Scene from KKM Book 8
You know, I couldn't have been more wrong when I thought I'd miss Conrad while he was gone. He's totally larger than life in his absence. This is a scene where Yuri, Josak, Murata, and Wolfram are in the sheep-drawn carriage race. They're camping overnight, Wolfram snoring quietly on Yuri's shoulder, and Yuri convinces Josak to tell a certain story...
Captain Sizemore, Dacascos, and a few of Dougald's soldiers departed for Lanbeer at the same time we did. Since we weren't allowed to have contact with them, they took a parallel route.
"On the sea, the Dougalds are unbeatable, but the moment they hit land, they're absolute beginners. Sizemore is going to be useful in battle someday... I don't understand it. Why did His Animal-loving Lordship send these people to look for you? Does he doubt my reliability or something?"
"Animal-loving Lordship? You mean Gwendal?"
"Yep. After I met you in Carolia, I sent a dove in secret. But whatever. Better to have one protector too many than one too few. After all, the safety of Your Majesty, His Eminence, and the young master are at stake."
Josak Gurrier had hardly changed since the first time I met him. He was Conrad's friend, and Conrad vouched for his reliability.
"And now you have to pretend to be the representative of a foreign country, and you have to take part in a tournament of our enemy."
Josak stoked the fire with a dry branch. Then he broke it into two pieces, which he threw into the fire. The flames colored his satisfied smile in scarlet red.
"Oh well. Whatever craziness befalls you next, I've resolved to follow you."
"Did Conrad say that's what you should do?"
"The captain? No. Most demons would follow you anyway, though. After all, you're the king, right?"
I poured some hot water into a cup. Josak rummaged around in our supply bag until he found a few tea leaves.
"You always call Conrad 'the captain.' So you knew him when he was known as the Lion of Ruttenberg?"
Josak looked surprised. "You're well informed. Yes, he was the Lion of Ruttenberg. His father had made his home there. A lot of humans lived in that area. I'm not sure if I should tell you this story."
"I would really like to hear it, though. So you don't get in any trouble, I'll just say Wolf told me."
While he passed me a cup of black tea, his gaze swept over the widening darkness.
"A few decades ago, humans settled in that region. Except 'settled' is not the right word. They were put into a camp. There was a fence around it and guards were posted everywhere."
"A camp?"
"Well, officially it was called a 'village.' The humans who lived there had had sexual relationships with demons or had the mixed blood that came from such relationships. At that time, Simaron wasn't yet divided into Big and Small. As tensions between Simaron and the demons rose, all those who associated with demons were persecuted. The village was constructed for them. Most of them were women like my mother. She was with a demon for a while, but he disappeared without a trace one day. After that, my mother built a family with a human. She never told a soul she'd born the child of a demon. She left me at a Simaronian temple. I developed more slowly than normal children. At ten, I still looked like I was five, but then in two years, my development suddenly took a huge leap. So it came out that I apparently had demon blood in my veins. That's why I was brought to the village."
Josak set his cup of tea on the ground and lifted his face, shining from the fire.
"Your Eminence, I thought you were sleeping," he said.
"I think it's unfair that I'm the only one who doesn't have to do guard duty," Murata answered.
He sat at my right side, his body still wrapped in the thick wool blanket. Wolfram shifted in his sleep, and moved his head a good bit towards us.
"What kind of camp was it that you were just talking about?" Murata asked.
"Oh, that was just an old, boring story," Josak answered.
"But that's not what it sounded like. I would also really like to hear it. Did you know, Shibuya, that in America during the second World War, there was something similar? All Japanese citizens were sent to camps, with the explanation that it was for their own protection. The real reason was that people were afraid they might become traitors."
Josak threw fresh tea leaves into the pot.
"In that camp, we could only dream of tea. We were happy when there was enough water and wheat to go around. Compared to my life then, the army was the purest paradise. I lived in the village until I was twelve. Just before my thirteenth birthday, a handful of men crept into the camp and freed all the residents. I'll never forget the black shadow of the rider I saw. He said to us, 'Whoever wants to stay should stay. But whoever wants to live as a free demon from now on is welcome to come with us!' His name was Dan Hiri Weller. He had his son with him, who was still so young he couldn't ride alone."
"Got it -- that was Conrad."
