XIII. Unleash the Dogs (4)
XIII. Unleash the Dogs (4)
Over the past eighteen years, Keldric had become convinced of one thing.
The Church was a mountain, one that almost no one dared challenge.
This was no mere axiom confined to the Empire—it held true across the entire continent.
The Church was absolute. Cross it, and you weren't merely screwed—you were finished.
"I will get straight to the point. Do you know what this is?"
And so, when he thrust the flame emblem before Baron Gofrit—
"...How did you come to possess that?"
Keldric was certain. Baron Gofrit knew more than he was letting on.
"Must I disclose even that?"
"That is... no, you couldn't possibly..."
Baron Gofrit kept glancing at Keldric with a grave expression. Confusion made his pupils tremble wildly.
Keldric held the flame emblem out and silently waited for an answer. Even while doing so, when he glanced to the side...
"..."
There was Alisa, her expression somber, looking back and forth between Keldric and the disc.
She let her eyes wander distractedly for a moment, lost in thought, then froze when she belatedly met Keldric's deep blue gaze.
Thanks to the demon's advice, Keldric already knew Alisa was somehow connected to this flame emblem.
But only one thing needed to be established. Was Alisa in league with those who bore this flame emblem—or had she been in the past?
'I can't tell.'
Though Alisa was visibly shaken, there was nothing Keldric could be sure of, at least not right at this moment.
Keldric turned his gaze back to Baron Gofrit.
If he couldn't gain certainty from Alisa, he should focus on Baron Gofrit, who plainly knew something.
"Lord Gofrit. I'll ask again. Do you know this emblem?"
"That's... the symbol of the Ember School, is it not?"
Baron Gofrit answered, his eyebrows twitching. This time, Keldric was the one slightly taken aback.
He'd expected evasion or lies, yet the answer came far too readily.
"The Ember School... It was once a renowned school of magic at Genovella Academia."
Baron Gofrit spoke smoothly, as if it were nothing of consequence—as if there had never been any need or intention to hide it.
Keldric grew even more bewildered, but barely kept it from showing.
"A renowned magical school—'was'?"
"Because it no longer exists. I heard Genovella Academia expelled the Ember School. They didn't forbid its teachings outright, but..."
Baron Gofrit trailed off. For the first time, his eyes shifted cautiously.
Keldric vaguely perceived that Baron Gofrit had no intention of telling him everything.
That wasn't grounds for complaint. Defeated and captured, the man had already revealed more than Keldric could reasonably expect.
"If you know more, speak. It's a matter of considerable importance."
"You are Sir Keldric of House Bellaf, were you not? Do not be so naive. If you expect something from me, should you not offer something in return?"
Baron Gofrit said it with a faint smile. Keldric felt a small surge of irritation.
But he couldn't simply harm a captive, especially one who was a landed noble.
If he did, condemnation wouldn't fall on Keldric but on Sir Lothar and, by extension, Baron Yaven.
"...Speak your terms."
"First, the price for losing the territorial war—allow me to pay it at my own discretion—"
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that. Say something reasonable."
But when Baron Gofrit grew greedy like this, Keldric had no choice but to stand firm.
Keldric had ridden all this way for the sole purpose of stripping Baron Gofrit of everything. It was no exaggeration to say so.
And that was indeed what would happen. For he meant to take Baron Gofrit's rank and land.
Rank and land are a lord's everything. Deprived of those two, a lord was nothing at all. You might as well call him just a man of somewhat noble standing from down the road.
"Sir Keldric. I'll overlook how you beat me senseless before. But if you keep coming at me with such an obstinate attitude, both you and I will be in a difficult position."
"There is nothing difficult about it. You lost the territorial war, and the price will be heavy."
"Wouldn't a little compensation settle it? The thought of fattening that bastard Devanu Mikesh's purse pains me, but..."
Evidently, Baron Gofrit didn't grasp the gravity of the situation.
Keldric couldn't tell whether he was genuinely ignorant or pretending. It was the second thing he couldn't be certain about.
"Lord Gofrit, we've come this far, so I'll speak plainly. You will soon be stripped of every title and position."
"...What do you mean?"
Baron Gofrit wore a dumbfounded expression.
He truly knew nothing. At least, that was how it appeared right now.
"You hired Wizards of the Ember School, did you not?"
"Y-yes. The fellow approached me first. He seemed a useful man at a reasonable price, so I didn't hesitate to hire him either."
Baron Gofrit began talking freely.
It wasn't because Keldric had threatened or manipulated him, but because the threat to his status had made him anxious.
"Then what of those you sent to Bogenberg?"
Keldric asked with a deliberately grave expression. Baron Gofrit only blinked at him in silence for a while.
It was as though another unfamiliar subject had caught him off guard.
"...Bogenberg? Why bring up that place?"
"Do you truly not know? Or are you pretending ignorance?"
"No. I don't know everything that happens in the world. I'm not some cloistered scholar."
Keldric was at a loss for words. Irritating as it was, he had a point.
One possibility welled up in Keldric's mind. What if—even Baron Gofrit did not know the true identity of the people calling themselves the Ember School?
'Does that even make sense?'
Before accepting that possibility, Keldric reconsidered it. Could it be true? Yes, it could.
Demon worshipers could have disguised themselves as the Ember School and approached an unsuspecting Baron Gofrit.
