VII. The Monster of Spitzenberg (11)
VII. The Monster of Spitzenberg (11)
The monster had been beheaded, but the matter was not entirely over.
The churchyard grew noisy with the cleanup. Several residents wandered nearby, anxious over the nighttime disturbance, but visibly relaxed when Keldric appeared carrying the severed head.
"Ohhh!"
"Sir Knight! Thank you!"
"Honored knight! You have lifted a great burden from us!"
Keldric awkwardly accepted their thanks while the monster's head dangled from his hand.
The residents had come pouring out because the pale light of dawn was already appearing beyond the mountains.
Keldric had not known it, but the monster had recently caused Spitzenberg tremendous harm.
The curfew itself had not been particularly inconvenient.
Like other territories, Spitzenberg already enforced a curfew. Except in unusual circumstances, people had little reason to wander the streets at night.
The real problem was the monster roaming the streets and casually tearing people apart.
Some people still slipped through the streets after curfew, but most victims had been killed when the monster entered their homes, dragged them outside, or lured them away.
With people falling victim to the monster, every activity in Spitzenberg had been restricted.
When anyone might have been killed the previous night, few people could carry on with daily life as though nothing had happened.
Then a lone knight had appeared and dispatched the monster in spectacular fashion. The residents' gratitude and respect ran deep.
Amid the cheers and praise of the residents who had gathered at dawn, Keldric approached Aveline.
Aveline, who had waited in the cold dew, greeted Keldric warmly.
"Things went well."
"Indeed. Sir Keldric is unharmed, and the soldiers suffered only minor injuries."
Keldric wrapped the monster's head tightly in cloth and hung it behind the saddle.
Only then did it truly sink in. The unexpected monster hunt was over.
The people of Spitzenberg could return to peaceful lives, and Baron Spitzenberg would side with Count Bogenberg as promised.
Things had worked out remarkably well. His stay had lasted far longer than expected, but everything had ultimately benefited him.
"Sir Keldric!"
But the matter was not entirely finished. Keldric looked toward Brother Marcus as the monk hurried over.
"Brother Marcus. What is it?"
"Thanks to you, a great burden has been lifted. You helped the good people of this land, and I must offer my gratitude."
"It was nothing. Your help mattered more, Brother Marcus. You gave us the information we needed."
Information was priceless. The monster hunt had driven that fact home more keenly than ever.
Brother Marcus smiled, deepening the fine wrinkles around his mouth.
"Now that the monster has been slain... the demon's power should be greatly weakened."
"Hm?"
Keldric followed Brother Marcus's gaze.
The monk was looking at the strange side door in the churchyard.
Keldric looked at it as well, his expression sour.
The monster had been dealt with. Now they had to finish the matter properly.
☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩
The side door in the churchyard looked unchanged.
Only two or three fresh claw marks suggested that the monster had scratched at it.
Brother Marcus spent a long time reciting prayers and crossing himself before the door, then set about sealing it thoroughly.
He nailed a large cross over it and tied red cloth around the cross. Then a new phrase was carved beneath the inscription already on the door.
[ I have overcome the world (Ego vici mundum). ]
Only then did Keldric understand why the older words above it—'God triumphs (Deus vicit)'—had been carved there.
Something similar had probably happened in the past.
A monster had escaped and terrorized the city, leaving the people of Spitzenberg to wait for someone to defeat it.
Someone like Keldric must have slain it, allowing the people to breathe easily again.
That also meant the monster might eventually return once more.
Keldric suddenly remembered the rumor Radomar had told him when he first arrived in Spitzenberg.
'It's because a demon lives there that rips out children's hearts while they're still alive and devours them. They say it's a huge, pitch-black wolf with a snake's tail and wings.'
It was the tale of a demon living there—a monstrous wolf that tore out and devoured children's hearts.
Keldric no longer considered it pure nonsense.
There was no smoke without fire. He could not shake the thought that the monster of the past had been as vicious as it looked and that the story had become distorted over time.
"It is finished."
Brother Marcus's words drew Keldric from his thoughts. A huge stone block now sealed the side door.
The soldiers had brought it on a cart. The large rectangular stone had been cut as neatly as a brick and fitted perfectly over the doorway.
Red cloth was tied over it again, along with a brass cross. Father Garibaldo then brought a bowl of holy water from the church and carefully soaked the cloth.
"Will this suffice?"
Brother Marcus nodded. Cold sweat beaded across his brow after the long prayer.
"It would be even better to scatter consecrated salt."
"Our church will see to that with its own consecrated salt. You have worked hard, Brother Marcus."
"We all have. Sir Keldric most of all."
The two clergymen thanked Keldric with solemn courtesy.
They were thanking him for slaying the demon's servant that had threatened innocent believers.
In a sense, he had defended their faith as well. As the words Brother Marcus carved on the door proclaimed, God had triumphed.
"I hope the devil never sees daylight again, and that it never deceives another person."
"Indeed. The Church will guard this place carefully, so please do not worry."