"So it was. At that time I would never have guessed that he was the Queen's son. Dan Hiri Weller brought us to a ship which took us to the Demon Empire. Only later did I learn that he had a love affair with the Queen. She had given him control of a region which had been under direct royal jurisdiction. That place was Ruttenberg. It's still pretty unbelievable that a man with the tattoo of an exile would hook up with a Queen."
"Conrad's father was an exile? What was his crime?" Murata asked.
"Even today, I don't know the answer to that. Anyway, Lord Weller and I were about the same age. And when we came of age, we went to the capital city together to join the army. Naturally, I started right at the bottom, but Lord Weller went straight to officer's training at the military academy, thanks to his royal parentage. He was surrounded by lots of noble offspring. There was a lot of trouble there, to be sure."
Murata sighed quietly, his gaze directed at the ground. Presumably he was remembering something from an earlier life.
"After some back and forth, we finally ended up in the same unit. And so I became his subordinate. From that moment on, fate bound us together. We became comrades who stuck together through thick and thin."
"So then, that unit was the Ruttenberg Division?"
"No, that's not right, Your Majesty. That unit was something completely different."
"Is it hard for you to talk about this?"
"Yes, it is," he sighed. "You know that the Demon Empire was in a state of war twenty years ago, right?"
"Yes, I know about that."
"And that we were on the brink of defeat?"
"You almost lost the war?"
"Defeat was virtually guaranteed. The Simaronian army advanced from the southwest. At that time, they had already defeated two of the weaker, smaller nations there. They pushed northwards at a fast pace. Only one more city -- Arnold -- stood in their way, and then Simaron would have been able to break through our borders with ease. Our main force was in northern Grantz and along the coast of Kavernikov. If we sent troops to Arnold, both of those regions would've been severely weakened. Since Simaron had colonized most of the continent, they had far more soldiers than we did. And we didn't have a single ally. There were thoughts of surrendering Arnold and fighting the enemy on home soil."
Josak quietly observed the cooled contents of his cup, which reflected the moon.
"Our Queen had given over full authority to her older brother, Stoffel. The burden was too heavy for her. When the plea for reinforcements came in from the army, everyone feared that it was already too late. And right at that moment, Gr... a certain person gave Stoffel an extremely vindictive piece of advice."
Josak's voice was full of hate.
"So what was the advice?" Murata asked.
Josak continued, quietly and bitterly: "He said our loyalty to the Empire, the Original King, and the current Queen was in doubt. By that, he meant all those with human blood in their veins."
"But -- that's exactly the same as Simaron," I observed in horror.
"You got it!" Josak's cup broke.
"But for Stoffel, this opportunity came delivered on a silver platter. He could eliminate at least one person who might have challenged his power -- Lord Weller. And of course, we couldn't let such allegations rest. We couldn't allow the same story from Simaron to repeat itself. There was only one path Conrad could take to prove his loyalty to the country, the Original King, and the population. He had to put his life on the line."
"And that was..."
"Right. That was the Ruttenberg Division. It consisted of trained soldiers, and additional people of mixed blood from all over the country joined us. They all came together to give their lives for their country. They hoped that if they fought well, trust in them would be restored. Together we were drawn into a hard-fought, decisive battle, the Battle of Arnold. And you have to keep in mind that Conrad was nothing less than the Queen's rightful son. For him, there was no need to go voluntarily to his death. It was Stoffel who gave that order, and Lord Weller answered that it would be an honor. When we arrived on the scene, the battle was as good as lost. Despite the reinforcements, we were less than 4,000, and the enemy had more than 30,000 men. It was hell."
In order not to wake Wolfram on my shoulder, I strained to repress my shudder.
"In the Simaron army, there were men with the powers of exorcism, but on demon soil their powers weren't very strong. The condition of our army was desperate. The few remaining magicians were only capable of minor healing. In spite of that, nothing would hold us back: we slew one enemy after the next, their corpses piled up, there were places you couldn't even see the ground through all the bodies. The grass glowed red and the soil was damp and black. But despite the hell of Arnold, there was something we could take satisfaction in: no one cared about the composition of the blood we shed. On the battlefield, we were all the same. And that was exactly the thing we'd been longing for. We slaughtered the enemy, until there weren't even a thousand of them left, and like a miracle, we also forced them to retreat. Of course, countless of our comrades had also fallen. And most of those who escaped with their lives were wounded. Virtually no one from the battalion returned home unscathed. Lord Weller was also seriously injured, but he let the other wounded be transported away first."
