There were two shadows moving along the walls of Shoara city in the dark night.
"Over here."
"....Can I really get through this?"
Instead of looking at Stanga, Vlad answered while keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings.
"I think you will fit if you take off your armor..."
"Why do I have to sneak in like this?"
Stanga briefly lamented his situation, but he had no other choice. He took off his armor and squeezed his way into the small tunnel.
"Are you sure this place is safe?"
"This is the tunnel I used until two years ago."
"Two years ago?"
There are many merchants and goods that came and went in the bustling commercial city of Shoara, and as such, the inspections and searches of this place are very strict. Those without proper credentials had to pay tariffs.
This was not the case for merchants licensed by Count Bayezid, but ordinary peddlers were forced to pay tariffs.
It has now become a common thing to be extorted by the guards during the process.
So, some peddlers came up with ways to enter Shoara without being extorted, and one of those methods involved using the back alley children.
And a few years ago, Vlad had been one of those children.
"At least I didn’t get caught when I’ve used it before, so you can relax."
"I feel so relieved."
Contrary to Vlad’s casual words, Stanga’s expression stiffened as he looked at the tunnel’s condition. The dirt crumbled wherever he touched.
"I used these tunnels when I left the city. You seem more scared than you look."
"....Fine."
After hearing Vlad’s remark that he had already used it once, Stanga summoned his courage and disappeared into the tunnel.
Vlad tilted his head again.
"If you take the armor, I will kill you. Rookie."
"It’s a pity that I haven’t been able to gain your trust through our journey so far."
Vlad shrugged his shoulders with a completely unsympathetic expression, as Stanga entered the tunnel.
"...."
When Stanga entered the tunnel, Vlad quickly crouched down and pressed his ear to the ground.
Vlad has a more sensitive sense than others, so he could tell if there were people nearby from the sound of footsteps coming from the ground.
The reason he had never failed in smuggling during his time as a kid was partly due to this ability.
’Good.’
After confirming that the only thing he could hear was Stanga’s muffled curses, Vlad collected his armor and put it in a leather bag, then crawled into the tunnel.
As Vlad emerged from the tunnel, Stanga, who had been waiting, began to grumble.
"I feel filthy. It’s so damn dirty."
"We’re almost there now."
"Hey... I feel so bad."
"Here is your armor."
Vlad handed the armor to Stanga, and quickly scanned the path to confirm the direction they needed to go.
Deceiving One-armed Jack from outside the city was an easy task.
No matter how much he was considered one of the bosses dominating the back alleys, he wasn’t that dominating when it came to the entire Shoara city.
However, things will change when they have to head towards Rose’s Smiles.
"It is better if you get a little bit dirty. It is more convincing if you look like a beggar than a knight, right?"
"No, I am talking about appearance; it’s about feeling like a beggar."
Vlad ignored Stanga’s grumbling and replied without turning around.
"Let’s keep moving."
"Okay."
Stanga followed behind Vlad without any argument.
The dark alley of Shoara was holding its breath to avoid the storm created by the two bosses.
"Follow me."
It was a dark alley with not a speck of light, but Vlad led Stanga with confident steps, as if he could see clearly.
"Something feels strange."
However, the alley Vlad was walking through looked slightly different from what he remembered.
The downtown alley seemed strangely chaotic compared to usual.
There were broken walls everywhere and the blood stains scattered on them
"Is this place usually like this?"
"No."
Sinister traces.
Vlad’s steps unconsciously quickened as he observed them.
As they moved forward, the chaotic path became more evident, and certainty turned into reality.
"It looks like they already fought."
As Stanga had said, the road became more and more messed up as they walked towards Rose’s Smiles. Whoever saw this could guess that some big battle must have taken place here.
".... shit."
Vlad had grown up in rough back alleys and was accustomed to most unexpected situations, but he was still just a 16 years old kid.
He tried to stay composed, but it was inevitable that his vision would become narrower.
