X. The Battle of Schapendorf (8)
X. The Battle of Schapendorf (8)
The camp was halfway to a festival.
Here and there, men drank cheap liquor, sang merrily, or danced with abandon.
Every one of them was a surviving mercenary or soldier. The knights let them revel in victory.
"The wine has run out, I tell you!"
"Bring more, quickly!"
If anything, the knights had decided that was a fine idea and started drinking too.
They had spent the bright daylight killing people, yet the moment night fell, food and drink went down without a hitch. Even after seeing it with his own eyes, Keldric could not quite make sense of it.
Still, Keldric did not judge them. A battle that had seemed difficult had turned in their favor; no wonder they were elated.
Keldric watched the laughing, boisterous soldiers. Among them were a few familiar faces, like men from the Ram Mercenary Company.
They had all survived. Maybe that relief was why the liquor went down so easily.
"Sir Keldric! Have a drink! I wish to raise a toast to Sir Keldric's glorious deeds!"
"Thank you. You were splendid yourself."
Naturally, Keldric could not help feeling a little giddy himself.
Sir Henri approached with a cup brimming with wine. Keldric accepted it and drank with a smile.
The sour, bitter wine filled his mouth, and the corner of his lips twitched. Noticing, Sir Henri gave him a light clap on the shoulder.
"Sir Keldric, everyone is gathering in Sir Rutger's tent. Why don't you join us?"
"I..."
Keldric looked past Henri at the tautly pitched tent beyond him. Henri followed his gaze.
"Sorry. I have something else to do."
"Ah... Sir Gerhard?"
Sir Gerhard. It was the tent where he was staying.
As the knight who had personally captured him, Keldric held the right to collect Sir Gerhard's ransom.
But the actual capture had amounted to soldiers finding Gerhard on a battlefield where the fighting was already over. From Keldric's perspective, he was little more than an unexpected windfall that had come with rescuing Sir Rutger.
That did not change the fact that Keldric had been the one to take him down.
And Keldric had yet to exchange a single word with him.
"Do you intend to negotiate the ransom?"
"Well... more or less."
"In that case, Sir Keldric, I shall teach you a very fine method."
"...And what might that be?"
Keldric took a sip of his wine with a dubious expression.
Henri offering advice did not inspire confidence.
"When collecting a ransom, you do not have to take only money. If the house is poor, they often cannot pay the full amount."
"For a knightly house without a fief, that would certainly be so."
"House Olenmayer has a fief."
The Emperor had granted House Olenmayer a hereditary knighthood.
The accompanying fief had belonged to Count Rasau, who carved it out of his own lands for them.
"But they are a new house. How much money could they possibly have?"
"What should I do, then?"
"Take everything you can squeeze out of them. They will not want to cast aside a knight like Gerhard."
Keldric nodded slowly. Henri's reasoning made sense.
Keldric had genuinely felt threatened when they fought—an exceedingly rare experience.
He could still faintly recall the rush of blood and the extreme exhilaration and tension.
If Gerhard could make even Keldric feel that way, House Olenmayer, only just establishing itself, could not afford to abandon him.
Even if it were not Gerhard, any house ought to make every effort to ransom one of its knights...
"Well, don't worry too much. If Gerhard has honor and understands chivalry, he will pay the price of his freedom."
Keldric nodded without a word.
But he could not sit around waiting for the money to roll in.
If you wanted money, you had to get your heavy ass up and go after it.
"I'll be going now."
"I wish you good results."
"Thank you."
And that also meant Keldric could not avoid a conversation with Sir Gerhard.
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"You really are a monster."
Those were the first words Keldric heard the moment he stepped into the tent.
Keldric's expression immediately soured. Gerhard, sitting quietly inside, ignored him and sipped his wine.
He was a prisoner in name only. Judging by his treatment, he might as well have been another knight traveling with them.
That was customary. Captured knights were treated as well as possible, even as prisoners, out of respect for their honor and their resolve to fight to the end.
"May I sit?"
Even so, Keldric treated Gerhard with scrupulous courtesy.