I remembered. Conrad's scar looked nasty. He had laughingly told me that he'd had to hold his stomach together with his hands when he walked, so that his guts didn't fall out. I remembered his deformed skin and had the feeling that my own stomach was also tingling.
"Despite many casualties, we were able to defend Arnold. The enemy was beaten back. It drove new momentum into the Empire. At Grantz and Kavernikov, we also went on the offensive. We had the victory at Arnold solely to thank for the ceasefire that followed. For his part, Lord Weller was given a rank that equaled that of the ten great noble houses. Stoffel's intention to eliminate a possible threat to his power had clearly backfired. Our captain was now untouchable, but the man himself couldn't have cared less. Lord Weller's heart was somewhere else entirely."
The weight on my shoulder disappeared.
Wolfram turned his head and tried with all his might to keep his eyes open. My left side suddenly felt cold.
"Julia," he said.
"Oh, did we wake you?" Josak asked.
"Yeah, what did you think would happen? How am I supposed to sleep when Yuri's trembling all over the place? What a scaredy-cat you are, to get the jitters just from listening to a story."
By "Julia," Wolfram certainly meant Lady Susanna Julia von Wincott. Could a woman who was not even his lover really be so important to Conrad? Or maybe he had a secret affair with her? I swallowed down that question. It was just too embarrassing to be spoken aloud.
Josak's face relaxed a little as he looked at Wolfram.
"So it was. Although Lord Weller had finally gained the rank that was rightfully his, he rejected a career in the military. The only thing he considered his highest calling was the protection of Your Majesty. I lost my direct superior. What options were left for me, but to enter into service to Lord von Voltaire? Even today, there are many who wish for Lord Weller's return to the army. The number of soldiers who want to serve under his command is endless. And who can blame them? Anyone who saw Lord Weller at Arnold would want to serve under him. His sturdy glance that only looked forwards. A man who knew what he was fighting for. It was a wild sight, how he bathed in the blood of his foes. A true demon of war. Who wouldn't want to charge behind such a man, for better or worse, to the end of days?"
"But I don't like that kind of Conrad," I murmured quietly into the campfire.
Suddenly something cold touched my nose, and I was a little spooked. I tugged my leather glove off and stuck my palm up in the air. Tiny objects, light as feathers, came sailing downwards.
"That's snow!" I exclaimed in surprise.
Then they're distracted, and there's no more talk of Conrad.
I'm looking forward to Conrad's reappearance in the arena with a lot of trepidation...
Captain Sizemore, Dacascos, and a few of Dougald's soldiers departed for Lanbeer at the same time we did. Since we weren't allowed to have contact with them, they took a parallel route.
"On the sea, the Dougalds are unbeatable, but the moment they hit land, they're absolute beginners. Sizemore is going to be useful in battle someday... I don't understand it. Why did His Animal-loving Lordship send these people to look for you? Does he doubt my reliability or something?"
"Animal-loving Lordship? You mean Gwendal?"
"Yep. After I met you in Carolia, I sent a dove in secret. But whatever. Better to have one protector too many than one too few. After all, the safety of Your Majesty, His Eminence, and the young master are at stake."
Josak Gurrier had hardly changed since the first time I met him. He was Conrad's friend, and Conrad vouched for his reliability.
"And now you have to pretend to be the representative of a foreign country, and you have to take part in a tournament of our enemy."
Josak stoked the fire with a dry branch. Then he broke it into two pieces, which he threw into the fire. The flames colored his satisfied smile in scarlet red.
"Oh well. Whatever craziness befalls you next, I've resolved to follow you."
"Did Conrad say that's what you should do?"
"The captain? No. Most demons would follow you anyway, though. After all, you're the king, right?"
I poured some hot water into a cup. Josak rummaged around in our supply bag until he found a few tea leaves.
"You always call Conrad 'the captain.' So you knew him when he was known as the Lion of Ruttenberg?"
Josak looked surprised. "You're well informed. Yes, he was the Lion of Ruttenberg. His father had made his home there. A lot of humans lived in that area. I'm not sure if I should tell you this story."
"I would really like to hear it, though. So you don't get in any trouble, I'll just say Wolf told me."
While he passed me a cup of black tea, his gaze swept over the widening darkness.
"A few decades ago, humans settled in that region. Except 'settled' is not the right word. They were put into a camp. There was a fence around it and guards were posted everywhere."
"A camp?"
