XIII. Unleash the Dogs (1)
XIII. Unleash the Dogs (1)
The bloody struggle on the Rhamdus Plain produced sixty-five dead.
Of those, twelve were cavalrymen, and two were knights.
There were even more wounded, and Sir Lothar's army, its available strength reduced, had no choice but to halt its advance again.
But as for whether there was only loss and no gain, at least in Keldric's eyes, that was not the case.
"Lord Gofrit. It has been a long time."
"..."
The greatest prize was the capture of Baron Gofrit alive.
Baron Gofrit's face was a ruin. Not even empty flattery could call him unharmed.
His broken nose was crusted with dried blood, while his swollen eyes and face were bruised dark blue.
A wretched spectacle, yet somehow or other he still drew breath.
"Judging by your face, my lord, it looks like you've had one hell of a time."
"...Sir Lothar. The treatment due a prisoner—"
"While you set our lands ablaze."
Sir Lothar spoke in a drawl, the corner of his mouth curling up. Baron Gofrit, his limbs tightly bound, could offer no reply worth the name and simply kept silent.
Meanwhile, Keldric, freshly returned from receiving treatment inside the tent, watched the scene with a thoroughly discomfited expression.
'It's stiff.'
The muscles around his shoulder blade, where the arrow had struck, were terribly stiff. The occasional sharp stab of pain felt alien.
How long had it been since he had felt pain like this? It might have been the first time.
He had only just managed a hollow laugh at the absurd fact when Sir Rutger, who had likewise just been treated, entered the tent.
"Sir Lothar."
"Ah, Sir Rutger. I was just about to send for you."
"Yes?"
"I must inform my father. Prepare a messenger and send word. News this good may help him recover faster."
Sir Lothar spoke while digging at his ear with a finger. Sir Rutger nodded in bewilderment, then went back outside.
"And... Sir Keldric?"
"Yes. Sir Lothar."
"Come over here. Do not strain yourself... Yes, someone bring another chair!"
A short while later, an attendant brought a chair and propped Keldric's legs on it.
Settled into an exceedingly comfortable position, Keldric stared in confusion. Sir Lothar had become a little... no, very strange.
Before, Sir Lothar's eyes had been vacant, and he had acted as though there wasn't a thought in his head. He had also avoided Keldric ever since Keldric slapped him.
Yet one battle had changed him.
He looked almost desperate to treat Keldric far better than before.
"I intend to record your deeds in detail and send the account to my father. Rest assured, no one shall diminish the merit you have earned."
"...Ah, yes. Thank you."
The only person likely to diminish Keldric's achievements had been Sir Lothar himself.
Now that even Sir Lothar was suddenly treating him kindly, Keldric could only accept the baffling goodwill with some discomfort.
There was no reason to reject another person's goodwill.
"So, Sir Keldric. What should be done with this fellow?"
He was no longer even addressed as "Lord Gofrit." Baron Gofrit's face twisted with humiliation.
"It may be difficult to do everything you ask, but I intend to give your opinion considerable weight."
Whatever anyone might say, it was Keldric who had captured Baron Gofrit.
Keldric, too, found no great objection to that logic. Having his opinion somewhat accepted was in itself an excellent condition.
Truth be told, he did want to kill the man. This was the one whose cunning trick had led Yakov to his death.
But no matter that Keldric had captured him, he could not simply say fuck it and tear his head off.
"I..."
Keldric could not readily open his mouth.
Originally, the ultimate reward of this territorial war was the title of Baron Gofrit itself.
In other words, it was no different from stripping Baron Gofrit, seated before his eyes, of everything.
He could not decide whether it was wise to say that in front of Sir Lothar and Baron Gofrit himself.
The fact that the original contract had not stipulated Baron Gofrit's capture alive was also an issue. The terms stated in the original contract were limited to 'when the baronial castle of the Barony of Gofrit is taken.'
