Rafin shot his hand up.
"I'm Rafin Valone."
"So you're Rafin. I heard your opponent in the final was Sir Folke. Sir Folke's horsemanship and lance work are widely renowned, and you beat him. Judging by your face, you seem quite young."
Alan, too, was something of an expert at horsemanship and lance work. It surprised him that the young-looking squire beside the expedition's commander had such great skill, enough to beat Sir Folke.
When he had gone out of the castle to meet the expedition, he had seen Rafin beside Sir Gerhardt, but he had never imagined him to be the tournament winner. Something he wanted to propose to his father came to mind.
"Father, House Tiregel was originally a nomadic warrior tribe, after all. House Tiregel is second to none in horsemanship, but House Rosrad's expedition has come from far away all the way to Castow Castle, and the tournament winner is even here as well, so how about having House Tiregel's soldiers learn whatever they can from Rafin?"
"Oh, good idea. There's no knowing when the follow-up force will get here...... Even if our troops aren't enough, if there's a way to sharpen their combat skills to prepare for the barbarians, we should do it."
Iras looked at Rafin.
"How about it? Rafin, can you teach combat skills to the soldiers here?"
Rafin had never thought he would come all the way to Orpul and end up teaching combat skills. What Lord Iras said was right. The follow-up force had turned back to Barad Castle, so there was no telling when it could reach Orpul.
There was every chance they would face the barbarians before the follow-up force reached Orpul. The follow-up force might not make it to Orpul at all. They had to prepare for that.
One wrong step, he thought, and if House Rosrad failed on its expedition and couldn't quell the turmoil at Barad Castle, it could face a crisis.
Winning distinction at a time like this would make it shine all the brighter. At the thought that a chance was coming, Rafin's heart pounded. It would be very good if he could prove on this expedition that he had what it took to become a knight.
"If what I teach can help, and not shame the nomadic tradition that runs through Orpul, I'll consider it an honor."
Iras stroked his gray beard.
"Good. Then start tomorrow. The expedition must be worn out; go to your quarters quickly and rest."
The Rosrad expedition was quite tired from the long march from Unton to Orpul.
The expedition ate in Castow Castle's guard barracks and went straight to sleep. The moment they lay down on soft beds stuffed with wool, instead of the hard, cold ground, their eyes closed.
The next day, House Tiregel invited the expedition's knights and squires to share lunch with them, calling them to a hall beside the great hall of the main keep.
Rafin and Rewad were walking slowly through the castle, looking around.
Rewad spoke.
"Look how tall that watchtower is. Going up and down it a few times would wear out your legs."
"Castles in the central regions or the South sometimes have their walls and watchtowers decorated lavishly, but there's none of that here. It looks like a building style that only considers sturdiness and practicality. With enough food, I bet you could hold out under siege in a castle like this for 3 years or so."
"You've only ever lived at Winstio Castle back home and at Barad Castle, so how do you know that sort of thing?"
"You must not have studied very hard. I learned all kinds of things from the scholar when I was little. For a castle on the frontier like Orpul, and this far north at that, defending the castle solidly against invasion from outside is what matters most. And up here in the North there are a lot of animals you can't see anywhere else."
"Such as?"
From his past life's experience, Rafin knew there were far more dangerous animals in the North. Enemy troops were dangerous, but in the North the danger of animals couldn't be overlooked either.
"There are things like smilodons and dire wolves."
"I've heard the names. I hear a smilodon is bigger than a tiger and its fangs are enormous."
Rafin remembered soldiers in his past life whose torsos had been run through by smilodon fangs. They were fangs that could pierce most armor.
"Here there are smilodons and dire wolves as well as barbarians, so they built the walls this high and sturdy."
The expedition party arrived at the hall. Food was being set out on a wide table. There was stew with reindeer meat and mutton, and apples and plums served dried. The drink was whiskey.
The lord and his vassals attended as well. It was the expedition's first meal with the people of House Tiregel.
Iras spoke.
"I don't know whether the food here will suit your tastes. We mostly eat reindeer and mutton. Everyone, fill your cups. If a big cup is too much for anyone, fill a small one."
Rewad knew that whiskey was much stronger than the ale he usually drank. He poured whiskey into a small cup. He didn't think anyone in the expedition would pour whiskey into a pewter water cup and drink it.
But Rafin was pouring whiskey into a pewter water cup.
"Rafin, will you be all right?"
Rewad pointed at Rafin's pewter cup. Instead of answering, Rafin touched his thumb and forefinger together to make a circle.
Everyone in the expedition except Rafin poured whiskey into small pewter cups.
Alan wondered if Rafin was overdoing it.
Rafin remembered the energy that had surged up inside his body when he saw the blue light of the Eye of the Corridor at the Temple of Krilmar. He was curious how that energy might bring about a change in him.
