XIII. Unleash the Dogs (3)
XIII. Unleash the Dogs (3)
The exhausted and wounded soldiers could not stay long in Rundt.
The village was simply too small, one of the limitations of a frontier settlement at the barren northern edge of the territory.
Though there were clearly many soldiers in need of treatment, the village lacked the space to house them so they could rest.
Close to a hundred able-bodied men had perished in this territorial war. Young men, too, with all their limbs intact.
Manpower was precious at a time like this. If they dallied here any longer, even those who had survived would be in danger.
"We return to Bellam."
So Sir Lothar hurried their return to Bellam.
No one objected. All the knights wished to return to their own fiefs.
The fiefs would have managed well enough in the knights' absence, but if that absence grew too long, the knights' influence would wane. The influence of the village elders could not be ignored.
Besides, no matter how sturdy a knight might be, a prolonged territorial war was exhausting.
Even so, they did not forgo a drinking party to celebrate the victory.
Of course, Keldric, worried about his wounds getting infected, did not touch a drop. At most, he had a few sips of wine to wet his throat.
Which, in other words, meant that the other knights who didn't have to worry about infections got completely and utterly wasted.
"Ugh..."
"...Are you alright?"
Sir Henri's body, draped over his warhorse, swayed from side to side.
Keldric watched him with a disapproving look.
No matter how sturdy or fit a knight was, that had nothing to do with whether he could hold his liquor.
Even by that measure, Sir Henri wasn't bad at drinking. He was rather good at it, in fact.
A cheap bastard obsessed with women and pleasure was hardly likely to be weak to alcohol, and he wasn't.
Yet if even Sir Henri was struggling, steeped in a hangover, then the other knights were beyond words.
"Ughhh..."
"Ah, Sir Henri!"
Sir Henri, swaying atop his horse, clamped a hand over his mouth. His attendants were the ones who suffered for it.
Sir Henri dismounted and vanished from Keldric's sight. Soon, wet splattering sounds followed.
That sour stench was making things even worse for Keldric. He completely lost his appetite.
As he tore off a piece of the jerky he'd been chewing and slipped it into his pocket, his fingers suddenly closed around something inside.
He pulled it out and saw it was a fang that seemed to belong to a beast.
A pure white fang. With beasts that eat raw meat, the root of the fang always turns yellowish, but the one in Keldric's hand had no such discoloration.
There was nothing strange about it. It was the same item that had been left in Keldric's hand after he woke from the dream with the Wolf Demon.
'Can it simply pull out its own teeth like that?'
Keldric was curious. But he was in no position to be worrying about a demon.
Over the past few days, what had been tormenting Keldric was precisely his conversation with that demon.
He remembered everything it had said, yet couldn't understand even a quarter of it.
'Was I always this ignorant?'
Keldric had reached the point of doubting his own level of knowledge.
But lacking any theological knowledge, it was inevitable that his mind would simply reject such talk anyway.
After that day's utterly incomprehensible conversation, he hadn't been able to meet the demon since. He'd just close his eyes, open them, and it would be morning.
Thanks to that, a string of headache-filled days had followed. Keldric gripped the fang tightly.
He didn't hand it over to a priest or throw it away like last time. He figured he might have a use for it somewhere.
☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩
The journey back to Bellam was uneventful.
Though the march was slightly slowed by the wounded, nothing blocked their path.
Which made sense, as the territorial war was already half over.
The reason it was half over was that Baron Gofrit had been captured, and the reason the other half wasn't over was, paradoxically, because Baron Gofrit had been captured.
Baron Gofrit was, fundamentally, a lawful lord. A lord sanctioned by the Emperor himself, no less.
Baron Gofrit was the one who had to accept defeat, but whether he would meekly accept its harsh price remained uncertain.
"My father says he is coming to Bellam."
Because of this, Baron Yaven, who had been constantly ailing, rose from his sickbed.
There was nothing Keldric could do after returning to Bellam.
