Star-Embracing Swordmaster (Full)

Vlad opened the bag the Count had given him and counted the gold coins inside one by one.

Money received from the Count, a total of 20 gold coins.

"It's ambiguous."

Bright gold coins greeted him, but Vlad only frowned.

If you look at it just as a reward for escorting the carriage, it must have been a lot of money, but considering the cost of your life, it was an excessively small amount of money.

It seemed that Count Vitskaya would compensate for the lack of compensation with resentment.

"Goethe."

"Eh?"

Goethe reflexively caught the coins flying towards him.

"Your salary."

"Oh… oh."

Three bright gold coins.

Goethe kicked out when he saw the income that an ordinary peasant would have to earn for a whole year.

"What! Are you going to give me 3 gold coins each from now on?"

"If I have money."

"Incredible!"

Goethe thought as he bit into a gold coin.

As expected, I did well to follow him.

No matter how capable a person is, if they are stingy when it comes to opening their pockets, it will be difficult to follow them.

However, the knight here did not hesitate to take care of the people under his command.

It's as if the bosses of the dark alleys were generously wasting money.

"And this is security."

"Also!"

Another gold coin flew back with indifferent words.

Goethe's expression as he watched the flying gold coins looked happy again.

"I also pay the inn fee with that."

"Of course."

"Even give things to the person in the next room."

"Of course, I have to give it to the person in the next room. Right?"

Goethe was very enthusiastic about the bright gold coins, but he couldn't help but frown at the words he heard now.

"Why the next room? Are we really going to move in with that person from now on?"

Vlad wasn't the only one attacked by the hooded man on the stone bridge.

Even now, his bluish cheekbones still reminded him of the pain of that day.

"The 3 gold coins I gave you also include the price you pay for that."

"…Is he saying he wants to follow us?"

Vlad simply ended Goethe's complaints with a gold coin and stood up.

"Where to?"

"To Stephan's."

If you use it, you have to pay for it.

Also, because Thornwood's mercenaries followed Vlad, they lost Vitskaya's favor, so they'll have to pay the price for it.

"Those people didn't run away. That's enough to know."

Goethe nodded as he listened to Vlad.

As two people who had worked in the world of mercenaries, they knew very well how valuable a mercenary who stayed until the end was.

"I'll be off."

"Go ahead. Captain."

Vlad puts on his cloak and steps out into the cold, leaving only a brief farewell.

Goethe scratched his chin as he watched Vlad open the inn door.

"…I'm starting to get a little scared now."

When they first met, Vlad was just a wild boy who knew nothing about the world, but when he went out now, anyone could see his back and he looked like a knight with a sense of weight.

It was the same winter as back then, but Vlad's shoulders had already broadened when he stepped out.

***

End of a cold winter.

Although it wasn't as cold as in the north, it was still quite chilly here at the end of the central region.

"You said you had plenty of money, so why is this all we have for dinner?"

The man in the gray hood clicked his tongue as he tossed aside the pot Goethe had boiled.

"Don't you need meat to fuel your strength? A knight doesn't skimp on food."

Goethe pouted as he watched the man crush the stew he had worked so hard to cook.

However, he refrained from saying anything because he understood well the skills of the person before him.

"The prices in Tanovo are insane."

"No matter how expensive it is."

"I didn't have more money because I had to buy you a horse."

"…If that's the case, there's nothing we can do."

The gray-hooded man listened to Vlad's words and silently transferred the spoon he was stirring to the bowl.

Those who roamed the lowest places had to be grateful even for small meals.

"Don't you know who your master is?"

"If I knew, I would have told you a long time ago. At that time, the sword was at my throat."

The gray-hooded man looked closely at Vlad over the bowl he was holding, but the young knight's eyes didn't waver in the slightest.

To the point where it's surprising.

"I've been saying it all along. I'm also looking for someone."

"Hmm."

It wasn't the whole truth, but Vlad's assertion that he was searching for a master wasn't a lie.

If he had responded falsely, no matter how clever he had been living in the dark alleys, Vlad wouldn't have been able to deceive the man before him.

Because he was skilled at detecting truth and lies.

"The imperial sword should never leak out…"

After hearing Vlad's words, the gray-hooded man furrowed his brow and lifted his spoon as if in pain.

"But what I'm using is really the imperial swordsmanship?"

"Exactly, it's the imperial swordsmanship. The art of killing with a single blow is something that only a few of the Imperial Knights are taught."

Said the gray-hooded man.

A person born with imperial blood.

Or it's a type of swordsmanship that only a few of his closest knights can learn.

Vlad was completely perplexed to realize that he had been using such a fine sword skill all this time.

"So, I can't use it?"

"Is your father the emperor?"

"That seems unlikely."

"Then you could get in trouble."

It can't be used because it's not authorized.

Because the art of killing with a single blow belonged to the imperial family.

To be precise, it was the swordsmanship of Frausen, the founding king and the sole master of the sword, so if the imperial family found out about this, they wouldn't remain silent.

