V. O, Glory of the Tournament! (2)
V. O, Glory of the Tournament! (2)
Henri de Candillon.
Or Sir Henri of House Candillon. That was the name of the knight who looked as greasy as butter.
With a slightly sour expression, Keldric accepted the wine glass Sir Henri held out. The glass, filled to the brim, sloshed wine with every movement.
"So then, Sir... Selldreck of House Bell—Abre? Bellaphie? Sir Keldrick? No, for an Imperial name, it must be... Sir Keldrich! Is that how you pronounce it?"
"...Are you doing this on purpose, by any chance?"
"Hmm... I apologize if I offended you. The Empire's tongue is difficult, you see. I find even the archaic old speech of the Republic easier."
He didn't seem to be mocking or trying to insult Keldric. He genuinely appeared to struggle with pronouncing Keldric's name.
As the name Henri of House Candillon suggested, the butter knight, who appeared to be from the Kingdom of the Franks, found pronouncing the Empire's language difficult.
The heavily rolling pronunciation unique to the Frankish tongue played a solid part in it. To the point where Keldric had to consistently correct his pronunciation.
Keldric, on the listening end, also had to concentrate a little just to understand Sir Henri's Empire tongue, which sounded as if it had been greased heavily.
"Bellav. Bellaphie. No, that's wrong too..."
"Bel—la—f. Try repeating it."
"Ber? Bel? Ah, right. Bel. Then la, and then fié... No, not that. Bellaf!"
"That's a bit more accurate now. Try a little more."
"Sir Keldrick of House Bellaf! No, is it not Keldrick either? Sir Keldric of House Bellaf!"
"That's it!"
When Sir Henri finally pronounced it correctly, even Keldric found himself shouting and clapping along.
"Ahem! I may be bad at pronouncing the Imperial tongue, but believe it or not, I've stayed in the Empire for about three years! I know what there is to know!"
"Oh my. As expected, Sir Henri is amazing."
"You're so intellectual~."
"Wahaha! I was always somewhat of a good student since I was young!"
Elated at having pronounced a single name correctly, Sir Henri guzzled down wine like water again and let out a hearty laugh.
The women seated beside him also giggled and played along with his mood.
Seeing that, Keldric's head, which had inadvertently gotten worked up, quickly cooled.
'What the hell am I doing?'
He wasn't a child, and here he was, having perfectly matched pat-a-cake with a Frankish knight who couldn't even manage the Empire's language properly. The realization struck him as utterly pathetic.
While Keldric, his expression slightly troubled, was sipping his wine, Sir Henri, who had by then emptied his glass, withdrew his hands from groping the women's bodies.
"Lovely ladies. I have something to discuss with the honorable Sir Keldric here. Would you mind giving us the room for a moment?"
And then, he gently ushered outside the women he had been so roughly coveting just moments before.
Keldric, not knowing Sir Henri's intentions, watched him somewhat indifferently.
The eyes of Sir Henri, who had appeared thoroughly drunk, were slowly regaining their focus.
"Apologies. The mood was just getting good."
"It's fine. I wasn't particularly paying attention anyway."
"Were they not decent ladies? Or could it be that looks of that level don't satisfy you... You have quite high standards, sir!"
"That's not it."
They might not have been on the level of the prostitutes in Bellam's red-light district, but in the end, they were women who earned money as serving hostesses.
Keldric was a man with perfectly functional sexual equipment himself, but he didn't have the slightest desire to irrevocably mess up that perfectly functional equipment.
No matter how clean they looked on the outside, no one really knew what was different beneath the surface.
"So... Sir Keldric intends to participate in the Bogenberg Tournament, I hear?"
"Hmm. An opportunity arose just in time."
"I envy you that. If only I had such a glorious opportunity..."
"What business takes you all the way to Bogenberg, sir?"
"Well, for me... there are various reasons."
Like Keldric, Sir Henri's destination was indeed Bogenberg, but his purpose wasn't to directly participate in the tournament.
A tournament, especially one celebrating the birthday of a powerful noble like Count Bogenberg, was not merely an arena for bloody fighting.
As it also served the purpose of a festival and entertainment, events like banquets, dances, and music were held at the tournament, leading many to show their faces there.
Occasionally, marriage or alliance negotiations also took place.
Since it was a place where many nobles gathered, quite a few nobles also came to match their unmarried children or relatives.
