VI. The Enemy Draws Nearer (5)
VI. The Enemy Draws Nearer (5)
There was much to prepare before leaving Bogenberg.
Preserved rations, daily necessities, magical catalysts for Alisa, and assorted supplies for his new attendants, Arno and Helga...
These were the basic necessities for setting out on a journey.
The journey to Spitzenberg would not be long, but Keldric preferred to prepare thoroughly. That inevitably left a great deal to arrange.
Even so, Keldric did not need to run around handling it all himself.
"Sir Keldric. I have purchased the items you listed."
"You did not forget anything?"
"No. I also bought what the wizard requested."
True to his bold nature, Arno faithfully completed nearly every errand Keldric gave him.
His claim that he had learned his letters had been no idle boast.
Literacy meant more than reading and writing; it also suggested that he had a capable mind.
Arno was sharper than Keldric had expected.
"Helga, and what did you do?"
"I-I... helped Arno with the calculations."
"You handled the payments?"
"Yes."
Helga followed Arno like a shadow and proved unexpectedly good with numbers. When Keldric entrusted them with money, merchants could not overcharge them.
Keldric looked on with satisfaction as Arno and Helga sorted the goods they had bought at market.
'Not bad.'
Fourteen was young, but the boundary between childhood and adulthood varied with trade and status.
For commoners like Arno and Helga, at fourteen one was expected to earn one's keep.
Had their parents been serfs, they might have begun farm work even earlier. Fourteen was considered old enough to work fully.
They were not treated as adults, yet they were expected to carry an adult’s share.
The thought left a bitter taste in Keldric’s mouth. He could not make himself comfortable with it.
"You’ve found yourself a diligent pair. Maybe I should visit a monastery myself..."
"If you visited a monastery, the brothers would probably beat you senseless."
"Damn you. What kind of nonsense is that?"
Sir Henri and Sir Alan were full of praise for Keldric's two young attendants.
Hearing that fourteen was considered ideal for cultivating loyalty reassured Keldric that, by the standards of the age, the children were not unusually young.
That eased about half of his concern over their age.
Whatever his personal feelings, it was easier to accept that they were considered old enough to earn their keep.
Arno’s maintenance of the weapons and armor was imperfect but more than serviceable.
The same went for Helga, who had taken charge of looking after Boreas and Aveline.
But Arno and Helga needed to learn more than how to perform their duties.
"When you meet a knight, you must bow your head and show respect. If you are mounted, you are to dismount. Do you understand?"
"I understand."
"When you meet another knight, make sure to give my name. Failing to do so would be discourteous."
"Should I state Sir Keldric’s house and name?"
"Yes. Keldric of House Bellaf. You will rarely need to say it yourself, but remember it in case I am not present."
An attendant carried out all manner of menial tasks at a knight’s command.
Those duties included introducing the knight he served at formal occasions.
In an impromptu meeting on the road, etiquette required a knight to declare his own name and house.
At a tournament or banquet without a herald, however, the attendant was responsible for the introduction.
My lord Sir Keldric is an honorable knight of House Bellaf who achieved such-and-such in winning the Bogenberg Tournament...
It would diminish Keldric’s dignity to recite such praises himself.
He had done so until now because he lacked attendants, but from now on Arno or Helga would handle it.
Beyond that, Keldric taught his two young attendants a variety of other things.
"Make certain that you never treat anyone rudely. From now on you act under the protection of my honor, so carry yourselves with pride."
"Is that because the other party might be of high station?"
"No. Nobles and knights are usually obvious at a glance, but changing your behavior according to who stands before you is unwise. Remain consistently humble."
"I will remember it well."
What to do when meeting a noble, what manner of courtesy to show when meeting another knight, and so on.
Keldric himself had grown up isolated in a remote village and did not know everything.
But Sir Volfen had drilled noble etiquette into him until he was sick of it.
"House Bellaf rules Carlton Village at the northernmost edge of the Empire. Its current head is Sir Hilmer, my eldest brother."
"O-o-oh..."
"If he is your eldest brother, do you have another elder brother as well?"
"...That, you have no need to know."
Keldric did not enjoy it, but he also had to tell them about House Bellaf.
Attendants who did not even know their lord’s house would become laughingstocks.
Three full days passed in that fashion.
That was enough time to finish preparing to leave Bogenberg.
All the food and other daily necessities required for the road had been gathered, and thanks to the tournament his purse had swollen considerably.
All Keldric had left to do was count the days until his next journey began.
"We need a drink before you leave!"
"That Frankish bastard apparently cannot go a single day without alcohol."
Before leaving, Keldric could hardly avoid something resembling a farewell gathering.
☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩
As the first dim colors of dawn spread across the sky, Keldric rode Boreas out of the inner ward.