"What will happen to this cemetery?"
The churchyard was now the site of a sealed demonic passage, but it was also the ancestral burial ground of House Spitzenberg.
Keldric doubted Baron Spitzenberg would be pleased.
A place where one's ancestors and relatives were buried held special meaning.
The older and more illustrious a noble house was, the more carefully it maintained its family burial ground.
House Spitzenberg qualified on both counts. A barony was no prize from a village squabble, and the city had once been a fortress that held back northern barbarians for generations.
"Do not worry about that. The Church will continue maintaining the grounds."
"We can also bless the soil. We will celebrate Mass here soon."
"Our monastery will send people regularly as well. A great evil may still lurk below, and we will do everything we can to keep anyone from falling under its influence."
With both elderly clergymen saying so, Keldric had nothing to add.
They sounded confident enough that he trusted them to soothe Baron Spitzenberg's displeasure.
"I will return now. Baron Spitzenberg must be waiting impatiently."
"The news has probably reached him already. I will see you later at the inner castle."
After a brief farewell, Keldric mounted Aveline.
The soldiers returning to the inner castle formed a line behind him.
Their eyes were heavy from staying awake all night, but they also shone with respect for Keldric.
He had slain a vicious monster in a single stroke, then humbly credited God by claiming that the Holy Spirit had descended upon him instead of boasting about his achievement. Such piety deserved respect.
"Sir Keldric, it was an honor to fight beside you."
"You fought well yourselves. Now let's go back and rest."
Several soldiers watched Keldric's broad back and wondered whether they were witnessing the beginning of a new epic.
Perhaps the man before them was a great knight destined to write that epic.
☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩
Large sections of the monster's fur and hide had been damaged by the fire.
Its tough hide might have had many uses, but burned leather was worthless.
"...I'm sorry."
Alisa apologized with a downcast expression, but Baron Spitzenberg did not seem to care.
"It is fine. We have no shortage of wolf pelts, so there is no need to use the monster's hide. What remains is more than enough proof that it was slain."
Besides, using the hide of a creature allegedly empowered by a demon seemed questionable.
The Church would almost certainly disapprove.
"So this is its..."
"Yes. Its head."
Baron Spitzenberg accepted the monster's head and murmured in admiration.
Half a day had passed and its vitality had drained away, but the fangs in its open muzzle and the dead bestial eyes still conveyed its ferocity.
"This is... remarkable."
Baron Spitzenberg's admiration was understandable. Among nobles, displaying the head of hunted game as a trophy was an honor second to none.
Keldric had not killed some fattened deer. He had brought down the unholy head of a monster empowered by a demon.
Profane as the creature itself might be, proof that he had slain it also served as proof of his devotion.
"I am almost envious. It would look magnificent mounted on a wall."
Keldric, however, was puzzled.
Baron Spitzenberg had commissioned the hunt, so Keldric had expected the baron to keep at least the head.
But matters did not unfold as he expected. Baron Spitzenberg was not that shameless.
"I will have the head cleaned down to the skull for you, Sir Keldric."
"Pardon?"
"Hm?"
Baron Spitzenberg might click his tongue regretfully, but he did not try to steal the head.
Keldric had hunted it, after all.
For nobles, especially knights, a kill's head served as proof of honor. Taking it would disgrace a man and cast his own honor aside.
Unless Baron Spitzenberg had gone mad, he had neither reason nor intention to claim the monster Keldric had hunted.
"Do you want the hide preserved as well? I can order it done."
"No. The skull alone will be enough. But... did you not want the head to display to your people?"
"That is no longer necessary. The hide will suffice, and I hear the townspeople and soldiers have already seen the head. That is enough."
Keldric had no home in which to display it, making the trophy a nuisance, but he accepted because it represented his honor.
A conventional distribution of rewards followed.
The soldiers who had joined the hunt received modest payments in silver, while the Church took responsibility for treating the wounded.
"Thank you, Sir!"
"Sir Keldric! I will follow you for the rest of my life!"
The Iron Claw Mercenary Company, which had suffered alongside Keldric for days, received rewards as well.
Like Keldric, they were outsiders who had aided Spitzenberg, and Baron Spitzenberg paid them a generous sum in silver.
Keldric's reward was beyond comparison.
He received a leather pouch full of silver, a carefully prepared trophy made from the monster's head, and the reply for Count Bogenberg that had brought him to Spitzenberg in the first place.
It was a satisfying conclusion.
Even though it was Lent, they held a modest banquet, and Keldric remained pleased until he went to bed.
That night, he dreamed again.
☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩
When Keldric opened his eyes, he stood in the same place he had dreamed of on his first night in Spitzenberg.
It was a vast, damp cavern filled with human-shaped stone statues.
Keldric steadied his breathing. Unlike in the earlier dream, he was even wearing his newly purchased breastplate.
He strode into the cavern, where stone figures stood in irregular rows.
He did not hesitate. He had already defeated that vicious monster.
There was nothing to fear, especially while fully armed.