The confiscation of another baron's title and territory was a matter for high-ranking nobles to discuss among themselves.
Keldric could interject and offer a remark about the distribution of rewards, but at its core, the issue of transferring a title and territory was a complex one.
However, Keldric, as a party involved, did need to know the detailed progress of the matter.
"He will likely have to cede the whole Rhamdus Plain area, as well as Quindal."
Although the two barons and Count Bogenberg would discuss it separately, Sir Lothar, as Baron Yaven's son, offered a reliable prediction.
Keldric studied the still crudely drawn map with a serious expression.
The Rhamdus Plain, and the clay production village at the far eastern edge of the Gofrit Barony, Quindal.
Baron Yaven appeared to want both places. Together, they covered a considerable area.
Keldric recalled the Rhamdus Plain he had seen.
A wide plain covered in snow.
A river also flowed beside it, but any cultivation of crops was a distant prospect due to the harsh cold and snow.
However, some fishing via the river was possible.
There was also a fortress nearby. That, too, would likely fall into Baron Yaven's hands.
Besides that, Quindal was a village that dug up and processed clay.
Clay was common and cheap, so its relative value was low. It did allow inexpensive production of tableware and similar goods, but...
'It can't be helped.'
What could he do? It was also awkward for Keldric to back out suddenly.
No matter how great a contribution Keldric had made, in the end, it was Baron Yaven who had borne the most bleeding.
It was only right that he receive compensation matching that bleeding. The Rhamdus Plain and Quindal were suitable compensation.
"Of course, this too will only become clear once my father arrives. Just take what I say as a reference."
"I will keep it in mind."
The conversation paused for a moment. It was Keldric who broke the awkward silence.
"Sir Lothar, I have something urgent to discuss."
"Hmm? What kind...?"
"It is about Lord Gofrit. I believe there is a need to extract information from him."
The demon's words continued to nag at Keldric.
He hadn't understood a damn thing about anything else it said, but one thing was crystal clear.
'In some way, he is connected to that Flame Emblem.'
That Baron Gofrit might have some kind of connection to the Flame Emblem, and further, to those who worship that emblem.
It was best to avoid needless suspicion, but if he made that assumption, the story fit together far too well.
Baron Gofrit had essentially been scheming as Count Rasau's puppet.
If that Count Rasau sought to disrupt Count Bogenberg, who stood in his way, then Jamash and Jacober's act would indeed have been the most covert and effective.
And coincidentally, the Flame Emblem they possessed was also found on the wizard belonging to Baron Gofrit's forces.
"Extract information? What do you mean by that?"
"Well..."
Keldric briefly summarized and explained this story.
He cut out what needed to be cut, and roughly glossed over anything related to the Wolf Demon to make it sound plausible.
As he continued his explanation in that manner, Sir Lothar's face was soon overtaken by horror.
"How can that... Is that true?"
"I swear to God, there is no falsehood in it."
It was true. He hadn't told a lie. He had just glossed over it.
"Good God... O Lord..."
Sir Lothar clasped his hands and began murmuring a prayer.
Though his theological knowledge was shallow, it was a reaction befitting an era deeply intertwined with religion.
"If that is truly the case... Lord Bogenberg won't even need to make a great affair of it."
Sir Lothar swallowed and spoke. Keldric still couldn't follow.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what I said. If he is tied to something pagan, as you say, the Church will raise all sorts of hell. Then the process of you receiving the title will also be smooth."
In other words, it provided excellent justification.
In truth, no matter how powerful Count Bogenberg was, it was clearly a burdensome task to oust a baron who was still legitimately holding his title.
However, if Baron Gofrit was connected to something wicked and pagan, it would practically be smooth sailing.
"Lord Gofrit and his family would also have their fate settled."
"An execution?"
"No, not execution... We should preserve their dignity. That would be too barbaric."
Sir Lothar made a sour face. Keldric was dumbfounded.