Gerhard looked slightly taken aback.
No matter how much knights respected the honor of other knights, there were limits.
Honor was one thing, but plenty of hotheaded, petty knights could not hold a civil conversation with someone they had just traded blows with.
This case was no different.
Even if treating captured knights well was customary, few people could act as though nothing had happened with someone they had been trying to kill only hours earlier.
At best, Keldric was good at separating business from personal feelings. At worst, he was shameless.
Yet Sir Gerhard did not seem to dislike Keldric's attitude.
The brows that had been raised stiffly in suspicion relaxed.
As far as Keldric was concerned, he was simply entering someone else's tent and had observed basic courtesy.
"Y-yes... of course."
"Then excuse me."
Keldric sat down opposite Sir Gerhard, and one more cup filled with wine was added to the modest table.
After that, silence hung between them for a while.
Gerhard quietly sipped his wine while Keldric gnawed on the tough jerky he had brought as a snack.
As the awkward silence dragged on, Gerhard was the one who finally managed to speak first.
"...First, let me congratulate you on your victory."
"Thank you. You lost, but you fought honorably."
"Thank you for saying so."
And then, silence again.
Neither was shy. The problem was simply that Gerhard was a knight from a newly founded house, while Keldric had little experience with this sort of thing.
Leaving after doing nothing but sharing a drink would have been awkward. Keldric wet his throat with wine and finally spoke.
"Sir Gerhard, I would like to discuss your ransom."
"Ah, yes. My ransom."
Sir Gerhard nodded as if he understood. The sour smell of liquor wafted with the motion.
"I will be blunt, Sir Keldric."
"I am listening."
"My house does not have the means to pay my ransom."
What followed was exactly as Sir Henri had said.
House Olenmayer was a new house. Although Count Rasau had granted them a fief, in truth they had yet to properly collect taxes from it even once.
Therefore, every member of the house was traveling here and there to increase their wealth, and Baron Gofrit had lent money to House Olenmayer.
That was also why Sir Gerhard had fought under Baron Gofrit. Keldric listened quietly to his story.
"So my house cannot afford to pay you my ransom."
"...What is your reason for telling me this?"
Keldric was puzzled. Everything Gerhard said worked against his own interests.
So Keldric had captured him. Congratulations. But Gerhard did not have a single coin. What was Keldric supposed to do now?
A knight with a nastier temper would have had every right to curse him out on the spot.
Sir Gerhard's answer was simple.
"Because if I lied about my ransom, I would disgrace my honor."
Honor. In the end, that was what held him back.
Keldric understood. Plenty of knights valued their honor more than their lives.
If Gerhard got free on the pretext of fetching his ransom and then fled, not a single noble in the empire would ever want a knight from House Olenmayer again.
That was what honor amounted to. It was effectively a knight's livelihood.
"You are an honorable man."
"It is only natural."
Keldric's opinion of Gerhard rose a notch.
From a knight who was good in a fight to a knight who at least respected basic professional ethics.
"Then, how do you intend to pay your ransom?"
"..."
But that was one thing, and the ransom was another.
Keldric had no intention of letting the matter slide. It was not that he was desperate for money, but it was right to collect what was due to him.
Gerhard clicked his tongue at Keldric's miserly attitude.
"Sir Keldric, do you have household members who depend on you?"
"I have household members, but I am not obligated to support them."
"Then you already live in an established settlement."
Was that where this was going? Keldric struggled to follow the logic.
"That... could be seen that way. But what does that have to do with your ransom, sir?"
"Sir Keldric, I have people who depend on me."
Gerhard became utterly serious. A hint of desperation entered his steady eyes.
"My house... especially my family, cannot bear any more burden. The debt we already owe Baron Gofrit is substantial."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Sir Keldric. I wish to pay my ransom in a somewhat different manner."
"..."
Keldric set down his wine and gestured for him to continue.
"First, once I pay my ransom and am released, I will not raid Baron Yaven's lands."
"That sounds like a foregone conclusion."
