The sound of a horse neighing echoed through the air.
The clearer your world, the clearer your boundaries become.
The boundary of the castle wall surrounded by humans was as clear as the color of the black horse.
"..."
The child and the vividly black horse were still difficult to blend in with the rest of the world.
Vlad and the black horse stood beneath the human border and looked towards the walls of Soara.
***
"Are you here?"
Ramund drank his drink and spoke to the boy climbing the stairs from below. The only guests at the inn, which is not yet open, are an elderly man and a child.
Ramund's quiet and resonant voice was enough to reach the boy, even though he spoke softly.
"Is it effective?"
"A little."
Vlad responded to the old man's question by licking his lips regretfully.
"I guess that barbarian didn't tell you any nonsense."
"Well, barbarians know better what happens in the prairies."
With those words, a bouquet of red flowers reflected in Ramund's field of vision as he drank his drink.
Roses.
There was a bouquet of flowers in the boy's hand that looked bright just by looking at them.
"I'm sure he likes horses."
"They say it progresses."
The day Vlad finally returned to Soara after avoiding pursuit by the barbarians, he felt very sorry for the rejection of the black horse.
While Vlad was confused and didn't know what to do about the horse's refusal to enter the walls of the castle full of humans, a barbarian man with a face covered in tattoos smiled and said.
"That boy likes the color red."
He pointed to the red thread tying his hair.
"I didn't know that wild horses followed climbing roses."
"I guess it's a method I discovered by my own instinct. It will have to react sensitively to temperature."
Wild horses live by grazing grass.
That's why it's inevitable for them to be sensitive to the cold.
Because icy plains will offer them nothing.
For these wild horses, climbing roses that stretch their bodies in response to warm energy are like a signal directly related to survival.
"But it seems that this is not enough."
Vlad carefully placed the bouquet of roses on the table and thought deeply.
"The redder, the better, right?"
"Yes."
"The bigger, the better."
"The big can serve as the small."
"...It would be perfect if it could even move."
After finishing speaking, Vlad turned his gaze and looked at the red figure moving diligently below.
A red-haired girl moving sighing as she carried a blanket bigger than her body.
The brightest red Vlad knew was down there.
"That's enough to call it pink."
Ramund, feeling what Vlad was thinking, nodded with a meaningful smile.
"But things don't seem to be going well these days."
"That's how we originally were."
Ramund looked at the boy who responded as if it were no big deal and clicked his tongue as if he regretted it.
Sometimes there are things that are so close that you don't know how precious they are.
"How is such a relationship okay in the first place? Hey."
"It just is."
However, Vlad's gaze was still focused only on Zemina's red hair, and the old man's advice, akin to a lament, did not reach his ears.
"I'll leave."
A few days later, the black horse was still standing sadly outside the castle walls, waiting for the boy, and without him, Vlad would have to live a life of endless somersaults once again.
Hoping that the girl he sent out of Soara would bring the black horse this time, Vlad picked up the bouquet he had left and descended the stairs towards Zemina.
Ramund could only click his tongue as he watched Vlad approach the girl hastily.
***
"Zemina."
"What?"
Zemina, busy preparing the inn that would soon open, looked up when she saw Vlad blocking her way.
"I'm busy."
"Listen to me for a moment."
Despite Vlad's urgent plea, Zemina continued with her work as if nothing had happened. Under Zemina's fingertips, which had been doing household chores for a long time, the curtains fell back into place, and the sheets were quickly organized.
"I don't know what you want, but go and tell Lady Alicia. Because I'm busy."
"…."
Zemina, still upset about the handkerchief that came out of Vlad's arms, simply ignored him.
She had cut her hair and gone to great lengths to save his life, but all she received was a handkerchief with another woman's name engraved on it.
From Zemina's perspective, it was something to be very upset about.
"I wanted to ask you a favor."
"I said I'm busy. Can't you see I'm busy!"
At that moment, Zemina shouted loudly when she saw Vlad still blocking her way.
"Hey."
"…What is this?"
Suddenly, she began to panic as she looked at the red bouquet placed in front of her.
"Help me with this."
"Your request is to go talk to Lady Alicia."
"No."
Vlad said seriously as he held a bouquet of flowers.
"This is something only Lady Zemina can do."
"…."
Zemina heard the words that came out of Vlad's mouth, and only then did she raise her head and look at the boy. A blue-eyed boy giving a bouquet of red flowers. Amidst colors that made it hard to look away from anything else, Zemina turned her head with difficulty and responded bluntly.
"….What's going on?"
It wasn't because she heard the name Lady Zemina. Even if he hadn't said that, Zemina would have listened to Vlad.
"Take this and come somewhere with me."
Vlad smiled as he watched Zemina's face turn bright red as she held the bouquet he had given her.