"Well, officially it was called a 'village.' The humans who lived there had had sexual relationships with demons or had the mixed blood that came from such relationships. At that time, Simaron wasn't yet divided into Big and Small. As tensions between Simaron and the demons rose, all those who associated with demons were persecuted. The village was constructed for them. Most of them were women like my mother. She was with a demon for a while, but he disappeared without a trace one day. After that, my mother built a family with a human. She never told a soul she'd born the child of a demon. She left me at a Simaronian temple. I developed more slowly than normal children. At ten, I still looked like I was five, but then in two years, my development suddenly took a huge leap. So it came out that I apparently had demon blood in my veins. That's why I was brought to the village."
Josak set his cup of tea on the ground and lifted his face, shining from the fire.
"Your Eminence, I thought you were sleeping," he said.
"I think it's unfair that I'm the only one who doesn't have to do guard duty," Murata answered.
He sat at my right side, his body still wrapped in the thick wool blanket. Wolfram shifted in his sleep, and moved his head a good bit towards us.
"What kind of camp was it that you were just talking about?" Murata asked.
"Oh, that was just an old, boring story," Josak answered.
"But that's not what it sounded like. I would also really like to hear it. Did you know, Shibuya, that in America during the second World War, there was something similar? All Japanese citizens were sent to camps, with the explanation that it was for their own protection. The real reason was that people were afraid they might become traitors."
Josak threw fresh tea leaves into the pot.
"In that camp, we could only dream of tea. We were happy when there was enough water and wheat to go around. Compared to my life then, the army was the purest paradise. I lived in the village until I was twelve. Just before my thirteenth birthday, a handful of men crept into the camp and freed all the residents. I'll never forget the black shadow of the rider I saw. He said to us, 'Whoever wants to stay should stay. But whoever wants to live as a free demon from now on is welcome to come with us!' His name was Dan Hiri Weller. He had his son with him, who was still so young he couldn't ride alone."
"Got it -- that was Conrad."
"So it was. At that time I would never have guessed that he was the Queen's son. Dan Hiri Weller brought us to a ship which took us to the Demon Empire. Only later did I learn that he had a love affair with the Queen. She had given him control of a region which had been under direct royal jurisdiction. That place was Ruttenberg. It's still pretty unbelievable that a man with the tattoo of an exile would hook up with a Queen."
"Conrad's father was an exile? What was his crime?" Murata asked.
"Even today, I don't know the answer to that. Anyway, Lord Weller and I were about the same age. And when we came of age, we went to the capital city together to join the army. Naturally, I started right at the bottom, but Lord Weller went straight to officer's training at the military academy, thanks to his royal parentage. He was surrounded by lots of noble offspring. There was a lot of trouble there, to be sure."
Murata sighed quietly, his gaze directed at the ground. Presumably he was remembering something from an earlier life.
"After some back and forth, we finally ended up in the same unit. And so I became his subordinate. From that moment on, fate bound us together. We became comrades who stuck together through thick and thin."
"So then, that unit was the Ruttenberg Division?"
"No, that's not right, Your Majesty. That unit was something completely different."
"Is it hard for you to talk about this?"
"Yes, it is," he sighed. "You know that the Demon Empire was in a state of war twenty years ago, right?"
"Yes, I know about that."
"And that we were on the brink of defeat?"
"You almost lost the war?"
"Defeat was virtually guaranteed. The Simaronian army advanced from the southwest. At that time, they had already defeated two of the weaker, smaller nations there. They pushed northwards at a fast pace. Only one more city -- Arnold -- stood in their way, and then Simaron would have been able to break through our borders with ease. Our main force was in northern Grantz and along the coast of Kavernikov. If we sent troops to Arnold, both of those regions would've been severely weakened. Since Simaron had colonized most of the continent, they had far more soldiers than we did. And we didn't have a single ally. There were thoughts of surrendering Arnold and fighting the enemy on home soil."
Josak quietly observed the cooled contents of his cup, which reflected the moon.
"Our Queen had given over full authority to her older brother, Stoffel. The burden was too heavy for her. When the plea for reinforcements came in from the army, everyone feared that it was already too late. And right at that moment, Gr... a certain person gave Stoffel an extremely vindictive piece of advice."
Josak's voice was full of hate.
"So what was the advice?" Murata asked.
Josak continued, quietly and bitterly: "He said our loyalty to the Empire, the Original King, and the current Queen was in doubt. By that, he meant all those with human blood in their veins."
"But -- that's exactly the same as Simaron," I observed in horror.