Moreover, you could share political information and news, and while it was rare, incredibly famous and highly renowned knights also attended sometimes.
Since Count Bogenberg was a high noble, famous knights could earn his favor just by attending and doing him the honor of their presence.
Thus, it was a place where many people gathered to watch the tournament, and just meeting and socializing with them without participating in the tournament was sufficiently worthwhile to show face.
"I was about to gradually head back to the Kingdom of the Franks, but before that, I intend to meet a distant relative staying in Bogenberg."
"Is that so."
"And also, this is merely a rumor, but... there are widespread rumors that the famous Sir Theodore is coming to Bogenberg!"
"Sir Theodore?"
Sir Theodore, the 'Silver Lion' of House Mistfall. That was a name even Keldric had heard in passing.
A knight also nicknamed 'the Strategist' or 'the Onslaught in the Mist,' his famous story of annihilating countless heathen armies by utilizing terrain features as if possessed by a god in mobile warfare during the Holy Land Reconquest Campaign was already famous.
Sir Theodore's fame was also clearly shown in his epithet.
Unless one was an exceptionally remarkable knight, one generally didn't consider sticking a lion into one's epithet.
A lion was a symbol of bravery, force of arms, and authority, and felt a bit excessive for a knight who wasn't a king or powerful noble to just use freely.
Yet Sir Theodore had already been given the epithet Silver Lion.
And it was an epithet personally bestowed by the King of Britas himself.
"The fact that he's a knight of the Kingdom of Britas is his sole blemish. Sir Theodore is a knight fit for the Kingdom of the Franks!"
Given this, even the Frankish Kingdom knights, who usually recoiled at anyone from Britas, could not help but acknowledge Sir Theodore's achievements.
Sir Henri was no exception. His eyes kept sparkling as he spoke of Sir Theodore.
"Isn't there a war going on? Coming to a tournament at a time like this is a bit..."
"The head of House Mistfall is not Sir Theodore. Sir Theodore does have a degree of obligation, but for Lord Bogenberg's tournament, there shouldn't be any trouble."
Hearing Sir Henri's words, Keldric nodded and organized his thoughts.
'Sir Theodore, huh... That's information I didn't expect.'
This was something of a boon for Keldric as well.
Sir Theodore was a knight treated as a rank above Sir Werner of House Henzer.
Such a knight was coming to the tournament, and if he was truly lucky, an opportunity to directly meet him was being given.
Keldric had no desire to miss this chance.
If Sir Theodore had participated in the Holy Land Reconquest Campaign, he might know something about his father, Sir Volfen.
'Please, let me fulfill my long-cherished wish...'
Keldric felt no particular regret over Sir Volfen's death, but strangely enough, the will he left behind kept lingering in his mind.
Perhaps this time, he might be able to learn what this long-cherished wish left by Sir Volfen truly was.
"Anyway! While talking about Sir Theodore is good, what I'd like right now is to hear stories about you, sir."
"About me?"
"Hmm. Sir Keldric, your build is also very... knightly. Your face looks knightly, and your voice is knightly as well! You are born to be a knight, sir!"
Keldric had no idea what being 'knightly' was supposed to mean, but he nodded along unintentionally.
Sir Henri was already filling his glass with wine, his eyes sparkling.
"If you insist, then shall I share a brief story, as a drinking snack?"
"Good! For these kinds of stories, good food is even more necessary. Hey, you! Bring us your finest dishes!"
Sir Henri's servant, who had rushed over in a flurry, bowed and departed.
Soon after, mouth-watering dishes and wine were brought in one after another. Keldric, however, was worried about the cost of the food.
"Sir. A slightly rude question, but do you have money?"
"Don't worry about the money! There's a trading company I know. We just put it on a tab under their name and pay it back later!"
"Uh, um..."
Keldric was at a loss for words.
Sir Henri didn't have a violent personality, but he was a womanizer and ostentatious.
That was well within the bounds of an average knight. In their eyes, Keldric might actually have been the strange one.
'I'll have to pay my share separately.'
Keldric pictured the innkeeper with a long face and the unnamed people of the trading company.
No matter how much it was put on a tab elsewhere, in the end, it was all Sir Henri's debt.
If he offered to pay a little, Sir Henri would surely accept it gladly.
"Bring back the lovely ladies too! Everyone must hear the tales of heroism of an honorable knight like Sir Keldric!"
"No, there's no need to go that far—."
