Chapter 212
The Knight of the Common Folk
Despite the joyous news of their lord’s return, the night in Duke Yurei’s domain was steeped in sorrow.
From every household with an able-bodied man and children came the wails of women who were about to lose their husbands.
Some soldiers attempted to desert with their families, but they were merely made examples of.
After all, they were not the only ones being forced to leave their pitiful families behind and march to their deaths.
Perry Yurei’s room was quiet.
He no longer had a wife who would mourn his death, nor a child who might avenge his father in a new land.
He had thought that having nothing left would make things easier, but his heart was heavier than anyone else’s.
Again and again, he wondered whether he was dragging innocent people to their deaths, whether there might be another way that his narrow perspective had prevented him from seeing.
But what did it matter now?
The die had already been cast.
Duke Yurei repeatedly inspected his equipment and emptied his mind.
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
He assumed it was the officer on duty coming to deliver the roll-call report, but to his surprise, the person who entered was William.
Duke Yurei asked in a cold, mocking tone,
“Why have you come here?”
William gripped the scabbard at his waist tightly before finally dropping to one knee.
“...Your Grace.”
“Who gave you the right to call me that? I am not idle enough to listen to such words from you. Get out.”
“I will join the battle.”
“You insulted the man who was to become your lord, and now you dare pretend to be a knight?”
“I was foolish. I thought Your Grace’s judgment had grown clouded and that you were making a foolish decision. But it was I whose vision was narrow and whose thinking was shallow.”
“We are marching out to throw away the lives of countless soldiers. What could be more foolish than that?”
“Then please allow me to come. What difference would one more life make among so many?”
“I, too, once served in Duke Yurei’s domain. Therefore, I should also be allowed to die here with honor—”
“William.”
Duke Yurei cut him off.
“I am going to die as the Duke of Yurei. The knights will also die as the duke’s knights.”
“...”
“You betrayed your lord to save a few dozen commoners. That was your conviction. Are you now going to betray that conviction as well?”
“What difference does it make if a man who betrayed once does so again?”
“William.”
William fell silent.
The contempt Duke Yurei had shown during their last conversation was nowhere to be found.
“You came here because you heard about the conversation I had with Regent Ferda, did you not?”
“Yes.”
“What did he tell you?”
“He asked me to take care of the elderly, the children, and the women who will become refugees. Regent Ferda promised to take them into his own territory.”
“Yes. He made that promise.”
Duke Yurei spoke with a bitter expression.
“Beneath this castle are children, women, and the elderly. If they fall into the hands of an enemy nation, they will become slaves or playthings. If they fall into the hands of the demons, they will be turned into magical beasts or Sigmund’s puppets.”
“Regent Ferda may be the most damnable liar under heaven… but I do not believe he is a shameless man who knows nothing of a noble’s honor. He will surely keep his promise. However, he has no reason to take responsibility for tens of thousands of refugees.”
Duke Yurei placed a hand on William’s shoulder.
“If all of us die, someone will need to take responsibility for them.”
That hand felt unbearably heavy.
It carried the weight of all the lives Duke Yurei had borne responsibility for until now.
“And you are the only person in this castle who has ever led refugees.”
“Your Grace…”
“I have lived as a subject of the Heinkel Kingdom and as the lord of Duke Yurei’s domain. I will go and find a death befitting those roles. You have become a knight of the common folk, so live for the common folk and die for the common folk.”
William could no longer insist.
Duke Yurei’s responsibility now rested upon his shoulders.
William remained there with his head lowered.
“William.”
“Yes?”
“I have one small request.”
“Please tell me.”
“There is no longer anyone who can continue the Yurei bloodline. The Heinkel Kingdom will also disappear, so our family will vanish forever without even being recorded in history.”
To disappear from history was the greatest humiliation a noble house could suffer.
“So I want you to take these.”
Duke Yurei placed the items he had prepared in front of William.
They were a sword and a chest.
“This sword has been passed down through my family for generations. It is ceremonial and has little practical value, so do not think of fighting with it.”
“Yes…”
“Inside the chest are the heirlooms and genealogy passed down through the generations.”
“...Yes.”
“You may sell the heirlooms. They will not fetch much, but if you ever find yourself in desperate need, sell them. However, keep the genealogy with you until the very end. As the final witness to House Yurei. Can you do that for me?”
“I will obey your command.”
William lowered his head once more while holding the items he had received.
Yurei left him there and turned his gaze toward the window.
Nothing was visible beyond it except pitch-black darkness.
“Was the place in Valdrova’s territory called Hestia Village?”
“...Yes.”
“Is it a decent place to live? I have never been there.”
“It is a newly established village, so many things are still rough around the edges. But the people are good, so there were no serious problems.”
“Do they feed people well?”
“They do. Regent Ferda and Administrator Isabella take great care of the refugees.”
“That is good. At least they will not have to go hungry.”
Duke Yurei smiled bitterly.
When morning came, two groups departed from the castle.
One headed toward the capital of the Heinkel Kingdom.
The other headed toward Hestia Village.
As fathers, husbands, and sons disappeared into the distance, the echoes of sorrowful farewells rang out once again.
Ferda led the procession bound for Hestia Village.
He hoped they could reach their destination without incident.
But before the mourning cries had even faded, a crisis found them.
“Regent.”
Zed, who had been serving as their scout, returned and called out to Ferda.
“There is an army approaching along the road we need to take. What should we do?”
“Whose army is it?”
“It appears to belong to King Hudret.”
Ferda was still within Duke Yurei’s territory.
It was clearly an unlawful incursion.
But what did that matter now?