Red hair, a red bouquet, and a flushed face. The redder, the better. I'm sure she'll like it at this level. Thinking so, Vlad nodded as if he were satisfied.
"You're in for a tough time, kid. Tsk, tsk."
Ramund, leaning on the railing on the fourth floor and sipping a drink, watched what Vlad was doing, clicking his tongue.
Vlad, who was concerned about the situation in front of him, may not have known what he was doing, but Ramund, who was watching with the eyes of a third person, was surprised.
"Well, you'll figure it out."
The person who made the flower bloom must take responsibility for it.
And Ramund's eyes saw a glowing rose on the face of a girl who was trying to avoid his gaze.
***
Joseph and Jager stepped forward holding the torch given to them by the guard.
In a dark prison, two men stood facing each other with bars in front of them.
Two people standing on either side of the barrier separating their worlds.
The shadow cast by the torch further darkened Joseph's dark eyes.
"It's an honor for the mayor of the city to come see a barbarian."
"I hope it's worth coming here."
Although he chuckled inside the cell, Joseph spoke what he wanted without being swayed by Agge's provocations.
"I want to know the real reason you followed the horse."
Agge stroked his chin as he looked into Joseph's eyes, which were very deep for someone his age.
I've seen many people try to show their coldness or dignity, but I've only seen a few people who truly harbor them inside.
However, the mayor of Soara in front of him had them despite being of a similar age.
"It was because I needed it."
"I'm asking about that need now."
Jager, holding the torch, frowned at Agge's insincere response.
"At first, I thought it might be a tradition or ritual of your tribe, but it wasn't."
Joseph sought counsel from people who knew the customs of the barbarians, including Ramund.
And they all shook their heads at Joseph's question.
"I heard that using wild horses is a taboo for you. Am I right?"
"...."
Every world has its own area where it can shine the brightest.
Those with swords are on the battlefield, and those with picks are on the farm.
And wild horses, which can only shine when they run, would be better off in green pastures.
Barbarians were people who respected those principles.
"I came here to break the taboo and ask the real reason we went beyond the realm of steelworkers and came here, to the county of Bayezid."
After finishing speaking, Joseph simply looked at Agge with his mouth shut as if it were now his turn.
A strange impulse that cannot be denied.
Agge looked at Joseph in front of him and thought that maybe this person could answer his question.
Because I also had something to ask the people of the empire.
"...I thought about it while I was being captured here."
Looking into Joseph's unwavering gaze, Agge, who had been sitting comfortably until now, slowly stood up and approached the bars.
"Maybe it was a good thing we were captured here."
Agge, emerging from the darkness, gripped the bars with both hands and brought his face closer to Joseph's.
A dog about to bite does not bark.
It just holds its breath silently and looks for an opportunity.
"There is only one reason why my men and I tried to control the Son of the Plains, even breaking tribal taboo."
"Because we needed the fastest being we know."
Joseph thought as he looked into Agge's tattooed eyes.
They say it resembles the eyes of a wild child.
"What the hell have you done?"
"What does that mean?"
Joseph watched as anger slowly boiled in Agge's eyes.
And that anger was directed not only at himself but at the entire North.
"The dragon is going mad."
"...?"
While Joseph was puzzled by the sudden horse, a wolf on the prairie began to howl within the bars.
"The dragon that has been calm until now is going mad!"
Agge's eyes, trapped within the bars, burned with anger.
And that anger was not just accumulated by Agge alone.
It was built up by all the barbarians who were pushed to the periphery by the empire and lived in constant ostracism.
"You are the highest-ranking person here, so you know what I'm talking about."
Because of the force emanating from Agge, Jager placed his hand on the sword hilt.
It was that kind of impulse.
"What did you do with the dragon pieces?"
A wolf on the prairie growling at the leader of the humans.
And the one-eyed knight had to step forward to subdue the wolf.
The dark-eyed man who sat motionless between the two was grasping the sinister omens hidden in Agge's words.
The dragon is going mad.
The son of the tribe leader descended in search of a horse to prevent the dragon from going mad, even breaking the taboo.
Even deep within the empire's territory.
Joseph's dark eyes began to sink deeply.
"Bring me the blond boy who defeated me."
"What's the motive."
Agge, who let out his burning anger, let out a deep sigh and leaned his head against the bars.
"Because the only one who can reach the dragon faster is the Son of the Plains, who inherited divine blood."
Remnants of the fallen dragon.
Distributed throughout the world and existing in various forms, sometimes it was an object of admiration, but also a source of fear.
Perfect dragon blood contained great potential.
"This won't end only in our area. Right?"
"...."
Two men, facing each other, under the flickering torchlight.
The two said nothing more in the dark prison.