Just as Vlad was about to rush forward, Stanga spoke up.
"Before you charge ahead blindly, remember where you are right now."
It was a heavy yet sharp voice.
That voice broadened Vlad’s narrowed vision and clarified his clouded judgment.
"Phew."
Following Stanga’s advice, Vlad leaned against the corner and took a deep breath.
And then he observed it.
’There are people watching us.’
Vlad, who had regained his composure, could now see something new.
He saw men lurking in the darkness.
Some of them were familiar faces.
"There are people watching Rose’s Smiles."
They were One-armed Jack’s underlings.
The messed up alley.
The tightly shut Rosa’s smiles.
And underlings of Jack were keeping an eye on that place from across the road.
The pieces of the puzzle were starting to fit together in the boy’s mind.
"There was an attack, but it looks like it’s not over yet."
"Good."
Stanga nodded quietly upon hearing Vlad’s words.
No matter how talented you are with a sword or how clever you might be, if you couldn’t use it in real combat, then both of them were no different from decorations hanging on a wall.
However, the boy in front of him had calmly composed himself with just a few words.
’He’s a promising kid.’
The knight had the desire to properly train the boy, but he was only disappointed that he could not take the boy with him because of his current mission.
"We’ll move separately. I’ll tell you about the back door that only our organization knows."
"What about you?"
"I’m going to use the front door. It’s better to divert attention right now."
Vlad calmly made his decision for the next move.
Stanga, a former knight, might excel in every aspect compared to him, but taking him to Rosa’s smiles was Vlad’s responsibility.
"See you later."
"..... okay."
After explaining the location of the back door to Stanga, Vlad carefully got up.
"This is a first for me."
Vlad shrugged his shoulders as he thought about Jack’s henchmen across the street.
He had always been accustomed to living in hiding, but at this moment, he had to reveal himself.
He has to confidently stand in front of someone and show himself.
He had never experienced such a thing even once in his life, so he was unaware of how to do it.
"Well, I’ll give it a try."
He had always been gifted in that aspect since the day he was born.
Gifted in shining on his own.
Vlad turned around the corner with a puff of breath.
As he took off his hood, his gorgeous blonde hair fluttered though the dim lights of the back alley.
’Look over there!’
’He is the rookie of the Jorge family.’
’Where has he been?’
Gold is eternal and noble.
Yet the color that didn’t match the alley was walking toward Rosa’s smiles.
Step by step.
Vlad walked with a gait that is neither slow nor fast.
To someone unfamiliar, it might have seemed he was walking with confidence, and to someone who knew, it looked like he was walking boldly.
The gazes of those who had been watching Rosa’s smiles were instantly drawn to Vlad.
So, no one could notice the movement of someone in the darkness heading behind Rosa’s smiles.
"Hoo..."
Taking advantage of a moment when the henchmen of Jack were momentarily distracted, Vlad safely stood before Rosa’s smiles.
The front door was firmly closed, despite being scorched and broken here and there.
He was sure but uncertain.
Vlad’s hand trembled slightly as he gripped the door handle, but he didn’t hesitate.
Creak-
An unpleasant sound came from the misaligned latch, and the door Rosa’s smiles opened.
The first person who welcomed Vlad was.
"Hey there, junior. Why did you come so late?"
It was Burleigh, with bandages wrapped around his head.
※※※※
Broken tables, blood-soaked floors.
And corpses lying everywhere.
Although Rosa’s smiles had an elegant charm, it was now a complete mess and resembled a battlefield.
’Marcella is going to faint.’
Vlad quickly turned his head leaving the gruesome scene behind.
He has to find someone.
"Your beloved lady is safe, so don’t worry."
"I’m looking for the boss."
"The boss is always on the fourth floor. What’s up?"
Vlad furrowed as he looked at Burleigh, who was smiling as if he knew everything.
As he climbed up the creaking stairs, a strong smell of blood filled the air.