Duke Yurei, the man who could have held them accountable for the trespass, was already marching toward his death.
“What about taking a detour?”
William asked, but Ferda shook his head.
“They are not blind. There are more than ten thousand of us. They must already be aware of our movements.”
If they could not avoid them, then they had no choice but to face them.
“We continue on our way. That is all.”
Not long afterward, they encountered King Hudret’s army as expected.
The soldiers had spread out widely, almost as though they had been waiting for Ferda, deliberately displaying the size of their force.
A messenger from King Hudret rode forward and declared,
“You who stand before the king! These words are the will of Eugene Hudret, King of the Hudret Kingdom himself. If you lack the standing to receive them, kneel!”
“I am Ferda Valdrova, fiancé of Valdrova, the great incarnation of fire. I believe that should be sufficient reason not to kneel. Would you disagree?”
The messenger, who had approached so boldly, found himself at a loss for words and turned his horse around.
A short while later, a man on a white horse approached with his royal guard.
Judging by the crown upon his head, he was undoubtedly Eugene Hudret.
“It seems my messenger was rude, unaware that we had such an esteemed guest before us. Could you not at least have brought an imperial banner?”
“It was an urgent matter, so I had no time to bring one, King Hudret.”
“I can see why you were in such a hurry. You are taking away quite a collection of jewels.”
King Hudret smiled as he looked over the refugees.
There were filthy commoners among them, but there were also noble ladies and wives.
“Do you know the best way to raise a soldier’s morale? Reward him with a woman. And among women, the daughters of nobles are the finest prizes of all.”
“These are civilians from Duke Yurei’s territory.”
“You are aware that Duke Yurei owed me a debt, are you not?”
“I am.”
“Then I should collect what I am owed.”
“He anticipated that and informed me beforehand. He said he would leave the ducal castle intact and use it to settle the debt.”
“An undamaged castle? That is not a bad offer, but…”
King Hudret rubbed his chin.
“What use is land by itself? Without slaves to farm the fields and work the mills, it is worthless.”
He was clearly determined to claim at least some of the refugees.
“I have a duty to protect and escort these people.”
“And we have a duty to collect a debt recognized by the Grand Council.”
“Unfortunately, these people cannot be used to repay that debt.”
“You are being unreasonable, Regent Ferda. I trust you are not acting so boldly merely because you place too much faith in your fiancée.”
“I am not being unreasonable. These are the families of those who departed to fight demons.”
“Demons… you say?”
King Hudret frowned in confusion.
“You should know better than anyone that the Heinkel Kingdom has been taken over by demons.”
“That is what the public has been told. A man of your standing would not naively believe such psychological warfare, so… it seems there truly are demons involved.”
King Hudret looked troubled.
If this was a war against demons, then even with documents from the Grand Council, he could not easily lay hands on the families of those fighting in it.
That was the respect owed to fallen heroes.
“So… there is no room for negotiation?”
“It seems Your Majesty of the Hudret Kingdom is hard of hearing, so I will make myself perfectly clear.”
Ferda’s eyes gleamed fiercely.
Behind his cold expression seemed to lurk a gigantic beast.
Those who saw it instinctively placed their hands on the hilts of their swords.
“These are the families left behind by heroes who marched to fight demons, the enemies of this entire continent. If you wish to lay a hand on them, you will have to step over my corpse first.”
Everyone watched the two men nervously, afraid that violence might erupt at any moment.
“Hahahaha! Duke Yurei used his head well. He reacted so emotionally to our provocations that I took him for a fool.”
King Hudret raised a hand as though conceding defeat.
“Take them all. I have no desire to invite a curse upon my kingdom by harming the families of heroes who died defending their homeland. I will content myself with taking the castle His Grace left behind.”
“I am grateful for your understanding.”
“We are not entirely without shame, after all. Now, let me see…”
King Hudret crooked a finger, summoning one of his aides.
After receiving an order, the aide went to the wagons in the rear and brought forward three supply carts.
“I will leave three wagons of provisions with you. We came prepared for a siege, so we brought more than enough, but it seems we will no longer need all of it. Consider this payment of the remaining balance.”
Three wagons…
It was far too little to count as the balance of the debt, but such a large procession could not afford to be choosy.
Ferda silently accepted King Hudret’s goodwill.
“The road ahead will not be easy. I could assign a few soldiers to escort you.”
“That will not be necessary.”
“Yes, I thought you might say that.”
King Hudret turned and gave an order to the commanders behind him.
“Move out! We must seize the castle before those sly imperial bastards get there first!”
King Hudret’s massive army spurred onward, leaving the refugees behind.
Ferda’s procession also began moving again.
Ferda glanced toward William.
William could not take his eyes off King Hudret’s departing army.
Regret and resentment were mixed across his face.
“Do not cling to it. Even if you had stayed, it was not a castle you could have defended.”
“…I am sorry.”
William turned away and lowered his gaze to the ground.
He considered closing his eyes, but thought doing so would only make the memories return more clearly, so he stared endlessly at the places where his horse’s hooves would fall.
William thought and thought.
Yet no matter how many times he considered it, he could find no answer.
“Regent.”
“What is it?”
“Do you… still believe I am qualified to be a knight?”
“There is a saying: even those qualified to be knights sometimes cannot act as knights, while those unqualified must sometimes act as knights. Do you understand what that means?”
“It means a title is not something one bears only when it is convenient.”
Those words suited William perfectly as he was now.
To speak of taking responsibility only after everything had come to this made him ashamed of himself.
As though knowing what William was thinking, Ferda added one more thing.
“You were a knight from the very beginning.”
For better or worse, that was what it meant to be a knight.