VII. The Monster of Spitzenberg (4)
VII. The Monster of Spitzenberg (4)
By the age of eighteen, Keldric had never been on a proper hunt.
He had been born into a knightly house and received a basic education, but Sir Volfen had not prepared him for every possible experience.
Everything he knew about a proper hunt had come from verbal instruction.
His only practical experience had been getting dragged along on rabbit hunts as a child by his two older brothers, who had constantly pestered everyone to take them hunting.
He had caught rabbits with stones and seen weasels in crude traps several times, but large game such as deer or wolves had been beyond him.
The hunting grounds around Carlton Village belonged to its lord, Baron Yaven. Every animal living there was treated as the baron’s property as well.
Even secretly catching a rabbit or weasel there could have earned him severe punishment.
In other words, Keldric had no idea how to track an unidentified monster that tore people apart.
"I've ended up hunting a monster."
Keldric therefore summoned the Iron Claw Mercenary Company to the inner castle first.
Mercenaries made their living with their bodies, so they were often hired for all manner of odd jobs.
Those jobs sometimes included hunting monstrous beasts, so someone in the Iron Claw Mercenary Company might have relevant experience.
"S-Sir Keldric. A monster?"
"Yes. Lord Spitzenberg pleaded with me personally. I could hardly ignore him."
"But what about the task Count Bogenberg gave us...?"
"I negotiated properly with Lord Spitzenberg on that matter, so you needn’t worry."
Radomar’s expression eased somewhat after Keldric’s brief explanation.
Keldric did not hold Radomar’s awkward reaction against him. Being ordered to hunt a monster out of nowhere was understandably unsettling.
That was even more true for mercenaries, who would probably have to stand at the front once the hunt began. Keldric spoke to reassure him.
"Lord Spitzenberg promised to provide troops. It won’t be many, but it should lighten the burden."
"That’s... true."
"I’ll take part in the hunt as well. How could a knight ignore a monster that openly murders innocent people?"
"Oh...!"
That raised their morale a little. A few mercenaries still looked doubtful, but none appeared unwilling to follow him.
"Lord Spitzenberg promised a generous reward. I promise each of you will receive a fair share as well."
Mercenaries would do almost anything for money.
They would have rolled up their sleeves to shovel manure from a pigsty if the pay was high enough.
Keldric could not be sure Baron Spitzenberg intended to reward all fifteen or so mercenaries, but if negotiations went poorly, he would make sure it happened.
"Alisa, what will you do?"
"A monster... That does sound interesting."
The prospect seemed to intrigue Alisa as a wizard, and she readily nodded.
Alisa’s magic was somewhat conditional, but unquestionably lethal. Her help would be valuable.
Keldric turned back to Radomar and the mercenaries.
They were afraid of the monster, but the sight of every eye gleaming at the promised reward was reassuring.
"Choose six men with hunting experience and have them prepare equipment for hunting the beast. The other nine should split into teams of three and ask around about the monster."
"Understood."
"Radomar, report to me once you think you’ve gathered enough information. Keep asking around until sunset."
"Yes. I shall do so."
A brief commotion ran through the Iron Claw Mercenary Company. Once the roles were assigned, the mercenaries left the inner castle to carry out their tasks.
Keldric intended to move with Alisa, Arno, and Helga.
He had ordered the other mercenaries to travel in groups of three in case anything happened, but he hardly expected the monster to appear in broad daylight.
Baron Spitzenberg had also promised soldiers, so by evening they should have enough men to begin the hunt.
Still, he could not help wishing for another knight. Then he could have entrusted one side of the operation to someone dependable.
But wishing for someone who was not there accomplished nothing, so Keldric swung onto Boreas.
"We should ask around as well."
"Yes. Hearing it directly from the witnesses should be more reliable."
Keldric knew little about hunting, but he considered gathering information the first priority.
Spitzenberg might have been small, but the ancient city supposedly built by dwarves was anything but simple.
Many districts were built on terraced slopes, leaving half-underground passages and narrow, dark alleys throughout the city.
Rushing around and stirring up a place like this in the name of hunting did not seem wise.
Even excluding the previous night, there had already been seven victims. Testimony from eyewitnesses was bound to provide some clue.
He planned to use that testimony to narrow the search area, then begin the hunt in earnest once the sun started setting.
Keldric set out with Alisa and the two young attendants, glancing beyond the city wall at the mountains rising like a folding screen.
Wisps of white cloud drifted across the blue sky in the lingering northern wind.
The bright sun was already nearing its zenith.
Several hours remained before sunset, but Spitzenberg stood in the middle of the mountains, so darkness would fall earlier than Keldric expected.
He had to find something useful before then.
There was no need to panic, but Keldric wanted the matter resolved before another victim appeared.
☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩
Nothing unusual happened while they searched the streets.
Keldric rode Boreas slowly, stopping residents to question them. He and Alisa then compared the stories and discarded obvious exaggerations.
After several hours, the sun finally sank behind the mountains and the dark night sky began creeping in from the horizon.
"It’s getting dark."
"That’s a problem."
As Alisa said, it was trouble.
All Keldric had learned was that the monster was not human and only became active after sunset.
That might have counted as useful information, but the word monster had already implied it was not human.
Likewise, the fact that it attacked only after sunset was obvious enough without spending the day collecting rumors.
Keldric stared blankly toward the eastern peaks, where darkness and stars were gathering.