"Perhaps. But I mean that even if Baron Gofrit orders me to plunder them, I will follow my honor instead."
Keldric nodded calmly.
He seemed to be taking a very long way around an obvious point, but Keldric decided to hear him out.
"Fine. But what do you intend to offer in place of the ransom?"
"My word and my honor."
'Is he trying to con me?'
Keldric could not help thinking that.
It was beginning to sound like a con, which naturally put him on guard.
"More precisely... yes. If we meet again on a battlefield, I will accommodate you once."
"Oh..."
In other words, Gerhard would withdraw without fighting.
It did not sound especially impressive coming from the defeated man currently at his mercy.
Still, a chance to gain the advantage without a fight was valuable. Keldric's interest was piqued.
"I swear on my honor. And I will repay the unpaid ransom in full later."
"Are you asking to defer the due date of the ransom?"
"Precisely."
Keldric considered for a moment.
There was no real need to think. Keldric could have told him to fuck off, grabbed him by the collar, and demanded the money without anyone objecting.
What Keldric was actually considering was Gerhard's character.
Showing mercy was good. But was it worth taking a financial loss?
"Please..."
Their eyes met. The desperation in Gerhard's grew deeper.
There was no trace of deception in them.
"Then can you pay extra to account for the delay?"
"That is..."
Sir Gerhard pondered. Keldric waited for him.
By the time the wine cup glinted in the torchlight and the singing outside had quieted somewhat—
"I will try. But I promise I will not give up. On my honor."
Whether in installments or with interest, he would repay it.
It would remain a debt, and a written note would leave him no room to wriggle out.
Even if Sir Gerhard unilaterally failed to pay the ransom, that would be a fatal blow to the standing of House Olenmayer, which was only just beginning to rise.
And if he failed, Keldric might even have grounds for a lawful claim against Count Rasau.
If Gerhard did pay, Keldric had nothing to lose.
"Then we will do that."
Keldric nodded willingly.
Keldric disliked losing money, but this arrangement did not seem like a loss.
"Sir Keldric... Thank you, truly!"
Gerhard beamed. Relief at having one less burden shone plainly on his face.
In that face, Keldric glimpsed the anguish of someone responsible for others.
Someday, Keldric too would have to take responsibility for something.
For now, he merely borrowed his house's reputation. A greater name—and the responsibility that came with it—would weigh far more heavily.
'Responsibility...'
Sipping his wine, Keldric continued turning over that difficult yet simple word.
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The dark sky began to turn blue.
Keldric stepped outside the encampment, breathing in the cold air of dawn.
He was not there merely to get some air, but to see off Gerhard after accepting his promise to pay.
A number of soldiers watched this with puzzled expressions.
They had captured a knight only to let him go; the soldiers were wondering when Keldric had possibly collected the ransom.
"Sir Keldric. I shall keep my promise without fail."
"I trust in your honor, sir."
Keldric simply stared blankly after Gerhard as he slowly rode away.
The fields were blanketed in white, but the battlefield where they had fought tooth and nail the previous day had been churned into bare earth in places.
Gerhard rode across it, heading west.
That road would lead to Baron Gofrit's lands, then Count Rasau's.
Gerhard's 'home'—the one he was responsible for—lay there.
"Sir Keldric! Has Sir Gerhard already paid his ransom?!"
Henri ran over in a panic. Keldric shrugged.
"We agreed I would get it later, with a little extra."
"How can you trust a knight from a new house? He probably doesn't even understand honor!"
Keldric shifted his gaze slightly northward. The mountain range, veiled in pure white mist and clouds, lay there.
"If he does not shirk responsibility, that makes him honorable."
"Well, that's..."
If he followed the mountains, he would eventually reach Carlton Village, where all eighteen years of Keldric's life were steeped.
The only place ruled by House Bellaf where people he could call family lived.
"Perhaps, I too have been quietly shirking responsibility without realizing it."
Keldric thought of that place for the first time in a long while.
He also remembered the old servant who had taken responsibility for his childhood.