Star-Embracing Swordmaster - Chapter 15

What do you want (3)

Among the flickering candles.

When Vlad looked at Josef, there was a sneer in his eyes.

It was like the smile of a winner and came from confidence that the whole situation was under control.

‘I got caught.’

Vlad was born in a back alley and could not even register his birth properly.

In order for Vlad to join the monster suppression team recruited in the name of the lord, a false identity was needed.

It’s like a mercenary badge worn by the person he killed.

“That face says he’s 31 years old. After all, is being young-looking something you’re born with?”

“It’s one of the few things I’m proud of.”

Looking at Josef with a faint smile, Vlad answered with the most polite expression possible.

“Zayar.”

“Yes.”

But Josef was not an easy person.

Sigh-!

“Tsk!”

A harsh slap landed on Vlad.

It was a slap that could have been avoided, but should not have been avoided.

“You understand once. “I was born and raised in a back alley, so how would I know how to treat nobles?”

“…!”

Josef was smiling while looking at Vlad who was bleeding from the nose.

It was a smile that said he knew everything.

“I hate lying. “I should have told you this in advance.”

Something like a strange desire rose above Josef’s pitch-black eyes.

“name.”

“…My name is Vlad.”

“age.”

“I’m 16 years old. “I’ll be 17 after this winter.”

“Haha!”

Joseph clapped his hands in joy at Vlad’s answer.

“excellent.”

“…….”

He didn’t know what was great, but Vlad just decided to remain silent.

Because there was a knight glaring at him fiercely from behind.

“okay. “It took a lot of hard work to get here from Shoara.”

“…You knew everything.”

This time I did well not to lie.

The black-haired man in front of me had already completely figured out who I was.

“We confirmed that your mother was a prostitute, but we couldn’t find out about your father. “Do you know who your father is?”

“It’s quite a funny joke to ask a prostitute’s child about his father.”

When a sarcastic answer was given without realizing it in an oppressive atmosphere, Vlad was immediately punished.

“Tsk!”

“Be polite. bantling.”

Vlad, unable to withstand the blow that struck him in the crook, fell to one knee.

“no. “It was a pretty funny joke.”

Josef scratched his head as he looked at Vlad kneeling before him.

“Well, it’s a mercenary group. They must have killed someone somewhere and brought it back, and we have already figured out why they ran away from Shoara.”

Josef thought.

She already had personal details in her hand, but even so, the blonde man in front of her was full of things she wanted to know.

“Where did you learn swordsmanship?”

Where did this kid who lived his whole life quietly in the back alleys acquire such amazing skills?

Who did you learn it from and why did you learn it?

And what did he come from that gave him this talent?

So much so that the second child of the Bayezid family with the shining swords was worthy of attention.

Josef was very curious about the things hidden in Vlad’s blue eyes.

“…….”

However, the person who had to answer the question simply kept his mouth shut.

Slurp –

The sound of a sword being drawn quietly was heard from behind Vlad’s back.

“Answer me.”

Vlad, who was muttering quietly with his head down, made eye contact with Josef as if he had made up his mind.

“He was a teacher who came like a thunderbolt and disappeared like the wind.”

Josef was unconsciously immersed in the words coming out of Vlad’s mouth.

Because what Vlad said was enough to pique someone’s interest.

“He didn’t tell me whose name it was, but he said.”

Vlad’s blue eyes did not waver.

Because it wasn’t a lie this time.

“You said it was a one-man vision that should not be revealed to anyone.”

“……good.”

Josef nodded.

It wasn’t that there were parts that raised doubts, but it wouldn’t be possible to unravel all the knots of secrets right now.

“I’m sorry for treating you so poorly. “I don’t know if you know, but I’m in a pretty difficult situation right now.”

Only time can unravel that knot.

“I have a proposition for you.”

“Please speak. Josef.”

Vlad answered politely.

Even though many thoughts were going through my mind.

“I want to sponsor you.”

“……yes?”

Vlad was momentarily taken aback by Josef’s sudden suggestion.

He killed someone and came in with his identity disguised.

Nevertheless, Josef was saying that he would support Vlad.

“Don’t you want to go up to a higher place than you are now? Vlad of Shoara?”

Vlad waved a card he couldn’t refuse.

article.

authority.

freedom.

survival.

Our eyes were meeting.

The two men were able to recognize what the other wanted in each other’s eyes.

※※※※

Sigh!

A morning at the garrison filled with loud noises.

Even though it was early, all the mercenaries had gathered in the area where the sound was coming from.

It was to see a precious sight that would not be dared to see.

“Is it holding up well?”

“The opponent is Lord Xayar. “Of course I’m watching.”

A one-eyed knight and a blond boy were holding wooden swords against each other.

“Has it become a seed?”

“It was definitely an extraordinary skill.”

“I heard you’re over 30?”

“There was someone here who believed that.”

The sight of a knight-level person practicing swordsmanship was not an easy sight for mercenaries to see.

Moreover, the person receiving the sword technique was someone they knew well.

“Keuuk!”

“bouncer.”

If so, there would be no greater spectacle than this.

Regardless of what the person who has to receive the sword thinks.

“With this level of skill, you and the like dare to raise your head stiffly at Joseph?”

Along with the feeling of a heavy wooden sword, there was a voice whispering so that only Vlad could hear it.

“…….”

Vlad was somehow able to block Xayar’s gaze as if he was going to eat him, but he couldn’t do the same with the sword he was swinging.

