IV. Chivalric Romance and the Bastards (11)
IV. Chivalric Romance and the Bastards (11)
When Keldric arrived at the castle, Anselm was already foaming at the mouth and unconscious.
Riding a horse was not as comfortable as one might think. That was even more true for those unaccustomed to riding—unlike Keldric, who had been trained by Sir Volfen, or Alisa, who came from a fallen noble family.
Every joint in Anselm's body except his right arm had been crushed, so the jolting and rattling would have doubled his agony.
"...What do we do now?"
"Hm."
Alisa stood before Anselm, whose body was trembling faintly, and shot Keldric a faintly reproachful glance.
Seeing Anselm reduced to a half-corpse, Keldric found himself at a loss for words.
"Wh-what in the world happened?"
"Sir Keldric. What is the meaning of this...?"
Two soldiers stationed at the castle approached with bewildered expressions. Keldric opened his mouth with a deliberately nonchalant look.
"This wretch dared insult my honor and Sir Herman's. Throw him in the dungeon like the Artisans' Guild Master."
"Ah, uh..."
There was no reason whatsoever for the soldiers to obey Keldric's orders.
Even if Keldric was staying as Sir Herman's guest, a guest's status remained a guest and nothing more.
Much the same applied to authority—the only people who could give orders to the soldiers were Baron Yaven, Sir Herman, or Sir Herman's wife, Lady Kassel.
"Sir Keldric? What is the meaning of this?"
Just then, Sir Herman, who had finished his meal, emerged from inside the outer keep and spotted Keldric.
His gaze traveled downward and soon landed on Anselm, lying collapsed and foaming at the mouth.
"What is that?"
Calling Anselm 'that' made his displeasure instantly apparent. The two soldiers who had approached Keldric swallowed nervously.
"Sir. I don't have much time to explain, but to give you the conclusion first... The Artisans' Guild Master was not the traitor."
"That cannot be...! Sir Keldric! What do you mean? Then who is the culprit!"
Without anyone needing to prompt them, everyone's gaze turned toward Anselm, who was sprawled on the ground.
"The real traitor is this man right here. He was every bit as cunning as you said, Sir."
"...But, Sir Keldric. Without exact proof, it's difficult to simply throw him in prison. And furthermore, isn't he the Mormont Guild Master?"
For all that, Sir Herman had had no trouble throwing the Artisans' Guild Master into the dungeon.
Keldric wore a slightly sour expression.
A hint of disappointment flickered across his face, yet it was also the expression of a man who was fond enough of Sir Herman to give him one more chance.
"Sir Herman. I understand that you're confused. But this time, I'd like you to know that I personally extracted a confession from Anselm."
"Th-that's..."
"I'd like to tell you the full story, but securing a place to talk seems to be the priority."
"Ah, of course. You two, withdraw."
The two soldiers vanished swiftly, their faces practically saying, 'I know nothing about anything.'
They were quick on the uptake.
Meddling in the affairs of Sir Herman and Sir Keldric could well leave them sprawled on the ground with their limbs crushed before their very eyes, just like Anselm.
"Sir Keldric. Let's go to my office."
"Alisa, go in first."
"Yes, Sir Keldric."
After sending Alisa back to the room where she was staying in the outer keep, Keldric followed behind Sir Herman.
Now, it was time to reveal who the sons of bitches were.
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Sir Herman did not believe Keldric's words at first either.
Even as he listened to Keldric's story, he was busy denying it, reacting with sentiments like 'surely that can't be.'
Sir Herman could hardly have done otherwise. The Artisans' Guild Master, whom he had believed to have betrayed the city, had merely been blinded by personal greed.
Pursuing nothing but that personal greed and tarnishing Keldric's honor was indeed a grave sin, but it did not warrant throwing him into the underground dungeon and subjecting him to torture in the name of interrogation.
That meant Sir Herman had seized the wrong man and thrown him in prison, and to make matters worse, the real traitor, Anselm, was a heretic.
This was not something that could be glossed over as a minor mistake. It was unmistakably the look of a man who had failed in the administration of his city.
The point was, it was unavoidable that Sir Herman would try hard to deny Keldric's words.
"Sir Herman. I understand how you must feel. But wasn't the Artisans' Guild Master caught far too easily for someone who betrayed the city?"
"That's... True enough. For a wretch who dared betray His Lordship and Bellam, he was caught far too stupidly."
