When there was a meeting, the lord usually arrived last, but today Anchin was the first to arrive at the hall of the main keep.
Sitting at the wide table, Anchin had a servant bring ale. He never normally drank during meetings, but he needed a drink to calm his uneasy mind.
Anchin was on his third cup of ale when the vassals began to come into the hall. Having heard it was an urgent meeting, the vassals hurried breathlessly to their seats. They were startled that the lord had come to the meeting first, and was even drinking ale.
Anchin spoke.
"Is everyone here?"
"Willan isn't here yet."
The Treasurer, Edmer, said.
"Edmer, how are you managing the Assistant Treasurer? Barad Castle has just sent out an expedition; this is an important time. At a time like this, more than ever, the vassals must keep their wits about them to deal with emergencies."
Anchin's voice rose. The vassals sensed that the mood was ominous.
Anchin went on.
"Edmer, you mustn't hold your tongue just because the Assistant Treasurer is my brother. In terms of duty, Willan is your direct subordinate."
"I will keep that in mind."
Edmer resented that Willan, of all times, wasn't in the castle now. Until now he had gone easy on Willan because he was the lord's brother.
He couldn't let the fallout land on himself like this. It seemed he would have to change his attitude toward the Assistant Treasurer from now on.
"An unfortunate incident just occurred inside the castle. Measures are urgently needed, so I called this meeting."
Anchin told them that Artin, Vice Commander of the knights, had turned back from Geston without his permission and returned to the castle; that soldiers had died by fire magic while trying to arrest Stormmond; and that Stormmond had left Barad Castle.
On their hurried way to the hall of the main keep, the vassals had realized that the smell spreading through the castle was the smell of soldiers burned by fire magic. It was a shocking incident.
The scholar Varter spoke.
"But how could such a thing happen? Why did the follow-up force suddenly return to the castle without any report?"
Every vassal in the council room had questions about the follow-up force's unannounced return.
Anchin passed on what Artin had said: that Artin had set the stablehand to watch Stormmond, and that the stablehand's death must be connected with Stormmond.
The captain of the guard, Natye, thought it a clear mistake on Artin's part.
"Sending only the advance force to Orpul isn't enough to stop the barbarians. Just when the follow-up force absolutely had to join them at Orpul, Artin came back to Barad Castle without your permission, my lord. It's a clear blunder."
"Exactly. Even allowing for acting first and reporting afterward, Barad Castle can't be said to be in any urgent crisis right now."
The vassals wondered whether they had misheard what the lord had just said. That Lord Stormmond, who had been with them for decades, had left was hard to believe.
Varter thought that the departure from House Rosrad of Stormmond, who would have played the most important part in defending Barad Castle once the follow-up force went to Orpul, would be a great weakness for House Rosrad from now on.
"Stormmond's departure can be seen as a crisis for House Rosrad. What's more, we can't send the follow-up force to Orpul now. By now, everyone knows the follow-up force turned back to the castle."
"Sending the follow-up force to Orpul again in secret at night would be ridiculous too. Without the follow-up force's support, subduing the barbarians who'll show up at Orpul has become very hard.
Send a carrier pigeon to Gerhardt and tell him about the current situation. Tell him to hold out somehow with House Tiregel's troops, and to use his troops defensively."
"Yes. I will do so."
Natye thought that Artin, who had brought about this situation where the follow-up force couldn't even be sent to Orpul and the mage had left Barad Castle besides, couldn't be left as he was.
"My lord, House Rosrad is facing a crisis because of Artin's decision to turn back. Artin must be made to answer for his crime."
Natye's voice was heated. For Natye, upright and devoted to discipline, Artin had committed a grave wrong.
"In my view, Artin should be stripped of his knighthood. If we fail to stop the barbarians at Orpul and House Tiregel faces a crisis, the other vassal houses' loyalty to House Rosrad will drop.
And he drove away Stormmond, who has been with us for decades. Nothing is as important as a strong mage for getting out of a losing position in battle."
Varter thought it was true that House Rosrad was in a crisis now, but that at a time like this, more than ever, they had to weigh the whole situation carefully.
"My lord. If we were to call Artin to account for the crime he committed, it would warrant beheading."
Except for Varter, the lord and the vassals were stunned to hear talk of beheading. Varter went on.
"But House Rosrad's expedition is now in Orpul, where House Tiregel is. If the expedition is to fight the barbarians, it cannot do without House Tiregel's cooperation.
In this situation, suppose we behead Artin Tiregel, a man of House Tiregel, or strip him of his knighthood.
Then it will be hard for the expedition to win House Tiregel's cooperation in fighting the barbarians.
Of course, in a desperate situation where the barbarians attack House Tiregel's own domain, they may help the expedition.