The sun would set soon, and he could not know whether the monster would begin hunting people again.
Keldric disliked uncertainty.
Without certainty, he could only guess, and having to guess meant he lacked reliable information.
That kind of ambiguity only made the situation worse.
Keldric clicked his tongue, turned Boreas around, and headed for the inner castle.
Keldric was not the only one who had been asking around. Radomar and roughly fifteen mercenaries had searched throughout the city, so pooling their findings might produce something.
"...Is that all?"
"I’m sorry, Sir Keldric."
But Radomar’s report was no more useful.
The only new detail worth noting was that the creature had black fur and sometimes walked on two legs.
Even that might not have been true. Gossip was one of the few amusements people had in this age, and facts inevitably grew exaggerated and distorted as they spread.
Still, even if it did little to help the search, the detail was worth remembering.
"Peculiar."
"It is. Some monstrous beasts have black fur, but if this one also walks on two legs..."
A beast with black fur that sometimes walked upright.
It was certainly not human. Something covered from head to toe in thick black fur could hardly be called a person.
"Could it be a bear?"
"A bear would roughly match the description. But I’m not sure an animal that large could roam a city this freely."
"Hmm..."
Alisa had studied at Academia as a member of the School of Purifying Flame, so she knew a great deal.
But that did not mean she knew everything. Biology was not a subject she had studied, and her knowledge of it was limited.
Even so, she knew far more than Keldric, who had only recently left the remote frontier, so he discussed the possibilities with her.
"A bear couldn’t have crossed the walls without anyone noticing. We would have heard about it."
"Sir Hilfrich’s injuries are puzzling too. A bear is dangerous, but if he tracked it while armed, he should have been able to kill it."
As they discussed the matter without reaching any useful conclusion, Radomar cautiously joined the conversation.
"Perhaps... it was a werewolf."
Keldric blinked at him. The suggestion sounded absurd.
"A werewolf?"
"Yes. It’s a common tale in the western Empire, isn’t it? Something neither wolf nor human walks on two legs at night and devours people."
Long ago, Pope Sergio VII had declared that humans could not transform into animals and that any such sighting was the deceitful work of the devil.
Keldric already knew that from one of the few books he had read at House Bellaf.
But popes changed over the generations, and teachings proclaimed by a pope long ago did not always remain accepted in the present.
The Church had never formally recognized werewolves, but it taught that foreign witches, heretics, or pagans could borrow demonic power and transform into half-human, half-beast creatures resembling them.
'It might actually exist.'
Keldric therefore did not dismiss Radomar’s suggestion as empty folklore.
This world already contained ogres, rock trolls, wizards like Alisa, and Niccolò’s bizarre pseudo-medicine practiced as real medical treatment.
Just as the absence of horned horses seemed strange to him, it would have been stranger if this unfamiliar world had no werewolves.
After pondering briefly, Keldric soon nodded slowly.
"I see. A werewolf."
"Sir Keldric, werewolf stories mostly circulate around the dense forests of the western Empire and the Kingdom of the Franks. Spitzenberg lies deep within the mountains..."
Alisa sounded skeptical, and understandably so. Reaching the western Empire or the Kingdom of the Franks required crossing a towering mountain range.
It was difficult to imagine a werewolf traveling all the way to this remote place.
"There’s no reason it couldn’t, is there?"
"That’s true."
"How could we understand the schemes of wicked demons? God gave us eyes and ears, so we should judge with our own senses."
Keldric offered the first impressive-sounding words that came to mind.
In truth, he wanted to consider the incident from the werewolf’s perspective, but saying so openly might have brought his faith into question.
"Night has fully fallen."
While they discussed bears and werewolves, the sun disappeared and soldiers carrying torches began patrolling the streets.
"Sir Keldric, the soldiers have arrived outside."
The troops Baron Spitzenberg had promised arrived at just the right time.
☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩
Keldric entered the inner-castle courtyard in full equipment.
Four soldiers already stood there, each holding a spear.
Baron Spitzenberg had fewer than thirty personal soldiers, so assigning four of them was a significant commitment.
It showed how desperate he was to resolve the matter.
"We may encounter it tonight, so we’ll move in groups of ten."
Keldric increased the size of the groups they had used while asking around during the day.
Even Sir Hilfrich had been defeated, so a few additional mercenaries might not make much difference. Still, they were better than nothing.
Seven mercenaries and two soldiers formed a group under Radomar.
The other group contained seven mercenaries, two soldiers, and Keldric’s party, making the head counts roughly even.
In truth, adding Keldric destroyed any notion of balance, but the numbers at least looked reasonable.
"If you find it, signal us immediately. Don’t try to fight it on your own."
"Yes, Sir Keldric."
A little over twenty people poured into the night streets, each carrying a torch.
"Let’s start with the market."
Keldric followed Baron Spitzenberg’s soldier on Boreas.
He could not search the alleys on horseback, but he could leave Boreas with Helga and continue on foot.
As they headed toward the market, Keldric repeatedly scanned the deathly quiet city.
Pitch-black darkness covered the streets of Spitzenberg. The city felt as though no living person remained.
When the people slept, the city slept with them.
"A monster—!!"
The monster, however, was not asleep.
Keldric and his companions had spent some time circling the market when a distant shout startled them.
"The monster is here! A monster!"
It was Radomar’s voice.