VIII. A Knight Craves Battle (4)
VIII. A Knight Craves Battle (4)
Leaving the collapsed buildings aside, Keldric had at least managed to take the old man alive after considerable trouble.
The city was already in an uproar. Residents who had been peacefully going about their day crowded around the scene.
"Everyone stand back!"
"don't come any closer! Move back at once!"
The soldiers who arrived after noticing the commotion turned pale.
The sight of three or four buildings reduced to rubble was shocking. Even Keldric stared blankly at the place where Jamash had stood.
The five or six soldiers who had gathered met Keldric's eyes. Keldric removed his helm to reveal his face and slowly walked toward them.
"God be with you. I am Keldric of House Bellaf."
"S-Sir Keldric of the honorable House Bellaf. What in the world has happened here...?"
"I should report the details to Lord Bogenberg first. Keep the crowd under control."
The fact that Keldric had entered into a contract with the Count of Bogenberg was already known to everyone who mattered.
The soldiers could not possibly be unaware of it.
Even if they did not know the exact terms of the contract, they would surely have noticed that Keldric, who came and went through the inner castle as if it were his own home, had formed some kind of connection with the Count of Bogenberg.
Keldric left the soldiers to secure the site and prepared to head directly to the inner castle.
Whatever the cause, there was no need to explain why Count Bogenberg had to be informed after a disaster in the middle of his city.
'This is...'
What caught Keldric's eye was a glint emanating from the spot where Jamash had been standing.
He approached cautiously and found a strange object buried in the rubble.
It was a palm-sized disc that appeared to be made of silver or some other metal.
Along the disc's rim were inscribed characters that Keldric could not recognize.
The emblem carved at the very center at first glance resembled the flame-shaped brand on Jamash's forehead.
The explosion had half-melted and crushed parts of the metal disc, making the resemblance difficult to confirm.
After briefly studying it, Keldric finally reached down and carefully picked it up.
After an unprecedented event like this, the more evidence he had, the better.
Any one of these objects might provide an important clue to Jamash’s movements.
☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩
"A-a building collapsed?"
"Yes. The soldiers have sealed off the surrounding area."
Having heard the full account from Keldric, the Count of Bogenberg pressed a hand to his forehead with a bewildered expression.
It was understandable. Right in the middle of preparing for a territorial war, something like this had happened in the heart of the city.
Rebuilding the houses and clearing the rubble were manageable. Far more troubling was the anxiety now planted among the people.
No matter that it had occurred a little way from the inner castle—it had still taken place in the middle of the city inside the outer walls.
The residents must have heard the enormous blast. The sound of the world tearing apart had reached even the inner castle.
Perhaps someone had even witnessed the moment of the explosion with their own eyes.
If rumors spread that the explosion was divine punishment, Count Bogenberg would face an enormous headache.
"We’ll have to keep the witnesses quiet."
"Many people saw the collapsed buildings."
"How should we... No. Very well, I understand."
Count Bogenberg had no reason to consult Keldric about the response.
Keldric was overstepping. The count should resolve matters like this with his advisory council.
"The chamberlain will handle that. The real problem is the suspicious man you've brought in alive."
"What has become of him?"
"He is in the dungeon. I will have to consult the Church soon."
The old man whose life Keldric had saved was now behind bars.
There was no way Keldric could have brought down that many buildings on his own, and there was no reason not to believe the word of Keldric, who had sworn a contract before God.
"But the Church is... tch."
The real problem was how often Count Bogenberg had been forced to rely on the Church.
The Count of Bogenberg had already conceded a step concerning the tournament.
The coming war was effectively a proxy conflict with Count Rasau. If the Church endorsed Bogenberg’s legitimacy, the political image would be ideal.
But cooperation with the Church was not an unmixed blessing. That was what worried the count.
There were too many historical disasters caused by excessive Church authority to list.
When the Church's authority increased, the Papacy's influence grew stronger, and ultimately it could regain the standing it had long ago, when it could dictate the fate of a kingdom.
Whether the Papacy could still dominate an entire kingdom was doubtful, but controlling a county such as Bogenberg was entirely possible.
"This has become troublesome. It isn’t your fault, Sir Keldric, but..."
The Count of Bogenberg clicked his tongue in displeasure.
The presence of such dangerous conspirators inside the city was clearly serious, and Keldric had suppressed them early. Even so, he could not shake the feeling that he had stirred up trouble.
"Lord Bogenberg. In truth..."
Awkward beneath the count’s displeased gaze, Keldric carefully drew something from inside his coat.
It was the disc that had been buried in the rubble.
When the disc, resembling a shining silver mirror, emerged into view, the Count of Bogenberg's eyes widened.
"That is...?"
"An object I recovered from the debris. I can't determine its purpose or origin, but I brought it thinking it might be of some use."
The Count of Bogenberg studied the disc in silence for a long while.
His eyes, fixed on the disc, were filled with deliberation. Keldric waited quietly.
At last, the count's tightly closed lips parted with difficulty.
"This... for the time being, it would be best if only you and I know of it."
"Why is that?"
"I can't speak of it lightly, but this emblem is not ordinary. It closely resembles the markings of heretics."
The Count of Bogenberg's thinking ran as follows.
