Star-Embracing Swordmaster - Chapter 228
The reason why he split up (1)
The count’s face was sulky, as if he hadn’t slept well.
The faces of Pablo standing next to him and the guards guarding the door to the study were like that.
After being dragged out in the early morning before dawn, the people of Arnstein were all sighing quietly as they looked at Vlad in front of them.
“I’m glad you look healthy. “Lord Vlad.”
“Thank you for your concern.”
“It’s even more so because you seem to be full of blood.”
“……sorry. “Count”
Vlad fell silent as he looked at Count Arnstein, who looked very tired.
It wasn’t that I didn’t have something to say, but I realized that the situation wasn’t good for saying it.
“okay. Since I just woke up, I guess I didn’t understand the situation. “Where should I start explaining?”
“no. Count. “I have already been informed of the general situation by my wizard.”
It was dawn when Radu, who was trying to steal the dragon slayer sword, was beaten up.
Vlad, who had heard the general situation from Nibelun and Pierre, who came running at the sound of the loud noise, had already known about Josef’s betrayal and disappearance.
“…To be honest, it still doesn’t feel real.”
“but. “I’ve been in bed for two weeks, so I guess I still need time to come to my senses.”
The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was Josef passing me by.
The sight of him walking palely under the blue moon seemed somehow unrealistic, so it still felt like a dream.
“Still, I’d like to ask you something. “What do you plan to do next?”
“…….”
The count’s eyes, which we met up close, resembled the scent of cold iced tea.
Only then could Vlad feel the pain rising from his chest as his eyes caught my spirit like a bitter scent.
“I feel sorry for being invited as a guest and causing great harm to the owner.”
Despite the serious wounds he had not yet recovered from, Vlad’s deep bowing of his head clearly showed sincerity.
It was such an attitude that even Count Arnstein, who was known to be picky when it came to manners, looked at it with a satisfied expression.
“So please give me a chance. “So that we can compensate for the damage caused to the owner of this land.”
But the Count wouldn’t know.
All of Vlad’s postures that you see now are all copied from Josef.
The dark-eyed man, who was weak but confident everywhere, was someone enough for Vlad to admire.
“What opportunity?”
Vlad’s eyes were shining as he looked up at the Count.
Josef had said.
Opportunity lies right in crisis.
Arnstein was completely distraught due to Fraussen’s attack, but this was the right moment to speak out as he was so upset.
“Please lend me Arnstein’s coat of arms.”
Vlad turned his head and looked at the Arnstein family emblem pinned in the corner of the study.
Even though the study was in complete disarray, the sight of the flag standing upright symbolized the count’s pride.
“If you will lend me the Count’s coat of arms, I will shout Arnstein’s name first when I pierce their hearts.”
Please use me as a sword to replace your anger.
If you do that, when you pierce them, the first thing you will shout out is Arnstein’s name.
“…….”
Knock. Knock.
There were three people standing in the study, but there was only one sound.
The sound heard through everyone’s silence was Count Arnstein’s fingers tapping on the table.
“That’s a pretty good one.”
Before I knew it, Count Arnstein, with his back buried deep in his chair, was smiling.
Although it was an obvious move, it was a smile that appeared because Vlad’s intention to pull it off was willing.
“okay. You have to do it like this. “People are inherently meant to try things.”
“…….”
“I liked that attitude. “It would have been better if we had been more careful.”
Originally, people felt greater joy from seeing things that had grown rather than seeing things that had been created.
And now the Count was giving great marks to Vlad’s wild struggle to do something, even though his insides were clearly visible.
“I’ll give it to you. “My sentence.”
The count was looking at the small flag that Vlad had brought with him when he first entered the mansion.
The flag hanging from the black horse he was riding was a knightly custom as old as the sword master’s discipline.
“Prove your innocence and that of your companions with my sentence.”
The name of Arnstein, the leader of the central region, was definitely a name that was popular everywhere.
Even if he didn’t know it in the north, Vlad had no foundation in the central region, so his cooperation was essential in order to follow in the footsteps of Frausen and Josef.
“thank you. “Count.”
“Please don’t forget. “The conditions you set for me.”
However, there is no such thing as cooperation without compensation.
