Chapter 3 – The Illegitimate Son of Westphalen (3)
There was only one church near the Westphalen and Pfalz territories that had a cardinal of the Sun God Church.
I quickly organized a delegation to visit that church.
Since we had to move fast, I selected only people who were excellent riders.
“I’ll get a letter from the lord. Make sure everyone is ready to leave immediately.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
After telling the group to prepare for departure, I headed back to the office to get Father's letter.
The servant standing in front of the door seemed to have already been informed. The moment he saw me, he opened the door without even knocking.
Inside the office stood five knights dressed from head to toe in full plate armor.
They were the Knight Commander and his deputy commanders.
They still haven't left? What a bunch of slow, stubborn idiots.
As I sighed inwardly, Father handed me a sealed scroll.
“Are you leaving now?”
“Yes, my lord.”
Father gave a faint grin.
“Answer again.”
“...Yes, Father.”
“Take this with you. You can't go as an official envoy without a seal.”
Father removed the signet ring from his finger and handed it to me.
The knights' gazes immediately gathered on me, but I didn't bother making eye contact with them.
Including the Knight Commander, they all belonged to the faction supporting the eldest son, the Young Lord.
I took the seal and hurried back to where the delegation was waiting.
Meanwhile, the Knight Commander standing before Count Michael asked,
“My lord, are you planning to give Young Master Eric an important position?”
“You really do seem unusually interested in my sons.”
“My apologies.”
The Count looked out the window at Eric.
Without wasting even a moment, Eric had mounted his horse and was already riding away.
Eric was far more capable than Michael had expected.
He possessed physical strength, good judgment, and even an excellent mind for strategy.
It would be a waste to let talent like that rot away. Perhaps I should suggest using Eric for ‘that matter.’
After finishing his thoughts, Count Michael spoke.
“Anyone who does good work should be rewarded. That's how you encourage them to keep improving.”
“But Young Master Eric—”
“Enough. Just understand that I have no intention of ruining my relationship with ‘Noah’ at this point.”
The meaning behind his words was clear.
The heir would still be his stepson and eldest son, Young Lord Noah.
Hearing that, the Knight Commander's tense expression finally relaxed.
Eric's father, Michael, had originally been the Viscount of Marcel, a poor territory in the southern part of the Kingdom of Franche.
Famous in high society for his handsome appearance, he had married one wife and taken one concubine.
Eric was born to the concubine, and Michael had lived comfortably with his family.
Then, one day, the Count of Westphalen, who had no son of his own, offered Michael the position of Count.
There were two conditions.
First, Michael had to marry the Count's unmarried daughter, ‘Lorian,’ who already had a child, in order to protect her honor.
Second, he had to appoint Lorian's son, ‘Noah,’ as the Young Lord.
Michael accepted both conditions.
Enraged by his decision, his first wife returned to her parents' family.
Only his concubine and their son Eric followed Michael to Westphalen.
Eric was Count Michael's only biological son.
However, since there was already a Young Lord named ‘Noah,’ it was only natural that Eric would receive poor treatment.
I rode with the delegation, changing horses along the way.
We even ate our meals in the saddle to save time.
We had to contact the Cardinal before the Pfalz territory could try anything.
It was deep into the night when we finally arrived at the city of Aachen.
Aachen was an autonomous territory belonging to no lord, and its economy was almost entirely dependent on the Sun God Church.
Since the city had no walls, we rode straight toward the church.
When we reached the main gate, the guards pointed their spears at us and stopped us for inspection.
“Halt. State your affiliation and purpose.”
“I carry a letter from the Lord of Westphalen addressed to the Cardinal. I am Eric, the lord's son.”
The guards immediately lowered their spears.
One of them asked for my family's seal, so I held out my hand and showed him the ring.
The seal was a type of magical tool commissioned from the Magic Tower, making it impossible to forge.
After checking the signet ring with a simple magical device, the soldier respectfully bowed.
“Please wait here for a moment. I will bring a knight to guide you.”
Soon, a knight who seemed to be on night duty appeared with several soldiers.