It was the smell of death.
"Jorge, I’m here."
"Uh. Yeah, good job."
It was also evidence of victory.
As Vlad reached the fourth floor, they saw shirtless Jorge amid numerous corpses.
His blood-stained back looked like a huge mountain.
Vlad breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Jorge, who was injured but seemed fine.
"Sorry I couldn’t be of more help."
"Nah, we all did our part."
Though Jorge spoke kindly, the bandages covering his upper body had already turned red.
Vlad could tell that a fierce battle had taken place.
"Are you okay?"
"It’s been a while since I have faced a knight-level opponent, so this is what happened. Well, at least I did my job."
There was a corpse pinned to the wall by a sword behind Jorge’s back.
The corpse was wearing a splendid breastplate like Jorge, but his head was missing and blood was constantly spewing from the neck.
The toes of the corpse were still twitching, which indicated that this mess had happened not too long ago.
"... as expected, the money bug attacked first. Indeed, those who fight for earning have different types of skills."
Jorge clicked his tongue as he looked at the corpses. Marcella approached him and carefully wiped the blood off with a towel.
It was only natural to provide this level of hospitality to the male lion who protected the territory.
"Did you bring him?"
His eyes, still filled with bloodlust, turned to Vlad.
Fortunately, Vlad had the confidence to answer his harsh question.
"Yes, I brought him. He should be waiting at the back door by now."
"Good!"
Jorge, who always wore a grim expression, was different at this moment.
"I’ll deal with the money bug tomorrow. We need to settle this once and for all."
Jorge’s eyes contained excitement and the anger he had to vent on someone. They were the most ferocious eyes Vlad had ever seen.
"But how did he look? Do you think he’ll handle the sword well? He didn’t flee, right?"
Jorge worried about potential variables.
A knight is different after all.
Vlad thought as he watched Jorge, who was trying to collect himself and worry about tomorrow.
"He looked fine. Even though it was only two days, he seemed to be in good shape."
"Stanga has some extravagant tendencies."
"His body seemed agile too."
"Did he lose weight? Well, you have to take care of yourself to live longer."
"Yes, and..."
Thinking of the sight he had seen under the moonlight, Vlad smiled and replied.
"He knows how to use aura. Tomorrow will definitely be our day."
One-Armed Jack tried a winning move and failed at it.
The current situation is like the waves; if you couldn’t catch it when it came, it would sweep you away again.
Furthermore, although Jorge was injured, he was still strong, and with the addition of another former knight, it was clear to anyone that Jorge would emerge victorious.
"Someone’s coming up."
"What?"
Creak...
As Vlad spoke, the sound of someone coming up from below echoed because of the misaligned plancks of stairs.
"...What did you just say, Vlad?"
Vlad tried to go down the stairs to guide Stanga, but he had no choice but to stop at Jorge’s question. No, it was Jorge’s distorted expression that held Vlad in place.
"What did you just say?"
"Someone is coming up."
"No, before that."
Jorge’s questioning expression hardened as he asked.
"The knight knows how to use aura..... and tomorrow will be our day..."
As Vlad spoke, an expression of defeat appeared on Jorge’s face.
Creak...
At the same time, an ominous creaking sound was getting closer.
"Come behind me, Vlad."
Jorge withdrew his sword from the corpse and ordered Vlad.
The corpse of the knight fell down under Jorge’s feet.
"But I need to guide him..."
"Was it really Stanga?"
Instead of answering Jorge’s question, Vlad turned to look behind him.
An unknown man was coming up through the only staircase to the 4th floor. He came in through a backdoor known only to the members of the organization.
The fresh blood was dripping from the sword of the man.
"So, the one you brought isn’t Stanga, I presume."
An unknown figure came up from the edge of Jorge’s gaze, and at the end of Vlad’s trust.
"Stanga doesn’t know how to use aura."
The unknown man was smiling at them.