In his past life, Rafin had held his liquor very well. Ale couldn't measure it. Now that he had a chance to drink whiskey, he wanted to know how it would feel.
The Tiregel people all filled pewter water cups with whiskey. People who lived in cold lands had to warm their bodies with strong liquor, so whiskey was a very familiar drink to them.
Iras raised his voice.
"Everyone's cup full? As the one who represents House Tiregel, I am very glad that House Rosrad has sent an expedition all this long way.
As long as the expedition is here at Castow Castle, you are one body with us. Wishing us all fortune in battle, let us all drink together."
Everyone clinked cups with the people beside them and drank the whiskey. Rafin drank his whiskey down in one go. Once he had drunk it, hot, sharp air came out through his nose. He remembered the whiskey he had drunk in his past life. He had downed a cup of whiskey and was perfectly fine.
For a while, the people in the hall ate. The Tiregel people ate quickly.
Alan began to speak.
"It seems most of you have finished eating. When we heard the expedition was coming, we looked into which parts of the Grimhall Mountains we should search first. And I will give the expedition a brief explanation about the Grimhall Mountains and the barbarians.
The Grimhall Mountains are a vast range stretching across the north of the continent of Caldrea from its western end to its eastern end. For the houses south of the Grimhall Mountains, the barbarians' invasions have historically been the greatest threat.
Every 10 years at the shortest and 15 years or so at the longest, the barbarians come down over the Grimhall Mountains to plunder.
House Rosrad commands everything from the central regions to the whole North, and for House Tiregel, its decision to dispatch an expedition now, as the winters grow colder and colder, is something we are deeply grateful for."
Alan paused for a moment and, seemingly parched, drank a cup of water. Then he went on.
"The barbarians beyond the Grimhall Mountains have no concept of the culture we have. They only eat, drink, and breed. When the barbarians cross the Grimhall Mountains to plunder, they don't just steal grain and livestock. They kill the men and carry off the young women to use as their playthings and to breed their kind."
Alan swallowed his words for a moment. A dark shadow crossed Alan's eyes, as if a memory from 10 years ago had come back. The horrific sight of Orpul after it was pillaged back then was still vivid in his mind.
"And one of their characteristics is that they tame yetis and use them as their mercenaries. A yeti is an ape covered in fur all over and fully 3 meters tall. Yetis aren't very intelligent, but they obey the barbarians' orders absolutely. Being so big, they're very strong. They're very dangerous.
It would have been better if House Rosrad's follow-up force had come too, but we have the expedition's troops here, some 1,000, and Tiregel's soldiers, some 1,000, for a total of some 2,000; I don't believe that is enough to take on the barbarians."
The whole expedition listened closely to Alan. Since it came from someone who lived near the Grimhall Mountains, the barbarian threat hit home.
Alan went on.
"Since Rafin, the tournament winner, has come here, we will learn whatever we can from Rafin to help strengthen our forces. Also, in Orpul, on the western side of the Grimhall Mountains, there are a peak called Svartr and a peak called Kaldren.
Svartr is a place where fog and dark clouds often hang, and on Kaldren the wind blows especially hard, so it's bitterly cold.
If the barbarians cross the Grimhall Mountains into Orpul, we expect they'll probably come through the two gorges between Svartr and Kaldren.
There are two: Nordmar Gorge and Fingar Gorge.
So we must search these two gorges for any trace of the barbarians, and guard them to stop the barbarians from coming south.
Castow Castle has plenty of wool-stuffed clothes, boots, and gloves for the cold. We will issue cold-weather gear to the expedition. Once the supplies are issued, Rafin, I ask you to teach the soldiers combat skills. Then, when we finish eating, the expedition will go to the supply depot."
The expedition finished eating and went to Castow Castle's supply depot. Thick clothes, gloves, and boots packed tight with wool, the kind not seen in Unton, were issued to the expedition.
When all the supplies had been moved to the quarters, the soldiers gathered at the castle's training ground. The Tiregel side selected the men to be trained by Rafin first and sent them to the training ground.
The expedition's side did the same. Some 200 soldiers from both forces gathered at the training ground.
The Knight Commander of House Tiregel, Simas, went to Rafin to help with the training. Rafin had seen Simas in the great hall and the dining hall, but it was the first time he had spoken with him.
"I'm Simas, Knight Commander of House Tiregel. I look forward to working with you."
"Likewise. I'll do my best to improve their combat skills. Then, we'll start with swordsmanship first."
Rafin didn't bother explaining why they were starting with swordsmanship.
Simas had the soldiers get ready for sword training. The Tiregel soldiers took swords and shields out of the armory and handed them out to everyone.
At that moment, Rafin was curious, and worried too, about when the follow-up force would reach Barad Castle and what would happen at Barad Castle.
It seemed something was bound to happen.