Chapter 183 - A Mother's Smile (1)

Two people walked along a road frozen white.

Vlad and Nibelun had once been part of a long procession, but now only the two of them remained as they walked the road to Sturma.

"Ugh... It's cold. So cold."

The winter wind, growing harsher by the day, lashed mercilessly at Nibelun's face.

Since they were out on the open road with no way to avoid that wind, Nibelun could only clutch at his collar and hunch in on himself.

"What's so cold about this? Winter in the North starts now."

"I hate it... I hate the North."

"But beastmen are basically covered in fur, aren't they?"

"Aside from the ears and tail, my skin is just ordinary skin like yours, Lord Vlad."

"Is that right? It's not like I've ever seen it."

Watching Nibelun look as though the cold had driven him out of his mind, Vlad was able to feel certain once again.

They had met in the North, but the fellow was definitely not someone who had lived there.

"Where are you from? Seeing how badly you handle the cold, you don't seem like a northerner."

"Hrr..."

Nibelun accepted the liquor bottle Vlad handed him and quickly opened the cap.

At once, the rich scent of wood spread out, seeming to steady his trembling body just a little.

It was a warm scent that stroked his completely frozen nose.

"The South. I'm from the South."

"Ah. So that's why you're so sensitive to the cold."

"To be precise, I'm from an archipelago down in the lower part of the South. Unlike here, it's an incredibly warm place."

"An archipelago? You mean a cluster of islands?"

A single liquor bottle went back and forth along a road where only the two of them walked, with no one else around.

The mage, drunk on the cold, slowly began to tell his story.

"If you're from the sea, you must be a decent swimmer."

"Khh..."

Nibelun tried to answer Vlad's question at once, but the air outside his lips was too cold, and the liquor he had swallowed was too strong.

As the whiskey traveled down his esophagus and made him aware of every shape of his innards, Nibelun could only grimace.

"Ahem! It seems you didn't know. Most beastmen hate water."

"... Why would you hate water when you live by the sea?"

Just as the people of the North did, people were originally supposed to adapt to the environment around them as they lived.

But the trait of beastmen hating water despite living by the sea was more than enough to stir Vlad's curiosity.

"That is... because the land where we originally put down roots was not an island."

"Hm?"

After taking a sip of liquor, Nibelun finally began to perk up his ears as if he had come to his senses.

In contrast, his somehow sunken gaze seemed to be recalling his homeland, now far too distant.

"... They say that in the very ancient past, when our ancestors settled in the South, there were no such things as islands."

"Really? Then why did it become an archipelago now?"

A land that had belonged to the continent in the distant past, but had now become dots upon the sea.

At the indifferent question that came from beside him, Nibelun tilted the bottle again.

"That is... because long ago, the most perfect dragon sank our home."

"..."

The most perfect dragon.

Every time Vlad heard those words, it felt as though his heart pointlessly lurched.

In the past, he had dismissed it as nothing more than a being from legend and thought of it as something far away, but now he had realized what flowed within his own blood.

"They say the breath the dragon exhaled burned away the lush jungle, and the solid land sank until it became what it is today. Well, it is a very old story, though."

Taking back the bottle handed to him, Vlad could sense Nibelun watching him.

Before he knew it, Nibelun's amber eyes, narrowed vertically, held a dragon who knew nothing.

"And that is why we are still wandering the continent even now. To find the mysteries that fled from the dragon back then."

The beastmen, who had lost the place where they lived and whose trusted mysteries had scattered to pieces, had continued their aimless wandering all across the continent even now, hundreds of years later.

Though it had not been something he had done, Vlad, hearing a story in which his own roots were entangled, found his feelings needlessly complicated.

"Ohh. I see a city over there."

"Hm?"

But the steps that had continued forward even amid his thoughts finally brought Vlad to the destination he wanted.

A pure white city covered in snow, visible in the distance.

Sturma, surrounded by massive walls, was welcoming Vlad and Nibelun.

Perhaps recognizing the city where it had been born, the small flag hanging behind Noir began to flutter vigorously.

* * *

Sturma, the capital city of Bayezid.

The guards defending it recognized Vlad and saluted in orderly fashion.

"They recognize you without you even saying a word."

"I lived here for quite a while."

Looking at Nibelun, who was turning his head this way and that as if he was still unused to being welcomed, Vlad recalled his former self and smiled faintly.

["You idiot! Put that away right now!"]

There had been Jager's voice growling from atop his horse, but Vlad back then had been excited.

Because it had finally been a situation where he could make use of the identification tag that acolyte Andreas had given him.

Even with Joseph leading the way, back then, when he had deliberately thrust his identification tag at the guards, he had truly felt as if he possessed the whole world.

"We sincerely welcome you back to Sturma, Lord Vlad!"

But now, Joseph was not before Vlad, and he was not holding an identification tag in his hand, yet Sturma recognized him.

Looking at the city gate he could pass through now without presenting something someone else had given him, Vlad scratched his cheek.

"Ohh... So this is Sturma."

Though it was not quite on Bastopol's level, Nibelun's eyes began to sparkle as he looked upon Sturma, an old city.

It could not be seen through Vlad's world, but in Nibelun's world, it seemed he could see the mysteries drifting here and there throughout the city.

"Don't get distracted. There's no one here to clean up after you."

"This is quite an impressive city. By the way, where are we going now?"

Though Vlad had told him to behave, Nibelun did not seem particularly inclined to listen.

Thinking that a strong curiosity might be a temperament unique to beastmen, Vlad could only click his tongue.

"To Bayezid's estate."

As Vlad answered Nibelun's question, his gaze was directed toward the highest place in the city.

Bayezid's estate. The place where he had become a squire and taken his first step as a knight.