Baron Gofrit would have welcomed the chance to hire a reasonably capable Wizard. Wizards were precious assets on a battlefield.
If so, it also made sense that he knew nothing of the incident at Bogenberg.
Baron Gofrit had never been deeply connected to these Ember School types in the first place.
"Your words are difficult to trust."
Keldric did not believe him immediately. No, he could not.
Baron Gofrit was a thoroughly vicious man. Raiding the land of a neighboring lord who was practically a sworn enemy was something everyone did.
The problem was that he had chosen Carlton Village as a target.
Keldric intended to protect what lay behind him.
He could overlook many things, but not Yakov dying as a result. He didn't want to accept that.
"N-no, Sir Keldric. More importantly, finish what you were saying. What will happen to my rank?"
"You will lose it. Your fief will become unclaimed land, and your patent of nobility will be revoked."
"What in the...!"
Baron Gofrit seemed not to know the identity of those who called themselves the Ember School.
And Keldric, at least in broad terms, did know their identity.
'Should I keep this from him?'
The real question was not whether it was worth concealing, but whether it had to be concealed.
No. After a moment's thought, Keldric shook his head.
Measured by rarity, the information was rare enough, but it was hardly a trump card that needed to be hidden.
"Lord Gofrit, I'll come straight to the point. The Ember School Wizard you hired is a heretic."
"...A heretic, you say?"
Horror drained every trace of color from Baron Gofrit's face.
That gave Keldric partial confirmation: Baron Gofrit had not known their true nature.
He couldn't call the man stupid for it. Without the demon's advice, Keldric wouldn't have known either.
Now that the story had taken this turn, the matter had grown a little complicated. Keldric's brow furrowed slightly.
If Baron Gofrit was not behind them, who had ordered Jamash and Jacober to carry out the attack in Bogenberg?
Keldric recalled Jacober, who should be under interrogation in Bogenberg.
Because Jacober was senseless by day and lucid only at night, the interrogation had been delayed, and Keldric had left before receiving answers.
By now, useful information should have been extracted. Using it was Count Bogenberg's responsibility.
Besides, to be cold about it... were the incident in Bogenberg and Sir Ortvin's affairs truly Keldric's concern?
Ultimately, that too was a problem for the Count of Bogenberg to consider.
Keldric had received favors, and so he was asking in part to repay that goodwill. He was also personally curious.
"They are heretics. At the very least, they appear to worship something malevolent."
"Th-that can't be... Are you saying I hired a heretical Wizard?"
"That's roughly how it stands."
Despair flooded Baron Gofrit's face. It wasn't an exaggerated reaction.
Watching him, Keldric felt satisfied yet somehow unsettled.
What did it mean to become entangled with heretics? It meant being completely fucked.
Given the circumstances of his rank, Baron Gofrit probably wouldn't be burned at the stake by the Church.
However, if things continued this way, there was a very strong possibility he'd be confined to a monastery for life under the pretext of perpetual penance.
That suited Keldric perfectly. It was a satisfying way to settle matters.
He didn't relish allowing the tenacious life responsible for Yakov's death to continue, but imagining the man suffering unwanted abstinence and discipline in a monastery was deeply satisfying.
Even so, one source of unease refused to fade...
'The Ember School...'
The Ember School. He hadn't managed to learn a thing about their true nature.
At most, he knew their name and the academia to which they had once belonged. In practice, he knew little beyond the name.
The Ember School of Genovella Academia—that was the public identity used by those who carved the emblem into their bodies.
They had been expelled from the academia for some reason, but the reason was unknown.
Still, uncovering their public identity was a worthwhile gain, and Keldric used that to soothe his dissatisfaction.
"I need hear no more."
Keldric rose. Alisa, whose expression had gone rigid, rose with him.
When the two moved to leave, Baron Gofrit forgot his dignity and seized Keldric by the trouser leg.
"S-Sir Keldric! You can influence what happens to me, can you not?! At least spare my life! I swear to God, I have never once forsaken my faith!"
"That is for the Church to judge. Let go."
"I beg you! I have been wronged!"
Baron Gofrit clearly feared the hot pyre the Church might prepare for him.
It was understandable. For those tied to heresy, burning was usually the prescribed answer.
Water might know the answer, but fire burned away even the question seeking it.
The answer would remain unknown, but once the question disappeared, no answer was needed.
"Wronged, you say?"
"Y-yes! I didn't know! I truly didn't know!"
"You'd best not say that in front of me."
The likelihood of Baron Gofrit being burned at the stake was slight.
After all, he was a noble of a fief, and both the Emperor and Count Rasau's faction stood behind him.
Keldric had no reason to correct Baron Gofrit's worst fears. Leaving him to tremble alone would be better revenge.
"Did Yakov die because he deserved it?"
"Ya-Yakov...? Who is that...?"
"The person dearest to me."
The person you took from me.
Keldric roughly shook off Baron Gofrit's hand. Then he strode out of the room at once.
Alisa, her expression still somber, followed behind him.
As they walked through the castle in silence, Keldric spoke quietly to Alisa.
"Alisa."
"...Yes, Sir Keldric."
"I think we have something to discuss in private."
Alisa swallowed dryly.
Unlike his usual manner with Alisa, Keldric was completely serious.
"...Let us go to my room."
Keldric followed Alisa as she walked ahead.
He didn't deeply suspect her. Still, it was time he learned.
What Alisa was hiding—and how she was connected to the Ember School.