Chapter 30 : Chapter 30
Sevha stood at the window, watching the knights conduct their morning training in the castle courtyard.
Teresse, preparing to leave with Legra, glanced at him and smirked.
She remarked, “A hunter is a hunter, no matter where.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a sickness. When there’s a window, you have to watch what’s outside.”
Sevha just stared blankly at his own reflection in the windowpane.
Teresse snorted as if to say, Now you know, and pulled up the hood of her robe.
“Legra and I are going to the Castle Town to buy ingredients and tools for medicine.”
“What kind of medicine?”
At Sevha’s question, Teresse turned her head away, hiding her expression.
“A medicine to bring the Marquis back to his senses, if only for a moment… and other things.”
Sevha sensed she was hiding something. But they weren’t close enough for him to pry or for her to confide, so he didn’t press the issue.
“We’re leaving, then. Let’s go, Legra.”
As Legra followed her out, he called out, “Lord Sevha, please look after Shri! I fed him dried meat this morning, so he shouldn’t bother you for food!”
The fledgling hawk, Shri, flapped its wings on the bed and let out a squeak.
Sevha tried to ignore it, but its insistent squeaky cries finally made him rap it on the head.
Shri stopped crying and rubbed its head furiously against his hand.
“This is no time to be playing with you…”
A few days ago, just as Sevha had proposed, Eshu sent a messenger to the royal palace to announce the Marquis’s illness.
And Sevha, for his part, had begun practicing for the jousting tournament that would be held soon… if his plan succeeded.
Practice, they call it…
As Sevha recalled the past few days of training, there was a knock on the door.
Sevha called for them to enter, and Eshu came into the room.
“The preparations are complete, Young Master. Please come to the equestrian arena.”
Bracing for the inevitable, Sevha sighed and nodded.
He followed Eshu to the equestrian arena of Rasseu Castle.
Thud!
Sevha fell from his horse, which had been running—or, to be honest, walking briskly.
He coughed, dazed, and stared up at the vast blue sky, cursing under his breath.
Eshu rushed over to him. “Young Master, are you all right?”
“I’m fine.”
“Of course! As I’ve said many times, you are truly skilled when it comes to falling off a horse!”
Over the last few days of practice, Sevha had proven only one thing: he was a terrible rider.
It was only natural for someone from the County of Anse, where there was little room and even less reason to ride.
Sevha scowled. “I’ve told you time and again, being good at falling is not a compliment!”
“No, it is a compliment! The most dangerous part of riding is the fall!”
Sevha took Eshu’s hand, got to his feet, and sighed.
“So you want me to display my spectacular falling skills for the nobles at the tournament and win their applause?”
“W-Well…” Eshu’s face was troubled. “Honestly, I don’t understand it. Given how well you fall, you should be a better rider than this…”
Pondering why Sevha was such an abysmal rider, Eshu looked at the horse that had thrown him.
He observed, “Now that I think of it, every horse you ride seems terrified.”
“Does the reason matter? Just give me a solution!”
After a moment’s thought, Eshu turned toward the stables, saying, “Let’s try a horse of the Blahow breed.”
As Eshu walked to the stables, Sevha followed.
He asked, “A Blah-what?”
“The Blahow breed. They were bred from wild horses that lived near the Frost Mountains. They have several traits, but the main one is that they’re lighter and nimbler than other breeds in the kingdom. That’s why they aren’t used as warhorses. They can’t bear the weight of horse armor and a knight’s full plate.”
“Then why recommend it to me?”
“Because they are smarter and more fearless than other horses.”
“If it can’t handle horse armor and full plate, isn’t it useless for a jousting tournament?”
“We can simply do without the horse armor, and as for the full plate… you don’t have a large frame, so it should be fine.”
“Did you just call me short?”
Eshu pretended not to hear and entered the stable.
He pointed to one of the horses. It was a white horse with a nimble build. Its most distinct feature was its face.
“It’s ugly.”
“Please say it’s cute. The Blahow are smart enough to be offended.”
“Smart or not, it’s still an animal.” Sevha reached out to stroke the white horse’s head.
“Young Master! Be care—!”
Before Eshu could finish his warning, the white horse spat right in Sevha’s face.
He silently wiped the spit from his cheek.
Eshu explained nervously, “That one is exceptionally smart, but it has such a terrible temperament that no one has been able to master it.”
The moment Eshu finished his explanation, Sevha’s temper flared, and he raised his fist to strike the horse.
Eshu quickly grabbed his arm. “Y-Young Master! Calm yourself! You must treat a horse as family, as a friend!”
“If your family or your friend spat in your face, you wouldn’t punch them?”
“W-Well, regardless! I’m sure you’ll be able to ride this one with ease!”
Eshu managed to calm Sevha down and put a saddle on the white horse. Then he led it back to the equestrian arena.
He said, “Now, try mounting it.”
Sevha worried it might provoke him again, but the white horse docilely allowed him to mount.
Although its expression did seem to say, Who the hell is this punk to get on my back?
As Sevha took the reins, Eshu suggested, “Now, try a lap around the arena.”
Sevha prepared to move the reins as he had been taught. But before he could, the horse began to circle the arena on its own.
“That’s it! Try going faster!”
It was the same this time. Before Sevha could do a thing, the white horse picked up speed in response to Eshu’s shout.
This little ass…!
The white horse galloped at full speed around the arena for several laps, then stopped.
Eshu approached to praise him, but Sevha shouted, “This bastard isn’t listening to me at all!”
