"That would've been about 6 months before you came to Barad Castle. The cloak was old, so mending it wasn't easy. The lining was almost worn through, so I replaced the whole thing with purple satin. The mage liked the mended cloak quite a lot. Squires aren't supposed to get paid for providing that kind of service to the vassals, you know. I was only doing my job, but he said I'd done good work and gave me a gold coin."
"I bet you took it without saying no."
"Of course. Do you know what a gold coin is worth? Haha."
Rafin was listening intently to Rewad's story. Pleased that Rafin was listening with interest, Rewad poured water into a cup from one corner of the workshop and brought it over, ready to tell the story properly. Then he went on.
"To tell the truth, I'd seen Lord Stormmond from a distance, but it was my first time dealing with him in person, so I was a bit nervous. When I got the request to mend the cloak, I did my very best. Maybe he didn't want to just send me off, because he told me to have a cup of tea before I went, so I sat down."
"With that pale skin and those blue-gray eyes, he looks sharp, but he has an unexpectedly kind side."
"I was surprised too, when he gave me money and offered me tea besides. The mage asked me all sorts of things about myself. So I told him a little about House Forlinde. My older brother was raised as the heir, but I was a thorn in the family's side. So I was sent to Barad Castle and started life as a squire— that kind of story. The mage said he came from the slums."
Rafin seemed thirsty too, because he poured himself a cup of water and brought it over.
"From the slums? I knew he wasn't of noble birth, but from the slums is a surprise."
"The mood was relaxed then, so I asked him something I was curious about too."
"What did you ask?"
"I asked what kind of magic he could use. He said he could use various kinds of black magic, and that of them, his fire magic was the strongest."
Rafin knew that any magic, if backed by strong magical power, was very useful in battle.
Rewad went on.
"And the mage told me about when he was a child. They say that since he had a talent for handling mana from childhood, he was sent to a magic school in Himister. He said that if you had a talent for magic, you could be sent to the magic school even without money. So even though he was poor, he could attend the magic school."
"That makes sense. People who can handle mana are very rare, after all."
"He said that after the magic school, he went to the Mage Tower and had his magical ability recognized. But I asked him why he wasn't in a big city like Himister and had come all the way up north to Unton."
"Oh, you even asked that?"
"The mood then was relaxed, so it was fine. He said things had gone very sour with his colleagues and the senior mages at the Mage Tower, so he couldn't stay there any longer."
"He didn't say what made things go sour?"
"He didn't say that much."
It seemed Rewad didn't know that Lord Stormmond had left Himister because of forbidden magic.
"I see."
"Around then I'd finished my tea, so I got up."
"I'd like to get on speaking terms with the mage too, like you."
"Maybe because the mage is so old, he said he has a few worn-out things, like an old cloak, tunics, bedspreads, and so on. Don't you think he'll ask me to mend something again soon?"
"Oh. Then when that happens, I'll help you with the mending."
"Your skills aren't good enough yet. You need more practice."
"I'd better focus on learning to mend things made of fabric for now. Help me out a bit."
"You even gave me a dagger as a present. I should do at least that much for you."
***
The winters in Unton were harsh. Quilted clothes helped against the cold. But since cotton only grew in the mild south, making cotton wadding was expensive. Quilted clothes were precious things.
Mending a knight's quilted clothes, worn through from hard use or age, was a squire's job. Rafin worked hard to learn from Rewad how to mend clothes.
With repeated practice, Rafin's mending skills improved a great deal. And the job Rafin had been waiting for came in.
After lunch, Rafin and Rewad were sitting on a bench in front of the quarters drinking warm water. The wind outside was getting colder and colder. In Unton, only two months of the year were warm; the remaining ten months were chilly or cold.
"Rafin, you've been working hard learning to mend clothes from me lately, and now you seem pretty good at it."
"I did it a lot, and my skill got better."
"A chance has come to show off your skill. A mending request has come from the keep on the east side of the main keep."
"If it's the keep on the east side, could it be the mage?"
"That's right."
"I'm handing the job over to you, so you do it. A servant will bring the clothes sometime today."
Rafin mended the cotton quilting of Stormmond's tunic. When Rewad checked the mending, the finish was very good.
Rafin took the mended tunic and visited the keep where Stormmond lived. A servant showed him into the private chamber.
"Hello, Mage. I've replaced the quilting in your tunic with new cotton."
Rafin handed the tunic to Stormmond.
Stormmond felt the newly quilted part inside the tunic.
"Quilted with new cotton, it looks thick and warm. Your handiwork is no worse than Rewad's."
"I learned the mending skills well from Rewad."
"As it happens, I have some mulled wine. Would you care for some?"
"If it's not just wine but mulled wine, of course I'll have some."
Stormmond pointed to a chair with his hand, inviting Rafin to sit. Stormmond poured mulled wine into a cup with his own hands and gave it to Rafin.
