VII. The Monster of Spitzenberg (3)
VII. The Monster of Spitzenberg (3)
A sudden commotion threw Spitzenberg into uproar.
Townsfolk whispered wherever Keldric looked, and some even loitered near the place where the body had been found the night before.
Keldric stared uneasily at the dark bloodstains. Castle servants had tried everything to clean them, but the blood had soaked into the stone.
The gravel and paving around the inner castle were the problem. Most city roads were dirt, but blood that soaked into the stone-paved areas was difficult to remove.
"This will be a headache."
"Truly."
Keldric and Alisa looked down at the scene from the inner castle.
The body had been hastily recovered, identified with difficulty, and returned to the family.
Spitzenberg law, however, forbade burying a bloodied corpse outside the city.
Even a deeply buried body could be dug up and devoured by wolves attracted by the blood, leaving a gruesome sight.
There were other reasons. An exposed corpse could spread disease as it decayed, and the site might become a wolf hunting ground that endangered grieving relatives visiting the grave.
There was also a widespread belief that a soul could not rest unless the body was properly laid to rest. In this world, that was less superstition than accepted truth.
It wasn't Keldric’s place to argue.
He had seen Alisa’s magic and Niccolò’s suspicious medicine. A soul denied rest might truly become a ghost or walking corpse.
The funeral had to be brief to avoid alarming the townsfolk, and the Church recommended cremation rather than burial. It was tragic.
Keldric remembered the corpse: the abdomen savagely torn open and an unknown yellow fluid covering the body with a sickening stench.
He still could not identify the fluid. Even the sour odor of extreme decay lay outside his experience.
"What do you make of it?"
All Keldric could do was ask Alisa, his walking encyclopedia.
"You mean the body from last night?"
"Its condition was strange."
"It was, wasn’t it? Judging by the opened abdomen, there are two possibilities."
Either the killer wanted the organs, or had done it purely for pleasure.
In the former case, the motive was clear: perhaps an organ-eating monster or a depraved wizard using human bodies for suspicious experiments.
Such a culprit would be easier to trace because one could reason from what it wanted.
The latter possibility was different. A madman who tore open people for amusement could not be predicted from any rational motive.
"It looked as if several organs were missing."
"Then the organs had some use. They were either taken away for something, or..."
"Eaten."
Keldric shook his head, disgusted. The previous night’s sight had been so shocking that the unease would not leave him.
He had never heard of a monster that wandered around devouring human entrails.
"A wolf?"
"I don’t think it was a wolf. One couldn’t enter the city easily, and wolves normally travel in packs."
A wolf was the only possibility he could imagine. But in a world full of monstrous beasts, the culprit might be something stranger and more brutal than he knew.
The killer had torn open the abdomen and taken organs, and several townsfolk openly called it a monster. Something monstrous was clearly responsible.
"Then perhaps a monstrous beast. Do any eat human organs?"
"I’m not certain. Biology isn’t my field..."
Keldric clicked his tongue. If even Alisa did not know, finding advice nearby would be difficult.
'They'll handle it themselves.'
Keldric finally set the bizarre murder aside.
It had occurred in Spitzenberg, so Baron Spitzenberg was responsible for resolving his subject’s death.
Keldric had neither the time nor reason to investigate. He only needed the baron’s reply, then he could leave the monster problem behind.
Besides, he had a strong feeling that becoming involved would be an enormous nuisance.
Regardless of his intentions, the baron summoned Keldric the following afternoon and immediately asked:
"Sir Keldric, could you help me hunt the monster?"
"...Pardon?"
Keldric truly had not expected that.
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Keldric had assumed Baron Spitzenberg would never ask him for help.
He had two reasons.
First, asking a knight who served another noble would humiliate the lord who ruled Spitzenberg.
It might have been understandable at the beginning of the incident, but eight people had already died.
If a lord could not protect his people’s safety and livelihoods, productivity would fall and his subjects would lose faith in him.
At that point, dignity no longer mattered. He first had to salvage his honor.
If he had no solution within the territory, he had to seek one from outside.
That meant temporarily hiring a knight like Keldric or a renowned hunter.
Doing so admitted that the lord could not eliminate the cause of the disorder himself. Few things could have been more humiliating.
His political position was another reason asking for help would cost him face.
He was already balancing between Counts Rasau and Bogenberg. Serious trouble in his domain might make both counts reconsider his value.
They could use his incompetence to reduce the concessions they offered him, which would be as humiliating as an insult to his face.
