where are you going?"
"I have to go. I have to go check it out."
Harven, who was sensitive to information and news, already knew about the existence of Vlad Of Soara. The young sprout from Bayezid who showed his bravery in the Deirmar duel and stood out in the Deathworm hunt this time.
"Maybe it's true!"
But just with rumors, he couldn't be sure it was the Vlad he knew. He had done such amazing things.
The Vlad he knew was definitely a plausible candidate, but it was hard to believe he had done something so big.
"And he might get whipped again!"
"Just a little late!"
Harven stepped out into the closed street to confirm if it was the blond boy he knew.
Leaning on his cane, his faltering steps were surely clumsier than before.
***
"Throughout all this time, you could have replaced your teeth."
"Hm..."
Vlad looked at the man lying helpless at his feet. It was the man who had entered with Jack One-Armed during his time as Jorge's right-hand man, knocking over crates of wax.
The man still had empty sockets from the blow.
"They're no longer needed."
Vlad silently pushed his sword into the man's chest as he lay fallen.
"Ah..."
The man, unable to properly groan, let out a bit of foam as he slowly dropped his head with a bleeding neck.
"Stop..."
Vlad sighed for a moment as he looked back along the path he had traveled. A hallway filled with blood. Broken stairs. Quiet prostitutes' rooms.
All of Jack One-Armed's subordinates, more than fifty, were dead from the boy's sword piercing them. None were able to breathe anymore.
[That's enough.]
“…”
Listening to the voice's words, Vlad wielded his sword to clean the blood.
The young man had pushed himself onto a path of suffering. With the aim of assassinating the blue moon knight, Vlad also had to closely follow the steps the man had left behind.
"Yes, this should be enough."
And although it wasn't perfect, Vlad was able to recreate to some extent the scene of that day. It was filled with roses that the young man had cultivated.
"I have to finish this."
Vlad, wiping the sweat or blood from his forehead, looked at the stairs leading to the fourth floor as he leaned against the wall.
The first floor was the lobby. The second and third floors were bedrooms. And the fourth floor was the organization members' space.
There used to be Jorge the knight of prostitutes who always sat with the same appearance, eating his designated meals.
“…”
Vlad climbed the stairs leading to the fourth floor one by one.
Knock-knock-
The ominous sound from that day still echoed here. Though the stairs needed repair, the fact that they had been left unrepaired for half a year also meant that the smile of a rose had not been properly attended to during that time.
‘Marcella would be scared.’
Climbing the stairs he missed, Vlad had a casual thought as he did before. But the boy climbing the stairs was no longer the Vlad who sold candles.
"I'm here. Boss."
"Oh, yes. Promising boy. Come here."
On the fourth floor, where all the subordinates had crowded, only Jack One-Armed was seated.
Jack turned his head as if glad to see him, but Vlad didn't move an inch.
"It's boring."
When Vlad, without saying a word, stood there with a grim look, Jack chuckled to himself and raised his liquor glass.
This would be his last sip.
"You're really Vlad Of Soara. I heard the rumors."
"Did it spread all the way here?"
"I should have brought you here two years ago. Who was in charge back then?"
Jack frowned, thinking for a moment before laughing.
"Well, that bastard's already dead."
Drinking from his glass, Jack, who was standing with difficulty, positioned himself in front of the young man.
"Still, it's good to meet someone familiar."
With one hand on his hip, Jack, dressed cleanly, held a short sword that looked like a knife in one hand and a hook in the other as he looked at Vlad.
"Although I didn't want to leave you alone, I'm someone who always finishes what he starts."
An intertwined fate. A world devouring its own world.
But the Jack One-Armed that Vlad found in front of him didn't seem to have the presence that the young man was looking at right now.
Though he had also fallen, the young man's world had expanded so much as to explain that downfall.
Jack One-Armed's world could no longer contain the young man.
"I'll do it."
Though he was someone like a mortal enemy, Vlad decided to show the last respect to Jack One-Armed.
Clang!
Though it was a rough gesture like that of an alleyway, it was a courtesy.
"Ugh!"
Jack crossed his sword and hook to block Vlad's sword.
He thought he should do something like this to block it, but Vlad's strength that he faced head-on easily exceeded his expectations.
"That's it! You've come this far already!"
Jack was sincerely impressed seeing the boy's growth.
Jack also had dreams. He too was a man who had stars in his heart, though in a different way. That's why he could understand the hardships the boy had faced.
"Impressive!"
Sparks flew as the swords clashed.
The young man fought desperately against the world that had bound him for so long. He knew he could no longer be trapped by Jack's world.
"Ugh!"
Jack did his best to withstand the young man's sword. He might stagger, he might seem pathetic, but perhaps that was the last appearance and choice he could make.
"Jorge would be happy to see you!"
"Shut up!"
Vlad fiercely shouted at Jack for daring to mention Jorge in a conversation about revenge.
He was someone who couldn't be forgiven. He had helped kill Jorge and had sold Marcella after swallowing the broken smile of a rose.
You should die miserably.
"Ugh! Ugh!"
Between pain, regret, disillusionment, and calmness, Jack swung his hook with his left arm.
The dagger he held was already rolling on the ground along with his right arm. He knew this day would come eventually.
He had simply lived intensely believing that today wouldn't be the last day.
"I guess it's better this way!"
Jack One-Armed sincerely thought.
It would be better to die crushed by a young world trying to climb over him than to die crushed by a big world like Jorge.
If his life was going to end like this anyway, he wanted it to end by his own choice.
"You'll climb higher than me!"
"Shut up!"
The boy, still not mature enough to understand what Jack was saying, just struck out in rage.
"Ugh!"
But the boy's heart might be hot, but the sword in his hand was cold.
A shiver ran through Jack's bowels and up his spine.
Crimson drops of blood dripped from the bloody tip of the sword.
Truly free, free from the shackles that bound him.
"Any last words?"
The boy was panting.
Seeing that the boy had crawled this far with all his might, Jack silently raised his hook and gestured towards where he had been sitting.
"…Rest. You did a good job."
"…What?"
With unknown words, step by step, slowly retreating, Jack One-Armed withdraws the sword from Vlad.
"Ugh!"
Despite the pain of his entrails being ripped out, he stood up with difficulty and stepped back towards the railing.
"······This should be enough."
Jack sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
Looking at the lights passing through the splendid chandelier, he reflected on his life.
"This should be enough."
He was satisfied.
Although he lived poorly, his life was tough.
Even though he was ultimately crushed by a vast world and left shattered, it wasn't solely his fault.
“·····.”
For the last time, Jack shouted to the building he could never have.
"I had fun. Goodbye, Jorge!"
Vlad watched as Jack slowly fell backward.
Passing through the railing to the lobby.
He observed Jack's last appearance as he fell from the fourth floor to the first.
¡BANG!
A world collapsing, like Jorge's that day.
In the silence that was like death, only the falling drops of blood showed the passage of time.
"..."
Revenge is sweet.
It's something that must be done.
But there was a bitter taste that the boy couldn't shake on the tip of his tongue.
Having done all he had to do, Vlad now, with weary steps, headed towards the table where Jack had been sitting.
“···Damn it.”
There were two glasses of alcohol waiting for the boy.
With his head bowed, the boy sat in the chair.
"...I'll pay you back, boss."
And a single shiny gold coin.
The boy returned the gold coin that Jack One-Armed had given him that day.
Because a knight should only take what is rightfully his.
This was the place of the broken smile of a rose.
A place where people paused for a moment as they passed by.
A single drop of water that had been held there escaped into the outside world.
Leaving a small footprint of the young man's world.