The count’s mouth was smiling, but his eyes, which were looking at Vlad, were not smiling.
“I must insert my emblem into Josef’s heart.”
“…….”
Vlad turned around and didn’t see his eyes.
However, his voice, which was as cold as the doorknob he was holding, clearly had a heaviness that was difficult to ignore.
※※※※
“I. I am Radu Dragullia. As an imperial noble, I have qualifications.”
Although he had the shrunken face of an old man, his voice was young.
Nibelun’s expression was slowly crumpling, as if the strange discrepancy was unbearable.
“I will assert my rights as a legitimate prisoner. “Because I deserve it!”
Radu had been out of his mind since the basement of Dragulia Mansion, but he had now recovered enough to take care of his own well-being.
Although the circumstances in which he expressed his comfort were quite shabby, it was enough to make it seem like he would not die on the way to the north.
“So why steal someone else’s sword? “That is the sword that Vlad cherishes so much.”
“I didn’t steal it! “Did you just go and see it?”
“That’s a lot of stealing. “It was stolen.”
Nibelun and Pierre, who had been through the uproar since early dawn, were lowering their heads as if they had lost strength.
There was no hesitation in Vlad’s fist that struck Radu as if he were going to kill him.
A former pickpocket who lived a life of stealing, was a person who hated being robbed by someone more than dying.
“Anyway, Pierre, you have a duty to protect me. “Didn’t you bring me here in the name of God?”
“…Anyway, among the dragons, there isn’t a single one I like.”
Pierre shook his head as he looked at Pierre clinging to him.
I can’t thank them for saving my life, but instead I’m yelling at them to ensure my safety.
Isn’t this the equivalent of rescuing a drowning person and then asking him to hand over his bundle?
“……Calm down first. “Do I really have to kill him?”
“That guy is truly a killer! “It’s my first time seeing this, but the knight’s senses speak for themselves!”
Pierre tried to calm Radu down when he saw him intimidated by Vlad, his half-brother and another dragon, but his efforts were in vain.
Kwaang-!
“Why are you so loud?”
“Aaaah!”
“Why on earth are you kicking down the door? “There’s something called a doorknob attached to it!”
Pierre held his head as if he was in pain as he saw Vlad enter the room where the three of them were gathered with a loud bang.
This is because Radu, who had managed to calm down due to Vlad’s sudden appearance, started to fight again.
“Great. “You stay here for a moment.”
“Vlad Vlad Aureo! “I have rights!”
“What are you talking about? “Did you get hit less earlier?”
Vlad was usually a prickly person, but he looked even more upset today.
Radu looked at Vlad like that and quickly closed his mouth, following his instinctive judgment.
“Nibelun. “Can you use the magic telegram now?”
“I guess so?”
“Then connect me to Sturma. “I have already obtained Count Arnstein’s consent.”
Vlad said as he handed Nibelun a small note.
The note was a note with a number that could be connected to a magic sphere connected to the mansion of Sturma, Bayezid’s home.
“Shall I connect you with Mr. Rutger?”
“no.”
“Then who are you with?”
Nibelun was thought to be connected to Rutger because it was called Sturma, but Vlad was actually calling someone else’s name.
“With Rutger’s wizard, Dorothea. “I have a question to ask her about the imprinting technique.”
Rutger’s sorceress, the beast-human Dorothea, was also the person who first revealed mysteries to Vlad.
Vlad well remembered her engraving a vibrational imprint on his unadorned sword when fighting the hardest dragon, Death Worm.
“I guess I should engrave something on my sword. “So I need the information she has.”
“All right.”
It wasn’t that he wasn’t anxious to see him moving around actively when he got up from his seat, but Nibelun just got up quietly.
Because Vlad’s eyes looking at him were sparkling as if he had found a clue.
“…Radu Dragulia.”
In the room where Nibelun left, there was suddenly only heavy silence.
This is because Vlad’s eyes as he looked at Radu had a strange, indescribable kind of madness in them.
It was like the eyes of a predator looking at its prey.
“I heard about you. “You’re from the Dragon Slayer Knights, right?”
“That’s right!”