'Since when were they so gentlemanly...?'
This was an era where slaughtering thousands of pagans wasn't really considered slaughter.
If he was connected to such things, it would be a mortal sin, and so Keldric had suspected they would just kill him.
"He would swear fealty to Lord Bogenberg instead, or... be sent to a monastery. Though at that point, death might be preferable."
A monastery.
For ruined nobles, the place was another name for a prison.
Once someone entered, they often never emerged again. They would spend the rest of their life in penance.
The Church disliked monasteries being used as mere punishment, but became far more accommodating when nobles made an appropriate "donation."
"A monastery would be appropriate to eliminate future troubles."
"What of his family?"
"Lord Gofrit's family... Their treatment will be for you to decide."
Whether to send them likewise to a monastery, or grant them some small village and let them live quietly.
According to Sir Lothar, most people chose the latter.
And even then, it was said that the family almost never swore revenge.
"They will consider themselves fortunate merely to survive, given their connection to heresy."
"..."
Keldric nodded calmly.
This seemed to be an issue requiring deep consideration.
To begin with, it was a bit of an overreaction to be discussing this when he hadn't even received the title yet.
"And..."
Sir Lothar slowly opened his mouth, then trailed off. Keldric blinked.
"Yes?"
"...Thank you again. You saved my life, and Sir Rutger's as well."
"It was nothing."
It hadn't been nothing. The pain from the arrow wound was enough to give Keldric a headache.
Still, he couldn't whine pathetically and ruin the image. A cheap man was made by cheap behavior.
Keldric was not a cheap person. Nor did he want to become one.
☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩
Out of respect for his status, Baron Gofrit was assigned a guest room inside Bellam Castle.
Of course, it could not be helped that soldiers stood constant guard in shifts before his door.
"He is staying in a rather nice place, considering."
"Hmm..."
Keldric visited the place together with Alisa. It was to ask about the matter of the Flame Emblem.
He also wanted to see Alisa's reaction. The Wizard she sought might be deeply involved.
When he dismissed the soldiers for a moment and entered the room, there was Baron Gofrit, sprawled out comfortably taking a nap.
Loud snoring echoed through the room. Keldric frowned.
'What the hell is this...?'
He had suffered consecutive defeats in the territorial war and been beaten to a pulp, yet he slept soundly through all this.
Baron Gofrit, having been beaten by Keldric, was not in perfect condition.
His ribs were cracked and his nose broken, forcing a renowned barber in Bellam to reset it.
Even that had involved considerable trial and error, as the man lacked truly specialized knowledge.
However, at least to Keldric's eyes, the Baron Gofrit before him looked fairly intact. Except for the fact that he occasionally shivered and talked in his sleep.
"Mmmgh..."
As though having a bad dream, Baron Gofrit let out a groan of pain.
When Keldric tapped him on the shoulder with his fist, Baron Gofrit's whole body shuddered as if in a spasm, and he bolted upright.
"A-aargh!"
Keldric instinctively looked at Alisa. Alisa also looked back at Keldric, her large eyes blinking cutely.
'What is wrong with this man?'
'I have no idea.'
During their brief, silent exchange, Baron Gofrit, who had mostly woken up, finally discovered Keldric.
"Y-you are..."
"It is regrettable to meet you like this. Lord Gofrit."
"..."
"Our relationship is hardly cordial, but I came because we have something important to discuss."
Baron Gofrit's face contorted in humiliation.
He had remembered the day Keldric beat him mercilessly.
Whether he noticed or not, Keldric acted as if nothing was wrong and pulled out something tightly wrapped in linen cloth.
The moment the cloth rustled loose and revealed what was inside.
"I will get straight to the point. Do you know what this is?"
Keldric saw it.
The moment he saw the disc clearly engraved with the Flame Emblem, Baron Gofrit's eyes shook uncontrollably.
"...Hic."
And Alisa, who had begun hiccupping strangely.