His vision extended only a short distance, but the darkness receded with every step, revealing more of the cavern.
[ You. ]
A mysterious voice suddenly reached Keldric.
He turned toward it, but the voice drifted like a breeze and had no clear source.
[ You have done well to commit such a deed. ]
Black smoke crept around Keldric's feet and spread across the ground.
Keldric did not blink. He slowly donned his helmet and gripped his meteoric-iron longsword instead of facing the place barehanded as before.
[ Did you gain wealth by hunting that pathetic beast? Were honor and glory sweet? ]
"Who are you?"
[ I can give you far more than that. ]
The low, hoarse voice stopped. A new wind blew from somewhere else.
[ Do you desire gold and women? Then I will give them to you. ]
The voice hissed like a snake. It was unpleasant, and Keldric frowned.
[ Do you wish to rise into the heavens and place a star there? Then I will exalt you. ]
This voice was shriller, like an eagle crying high in the sky.
[ Will you truly be satisfied here? Your achievements rise above the heroes of old. Do you want martial prowess none would dare challenge? I will give it to you. ]
"..."
[ Do you truly revere a God who gives you nothing? I can give you anything. ]
The low, hoarse voice from the beginning returned.
Only then did Keldric understand where he was.
This was the secret passage beyond the church's side door, hidden inside the peak—the earthly hell where the barbarians had drowned together.
The surrounding statues must have been those barbarians. Yet there was no water, only a damp floor.
[ Worship me, and I will give you all of it. ]
Keldric guessed that the owner of those voices was the being that had petrified the trapped barbarians.
'A demon.'
It was probably also the evil being that had created Spitzenberg's monster.
"Show your form first."
[ Oh... Of course. ]
Thump!
Something dropped from the air. Keldric examined it.
It was the headless corpse of an emaciated man with a deep depression in his chest, roughly the size of Keldric's fist.
Keldric remembered striking someone with all his strength during his first dream.
The neck had been torn apart, leaving no head, but the body's identity was easy to infer.
'The form it had before becoming a monster.'
The monster had originally been human. It had become a beast because it failed to resist the demon's temptation.
[ This is the beast you hunted. Even this worthless creature became what it was through my power. ]
A snickering laugh echoed through the cavern, mocking Keldric.
"I don't need that. Show yourself."
[ You can obtain far greater things. Surrender yourself to me, and I will— ]
"You are not listening."
Keldric felt no fear at all.
Since the demon would not listen, Keldric began smashing every stone statue within reach.
[ Do you think I am the one driving you? No. The Son of Man drives and tests you. ]
Boom! Crash!
[ Oppose me, and nothing will remain. Honor and glory are empty trappings that no one will ever recognize. If you truly... ]
Boom! Boom! Crash!
[ ...A warrior. ]
Keldric stopped. The statues around him lay shattered, leaving him alone in the vast cavern.
A powerful wind suddenly swept through the chamber. Keldric turned toward it.
[ A strong warrior deserves a fitting reward. ]
It appeared at the very center of the cavern.
A huge wolf with pitch-black fur stood there. A hissing snake grew in place of its tail, while enormous winglike appendages sprouted from its back.
Heat and flame leaked from its muzzle. The wolf spoke.
[ I will give you everything if you worship me. ]
"Hup!"
Keldric said fuck all of that and charged. The wolf sprang backward in surprise.
But Keldric was faster. The meteoric-iron longsword fell toward its head like lightning, carrying enough force to shatter anything.
[ Wait— ]
CRASH!
Dust burst upward. When it cleared, only a single wolf fang remained.
Keldric stared at it sourly. He had clearly felt the impact, yet instead of a wolf's head split in two, all he had was one fang.
[ An ignorant creature, but courageous. ]
"Why are you hiding? Are you afraid?"
[ I do not dislike a courageous warrior. ]
The whisper receded until it sounded faint and distant.
[ Then what is the source of courage that will never be rewarded? ]
"..."
His mind gradually grew hazy. Keldric recognized the sensation that came just before waking.
He searched for any answer, and the words once carved into the sealed door came to mind.
"God triumphs (Deus vicit)."
[ ... ]
"That is the source of my courage. Then where does your fear of me come from?"
[ ...Cunning creature. ]
His vision blurred.
☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩
Keldric awoke as his consciousness rapidly surfaced.
The familiar guest room in the inner castle came into view.
He jerked upright, sighed, and lay back down.
Getting the last word on the demon felt deeply satisfying.
The demon had accomplished nothing. It had neither burrowed into Keldric's mind nor broken the shield of his courage.
Keldric was Keldric, no one else.
Something felt strange in his hand. When he opened his fist, he found the fang the demon had dropped in the dream.
Keldric tossed it into a leather pouch. He would see Brother Marcus again soon and could hand it over then.
After a long yawn, Keldric closed his eyes again in satisfaction.
'Maybe I'll sleep a little longer...'
He would soon leave Spitzenberg and wanted to rest before then.