“He was also a confidant of Duke Sarnus. So, did you serve as commander of the army that came to attack Moshiam?”
Vlad, who was sitting close to Nibelun, was so close that Radu could be heard breathing.
“okay. “I was the general manager at the time.”
At Vlad’s words, Radu’s back began to straighten as if he remembered his former self.
Although he has become very miserable now, Radu was once a promising knight and Dragulia who dreamed of becoming a perfect dragon.
“You know that woman, right? “A warlock who wears black mourning clothes.”
Dragullia’s army in Moshiam was clearly acting suspiciously.
That is, they spent nearly half a year simply laying siege, ignoring the claims of Bishop Pierre, who was also in the war.
Although it was a delay to put pressure on the North, the fact that such a smooth delay was possible was clearly evidence that there was some relationship between Ramasht and Dragulia.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“Don’t lie. “Just hearing this story makes me smell bad.”
Vlad’s growling right in front of him was unusual, but Radu was struggling to keep his mouth shut.
In the first place, the question Vlad was about to ask was the answer that the Northern Orthodox Church wanted, and it was also the only valuable condition on which he could make a deal.
“You’ve met those guys, right?”
“I will go to the north and talk.”
“You know what you saw, don’t you? “You probably know the meeting point.”
“I will go to the north and talk.”
Seeing Radu not easily opening his mouth for the sake of survival or recovery, Vlad took out Jorge’s dagger.
The dwarfs’ sharpened dagger was so bright that it could open a closed mouth, but it was soon stopped by Pierre.
“do not do that. “Torture is not allowed.”
“why?”
Vlad paused at Pierre’s stern expression.
No matter how busy I was, I knew who the person who wrapped the bandage for me was.
“Radu Dragulia is an imperial noble and a person protected by God. He has the right to be guaranteed safety according to imperial law and the providence of the Church.”
“Who granted that protection?”
“I.”
When it came to heresy, Pierre was a harsher torturer than anyone else, but when it came to Radu, he had to be a great protector.
“I asked for God’s protection in my name. In other words, the rights he has as a prisoner are the holy war I am waging.”
“…….”
It was a sudden accident that happened in the early morning, but now that I know, it was something that could not be helped.
Unless he was willing to ignore the protection given in Pierre’s name, Vlad also had to acknowledge Radu’s rights as a prisoner.
“When did people come from the north?”
“It’s in three days.”
“I don’t have time.”
When Vlad said that there was no time, Radu straightened his head even more.
It was a threat right in front of him, but it was because he confirmed that Vlad could not harm him for a just cause.
“…Can I just acknowledge your rights as a prisoner of war?”
Vlad’s eyes were shining as he looked at Radu.
Things were going strangely, but Radu, who was related to Ramasht, could not be sent to the north like this.
“okay. Because you are a knight. “Protecting Radu is performing one’s duty as a knight.”
“Not a knight?”
“what?”
Pierre did not hide his surprise as he watched Vlad hurriedly take off his armor.
It was armor he had put on with great effort with the help of Nibelun, but now Vlad was throwing it off.
“It’s okay to hit someone when you’re not a knight, right?”
“What is that?”
There was no time to stop him.
Vlad’s agile movements were not something Pierre could touch, no matter how injured he was.
Pow!
“older brother! Nice to meet you!”
“no no!”
As Vlad cried out for his brother, fierce punches began to fly.
“It’s nice to see you, but why don’t you tell me what my sister is curious about? “You’re ignoring me now!”
“You crazy bastard! “It turned!”
It will definitely not be torture.
It’s just the behavior of a younger brother looking for his older brother.
Radu’s eyes widened when he realized what kind of trick Vlad was trying to pull.
“Why are you my sister!”
“I have the same father, but why am I not your younger brother?”
Pierre, who simply saw the brothers fighting rather than being a torturer trying to get information, nodded at Vlad’s eyes looking at him.
“…Is he out?”
“I think it will take an hour.”
“Don’t go out! Don’t go out!”
Neither imperial law nor church discipline can sanction personal fights between brothers.
Pierre, who noticed this, just quietly left the room to do his business.
So, in the room where no one was watching, the fight between the younger brother and the older brother was the only thing that raged.