"You got it!" Josak's cup broke.
"But for Stoffel, this opportunity came delivered on a silver platter. He could eliminate at least one person who might have challenged his power -- Lord Weller. And of course, we couldn't let such allegations rest. We couldn't allow the same story from Simaron to repeat itself. There was only one path Conrad could take to prove his loyalty to the country, the Original King, and the population. He had to put his life on the line."
"And that was..."
"Right. That was the Ruttenberg Division. It consisted of trained soldiers, and additional people of mixed blood from all over the country joined us. They all came together to give their lives for their country. They hoped that if they fought well, trust in them would be restored. Together we were drawn into a hard-fought, decisive battle, the Battle of Arnold. And you have to keep in mind that Conrad was nothing less than the Queen's rightful son. For him, there was no need to go voluntarily to his death. It was Stoffel who gave that order, and Lord Weller answered that it would be an honor. When we arrived on the scene, the battle was as good as lost. Despite the reinforcements, we were less than 4,000, and the enemy had more than 30,000 men. It was hell."
In order not to wake Wolfram on my shoulder, I strained to repress my shudder.
"In the Simaron army, there were men with the powers of exorcism, but on demon soil their powers weren't very strong. The condition of our army was desperate. The few remaining magicians were only capable of minor healing. In spite of that, nothing would hold us back: we slew one enemy after the next, their corpses piled up, there were places you couldn't even see the ground through all the bodies. The grass glowed red and the soil was damp and black. But despite the hell of Arnold, there was something we could take satisfaction in: no one cared about the composition of the blood we shed. On the battlefield, we were all the same. And that was exactly the thing we'd been longing for. We slaughtered the enemy, until there weren't even a thousand of them left, and like a miracle, we also forced them to retreat. Of course, countless of our comrades had also fallen. And most of those who escaped with their lives were wounded. Virtually no one from the battalion returned home unscathed. Lord Weller was also seriously injured, but he let the other wounded be transported away first."
I remembered. Conrad's scar looked nasty. He had laughingly told me that he'd had to hold his stomach together with his hands when he walked, so that his guts didn't fall out. I remembered his deformed skin and had the feeling that my own stomach was also tingling.
"Despite many casualties, we were able to defend Arnold. The enemy was beaten back. It drove new momentum into the Empire. At Grantz and Kavernikov, we also went on the offensive. We had the victory at Arnold solely to thank for the ceasefire that followed. For his part, Lord Weller was given a rank that equaled that of the ten great noble houses. Stoffel's intention to eliminate a possible threat to his power had clearly backfired. Our captain was now untouchable, but the man himself couldn't have cared less. Lord Weller's heart was somewhere else entirely."
The weight on my shoulder disappeared.
Wolfram turned his head and tried with all his might to keep his eyes open. My left side suddenly felt cold.
"Julia," he said.
"Oh, did we wake you?" Josak asked.
"Yeah, what did you think would happen? How am I supposed to sleep when Yuri's trembling all over the place? What a scaredy-cat you are, to get the jitters just from listening to a story."
By "Julia," Wolfram certainly meant Lady Susanna Julia von Wincott. Could a woman who was not even his lover really be so important to Conrad? Or maybe he had a secret affair with her? I swallowed down that question. It was just too embarrassing to be spoken aloud.
Josak's face relaxed a little as he looked at Wolfram.
"So it was. Although Lord Weller had finally gained the rank that was rightfully his, he rejected a career in the military. The only thing he considered his highest calling was the protection of Your Majesty. I lost my direct superior. What options were left for me, but to enter into service to Lord von Voltaire? Even today, there are many who wish for Lord Weller's return to the army. The number of soldiers who want to serve under his command is endless. And who can blame them? Anyone who saw Lord Weller at Arnold would want to serve under him. His sturdy glance that only looked forwards. A man who knew what he was fighting for. It was a wild sight, how he bathed in the blood of his foes. A true demon of war. Who wouldn't want to charge behind such a man, for better or worse, to the end of days?"
"But I don't like that kind of Conrad," I murmured quietly into the campfire.
Suddenly something cold touched my nose, and I was a little spooked. I tugged my leather glove off and stuck my palm up in the air. Tiny objects, light as feathers, came sailing downwards.
"That's snow!" I exclaimed in surprise.
Then they're distracted, and there's no more talk of Conrad.
I'm looking forward to Conrad's reappearance in the arena with a lot of trepidation...