The emperor's reply, arriving after three days.
With trembling fingertips I read down through the contents of the letter.
The letter read as follows.
_________
To my loyal servant, Ulrich von Šternberk.
First, We express Our deep condolences on the death of your father, Sir Petr.
He was Our most faithful knight, and his valiant death shall be a model for every knight of the empire.
We shall never forget his sacrifice, and We are deeply grateful for the devotion the house of Šternberk has shown across the generations.
Your courage and loyalty are likewise commendable.
We are deeply moved that you, before your father's blood has even dried, have taken up the banner of your house once more and sworn your loyalty to Us.
You are the very model of a true Bohemian noble.
But, my loyal servant.
When an entire forest is burning, it is folly to water a single tree.
We are at present seeking to gather a holy crusade once again from across the whole of the empire, in order to strike Prague, the heart of the heretics.
To scatter even one soldier gathered for this great cause is the same as lending strength to the heretics.
The small force of reinforcements We might send you would be no more than a handful of sand before the wave of the enraged heretics.
That would not be saving you; it would only be sending Our precious soldiers to die in vain.
True support arises from the greater victory.
When We have taken Prague and severed the serpent's head, the serpent's tails shall wither and die of their own accord.
To endure until then is the greatest loyalty you can show Us.
Accordingly, as a small recompense for your devotion and as Our gift for that weighty duty.
We appoint you 'Margrave of the South' of the kingdom, and We reaffirm all rights to your domain.
Furthermore, We bestow three hundred Prague groschen to assist in repairing your walls and hiring mercenaries.
So then, My loyal margrave, defend your castle.
Make Šternberk Castle a lamp of loyalty shining in the very midst of the heretics' land.
Hold firm, disrupt their supply lines, and buy time until Our great army marches. Your duty is by no means a light one.
When We raise the cup of victory in Prague, We promise that your name shall be the first We call.
King of the Romans.
Sovereign of Germany, Hungary, and Bohemia,
Sigismund von Luxembourg.
_________
"......."
Without a sound, very slowly, I folded the letter and set it down.
Had I followed my feelings I would have torn this letter to shreds and thrown it away that very instant.
But it would not do to damage a letter bearing the emperor's seal in front of the watching eyes of so many retainers. Such an act could be seen as treason against the emperor.
Just then, the messenger, soaked through with sweat and dust, carefully held out to me the leather pouch fastened at his waist.
"My lord, this is the silver bestowed by His Majesty."
I opened the pouch without a word.
Inside there was not the promise of reinforcements I had so desperately hoped for, but only a great deal of cold, meaningless silver.
A hollow laugh escaped me before I knew it.
"János."
"Yes, young master."
"Roughly how much is three hundred Prague groschen worth?"
János answered in confusion.
"Yes? Ah, hmm... well, it is a large sum, easily a full year's wages for a skilled stonemason. It is by no means a small amount of money, but..."
"Then how many mercenaries can I buy with this money?"
"...The thing is, the whole country is in the middle of a war right now, so the price of mercenaries has shot through the roof."
János answered carefully, watching my expression.
"At the very best... you could hire somewhere around ten men, going by skilled crossbowmen."
Ten men.
Take ten mercenaries and thirty routed soldiers and hold off the rebel army that had smashed the emperor's crusade?
It was an absurd demand. This was plainly a death sentence. It was no different from telling me at length and politely to fight and die honorably for him, just like my father.
The moment I realized that, laughter leaked out from the corner of my mouth without my meaning it.
"Heh, heh heh heh... so this is how you want to play it?"
The corners of my mouth curled and I laughed a chilling laugh.
"Fine, I'll survive on my own just as you want. But from now on it will be my way."
"M-my lord?"
János's face went white. Perhaps he thought his liege had finally lost his mind under one shock after another.
But I was not mad. If anything, the opposite. My head was turning colder and clearer than it ever had.
The stark fact that I had been abandoned by the emperor. Paradoxically, that unfastened every shackle that had been binding me.
'I might be branded a heretic and burned at the stake? What the hell do I care about that? The enemy is going to march in tomorrow and hang my head on the wall!'
Knowledge of the future, modern technology, or forbidden weapons that would be pointed at as the devil's inventions!
This was no time to be picky. Everything usable had to be dragged out and used, whatever came to hand.
Suddenly the story of Zdeněk, the descendant of the house of Šternberk whom I had met at the pub the very night before I came to this era, flashed through my mind.
The early fifteenth century, the most turbulent era in Czech history. The Hussite Wars. And the extraordinary tactics used by the peerless commander who had led that rebel army.
The secret behind how he had led an overwhelmingly outmatched peasant army and smashed the empire's elite crusaders one after another.
'Yes... that's it!'
I struck my cheek hard enough to crack and got a grip on myself. Then I poured out orders in a resolute voice.