It was, of course, close to wordplay, but to assume such a thing would not happen even in a contract between nobles was far too optimistic a thought.
Keldric was not an especially optimistic man, so he proceeded with the utmost caution.
He did not even know, in the first place, whether it was possible to seize the title of a noble who was still plainly alive.
This was best left to Count Bogenberg and Baron Yaven.
Having reached that decision, Keldric quickly organized his thoughts and spoke.
"It does not seem to be a matter I may presume to judge. It will be a matter for Lord Yaven and Lord Bogenberg to discuss."
"Hmm... You have a point."
There was also a problem with Keldric swallowing the entire Barony of Gofrit whole.
No matter that it was stipulated in the contract with Count Bogenberg, it was unreasonable for Baron Yaven, who had in fact shed the most blood, to hand over everything to Keldric without a word of complaint.
Of course, the territorial war would have been far more difficult without Keldric, but...
'That does not become an indulgence.'
No matter which history one examined, the person who achieved the most in war did not take everything.
They merely received the largest cut.
Without Sir Lothar's army, Keldric could not have done it either. They had helped each other, so Keldric could not reasonably claim everything.
"Even so, I cannot stand by and watch him live in unspoiled comfort."
"Hrk..."
Keldric's deep blue eyes gleamed coldly. Meeting them, Baron Gofrit flinched and trembled.
Keldric had no intention of washing his hands of Baron Gofrit merely because he would rely on Baron Yaven and Count Bogenberg's judgment.
He wanted to strip away everything he could—rank, land, wealth... all of it.
That would be the most wretched and agonizing punishment for Baron Gofrit.
Keldric dimly recalled the time he had made Fritz a cripple.
Men of the North repaid grudges tenfold.
Keldric was the exception.
He was the sort to repay a grudge a hundredfold.
And Baron Gofrit was no exception to that. No, it was far more than with others.
A hundredfold, what of it. He would repay a thousandfold. That was Keldric's courtesy toward Yakov.
"I, too, shall explain this well to my father. I hope the discussion with Lord Bogenberg goes well."
"Thank you."
"Not at all. I have kept you overlong. Go and rest well. We shall soon return to Rundt."
As the situation had ended so abruptly, everything was uncertain.
Yet even amid this uncertain and tangled situation, one thing was clear.
"The territorial war is over with this."
Baron Gofrit had been captured, so the territorial war was, in effect, concluded.
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The greatest catch was indeed Baron Gofrit, but there were prisoners of comparable significance.
The knights who had followed Baron Gofrit were precisely those. Keldric looked silently toward the several tents set up separately to one side.
Several familiar faces were waiting endlessly before those tents. They were Baron Gofrit's knights.
Among them, Keldric's eyes met those of the exceptionally large Sir Gerhard.
Sir Gerhard gave a wordless nod. Keldric returned the nod in answer.
There was no need to speak at length. Keldric was considering releasing Sir Gerhard mercifully.
He would receive the previous ransom in time anyway. If he wrung out everything here, Gerhard might not even be able to pay that debt, and the resentment would only deepen.
That would be a foolish act. To be blinded by money and cast aside the future was not, at least, something Keldric should do.
Besides, Sir Gerhard had not hindered Keldric as promised, so his goodwill toward the man had grown quite deep.
What would become of Sir Gerhard? At least, he would not bear the disgrace of having betrayed his liege lord.
Before protecting his liege, Gerhard had merely kept the promise he had made on his honor.
No one particularly blamed Sir Gerhard. Even if he had intervened, the outcome would hardly have changed.
"Sir Keldric!"
As Keldric was thus quietly gathering his thoughts, Sir Henri, approaching from afar, waved pleasantly.
"Sir Henri. Are you all right?"
"...Isn't that what I should be saying?"
As Sir Henri said, Keldric's body could not, even as empty words, be called good.
The deepest wound was where the arrow had struck the muscles around his shoulder blade.