The difference was that an insult could be meaningless abuse, while this criticism would consist of carefully itemized facts.
Keldric was poor at noble politics, but these reasons had convinced him he would not become involved.
Baron Spitzenberg’s situation was far more desperate than Keldric realized.
"Eight of my subjects are already dead! All killed the same way by the same bastard!"
Keldric watched awkwardly as the baron pounded the table and raged.
He had wondered why the baron summoned him. Now the man was asking for help while shouting at empty air.
Keldric understood the frustration. It showed how serious the situation had become.
"My condolences, Lord Spitzenberg. God must also desire punishment for such a brutal killer."
"Exactly! When this villain takes my subjects one by one, how could divine punishment fail to strike him?"
"Indeed."
"Which brings me to my point..."
The baron grew solemn again. Keldric watched impassively.
"Sir Keldric, will you help me hunt the vicious monster preying on my good and faithful subjects?"
The request placed Keldric in an awkward position.
Nothing prevented him from refusing openly. A knight could reject work unworthy of his honor.
But hunting a vicious monster was precisely the sort of work expected of a knight or hunter.
If the creature was truly evil and dangerous, killing it would bring enormous honor and renown.
The task suited a knight’s honor. If Keldric made excuses, he could hardly object to being called a coward.
Refusing might also turn the baron’s reply to Count Bogenberg against him.
"It would be an honor. If this is an evil beast or monster, I would treat the hunt as a mission from God."
"Then—"
"However, Lord Spitzenberg, I am bound to Lord Bogenberg by a solemn contract sworn before God. My duty is to carry your reply."
Put that way, Baron Spitzenberg had little room to argue.
Keldric’s contract with Count Bogenberg had been sworn before a churchman, with a vow before God that he would not break it.
Prioritizing a monster hunt over the contract would have been improper. The baron’s expression became complicated.
"I-Is that so? Well... yes, I suppose it is."
"I regret that I cannot help."
"Hrngh..."
The baron groaned. Keldric wondered why he had not used one of his own vassal knights.
"Do you have no other knights? Or perhaps a hunter?"
"..."
The baron cautiously looked around. Only he and Keldric occupied the small chamber.
As Keldric watched in confusion, the baron leaned closer and whispered.
"I previously entrusted the hunt to my vassal, Sir Hilfrich."
"What became of it?"
"He returned gravely wounded. He survived, but he is still under treatment."
Keldric’s expression immediately cooled. The baron had tried to hand him something that dangerous without warning.
"Lord Spitzenberg."
Sensing the chill, the baron hastily continued.
"N-No, that isn’t what I meant! Sir Keldric, hear me out!"
"I am listening."
"I read Lord Bogenberg’s letter. It says you won the tournament with overwhelming martial prowess."
"...Yes. I did win."
"That is why I asked you! I intended to explain everything properly!"
Count Bogenberg had not mentioned Keldric’s tournament victory because he foresaw this situation.
He had probably meant it as a warning: Keldric was an accomplished knight, so Baron Spitzenberg should not cause trouble.
But the well-intentioned sentence had effectively revealed Keldric as a card to be played. Count Bogenberg could not have known it would involve him with a monster.
"Sir Keldric, I beg you. Will you hunt it for me?"
"Well..."
Even so, Keldric had no reason to change his position.
When Keldric hesitated, the baron grew more desperate.
"I will answer Lord Bogenberg’s proposal favorably. How does that sound?"
"Do you mean it?"
"I do. Frankly, this damned monster has become an unbearable headache."
According to the baron, Count Rasau had previously promised to send a knight to help with the hunt.
Keldric had been right that the baron leaned toward Count Rasau. The promise to kill the monster had probably helped sway him.
But Count Rasau had still sent neither a suitable knight nor a hunter.
"All materials taken from the creature will be yours, of course. I will also reward you generously."
"The reply to be sent to Lord Bogenberg..."
"I will answer favorably. I swear it before God."
That changed Keldric’s calculation.
Baron Spitzenberg was the desperate one, but adequate compensation and a guaranteed agreement with Count Bogenberg would benefit Keldric.
"I cannot delay my promise to Lord Bogenberg... but neither can I ignore the honor you show in worrying for your subjects."
"That is to say...?"
"Given the circumstances, I’ll take the hunt."
"Oh...! Thank you! Truly, thank you! I will trust in you, Sir Keldric!"
Keldric remained uneasy, but if the baron yielded this much, there was no harm in trying.
'I’ll be staying several days longer.'
His stay in Spitzenberg had just grown longer.