The sound of a horse neighing echoed through the air.
The clearer your world, the clearer your boundaries become.
The boundary of the castle wall surrounded by humans was as clear as the color of the black horse.
"..."
The child and the vividly black horse were still difficult to blend in with the rest of the world.
Vlad and the black horse stood beneath the human border and looked towards the walls of Soara.
***
"Are you here?"
Ramund drank his drink and spoke to the boy climbing the stairs from below. The only guests at the inn, which is not yet open, are an elderly man and a child.
Ramund's quiet and resonant voice was enough to reach the boy, even though he spoke softly.
"Is it effective?"
"A little."
Vlad responded to the old man's question by licking his lips regretfully.
"I guess that barbarian didn't tell you any nonsense."
"Well, barbarians know better what happens in the prairies."
With those words, a bouquet of red flowers reflected in Ramund's field of vision as he drank his drink.
Roses.
There was a bouquet of flowers in the boy's hand that looked bright just by looking at them.
"I'm sure he likes horses."
"They say it progresses."
The day Vlad finally returned to Soara after avoiding pursuit by the barbarians, he felt very sorry for the rejection of the black horse.
While Vlad was confused and didn't know what to do about the horse's refusal to enter the walls of the castle full of humans, a barbarian man with a face covered in tattoos smiled and said.
"That boy likes the color red."
He pointed to the red thread tying his hair.
"I didn't know that wild horses followed climbing roses."
"I guess it's a method I discovered by my own instinct. It will have to react sensitively to temperature."
Wild horses live by grazing grass.
That's why it's inevitable for them to be sensitive to the cold.
Because icy plains will offer them nothing.
For these wild horses, climbing roses that stretch their bodies in response to warm energy are like a signal directly related to survival.
"But it seems that this is not enough."
Vlad carefully placed the bouquet of roses on the table and thought deeply.
"The redder, the better, right?"
"Yes."
"The bigger, the better."
"The big can serve as the small."
"...It would be perfect if it could even move."
After finishing speaking, Vlad turned his gaze and looked at the red figure moving diligently below.
A red-haired girl moving sighing as she carried a blanket bigger than her body.
The brightest red Vlad knew was down there.
"That's enough to call it pink."
Ramund, feeling what Vlad was thinking, nodded with a meaningful smile.
"But things don't seem to be going well these days."
"That's how we originally were."
Ramund looked at the boy who responded as if it were no big deal and clicked his tongue as if he regretted it.
Sometimes there are things that are so close that you don't know how precious they are.
"How is such a relationship okay in the first place? Hey."
"It just is."
However, Vlad's gaze was still focused only on Zemina's red hair, and the old man's advice, akin to a lament, did not reach his ears.
"I'll leave."
A few days later, the black horse was still standing sadly outside the castle walls, waiting for the boy, and without him, Vlad would have to live a life of endless somersaults once again.
Hoping that the girl he sent out of Soara would bring the black horse this time, Vlad picked up the bouquet he had left and descended the stairs towards Zemina.
Ramund could only click his tongue as he watched Vlad approach the girl hastily.
***
"Zemina."
"What?"
Zemina, busy preparing the inn that would soon open, looked up when she saw Vlad blocking her way.
"I'm busy."
"Listen to me for a moment."
Despite Vlad's urgent plea, Zemina continued with her work as if nothing had happened. Under Zemina's fingertips, which had been doing household chores for a long time, the curtains fell back into place, and the sheets were quickly organized.
"I don't know what you want, but go and tell Lady Alicia. Because I'm busy."
"…."
Zemina, still upset about the handkerchief that came out of Vlad's arms, simply ignored him.
She had cut her hair and gone to great lengths to save his life, but all she received was a handkerchief with another woman's name engraved on it.
From Zemina's perspective, it was something to be very upset about.
"I wanted to ask you a favor."
"I said I'm busy. Can't you see I'm busy!"
At that moment, Zemina shouted loudly when she saw Vlad still blocking her way.
"Hey."
"…What is this?"
Suddenly, she began to panic as she looked at the red bouquet placed in front of her.
"Help me with this."
"Your request is to go talk to Lady Alicia."
"No."
Vlad said seriously as he held a bouquet of flowers.
"This is something only Lady Zemina can do."
"…."
Zemina heard the words that came out of Vlad's mouth, and only then did she raise her head and look at the boy. A blue-eyed boy giving a bouquet of red flowers. Amidst colors that made it hard to look away from anything else, Zemina turned her head with difficulty and responded bluntly.
"….What's going on?"
It wasn't because she heard the name Lady Zemina. Even if he hadn't said that, Zemina would have listened to Vlad.
"Take this and come somewhere with me."
Vlad smiled as he watched Zemina's face turn bright red as she held the bouquet he had given her.