Sevha hadn’t been guiding the horse. The horse had moved as if to say, This is what you want, yeah?
“B-But the result is good, is it not?”
Just then, the white horse looked at Eshu and clacked its teeth. Eshu quickly offered it an apple.
The horse shook Sevha off to the ground and began to eat.
“You donkey…!”
Sevha lunged, ready to make horse tartare out of the beast.
Eshu grabbed him. “C-Calm down, I said! With this horse, you just have to feed it properly!”
“What?”
“This horse knows that if it does what a person wants, it gets something delicious. It performs according to how well it’s paid.”
In short, the white horse was a mercenary that only worked for pay.
Sevha snorted. “So you want me to ride this thing in the jousting tournament?”
“With so little time to practice, it seems like the best way.”
He hated the idea, but with no other choice, he gave a sullen nod.
Eshu said, “Excellent. What should we name it?”
Sevha looked at the horse’s ugly, infuriating face and answered, “Uggo.”
The white horse spat an apple seed at him.
“I’m seriously gonna murder you!” Sevha roared.
The other horses in the stables whinnied in fright. His white horse, however, seemed to sneer, as if annoyed by the ruckus the ugly human was making.
Eshu cried, “What does a name matter! We can decide later. For now, let’s have you try riding in full plate!”
At Eshu’s signal, other knights in the arena brought over a suit of armor and began to fit it onto Sevha.
“This is the armor Lord Vesper wore when he was young. It has been well maintained, so it should be fine.”
“You’re insulting my height again, aren’t you?”
“Y-Young Master, you seem quite fixated on your height.”
Sevha muttered, “Try being treated like a child at my age…”
Then he asked, “So this armor… does someone always have to put it on for you?”
“Full plate is less like clothes and more like… an iron shell.”
“Feels wrong, making others work for me like this.”
Eshu smiled faintly at Sevha’s discomfort. “That’s not a sentiment one expects from a Count’s son.”
“Do the sons of Counts on the other continent not have hands to dress themselves?”
At Sevha’s un-noble-like attitude, Eshu finally broke into a laugh.
“I appreciate the consideration, but there’s no need. The moment the Blanc Knights learned your true identity… they decided to swear their loyalty to you.”
“What reason do they have to follow a man they’ve just met?”
“There’s a reason for that, Young Master. The current Blanc Knights are very young. Do you know why?”
“The last generation of knights was all but wiped out when the undead swarmed from the Great Underground Road.”
“It seems it was the same in Anse.”
Eshu’s voice became distant.
“As you said, the majority of the knighthood died, and their sons inherited their titles. The central nobles and knights, who had long been on poor terms with House Blanc, mocked us… calling us the Orphan Knights.”
Eshu gazed toward the castle where the Marquis resided and smiled.
“To a knight, honor is life itself. Whenever we were scorned, it was the Marquis who grew angry on our behalf and protected that honor. That is why we cannot stand by and watch as Blanc falls to ruin. Our fathers cherished this land their entire lives.”
Sevha understood. The Blanc Knights offered no loyalty to him. Their loyalty was to the Marquis, and he was only a means to an end.
I guess this is unavoidable…
He fell silent, recalling the Hunters of Anse who had followed him just as these knights followed their Marquis.
A short while later, the knights finished dressing Sevha in the armor.
“Now, try holding the lance and shield.”
The knights handed them to Sevha. Despite their immense weight, he lifted the lance and shield with ease.
Eshu and the knights looked surprised for a moment, then smiled with pride.
“You are a descendant of the Blancs, after all. A descendant of the Knight of the Shield.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It is nothing. Now, please try to move.”
Sevha did as Eshu said and tried to move his body.
Clank! Clank!
The moment the dull clang of metal rang out, Sevha’s body froze.
“Young Master? Is something wrong?”
When Sevha didn’t answer, Eshu quickly removed his helmet. Sevha’s face was pale and breaking out in hives.
“Young Master?”
Looking as if he were about to be sick, Sevha said, “Are you sane? You expect me to fight in this thing? Are you telling me to kill myself?”
“Y-Young Master?”
“How am I supposed to hide or run in this?”
“Why would you hide or run while wearing full plate?”
“Y-You’re telling me not to hide or run? Are you m-mad? Hell no!”
Everyone was taken aback by Sevha’s sudden fit.
But to Sevha, it was not sudden at all. For someone who had lived his entire life as a hunter, wearing heavy armor was a violation his body and soul could not tolerate.
“But Young Master! What will you do if you don’t wear armor in the jousting tournament?”
“I’ll just go without it!”
“Without armor, a mere graze from a lance will strip the flesh from your bones!”
“Then I just won’t get grazed!”
“Be reasonable!” Eshu bellowed.
Sevha, uncharacteristically subdued, reluctantly nodded.
Just then, a knight ran into the arena.
“Young Master! Commander! A letter has arrived from the royal palace.”
At the news of the long-awaited letter, everyone held their breath.
“The palace is sending a member of the royal family to the Blanc Territory to offer condolences for the Marquis’s illness.”
So, a royal was coming to conduct an inspection under the guise of consolation.
Sevha and Eshu exchanged smiles of relief. The palace was moving just as they had predicted.
“So? Who is it?” Eshu asked.
The knight hesitated before answering.
“The First Prince.”
The faces of Eshu and the other knights instantly darkened with anger.
“They use the pretense of consoling the Marquis, and they send the Clown Prince?”
Eshu ground his teeth.
“This is an insult to the Marquisate of Blanc.”