"The real culprit was Anselm. The Artisans' Guild Master was, for whatever reason, wrongly caught up in this thanks to Anselm."
Once Keldric laid out in detail what Anselm had confessed and what he himself had deduced, Sir Herman, who had been groaning for a long while, finally let out a deep sigh.
"Yes, I understand. The son of a bitch who betrayed His Lordship was Anselm."
"It was not your fault, Sir. The man simply acted far too meticulously. How could a faithful and honorable knight such as yourself possibly detect the cunning schemes of a heretic bewitched by the devil?"
By that logic, the fact that Keldric had figured it out much earlier was hard to explain, but Keldric first chose to save face for the despondent Sir Herman.
However, Sir Herman did not appear to have thought that far.
At Keldric's words defending him, he wore a deeply moved expression.
"Sir...! You're right! Detecting such wicked and base trickery must be something only those equally wicked could do!"
"Er, hm. That's right."
"As I thought, my eye was never wrong. You are a knight as honorable and wise as Gernhild of Kal Dren!"
"...Does it really work out that way?"
"Of course it does! You are... no, you are practically my savior!"
Keldric nodded somewhat awkwardly. Sir Herman's fussing showed no sign of abating.
He gilded Keldric's name with every manner of flowery phrase drawn from chivalric literature—that he was as honorable as Sir Gernhild of Kal Dren, that he was as faithful and wise as the hairy knight of Andallosa.
"To think you used such methods to extract a confession from Anselm... Your wisdom is truly astonishing! Truly knightly conduct!"
"Yes, yes. More importantly, wouldn't it be best we start talking about Bellam now?"
In the end, Keldric cut off Sir Herman's endless hymn of praise to himself.
There was a limit to how much one could simply listen. No one could bear having gilding slathered onto them right before their eyes without feeling overwhelmed.
"Y-yes. That is more important. My apologies, Sir."
Sir Herman nodded, looking slightly abashed.
No matter how great Keldric's achievement, commending it could wait until later.
"Sir Herman. Before that... There is one more thing I haven't told you."
"What is it?"
Keldric hesitated a moment before opening his mouth.
Whether it was true or not was for Sir Herman to judge, but it seemed best to tell him that Sir Ulrich had died because of Anselm's scheming.
"It concerns your maternal uncle... Sir Ulrich of the honorable House Hohentüringen."
"Ah, yes. Sir Ulrich. What of him?"
"It seems that Sir Ulrich's poisoning was also a scheme orchestrated by Anselm."
While Keldric's brief explanation continued, Sir Herman listened blankly.
And by the time Keldric's story ended, Sir Herman's eyes were already blazing with the look of a knight ready to kill a man.
"So, that's how it is."
"What will you do?"
"I'll kill him, of course! They say there's no proper evidence, but with the honorable Sir Keldric's testimony, there's nothing to doubt or question! I believe your words!"
Sir Herman shouted in agitation. As if he already meant to cut off Anselm's head, he was gripping the hilt of the sword at his waist and trembling.
"Sir. Calm yourself first. I am grateful that you respect my honor, but procedure must be observed."
"Hoo... You are right. I am ashamed that I become excited so very easily."
Considering that most knights of this period possessed temperaments that were easily excited, Sir Herman was among the very best.
Keldric patted Sir Herman on the shoulder.
Since this was a case in which the guild master who led the city's largest trading company had betrayed the city, Sir Herman would have an endless stream of matters to handle even after everything was concluded.
"What do you intend to do about the Mormont Trading Company?"
"I suppose all the employees and peddlers belonging to the company will have to be investigated. I intend to request the Church's assistance with this part."
If the Church sent an inquisitor, it would become much easier to determine whether the merchants belonging to the Mormont Trading Company had been tainted by heresy.
If that happened, the Church's influence in Bellam would grow, and conversely, the City Council's influence would diminish somewhat.
But regardless of how the influence of the two fared, it was clear that Sir Herman's honor and influence, having rooted out the city's traitor, would grow to an absurd degree.
Sir Herman, too, seemed satisfied at least on that point.
No knight disliked having his influence grow.
"The company itself... I'm afraid it will have to be dissolved. I'll have to bring in a new company."
"Do you have a good option?"
"As it happens, there is a company introduced by House Hohentüringen. They seem to want to do business in Bellam. It wouldn't be a bad idea to give them some backing at this opportunity."