"Now, now! You just sit still, sir! Doesn't one get lonely while traveling? You should let loose entirely on this fine occasion!"
"What in the..."
While Keldric, unusually flustered, was stammering, the same women from earlier re-entered the room.
No, there were three or four more than before. The innkeeper seemed to have put in some effort.
"Oh my, Sir Knight. Your body is so very firm."
"Hehe. You must be quite strong, eh?"
"..."
Amidst an atmosphere that was somehow suggestive and a display of flesh tones, Keldric could not find a place to rest his eyes and had to stare off into the distant mountains.
The desperately enduring night crawled by slowly.
☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩
"It seems you had a very pleasant night."
"...Nothing of the sort happened."
Awkwardly covering the red marks on his neck, Keldric subtly avoided the gaze of Alisa, who was looking at him flatly.
He swore to God, Keldric did not do such things with the inn's serving women.
No matter how clean and pricey the inn was, one could never be sure whether the prostitutes of this era had a proper concept of hygiene regarding venereal diseases.
Sir Henri, who had gone into another room sandwiched between two prostitutes in the middle, seemed fortunately fine, but even that wasn't certain.
It was simply that avoiding three or four of them clinging at once and groping his body had been difficult.
'Damn.'
Since desperately explaining to Alisa was also somehow a ridiculous thing to do, Keldric simply shut his mouth.
"Oh! Sir Keldric! There you were!"
Just then, Sir Henri, the origin of this strange misunderstanding, rode his horse up to Keldric. Since their destination was the same, Bogenberg, they had ended up traveling together.
He looked presentable, dressed properly like a knight.
During the three years he had wandered the Empire, he had also reportedly participated in several territorial wars, so that figured.
"Oh, and who is this lovely lady?"
Sir Henri, who had been glancing around, soon looked at Alisa and addressed her in a greasy manner.
While Alisa's expression was imperceptibly curdling, Keldric looked back at Sir Henri somewhat sourly and spoke.
"She is a wizard accompanying me. Her name is Alisa—."
"A, a wizard?"
"...Is there some problem?"
Sir Henri, who had initially been pushing his overbearing face forward with twitching eyebrows, changed his expression the moment the word 'wizard' came out.
He looked like he'd have been less startled seeing a ghost.
"Ah, no. Ahem... So, she was a-a lady wizard! Haha!"
"Sir. Are you alright?"
"Al, alright as can be! More than that, Sir Keldric! Come this way for a moment!"
Sir Henri hurriedly led Keldric a few steps away.
Left behind, Alisa and Sir Henri's servant watched the two of them with expressions of utter confusion.
"Sir Keldric...! You've been traveling with a wizard? You should have told me beforehand! Things nearly turned out terribly!"
"Is it that much of an issue?"
"More than an issue, ugh... I have a very bad memory concerning wizards, you see."
Keldric didn't know the exact circumstances, but Sir Henri was clearly fearful of Alisa.
The attitude from a moment ago, when he was trying to flirt, was entirely gone. He didn't even hide his loathing and desire to keep his distance.
"S, sir. Does that wizard really have to come along as well? Truly?"
"I have no particular wish to drive her away. I have no reason to, either."
"Ugh... Well, that may be so, but..."
"I don't know what you're imagining, Sir, but Alisa is not that kind of wizard."
Perhaps Sir Henri really had met a truly bad wizard once.
But Sir Henri only repeated the words 'That's not it,' offering no suitable explanation of the reason.
"Sir Henri. A knight ought to show a courageous bearing. You shouldn't display such a weak attitude."
"Th, that's true enough... I shall endure it then as best I can."
"Well decided. A knightly attitude."
Only after Keldric had done his utmost to pacify Sir Henri could their party resume the journey.
They still had to travel for another three or four days more or less to reach Bogenberg.
During that time, Keldric prayed for no mishaps.
The good news, however, was that the weather was gradually thawing.
In the North, where snow didn't melt through all four seasons, there were limits to how much warmer it could get, but it was still better than midwinter.
The County of Bogenberg, located to the southwest, would be even warmer.
Keldric imagined the granary zone said to spread across the southern plains of the County of Bogenberg.
An endless, sprawling golden wheat field, something he had never once seen in the North, came to mind.
A savory scent seemed to waft from somewhere.
"Let's depart."
It seemed to be urging Keldric to hurry and set out on the journey.