"Maybe only the people from the North don't know, but as you move towards the central part, there will be people who recognize it. If you do something wrong, you could be accused of insulting the royal family."

"…So, what should I do?"

When a big accusation came out of the man's mouth, Vlad's voice inadvertently turned calm.

Vlad had never thought of the word imperial family in his life, so the current situation would surely be burdensome.

"There's no way."

The gray-hooded man looked at Vlad with a faint smile.

"I once saw your sword skill. I think the technique for killing with a single blow that you use leaked out quite some time ago."

The gray-hooded man clearly recognized Vlad's sword skill when he received a blow that destroyed everything.

Vlad's swordsmanship was clearly that of the imperial swordsmanship, but it was different from the swordsmanship he was currently using.

"Why do you think that?"

"What you're using is a little closer to the original."

The man scooped the spoon and began to gently stir the pot containing the stew.

"If this soft stew is the technique of killing with a single blow that you're currently using."

The sausages to be used tomorrow began to be cut into the stew.

The fragrant aroma of the meat and the droplets of oil that spread began to deepen the flavor of the boiling stew.

"This is the technique of killing with a single blow currently used by the imperial family."

Time passes and everything with shape changes.

It had been 300 years since the founding of the empire, so it was natural for the imperial swordsmanship to continue evolving according to the long trend.

"It's a little more delicious than before."

"…"

Vlad looked at the stew with chunks of meat floating around.

He felt he had an idea of what the gray-hooded man was trying to say.

"…So."

"The secret to a single blow comes from the unexpected."

Said the man as he moved the sausages onto his plate.

"And the unexpected doesn't come from refined rules, but from a truly mysterious idea."

The man who finally removed all the floating meat chunks looked at Vlad and smiled.

"Now you're going to add your own ingredients here. So much so that even people from the imperial family will nod when they see it."

Even if it started from the same roots, bloom your own flower.

The trick to a single blow is the sword skill that pursues it.

"Is it possible?"

A knight from the North wielding the imperial sword.

A young knight whose existence is nothing short of unexpected.

The face of the former captain of the Imperial Guard, looking at that Vlad, bore a subtle smile.

There was a truly subtle smile on the face of the former commander of the Imperial Guard as he looked at Vlad.

***

"No… how did you get here?"

An office adorned with elf decorations.

Count Vitskaya hurried to greet the unexpected guest.

"You didn't ask me to come, did you?"

"No, not yet."

He was asked to come, but it wasn't explicitly stated he would.

Therefore, the count couldn't help but feel embarrassed when he saw the knight before him.

Mirshea, the leader of the Dragon Slayer Knights.

Because it was difficult for a noble knight to invite someone.

"Anyway, have a cup of tea."

"…I'm not fond of elf tea."

Blond hair and blue eyes.

When Count Vitskaya saw Mirshea staring at him, he naturally remembered the northern knight who had left this city a few days ago.

"Yes! Yes, that's right. It's definitely not tea worthy of offering to someone special."

However, even if it's the same shade of blue, the depth is different.

The count heard Mirshea's firm refusal and quickly started heating the water again.

"Is Absilon getting better? I received a report that there was an unknown attacker."

"It's resolved. It worked out well!"

The count serving him and the Duke's son sitting at the head of the table as if he were the owner.

It might not be an illusion that it seems like the owner and the guest have been switched.

Because the current appearance of the two clearly revealed the relationship between Vitskaya and Dragulia.

"How?"

It feels like something is lodged right between the eyes.

The count felt like his mind turned cold facing Mirshea's cold eyes.

"You said he's a powerful person who can't be defeated by the knights here alone?"

"That's right… that's how it was."

The count licked his lips with his tongue and answered while trying to erase his nervous expression.

"There was a knight from the North. He was young, but he had good skills."

"…From the north?"

Mirshea's eyebrows arched as he listened to the count's report.

"Yes. He was a guy named Vlad, but he still used a sword."

The count, who had just heated the tea, poured it into a cup and spoke attentively.

"Still, since he's a northern lad, he didn't know his place and behaved rudely."

"…"

"As expected, humble lineages are evident everywhere. Where will the blood of barbarians go?"

The count smiled and looked at Mirshea as he said those words.

His face seemed calm as he lifted the teacup and smelled the aroma of black tea.

As expected, the tea ceremony skills learned from the elves are sufficient to satisfy even central nobles…

Crash-

The sound of something breaking.

It was just the sound of a teacup breaking, but the count jumped and widened his eyes.

The red tea water seeped sinisterly between the broken teacups, soaking the table.

"Did he really look like that?"

A heavy silence descended in the office in an instant.

The crack that started in the teacup was spreading through the office air.

"…Yes?"

"Veins that are evident no matter where you look."

The count grabbed his trembling hand unknowingly.

Consciousness is slow, but instinct is quick.

The clinking of teacups and plates was loud.

"I mean, did that lineage you recognized really seem so humble?"

Count Vitskaya swallowed and lifted his head in response to the question.

Blue eyes watching you.

They contained a fierce strength that not even the blue blood of a noble could handle.

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