Anyone could tell at a glance that he was a holy knight.
He wore a surcoat with a large red cross across it.
The holy knight greeted me politely.
“It is quite late, so I am not sure whether you will be able to meet the Cardinal tonight. For now, I will show you where you may stay.”
“Thank you. I'll bring my soldiers with me as well.”
We had all suffered through the journey together.
I couldn't exactly rest comfortably by myself while leaving them outside.
“Young Master, thank you for looking after us.”
One of the senior soldiers expressed his gratitude.
“If you're grateful, carry my luggage for me.”
The senior soldier smiled and picked up my luggage.
Meanwhile, the soldiers stationed here took our horses toward the stables.
Following the holy knight, we arrived at what seemed to be lodging for guests.
Apparently, no one was staying there at the moment, because the holy knight opened the door without hesitation and walked inside.
“Please stay here for a while. I will go and see whether the Cardinal can meet you.”
“I'm counting on you. This matter is urgent.”
Perhaps because a noble had made a ‘request’ rather than giving him an ‘order,’ the holy knight smiled slightly.
“Even if I have to wake the Cardinal, I will deliver your message.”
The moment the holy knight left the room, I collapsed onto the bed.
“Wake me when the knight comes back.”
After spending an entire day on horseback, my body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.
I fell asleep almost instantly.
I had a dream.
Once again, I had been dragged into the middle of a battlefield from my previous life.
Holding a longsword glowing with white light, I cut monsters and villains apart.
No one could stop me.
Before long, countless chunks of flesh and pools of blood gathered beneath my feet.
The lake of blood, thick like a swamp, grew deeper and deeper.
Eventually, it swallowed my entire body.
I struggled beneath the blood.
Then someone began violently shaking my body.
“Young Master Eric, please wake up.”
My eyes snapped open.
The senior soldier was shaking me.
Behind him stood the same holy knight from earlier.
Having barely escaped that ridiculous nightmare, I struggled to sit up and staggered to my feet.
“My apologies. I was so exhausted that what was supposed to be a short rest turned into...”
“Not at all. And the Cardinal says he will meet you now.”
I couldn't meet the Cardinal alone.
I needed to bring someone who could act as a witness.
I had no intention of giving anyone a reason to become suspicious of me while meeting someone with religious authority.
“I'll bring one administrative official with me.”
“Both of you will need to surrender your weapons.”
The administrative official and I removed every piece of metal equipment we carried and followed the holy knight.
The path twisted and turned so much that it would be difficult to memorize after walking it only once.
It was probably designed that way to make assassinating the Cardinal more difficult.
After walking for around ten minutes, we reached the Cardinal's office.
Holy knights and soldiers stood guard in front of it.
Considering how many terrible things the Sun God Church had done, perhaps they were constantly under the threat of terrorism.
Why are there so many guards? He must have plenty of things to feel guilty about.
After being shown inside, I found an old man sitting alone, slowly sipping from a wineglass.
There was a scent of cosmetics in the office.
It almost seemed as though a woman had been here until just moments ago.
“Come, sit. You're the son of the Count of Westphalen?”
“Yes, Cardinal. I have brought a letter from my lord.”
“Give it to me.”
The Cardinal broke the seal and unfolded the scroll.
At first, his face was filled with confusion.
Soon, however, a faint smile appeared on his lips.
Then he held the letter over a candle flame, burned it, and dropped the remains into an ashtray.
“I hear you have something else to give me.”
I untied the heavy pouch hanging from my waist and handed it over.
I assumed it contained a considerable amount of platinum coins.
However, that probably wasn't the entirety of the bribe.
The more important part was probably written in Father's letter.
The Cardinal opened the pouch and looked inside.
With a satisfied expression, he sat back at his desk.
“I'll write a letter for the Count. Wait a moment.”
“Yes, Cardinal.”
Looking pleased, the Cardinal quickly wrote a letter almost without stopping his pen, sealed it, and handed it to me.
“It doesn't particularly matter if you read what's inside, but if possible, I'd prefer that only the Count read it.”
I was curious about its contents.