If he were to reveal the disc retrieved from the rubble, and if it consequently came to light that heretics lay behind this incident, that would not be a favorable turn.
Where heretics were involved, the Church would meddle in every little thing. It would be far better to find a connection to Count Rasau.
Moreover, if the old man and Jamash were the culprits who had implanted the Erosion Larvae in Sir Ortvin, the Church would press Sir Ortvin about his own involvement as well.
That too would bring little honor to Sir Ortvin.
Whether he had ingested the Erosion Larvae unknowingly or not, it was plain that the Church would descend upon him to investigate any connection to heresy.
That, too, would be a disgrace to Sir Ortvin.
"In that case, I shall do so."
"I'm always grateful. Sir Keldric."
And so it was decided that the disc would remain in Keldric's temporary custody for now.
Keldric had no particular reason to object.
If the Count of Bogenberg kept it and were to be caught out over it, that would put Keldric in an awkward position as well.
What was more, his curiosity about the heretics had been piqued.
Not that he had the acumen to investigate and uncover truths as Alisa did, but he could at least examine it more closely.
☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩
Night had fallen by the time the day’s uproar was over.
Keldric finished a simple late supper and immediately collapsed onto the bed.
His exhausted body screamed. The fight against Jamash and the old man had been anything but easy.
He had already dealt with the incident at Spitzenberg, yet exhausting problems seemed to multiply wherever he went.
Keldric stared blankly at the back of his hand, where the skin had been scraped raw.
The damage came from striking the stone wall without hesitation. His gauntlet was badly scratched and would soon need a smith’s attention.
Something else occupied Keldric’s thoughts.
'A moment earlier, I thought I couldn’t... but I did.'
The unidentified flames Jamash had spewed, and likewise the mysterious vial the old man had hurled.
Avoiding both simultaneous attacks would ordinarily have been easy. He could simply have slipped diagonally backward.
Keldric had not done so.
His body had seemed to move on its own, but in retrospect that was not quite true.
Had his mind ever worked that quickly? When had he ever achieved such intense concentration in battle?
Never. Keldric had fought a great many opponents up to now, but none had ever made him walk such a tightrope.
If he had to name one, there was the monster he had clashed with at Spitzenberg—but that had been a threat born of the beast's sheer physical attributes.
The very limit of technique. Keldric had experienced it firsthand.
Had he met them with brute force or charged recklessly as usual, he would not have won. He was certain of that.
Keldric recalled that fleeting instant when time seemed to slow and every part of his body responded immediately to his will.
Every muscle fiber had seemed to obey him precisely, allowing feats he would normally have considered impossible.
Experience was precious to any knight who lived by fighting.
The battle had become valuable experience. Keldric had already felt the need to refine his technique instead of relying solely on strength.
Sir Volfen had taught him longswordsmanship, basic footwork, horsemanship, and the use of various other weapons.
Those skills were useful, but Keldric wanted more advanced instruction.
Was there anywhere he could seek instruction?
No particularly promising avenue came to Keldric's mind.
In the end, he settled on gaining more real combat experience.
Had he not survived this fight precisely because he adapted to an unfamiliar battle in the moment?
Experimenting in an unfamiliar crisis was dangerous, but for now he had no other way to sharpen his skills.
After setting aside his tangled thoughts for a while, Keldric picked up the disc he had placed beside his pillow.
It seemed to be made of silver, yet when held up to the flame of a tallow candle, a glint of brass shone faintly through.
It was a truly strange object. Keldric stared at the flame emblem in its center and saw his dark-blue eyes reflected in the surface.
'Heathens...'
Keldric knew nothing of heretics.
He did not deliberately shun them. He simply knew nothing about them.
Since he had never had any direct contact with them, Keldric had lived without paying heretics any mind.
But knowing both oneself and one’s enemy was the first step toward victory.
'When Alisa wakes, perhaps I should ask her about the heathens.'
Keldric’s eyes drifted shut. No matter how strong his body and mind, the accumulated hardship had doubled his exhaustion.
Just before losing consciousness, he managed to hide the disc beneath the bed and fell deeply asleep.
And that night, Keldric dreamed yet again.
☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩
He opened his eyes with a faint sensation of floating and found himself in the familiar place again.
Keldric swept his gaze around the cavern filled with shattered stone statues.
Nothing had changed since his last visit, immediately after he had smashed the statues apart.
'But this isn’t Spitzenberg.'
The space was the same, but Keldric still had no idea why he was there.
Keldric had already concluded his business at Spitzenberg.
The monster was dead, the postern gate behind the church was sealed, the demon’s temptation had failed, and Brother Marcus had taken the fang.
So why was he dreaming of coming here again?
When the same event happened three times, it ceased to be coincidence.
Already accustomed to the place, Keldric brushed rubble from the lower half of a statue and sat on it.
The cavern was silent. Wind occasionally sounded from beyond, but the direction held only a pitch-black passage.
As he began to tire of waiting for a demon that did not appear, the unpleasant voice he remembered rang in his ears.
[ Have you lost your way, deceived by the light, or do you mean to place yourself beneath my feet...? ]
Keldric immediately turned his head toward the source of the voice.
A black wolf with a serpent tail, enormous wings, and fire pouring from its mouth stood there.
[ The warrior has come again. ]
The demon he had seen before stood there.