But after the barbarians are held off, what will Iras, lord of House Tiregel, think of House Rosrad?
Will he go on pledging loyalty and paying tribute as before to the house that beheaded his second son or stripped him of his knighthood?
So I think it fitting to sentence Artin to confinement."
Anchin listened to Varter and nodded.
"Hm. That makes sense. By the rules, Artin should be beheaded, but as long as the expedition is in Orpul, we can't do that."
Just then, the door of the hall opened and Willan came in. Anchin looked at Willan with contempt in his eyes.
"Why are you only coming now?"
Anchin hurled the pewter cup in his hand at Willan. The ale in the cup splashed on Willan's clothes.
"I apologize for being late."
Willan's eyes were red and bloodshot, and his hair was a mess.
"What were you doing all night to get eyes like that?"
"I had a few drinks in the town."
Willan clasped his hands and hung his head low. In fact, Willan hadn't only been drinking. He had been carousing at a house of pleasure until the small hours of the morning, and coming in answer to an urgent summons, he hadn't had time to tidy his hair.
"Do you have any idea what state Barad Castle is in, that you're out swilling drink? You should read the mood. The follow-up force came back to the castle without any report, I tell you."
Willan couldn't possibly know what situation they were in now. With a vacant expression, he sat down beside the Treasurer, Edmer.
"Let's start the meeting again."
Resim Sirione, a senior knight from the native nobility born and raised in Unton, did not fully trust knights from other regions. Confinement felt far too light a measure for Artin.
"I think that even if we don't behead Artin, he must be stripped of his knighthood. If we can't even strip him of his knighthood after he committed such a grave wrong, House Rosrad will lose face.
Only by showing severity will the other vassal houses not take House Rosrad lightly. And we must quickly find a mage to replace Stormmond."
Anchin thought that what the loyal Resim said was not wrong.
"I fully understand how you feel. Then how about this: prison, which is less than stripping his knighthood but harsher than confinement.
We send him to prison and, watching the mood, release him when it's time to release him. Artin did such a grave wrong that House Tiregel will understand that much.
House Tiregel is facing a crisis because the follow-up force didn't reach Orpul thanks to Artin. So Artin has to bear the responsibility for it.
And we have to find a mage to replace Stormmond quickly. If, while the follow-up force is stuck at Barad Castle, we have a new mage join the expedition, it will be a great help in stopping the barbarians.
As for finding a mage... Varter would be best for that."
Varter thought that if it was a matter of finding a mage, he was the right man. It was work that required knowledge and experience.
"Leave it to me. I will find one."
"Then, let's end today's meeting here. Lock Artin up in prison at once, and Varter, get ready to travel."
And so the meeting ended.
Artin, resting in his quarters, wondered what had passed between the lord and the vassals, without him.
He was certain that Stormmond had been planning rebellion. Stormmond had killed the stablehand Mofford to escape being watched. Afraid of being arrested, he had even killed with fire magic the Barad Castle soldiers who had come into his keep.
And since his plan of rebellion had been exposed, he had flown away like a cloud through the sky and fled Barad Castle.
Now the follow-up force only had to set out for Orpul again. Artin thought he had shown his deep loyalty to House Rosrad through swift action.
The footsteps of several people sounded outside the quarters. Then, with a bang, the door flew open.
Without a word, soldiers grabbed Artin's arms from either side.
"What is this? Why are you arresting me? I've done nothing wrong."
"......."
The soldiers were silent.
"You bastards!"
Artin swiftly shook off their grip and punched the soldier on his right in the face.
As if he had known this would happen, the soldier in front of Artin kicked him in the stomach.
Artin was not a man to go down from a single kick. The soldiers around Artin ganged up on him, kicking and punching.
"We're sorry. It's an order; we have no choice. Please come quietly."
The soldiers sat on Artin where he had fallen on the floor and bound his arms with rope.
"This is a misunderstanding! I've done nothing wrong......."
Artin was dragged off to the prison on the north side of the castle grounds. Artin had risen to the post of Vice Commander of the knights, and now he was being beaten by soldiers and dragged to prison; he felt humiliated.
'Is this all I get for trying to catch and head off a danger that was about to befall House Rosrad?'
The jailer untied Artin's rope in the cell.
It was a prison where not a single ray of sunlight reached. Artin thought that in here he wouldn't be able to tell day from night. A few lamps in the prison corridor were all the light there was inside the prison.
Artin crouched dejectedly in a corner of the cell. He wanted to hear how things were going.
A while later, he heard the jailer jump up. Artin looked beside the jailer, wondering who had come.
It was the scholar Varter.
The jailer opened the cell door.
Varter came into the cell.
Artin spoke in a glad voice.
"Scholar, what's happened?"