“Kaaak!”

“He really doesn’t know his own proportions!”

No matter how much he sparred, the knight named Zayar was one of the strongest men in the Bayezid family.

The knight’s swing contained a force that would be difficult for a mere brat to accept.

Taaaak-!

A wooden sword that constantly flashes.

The movement of the body constantly looking for a gap.

Vlad was extremely embarrassed by Xayar’s movements, which exposed dozens of weaknesses with just one step.

Xayar was thoroughly targeted.

The weak spot of Vlad, who was talented but had little experience.

From Vlad’s point of view, it was a very painful place, and from the voice’s point of view, it was a very appropriate place.

‘shit!’

When I was in the back alley, I learned the basics from Jorge, and after escaping from Shoara, I learned swordsmanship from Voice.

Vlad had used them to cut down hobgoblins, but now he was just being beaten around like a scarecrow set up on a parade ground.

‘The level…is so different!’

I felt it painfully.

Just like the voice said, it was true that he was just a kid.

“If you don’t avoid this, you could die.”

“…Joseph will be sad when I die.”

“Seeing as his mouth is still alive, I guess I can dodge it well.”

The level is different and the rank is different.

From the beginning, the world I was stepping into was different.

‘This is a knight!’

It could not be compared to Jorge and was a different sword than Godin.

“Huh!”

That sword that is currently hitting your head.

‘Should I avoid it?’

It will follow.

‘Shall I stop it?’

It is too strong for that.

‘then!’

Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuof of of-!

The mercenaries around us held their breath involuntarily at the sound, which was too slippery for the powerful force of a wooden sword to have come into contact with a wooden sword.

“Hiya.”

“It’s Lehman, after all. “There was a solution.”

Although it was on a completely different level, mercenaries were also people who wielded swords.

Therefore, I could see how amazing the scene unfolding before my eyes was.

The positions of the sword and sword changed in the blink of an eye.

“I spilled it.”

As someone said, Vlad succeeded in deflecting Xayar’s sword.

“okay. “This should be enough.”

To be exact, it would have been permitted to spill.

“Hehehehehehehe……”

Beads of sweat were forming pitifully on the tip of Vlad’s chin.

“Did you really intend to kill me?”

“It’s not like there aren’t squires dying when knights learn swordsmanship.”

The one-eyed knight was smiling as he spoke, but Vlad, who was looking at him, was almost shaken.

‘Should it continue to be like this in the future?’

“We will continue to spar like this from now on.”

“…Could you please be a little gentler?”

Xayar smiled and answered Vlad, who fell down as if his legs had given out without him realizing it.

“why? “It seems worth it.”

“Aren’t your eyes strange? “Is this what a person looks like who can do it?”

Xayar responded to Vlad’s small grumbling by fiddling with his eye patch.

“You may be missing one eye, but your vision is correct, so don’t worry.”

Vlad closed his eyes as he watched Xayar leaving the clearing, saying that the morning sparring was over.

And muttered in a low voice.

“You don’t give me a single piece of advice without being loyal.”

[There are things you learn by being beaten.]

I tried to express my dissatisfaction with a small mutter, but my voice only responded as if it were obvious.

[It was a great sparring. [He mercilessly whittled away all the extra stuff in your body.]

The voice’s judgment was accurate.

The voice was building up Vlad’s skills by passing on what he knew, but Xayar was chipping away at the rough stone called Vlad through sparring that felt like a real fight.

So that it can be a little sharper and a little brighter.

This was an area of teaching that voice could not provide.

“…There’s no one on my side anywhere.”

Vlad closed his eyes as soon as he said that, so he probably didn’t see it.

There was a satisfied smile on Zayar’s face as he left.

Xayar, who had beaten Vlad early in the morning, entered the tent where his master was.

“Joseph.”

“Please come in.”

Josef was sitting there, waiting for him, even skipping breakfast.

“What is it like to see it in person?”

“It’s useful.”

“To what extent?”

“…If he was a child of a noble family, the Count would have taken notice.”

“As expected, my eyes were not wrong.”

Josef smiled deeply as he watched Zayar reporting on Vlad.

“But as I said before, the problem is that you don’t know the topic and are arrogant.”

“It’s okay if you teach us etiquette slowly. “I think I have the right person for the job in front of me right now?”

Last night’s conversation gave Vlad what he wanted, but he incurred Xayar’s wrath instead.

“A sword without loyalty cannot be trusted.”

“I wouldn’t have believed you even if you bowed your head politely as soon as you saw me anyway.”

Josef’s eyes lit up as he thought about last night’s story.

“I was glad that I revealed my true feelings.”

Last night, a guy named Vlad dared to raise his head and say something to himself.

He said he had work to do.

“It worked out better. A relationship in which we both give each other what we want might be more appropriate.”

“…….”

At Josef’s words, Zayar could only nod.

Although he was not born with a strong body and a talent for the sword, Josef had no less talent.

A talent called the qualities of a monarch.

“Isn’t he just like a wolf, arrogant, untrustworthy, and obsessed with his own pride?”

“…….”

Xayar could tell.

Josef was talking to himself, but what he was actually looking at was someone else.

“Even if it’s a wolf like that, if you feed it well, one day it will become tame.”

Wolves are free beings.

That’s why I want it even more.

“Isn’t that so, Lord Xayar?”

“It will be as you wish, Josef.”

Josef decided not to rush.

Because it took time to build a cage large enough for the wolves to feel free.