So that was how Viktor and the old man, who had seed to have no connection, had co to know each other. The sa went for the other 13 commoners. Most of them were originally from Rosenheim, so once they returned ho, contact had been lost.
"If the conversation you overheard that night was true, then the Lord of Rosenheim made himself a shield so that the man who is now His Grace the Grand Duke could survive. So in the end, it was the late King’s order?"
"...I am certain it was Grand Duke Karlus."
Viktor’s eyes were filled with conviction.
And I sensed a hint of madness and hatred in them. There was the sa faint whiff of danger that had clung to Klugen. If Viktor’s hatred ran any deeper, would he start stirring up trouble like Klugen, plotting an assassination?
Thankfully, it didn’t seem to have reached that point.
Where Klugen had honed his blade with vengeance, Viktor had chosen seclusion.
Telling him what had happened to Klugen wasn’t a good idea.
After all, the one who had killed Klugen to save the Crown Prince was .
How had the Knight of the Gale been born? It started with saving the Crown Prince from a French assassin. To honor the nas of the Rose Knight and the Lord of Rosenheim, a compromise had been reached, and a manufactured hero was born. My father-in-law had been involved too. He probably wouldn’t give it a mont’s thought now.
"Do you know why I chose seclusion? Because there was no one left I could trust. After I returned to Breisburg, I personally investigated to identify that knight. Even if it cost every coin of my reward money! I had to know what kind of bastard he was!"
"Lower your voice. We’re not alone here."
When Viktor’s excitent made his voice rise, I cautioned him. Thankfully, he cald himself. The sound of the rain and thunder was loud enough that we probably wouldn’t be overheard, but caution was still warranted.
"That knight is Karsten von Eldenmark."
Karsten? An uncommon na.
There was definitely soone I knew with the sa na but a different surna.
"He was adopted into a relative’s family—the court Viscount Neunil family."
"Wait, if it’s Neunil..."
Karsten Ritter von Neunil.
The na of the current commander of the Grand Duke’s Guard.
The closest of the close to the Grand Duke. And the knight I had crossed swords with at the tournant. I’d heard he was from the court Viscount Neunil family, but I had no idea he’d been adopted in. And if he had been the one delivering orders to the Lord of Rosenheim, then it was effectively an order from Grand Duke Karlus himself.
"The Lord of Rosenheim was loyal to Crown Prince Karlus, but in the end he was repaid by being turned into a shield. They survived on his blood and sacrifice, then swallowed up Rosenheim, and in the end..."
His head bowed, Viktor’s emotions seed to have run dry. His face looked even more gaunt. He had hidden himself away from the world, haunted by days of deep weariness and a sense of betrayal.
I had taken it lightly without knowing any of this. But what still puzzled was why old Marquis Bertheim had gone out of his way to recomnd Viktor to . For soone carrying a story like this, it might have been better to leave him undisturbed. Was this what it felt like to step into a quagmire?
"Commander! The stuttering man is here, asking to see you. What should we do?"
That was Anton’s voice.
The stuttering man?
When I went outside, there was a young man wearing the red garb marked with the executioner’s symbol. But he looked beaten up. What in the world? Who had done this to him?
Sensing my gaze, Anton answered in a small voice,
"Well, the lowly executioner ca barging in demanding to see you, so we tried to drive him off."
"And so you beat him up like this? Did I order you to bully the powerless?"
"...I’m sorry, Commander. But this man is an unclean executioner."
Anton and the n looked deeply aggrieved. They hadn’t picked a fight with the executioner for no reason. They had only roughed up a man who had insistently demanded an audience, and now they were being scolded by their commander for it.
This wasn’t about disposition. It was a matter of deep-rooted discrimination and faith, so there was nothing to be done about their attitudes.
I sighed and spoke to the young executioner.
"Your courage is comndable. You have business with ?"
"Y, yes! I, I, I’m g, good with b, bones. While p, performing e, executions, I s, studied human b, bones and s, structure, and I c, can do h, healer’s work too."