He also had wounds on his arm from blocking spear thrusts, along with scratches and bruises across his abdomen and the back of his neck.
Still, the bleeding had been lighter than expected, so there was no great cause for concern.
"It is awfully stiff."
"For it to end with mere stiffness... I hardly know what to say."
Sir Henri stuck out his tongue. Then he immediately nodded as if it were of no great importance.
He was simply concluding—yes, Sir Keldric had always been such a man.
"What business brings you?"
"Well... I came to check on your condition, and there is also someone who wishes to see you."
"Me?"
Keldric tilted his head. A person who suddenly wished to see him—the words were incomprehensible.
Yet immediately afterward, seeing the face that appeared from behind Sir Henri, he could not help but understand.
"...Sir Keldric."
"Alisa."
Even at a glance, Alisa's state was a sight. Her utterly haggard appearance was undoubtedly the result of having overused her magic.
Just as Keldric was about to ask after her with concern, Alisa spoke first.
"Are your... injuries all right?"
"Ah, well... I'm fine. A few days of rest should see me healed."
"I am relieved."
"And you, are you all right?"
"I am all right. Thank you for your concern."
A peculiar current flowed. Keldric gave an awkward, hollow cough.
Alisa's gaze, thickly clouded with worry, was so burdensome he could die of it.
"Kehm! I shall be off, then."
Sir Henri read the mood and tactfully left. The passing soldiers also gave the two of them a wide berth.
Keldric realized the area around them had fallen quiet.
That already awkward, ticklish feeling only worsened once the surroundings grew still.
He felt he should say something, but no words came. How long did he stand there, merely working his mouth?
"Sir Keldric."
"Hm?"
Alisa abruptly opened her mouth. Keldric's gaze turned toward her.
"Did you happen to see a Wizard in Baron Gofrit's camp?"
"A Wizard?"
Come to think of it, Alisa had come here with him while searching for a Wizard.
Keldric thought it over carefully. Baron Gofrit's encampment—that place had been a scene of slaughter, of frantically shattering and killing.
One of the men Keldric had killed indiscriminately might have been a Wizard.
But even that was uncertain, and Keldric, having pondered a moment, soon shook his head.
"I don't think I personally saw a Wizard."
"...I see."
"But another knight may have captured or killed one. We should check once daylight comes."
"I appreciate that, but you need not trouble yourself so much."
"Not so. You are my—"
Keldric's words caught in his throat. What was Alisa to Keldric? A friend? A comrade?
"...a companion I have traveled with. Do not feel so indebted."
Keldric chose the most appropriate word.
For some reason, Alisa's expression stiffened slightly.
"A companion... Yes. That is what we are."
"..."
"Thank you. As soon as day breaks, I will help search for the Wizard."
"Y-yes. Do that."
Alisa's expression as she hurried back to the tent was markedly different from usual.
She looked somewhat sullen, perhaps even a little petulant...
Keldric's thoughts were just as tangled, so their conversation ended there.
'A companion. A companion, huh.'
Even after returning to the tent, Keldric kept turning over the word he had spoken until it was time to sleep.
A relationship defined as companionship.
Would it be greedy to want something more?
He did not know. Exhausted by the battle, his consciousness soon began to blur and float away.
He resolved to search for traces of the Wizard at daybreak and, if none could be found, question Baron Gofrit.
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"Every time I get a chance to rest..."
Keldric, opening his eyes in the familiar void, flung himself straight onto the floor.
As he lay quietly with his eyes thus shut, before he knew it something hot carefully touched his ear.
'Pup, now I'm starting to get fond of you.'
Keldric opened his shut eyes. The acrid smells of fire and sour sulfur prickled his nose stingingly.
"Oh, you came?"
[ ...You have certainly made yourself at home now, Warrior. ]
"It is not as if I come here once or twice."
The familiar Black Wolf was looking at Keldric in a discomfited manner.