Red hair, a red bouquet, and a flushed face. The redder, the better. I'm sure she'll like it at this level. Thinking so, Vlad nodded as if he were satisfied.
"You're in for a tough time, kid. Tsk, tsk."
Ramund, leaning on the railing on the fourth floor and sipping a drink, watched what Vlad was doing, clicking his tongue.
Vlad, who was concerned about the situation in front of him, may not have known what he was doing, but Ramund, who was watching with the eyes of a third person, was surprised.
"Well, you'll figure it out."
The person who made the flower bloom must take responsibility for it.
And Ramund's eyes saw a glowing rose on the face of a girl who was trying to avoid his gaze.
***
Joseph and Jager stepped forward holding the torch given to them by the guard.
In a dark prison, two men stood facing each other with bars in front of them.
Two people standing on either side of the barrier separating their worlds.
The shadow cast by the torch further darkened Joseph's dark eyes.
"It's an honor for the mayor of the city to come see a barbarian."
"I hope it's worth coming here."
Although he chuckled inside the cell, Joseph spoke what he wanted without being swayed by Agge's provocations.
"I want to know the real reason you followed the horse."
Agge stroked his chin as he looked into Joseph's eyes, which were very deep for someone his age.
I've seen many people try to show their coldness or dignity, but I've only seen a few people who truly harbor them inside.
However, the mayor of Soara in front of him had them despite being of a similar age.
"It was because I needed it."
"I'm asking about that need now."
Jager, holding the torch, frowned at Agge's insincere response.
"At first, I thought it might be a tradition or ritual of your tribe, but it wasn't."
Joseph sought counsel from people who knew the customs of the barbarians, including Ramund.
And they all shook their heads at Joseph's question.
"I heard that using wild horses is a taboo for you. Am I right?"
"...."
Every world has its own area where it can shine the brightest.
Those with swords are on the battlefield, and those with picks are on the farm.
And wild horses, which can only shine when they run, would be better off in green pastures.
Barbarians were people who respected those principles.
"I came here to break the taboo and ask the real reason we went beyond the realm of steelworkers and came here, to the county of Bayezid."
After finishing speaking, Joseph simply looked at Agge with his mouth shut as if it were now his turn.
A strange impulse that cannot be denied.
Agge looked at Joseph in front of him and thought that maybe this person could answer his question.
Because I also had something to ask the people of the empire.
"...I thought about it while I was being captured here."
Looking into Joseph's unwavering gaze, Agge, who had been sitting comfortably until now, slowly stood up and approached the bars.
"Maybe it was a good thing we were captured here."
Agge, emerging from the darkness, gripped the bars with both hands and brought his face closer to Joseph's.
A dog about to bite does not bark.
It just holds its breath silently and looks for an opportunity.
"There is only one reason why my men and I tried to control the Son of the Plains, even breaking tribal taboo."
"Because we needed the fastest being we know."
Joseph thought as he looked into Agge's tattooed eyes.
They say it resembles the eyes of a wild child.
"What the hell have you done?"
"What does that mean?"
Joseph watched as anger slowly boiled in Agge's eyes.
And that anger was directed not only at himself but at the entire North.
"The dragon is going mad."
"...?"
While Joseph was puzzled by the sudden horse, a wolf on the prairie began to howl within the bars.
"The dragon that has been calm until now is going mad!"
Agge's eyes, trapped within the bars, burned with anger.
And that anger was not just accumulated by Agge alone.
It was built up by all the barbarians who were pushed to the periphery by the empire and lived in constant ostracism.
"You are the highest-ranking person here, so you know what I'm talking about."
Because of the force emanating from Agge, Jager placed his hand on the sword hilt.
It was that kind of impulse.
"What did you do with the dragon pieces?"
A wolf on the prairie growling at the leader of the humans.
And the one-eyed knight had to step forward to subdue the wolf.
The dark-eyed man who sat motionless between the two was grasping the sinister omens hidden in Agge's words.
The dragon is going mad.
The son of the tribe leader descended in search of a horse to prevent the dragon from going mad, even breaking the taboo.
Even deep within the empire's territory.
Joseph's dark eyes began to sink deeply.
"Bring me the blond boy who defeated me."
"What's the motive."
Agge, who let out his burning anger, let out a deep sigh and leaned his head against the bars.
"Because the only one who can reach the dragon faster is the Son of the Plains, who inherited divine blood."
Remnants of the fallen dragon.
Distributed throughout the world and existing in various forms, sometimes it was an object of admiration, but also a source of fear.
Perfect dragon blood contained great potential.
"This won't end only in our area. Right?"
"...."
Two men, facing each other, under the flickering torchlight.
The two said nothing more in the dark prison.