Still, I would soon be leaving the Count's household anyway.
There was no reason to stick my nose into unnecessary matters.
“I will leave the seal intact.”
“Tsk. What a boring young man. What's your name?”
“Eric.”
“Very well, Eric. A black mage, is it? It seems the Count of Pfalz has become far too greedy. I will personally handle this matter.”
The Cardinal deliberately told me the contents of the letter aloud.
I didn't respond.
In noble society, recklessly running your mouth was an excellent way to shorten your lifespan.
Apparently noticing that, the Cardinal burst into laughter.
“Hahaha! You truly are a boring fellow. Have a drink.”
The Cardinal poured wine into the glass in front of me.
Perhaps he had taken a liking to me because I had brought him a profitable opportunity and knew how to keep my mouth shut.
I drank the wine in one go.
Then another question suddenly came flying at me.
“Eric, what do you think of the Sun God Church?”
Even though the Cardinal had already drunk several glasses and seemed like a fairly easygoing man, telling him that I thought it was a cult might still get my head chopped off.
I needed to phrase my answer appropriately.
“There is no better religion for governing foolish commoners.”
According to the doctrine of the Sun God Church, kings ruled over lords, and lords ruled over their people.
The people naturally owed loyalty and taxes to their lords, while the lords owed loyalty and taxes to their king.
Compared to religions such as the ‘God of Abundance,’ which was closer to folk religion and generally preached that everyone should simply live well together, or the ‘God of the Moon,’ whose followers insisted that all apostates had to be killed, the Sun God Church was far more popular among nobles.
Many religions competed against one another in this world.
The reason the Sun God Church had recently begun growing so rapidly was largely because of the support it received from many lords and kings.
“Heh heh. That's quite an honest answer, isn't it? You really are young.”
“Though I do wish the Church were a little more flexible.”
“Oh? For example?”
“Churches. Would it be too greedy to wish there were more of them scattered throughout the land? What about something like ‘pioneer churches’?”
Churches could currently only be found in large cities.
In this world, priests also served as doctors.
If churches were established even in remote mountain regions, a significant part of the problem of areas without access to medical care could be solved.
“Pioneer churches? Now that's a fine name. Where in the world did you get an idea like that?”
“Uh... my faith?”
Apparently taking my halfhearted answer as a joke, the Cardinal burst into hearty laughter.
“What? Hahaha! I thought you were boring, but apparently you've got a surprisingly good sense of humor.”
What is this? Does he like jokes?
“If you enjoy funny stories, shall I tell you a few? Do you know what you call an almond when it dies?”
I forgot all about my exhaustion and began teaching the Cardinal a variety of terrible dad jokes.
Meanwhile, the administrative official sitting beside me couldn't even dare to yawn and was forced to remain there for several hours.
“Young Master Eric, it's time to wake up.”
The administrative official who had accompanied me to Aachen was desperately trying to wake me.
Being woken up by someone every day—and a man at that—wasn't exactly pleasant.
Besides, I had spent an entire day riding and had even drunk alcohol afterward.
There was no way waking up would be easy.
“Ugh... Where am I?”
“The church's guest lodging.”
Did I black out?
“How did I get here? I remember drinking wine with the Cardinal.”
“A holy knight carried you back.”
“I caused him trouble. What time is it?”
“It is already noon. You should start preparing to leave.”
We had been in a hurry on the way here, which was why we'd ridden so quickly.
On the return journey, we could take our time and camp along the way.
Still, leaving too late would be a problem, so we should hurry at least a little.
“Let's get something to eat at the market and buy some food before we leave. One hour should be enough.”
“The soldiers have already purchased the supplies. They also said meals are served for free in the temple dining hall. We should go together before lunchtime ends.”
It seemed that competent senior soldier had already taken care of everything.
“All right. By the way, what's that bundle?”
There was a bundle wrapped in silk cloth sitting on the table.
“Don't you remember? The Cardinal gave it to you as a gift because you told him so many funny stories.”
“I don't remember. Were my stories really that funny?”
“......”
“Why aren't you answering?”