Alisa followed on horseback, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Behind her came Arno and Helga, leading Aveline by the reins.
The party had grown to four, and that was not the end of it.
Keldric remembered the Iron Claw Mercenary Company, which was to meet him at Bogenberg’s western gate.
The mercenaries Keldric had encountered so far fell into two sharply different groups.
They were either heaven-damned bastards who posed a serious threat to him or men who saw a knight and immediately groveled.
Gunther and Hans, whom he had fought unexpectedly in Carlton Village, belonged to the former group. The Ram Mercenary Company belonged to the latter.
Keldric fundamentally distrusted mercenaries. The Ram Mercenary Company and Jorgen had only improved his opinion of them slightly.
Count Bogenberg had arranged for the Iron Claw Mercenary Company to accompany him, so the risk was low.
That was reassuring in theory, but if they crossed beyond Bogenberg and stabbed Keldric in the back, an absent count could hardly compensate him for being dead.
He would not wall himself off with excessive suspicion, but neither would he let his guard down openly.
Before long, Bogenberg’s western gate came into view in the distance.
"Are those the men?"
"Yes. I believe so."
Keldric made out more than a dozen figures clustered before the distant gate.
The dim dawn did not provide enough light to distinguish their faces from that distance.
All he could tell was that more than a dozen black silhouettes had gathered before the gate.
Keldric guided Boreas slowly toward them. Alisa followed with an impassive expression, while the two young attendants looked slightly nervous.
This was not a formal occasion, so Arno did not need to introduce him. Keldric guided Boreas a few paces ahead.
As the distance closed, Keldric finally came face-to-face with the Iron Claw Mercenary Company.
"May God’s blessing be with you, Sir Knight."
"May God's blessing be with you. God be with you. I am Keldric of House Bellaf."
"Indeed! I have heard much about you. It is an honor to accompany the esteemed Sir Keldric."
The bald mercenary who had stepped forward to greet him bowed repeatedly from the waist.
For all Keldric’s distrust, knights were the natural enemies of mercenaries—men who slaughtered them as casually as breathing.
A remote place where several bodies could vanish unnoticed would have been another matter, but expecting treachery in the middle of the city was excessive.
He did not need to keep his nerves taut here.
"Are you the captain?"
"That is correct. My name is Radomar. I am no one of importance, but I command the Iron Claw Mercenary Company."
Radomar, captain of the Iron Claw Mercenary Company, presented his men to Keldric one by one.
After looking them over, Keldric realized that the company was respectably well armed.
'They're rather well-armed.'
All fifteen mercenaries wore gambesons and hardened leather armor, along with conical helmets fashioned from cheap iron.
Radomar and two veteran mercenaries even wore rusty metal lamellar armor that had clearly been taken as loot.
They were fewer than the Ram Mercenary Company, but better equipped. No one could dismiss them out of hand.
"I worry that we may not be worthy of serving Sir Keldric."
"This is more than sufficient."
Better equipment promised a safer journey. Keldric nodded in satisfaction.
The mercenaries remained tense, but Radomar looked as though a great weight had left his shoulders.
There was no shortage of fucking awful knights in the world.
Many would have clicked their tongues and pretended dissatisfaction even at equipment this good, hoping to squeeze out a bribe.
By that standard, Keldric was a comparatively decent knight.
"How much did Count Bogenberg tell you?"
"Only that we are to escort Sir Keldric to Spitzenberg. That is the entire commission."
"Good."
They were to join Keldric and travel to Spitzenberg. That was all the mercenaries needed to know.
There was no need to tell them about Baron Spitzenberg’s suspicious behavior or the conflict with Count Rasau.
If he did, there was no telling how Radomar and his company would react.
"Do you have any further preparations to make?"
"None. We can depart at once."
"Then it’s time we set out."
"Understood. Let's go! We're moving out!"
Radomar began barking orders at the mercenaries.
In the meantime, Keldric turned his horse's head toward the gate leading out of Bogenberg.
The gate guards who had risen early to see Keldric off stood with torches as the barred gate slowly rumbled upward.
Beyond it lay a landscape still dotted with unmelted snow, while fresh shoots and soil emerged from beneath the retreating white.
Following that road would lead him into another unknown world.
Keldric recalled what he had heard about Spitzenberg.
A city of stone carved from an entire peak midway up a range crowded with sharp summits.
It would be a wondrous sight. Keldric had left his house to see the world, and anticipation swelled in his chest.
The deafening cheers of the Bogenberg Tournament had been a remarkable experience.
But Keldric wanted a wider world.
A new world. A place where he could see more than he ever had before.
The blue-gray dawn sky hung a scarlet sun along the horizon.
Keldric guided Boreas west, away from it.
Toward another unknown world along the highroad beyond the gate.