Even now, Joseph's office, once filled with bright light, remained clear in Vlad's mind.

* * *

"Well, look who it is!"

"It's been a while, Lord Gregory."

The first person to greet Vlad as he entered the estate was the knight Gregory.

"If you were coming, you should have sent word that you were coming!"

"I didn't really have time to send word."

Gregory, the senior knight who had guided Vlad in the village full of fog, measured Vlad's height, which seemed a little taller than before, and laughed good-naturedly.

"That Portly fellow spreads sideways with every passing day, but at least you're going upward."

"Is Portly doing well?"

"Since you've come all the way here, why not see him before you leave?"

Not as many as in Soara, perhaps, but there were still some welcome connections here in Sturma as well.

Though it had been a short time of less than a year, the city where Vlad had achieved the greatest completion in his life was none other than Sturma.

"By the way, what happened with that matter? I heard Bastopol was invaded by those central bastards."

"That is..."

As Vlad was about to answer Gregory's question, he noticed the presence of the other knights surrounding him.

From far away, from close by, and even from places he could not see.

Everyone was trying to look as they usually did, but they were listening closely to Vlad's words.

"Lord Vlad, if you are not too tired, how about meeting the Countess first?"

"... I'll tell you later."

But the person who needed to hear the news about Peter and Rutiger first was Oksana Bayezid, the mistress of this estate.

The person who had guarded the estate and Sturma in place of the Family Head and sons who had no choice but to keep roaming without end.

Seeing the butler standing awkwardly among the knights, Vlad could tell just how much Oksana was waiting for the current news.

"Please guide me, butler."

"Thank you, Lord Vlad."

With the tail called Nibelun attached behind him, Vlad followed the butler's guidance and walked down a familiar corridor.

The winter sunlight shone only briefly, but the corridor steeped in yellow was clearly the same as in his memories.

"... Do I look presentable?"

"Sorry?"

"Nothing's torn or ragged anywhere, is it?"

Seeing Vlad carefully ask about his attire, Nibelun could not help but be somewhat flustered.

It was because the sight of Vlad looking more nervous than when he had met the Iron Duke, a duke of the North, felt entirely unfamiliar.

"You look presentable enough. More than enough."

As if Nibelun's words had comforted him, Vlad's expression began to relax.

"Are you ready? Shall I announce you?"

"Yes."

After straightening his clothes one last time in front of the reception room door, Vlad nodded as if he was ready.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.

Watching the door the butler knocked on, Vlad quietly took a deep breath.

But Vlad knew very well that no matter how hard he tried to steel himself, this effort would be useless before the woman behind that door.

"It has been a long time, Vlad."

When the butler opened the door, a scent wafted out.

It was a scent he had not smelled in a very long time, but it was a scent that had always been deep within his memories.

"No, should I call you Sir Vlad now?"

Looking at the noble lady smiling along with that scent, Vlad lost the answer he had prepared and could only move his lips.

Though he had gone out into the world and met many people in all that time, when it came to the woman before him now, he truly had no idea how to deal with her.

"Would you like a cup of tea?"

"I'm all right."

"I hear they attempted a new tea harvest this time at Sir Lamund's manor."

"..."

He had said he was fine, but it seemed tea was going to be served regardless.

For Vlad, who had come through weather colder than usual today, Oksana personally began to brew the tea.

"Who is the person beside you?"

"His name is Nibelun. He is my advisory mage, newly taken into my service."

At Oksana's glance, Nibelun bowed his head deeply, and unlike usual, he did not particularly open his mouth as he began to look around the room.

But judging by the way his gaze soon fixed on one place, it seemed the various tea leaves carefully set by the window had stimulated his interest.

"I heard you have only just come from Bastopol. How are the Family Head and Rutiger there?"

The news of Bastopol, said to have been invaded by the Dragon Slaying Knights, was something that Oksana also had no choice but to care about.

Knowing that well, Vlad began to answer Oksana's quiet question in as much detail as he knew.

However, even as he answered, the fact that he restrained himself as much as possible when it came to the dangerous scenes was entirely out of consideration for Oksana.

"... I see. You must have gone through a great deal."

But if she failed to understand simply because it was not said, she could not be called the lady of Bayezid.

Oksana guessed on her own what Vlad had gone through and forced a smile for him.

"At any rate, feeding and clothing you was worth it. You've put on even more flesh than when I first saw you."

"Have I?"

Having come riding on nothing but a rough wind, Vlad needlessly lowered his gaze as he looked at Oksana smiling at him.

Zemina and Alicia had also smiled at him, but Oksana was treating Vlad with a smile entirely different from theirs.

"When I first saw you, it seemed like there was only skin stretched over bones. It is good to see that you finally look as you should."

Putting down the teacup she was holding, Oksana began to stroke Vlad's head.

The place where her breath touched tickled, but even so, Vlad lightly met Oksana's eyes.

"I'm glad to see you looking healthy."

"I have two sons, but this is the first time I have heard such words."

At Vlad's concern for her well-being, Oksana's two eyes curved roundly.

It seemed Oksana was pleased by the fact that the boy who had only known how to raise thorns all over himself had now learned how to become softer as well.

"..."

But although Vlad was smiling with his mouth, he could not smile with his eyes.

Because he had seen that worries now difficult to erase had been carved deeply into Oksana's face as she stroked his head.

"Joseph will be happy too when he hears that you came."

"Will he?"

Seeing her smile, which had melted the cold winter, seem to grow a little faint, Vlad could not help but become gloomy.

As much as she worried for her son, the mother had aged even faster than he had.

That was why even Vlad could now recognize Oksana's wrinkles.

Even so, looking at Oksana as she smiled while doing her best to hide those worries, Vlad too simply tried to show only a smile.