The two sat across the table from each other, drinking mulled wine.
"Drinking mulled wine, I feel my fatigue melting away. It tastes good too."
"Perhaps because I am an old man, the lord looks after my health and often gives me mulled wine."
"You must stay healthy, Mage, for the influence of our lord, the Northern Grand Duke, to reach far and wide."
Rafin said pleasing things to win Stormmond's favor.
"I am over 70, but I am still sound in body and mind. You were the winner of the jousting tournament, after all. Does watching the other squires' swordsmanship not make you sigh? Besides that, you must have many things to look after as well."
It was quite a sharp question for Rafin. Flattering lies didn't seem likely to work on a mage with so many years behind him.
"My swordsmanship is better than the other squires', but besides that, there is a lot I have to learn as a squire. A squire's life involves a lot of menial work, so it can be tiresome, but I think of it as one step toward becoming a knight, so I bear with it and work hard. If I had not lived as a squire, how would I have known how to mend clothes? I learned from a senior squire and mastered the skill, and thanks to that, I am able to talk with you like this, Mage."
Stormmond finished his cup of mulled wine. Rafin emptied his cup too. Stormmond offered Rafin more wine. Rafin didn't refuse.
"You are an honest sort. A squire as good at riding and swordsmanship as you will have no trouble becoming a knight. I have seen more than one or two squires over the years. Lay hands on a maid and cause a scandal, or get into a fistfight with a fellow squire, and you are thrown out of the castle."
"Once I become a knight, I want to draw on your experience and the help of your magic, Mage, so that House Rosrad keeps its power as the Grand Duke of the North for a long time. I heard from Rewad that you are deeply versed in fire magic."
Rafin took a sip of mulled wine. Among the magic he had seen in his past life, he had once seen magic that woke the dead. Enemies who witnessed necromancy all trembled in terror and lost the will to fight. It was magic that only a tiny few even among mages could wield.
Rafin was curious what the forbidden magic Stormmond possessed was, but he couldn't ask that directly.
"Mobilizing troops means securing the cooperation of the vassal houses and putting together a baggage train; it costs a great deal of money. But a fine mage can replace a great many troops, so you could say a mage is very efficient."
"If you're talking efficiency, I think necromancy, which breaks the enemy's will to fight, would be the best."
Stormmond set down the cup he was holding on the table. He was startled to hear Rafin bring up necromancy.
"Have you seen necromancy?"
Stormmond's voice grew louder.
"No, I haven't. I've been curious since I was little, so I read a lot of books. All children dream of becoming mages, after all. I did too. So as a child I often wondered what magic would be strongest if I became a mage myself, and I imagined that with necromancy, the enemy would be so terrified they'd wet themselves."
"You have quite an imagination. In some regions, necromancy is forbidden."
Rafin began to think that the forbidden magic that had forced the young Stormmond to leave Himister's Mage Tower might be necromancy.
"I heard from Sir Gerhardt, whom I serve, that the time is drawing near when the barbarians beyond the Grimhall Mountains will come down. I'm only a squire now, but I want to help Sir Gerhardt and win distinction on the battlefield. The Grimhall Mountains stretch very wide, from the far east to the far west, and there's no telling where the barbarians will attack. But we can't station troops everywhere south of the Grimhall Mountains either. Naturally there will be gaps, and I think in places like that we'll have no choice but to borrow a mage's power. I want to win distinction in House Rosrad and, first of all, bring stability to my own house, House Valone."
"Spoken like a tournament winner. I agree with what you said. The number of troops that can be mobilized is limited, so a mage like me has to make up for what is lacking. That is why the lord installed me at Barad Castle."
Rafin had something further in mind, one step beyond that. He thought Lord Stormmond, who came from Himister in the south, would understand what he had in mind.
"I even think about this. The possibility that, while House Rosrad is focused on the barbarians coming over the Grimhall Mountains, the lords in the south will try to seize the lands of the North."
Stormmond had thought about the very thing Rafin had just said.
The king of the continent of Caldrea was King Arno Heluman, in the great southern city of Himister. Arno Heluman and Anchin Rosrad had concluded a non-aggression pact not to encroach on each other's territory. Anchin treated Arno as king, and Arno treated Anchin as the Grand Duke of the North. But in all of history, there had never been a pact that lasted forever.
"Now I understand why House Valone went out of its way to enter its eldest son in the jousting tournament. I will remember our conversation today."
Stormmond felt that Rafin, whom he had met by chance over the tunic mending, had remarkable insight into the state of the world. He was still a squire with no authority, so for now all he did was help with a knight's menial work, but once he became a knight and won the trust of those around him, he was a young man whose future Stormmond looked forward to seeing.
Rafin bowed politely and left Stormmond's private chamber.
A few days later, Gerhardt called for Rafin.