Sir Ulrich's death had been beyond Sir Herman's power to prevent, but regardless, it was a tragedy brought about by someone in Bellam.
It was unavoidable that Sir Herman would feel a sense of debt toward House Hohentüringen.
"That sounds fine."
"Hearing you say that puts my mind at ease. I'll handle it that way, then."
"How do you plan to explain it to Lord Yaven?"
"...That, I'm not sure myself. Telling him the truth would be the honorable course of action, but..."
If that happened, it could well become a great humiliation for Sir Herman.
With a knight who was a complete stranger having appeared and swiftly resolved the very matter Sir Herman ought to have handled, Sir Herman's face would be left in utter tatters.
Yet to lie—lying to one's liege was in itself unthinkable.
"Sir. In that case, how about this?"
In the end, Keldric resolved to save Sir Herman's face.
If you were going to help, helping to the end was bound to feel like a greater favor.
"How?"
"First, tell Lord Yaven that you rooted out the traitor yourself."
"B-but that wouldn't be the truth! It was you, Sir Keldric, who uncovered Anselm's crimes!"
It wasn't that Keldric felt no bitterness about it.
But if things continued as they were, there was a high likelihood that Sir Herman's authority would plummet drastically.
'A heretic, of all things.'
From the perspective of Sir Herman, who governed Bellam, cooperation with the Church was critically important.
And now the captured Anselm was also accused of heresy, which meant there was a strong possibility the trial would be led by the Church.
Bellam was ruled by Sir Herman, but if the Church took the stance that Sir Herman could not possibly have been unaware of a heretic's existence, Sir Herman would find himself at a loss for words.
Thinking about it rationally, noticing it was naturally difficult. No fool anywhere in the world openly revealed that they were a heretic.
But from the Church's standpoint, none of that mattered.
They would bring up his failure to root out the heretic who had infiltrated the city earlier and would cast grave doubt and blame upon Sir Herman's judgment and qualifications.
It likely wouldn't go so far as to say he had condoned heresy, but even this much was serious.
No matter how powerful Baron Yaven was, he too would have no choice but to mind the highly authoritative Church, and the Church's words were not exactly wrong either.
If that happened, House Kassel and Sir Herman, with whom Keldric had painstakingly built ties, could lose great authority in Bellam and, at worst, might even lose their qualifications to rule.
That would not be a particularly good outcome for Keldric either.
"I hesitate to say this, but the Church will disparage you."
"That cannot be! I am more faithful than anyone!"
"It is not your faithfulness they will doubt. But, is Anselm not a heretic?"
"Grr..."
Just as Sir Gebhard had rooted out Anselm's daughter in the past, if it was proclaimed that Sir Herman had rooted out Anselm this time, the Church would have no grounds to find fault.
Keldric, the one who had actually captured Anselm, might feel he was taking a bit of a loss.
But from a long-term view, having House Kassel and Sir Herman, with whom he had ties, govern Bellam was good for Keldric as well.
"I understand. I shall do as you say."
In the end, Sir Herman nodded, albeit with clear reluctance.
"Have you called for the Church?"
"The Heresy Tribunal is not far from here. They will likely arrive by tomorrow."
If so, the trial would most likely be held the day after tomorrow.
Keldric now felt the end of the sickening traitor affair drawing near at last.
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"Sir Keldric! Sir Keldric!"
The morning of the second day after Anselm had been dragged in.
At the sound of someone shouting his name, Keldric rubbed his dry, heavy eyes and rose from his bed early in the morning.
When he roughly straightened his attire and opened the door, Sir Herman was standing there.
"Sir Herman? What is the matter? The trial is at noon..."
"That isn't the problem!"
Sir Herman looked distinctly angry. He also seemed anxious, and drenched as he was in a cold sweat, he looked as though he were being chased by something.
"Calm yourself. What is the matter?"
"Anselm, that devil's spawn, spread a false rumor!"
"...A false rumor?"
Keldric felt a deep unease. A false rumor—he couldn't even begin to guess what it might be.
And the fact that he couldn't guess was in itself a cause for unease.
"What kind of false rumor?"
"That damned bastard had the gall to spread a rumor that he played around with my wife!"
"...What?"
"That sort of filthy false rumor is circulating all over the city!"
Keldric unconsciously wore a dumbfounded expression.
He had thought it was all over, but Anselm, true to his nature as a merchant, had prepared a hidden trump card.
Early that morning, Bellam was thrown into an uproar.