"János! Take all of this money right now and go to the nearby villages! Go and buy up every drop of drink there is! Not the watered-down ale the serfs drink, but the strongest distilled spirits or wine!"
"W-wine? At a time as urgent as this...? Y-yes, understood! I shall go at once!"
Overwhelmed by my fierce manner, János hurriedly took a cart and went out through the castle gate.
I turned immediately to Kuno, the knight commander.
"Sir Kuno. I am sorry to ask it of a wounded man, but there is something you must do urgently."
"Only say the word, my lord. This life is already yours."
"Take every soldier who can move right now and go to the pine forest near the domain. There you are to scrape together pine resin and bring it back."
"Pine resin... you say?"
I gripped Sir Kuno's shoulder firmly and spoke.
"Yes. As much as possible! Scrape together every last bit you can and bring all of it back!"
"...Understood. I shall carry out the order at once!"
Sir Kuno wore a puzzled expression just as János had, but like the loyal knight he was, he asked no reason and left the castle at once with his soldiers.
Next was Konrad, the chief attendant.
"Konrad. Is there a master potter in this domain who makes vessels?"
"There is one man in the outer town, Pavel by name, whose family has supplied vessels to the castle for generations, but..."
"Good. Guide me to that man right now."
Together with Konrad I headed straight for the workshop in the town below the castle.
When I stepped into the dim workshop, thick with the smell of clay and soot, a middle-aged man covered head to toe in soot, as if he had been handling the kiln until just now, appeared from within.
He was wary of the unfamiliar uninvited guests, but then recognized my face and flattened himself to the ground on the spot.
"Hgh! M-my lord, I greet you! What business brings so honored a person to such a shabby, filthy place...?"
"Are you Pavel, the potter of this domain?"
"Yes, yes! This humble one is indeed called Pavel."
"Good, Pavel. From now on you and your workers are to stop all your current work and make special pottery of the shape I describe."
Pavel carefully raised his head.
"Wh-what sort of pottery do you mean?"
"A narrow mouth and a round body. And most important of all, the surface must be made very thin and weak, so that it breaks easily even from a light throw."
At my explanation Pavel's face colored with a puzzlement he could not comprehend.
"M-my lord... forgive me, but you would have me make them break easily on purpose? Whatever would you use such defective goods for... this humble one will make you sturdy and beautiful jars with all his care, by the craft handed down through the generations."
I shook my head.
"No arguments, just do as I tell you. The fate of our domain rides on this. They must be made in the greatest number possible and as quickly as possible. Understood?"
Overwhelmed by my fierce manner, Pavel swallowed hard and said.
"Y-yes, understood! I shall stake my life on making the jars my lord desires!"
After giving Pavel the exact quantity required, I finished all the preparations and returned to the castle.
Time passed, and around the hour when the sun was sinking low and the western sky was stained with the colors of dusk, János came back to the castle groaning under a cart loaded full.
The cart was piled high with wooden casks holding more than enough strong wine to get every person in this castle drunk.
Soon afterward the soldiers led by Sir Kuno likewise returned, every large sack filled full with sticky lumps of pine resin.
"My lord! I have brought back all of the wine you requested!"
"Well done, János."
I clapped János lightly on the shoulder.
"From here on it gets busier. Go to the kitchen at once. Then mobilize every servant and render the fat out of all the pork and beef stored in the castle's food stores."
"Yes? A-all of the meat?"
János doubted his own ears.
With the enemy about to attack at any moment, to render all the fat out of meat, the most precious food there was, was by any common sense an insane thing to do.
"If you do that the meat will all spoil within a few days! We ought rather to salt it or smoke it to extend how long it keeps..."
"It does not matter. What I need right now is not meat but fat. Now hurry!"
Faced with my resolute attitude, János could not argue any further.
The order to buy strong wine in bulk, the order to scrape together seemingly useless pine resin, the order to make jars that would break easily on purpose. And now on top of that, the incomprehensible order to ruin perfectly good meat to render out its fat.
János, who had watched this series of bizarre acts, could not in the end hold back his mounting curiosity and asked carefully.
"My lord, forgive me, but what on earth are you trying to do? Why are you collecting pine resin, and what will you use all this fat and drink for...?"
Instead of answering, I slowly looked over the materials that had begun to pile up in a mountain in the courtyard.
Pine resin, strong spirits, animal fat, and the easily broken jars that would soon be made.
To the eyes of the people of this era it would look like a heap of meaningless odds and ends, or the madness of a young lord who had lost his mind.
But to my eyes, all of this was the last hope of surviving.
"I am going to make fire."
"Yes?"
"Not just any fire."
My eyes blazed fiercely like the flames inside a kiln.
"I am going to make a fire that never goes out once it catches, a fire that is sticky and utterly vicious."