I thought he was going to suffocate.
So that was why they called him the stuttering man.
"You’re saying that while performing executions, you ca to understand bone structure and studied it? And that you can also work as a healer?"
"T, that’s right. You’re s, sharp, sir."
Hmm. I wanted Simon treated, but this man was an executioner. Common folk would foam at the mouth just from being near one, let alone sharing the sa room and conversing with him. There was even a journeyman who’d been expelled from his guild just for drunkenly speaking to an executioner in the city.
So I asked Viktor and Natalie if they’d consider letting an executioner treat Simon, and Natalie sprang up and refused outright. Viktor’s revulsion was just as strong.
But Simon’s condition wasn’t good.
His right shoulder and arm seed to be broken and were terribly swollen.
His continuous painful groans seed to have changed Viktor’s mind.
"Setting foot in the executioner village already ant we committed irreverence to the Lord, so He will surely forgive us one more. If our Lord is as rciful as they say."
"B, but Father! Executioners are—"
"With the rain trapping us here and no way to reach the hospital, what hope is there for Simon if he dies right here?"
In the end, Viktor permitted the treatnt. So all the n inside went out into the pouring rain. The patient couldn’t be moved, after all.
The stuttering executioner’s na was Stock. Apparently it was a slur used to mock people who stutter, and this bold young man had claid it as his own na.
"L, let s, send for my a, assistant."
"You have an assistant too?"
"M, my w, wife."
I recoiled at the sll coming off Stock’s wife. It was a fishy, gamy odor. As it turned out, she was the daughter of a knacker. Knackers stripped the hides off animals. The disgusting sll clung to their bodies at all tis, so they were treated as carriers of disease.
This executioner village wasn’t ho only to executioners and knackers. Gravediggers also lived here. From the outside, I’d thought there were only a few houses, but apparently there were many more deeper in.
"The m, misaligned bones are b, back in p, place. The m, dicine is a s, salve made from l, lavender."
"You’re more skilled than I expected. Setting bones takes serious talent."
"T, thank you."
I paid them a silver coin as compensation for the treatnt.
Stunned by the amount, the couple tried to refuse, but I pressed it into their hands.
Viktor’s relief was plain to see when Simon’s expression softened.
"Thankfully, the treatnt seems to have gone well."
"Better than well. Setting bones is no easy feat."
I wasn’t deeply versed in dicine, but I was genuinely impressed. Yet, born an executioner, Stock’s talent would never be recognized, and he’d live his entire life in discrimination and contempt. That was a bitter reality.
We all kept silent about the executioner doctor and his wife having visited.
Even if others learned of it, no good would ever co of it.
Thankfully, the rain stopped.
Far from staying the night, the n were itching to leave, and we set off for Breisburg together. Even after night fell, we lit our way with lanterns, and before long we caught sight of Breisburg’s massive northern gate.
After safely admitting Simon to the duchy hospital, I had Viktor and Natalie stay at our ho. The n were lodged in the guest quarters as well. Hilda was startled by the sudden guests, but once she heard the circumstances, she welcod them warmly. I assigned Sabine specifically to look after Natalie.
Viktor lanted quietly that Aseldorf had been blessed not only with a fine son but with a fine daughter-in-law as well. The mont Hilda learned that Viktor had been my father’s friend, she treated him with great warmth—as if he were my own father. Viktor was, if anything, the one taken aback.
The madness and hatred in Viktor’s eyes had a little worried, but seeing him like this, I figured he wouldn’t spiral to the sa extre as Klugen. The next day, I went straight to see old Marquis Bertheim.
The old man had been expecting .
"Just back from eting Falkenheim?"
"More than eting him. My order fought its first battle. Just a band of bandits, but still."
"First battle? Bandits? What are you talking about?"
The old man seed genuinely surprised, and I could feel a deep curiosity in his eyes as he studied . So I gave him a brief account of what had happened. After hearing out, he sighed.
"I thought it was overly coincidental, but it appears it was true after all."
What did he an by that?
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