The lord of Belam in the North, Hermann and the Cassel family, were suddenly embroiled in an unexpected scandal.
If the rumor had been that Lord Hermann frequented the brothels outside the city walls, people would have shrugged it off, and it would have eventually faded.
However, this time, the rumor spreading was not something that could be ignored.
“Lady Cassel, you say?”
“Shh! What if someone hears?”
The rumor that Hermann’s wife, the lady of the Cassel family, had an affair with Anshelm, the head of the Mormon Trading Guild, was spreading everywhere.
Keldric followed the fuming Lord Hermann while glaring at the soldiers and a few servants whispering among themselves.
‘How did this spread so fast?’
Regardless of whether the rumor was true or not, the speed at which it was spreading was unnatural.
It was as if the rumor had been deliberately prepared and then unleashed all at once.
When one person spreads a rumor, it spreads slowly, but when many people talk at once, it travels rapidly.
Coincidentally, the rumor involved Lady Cassel and Anshelm, making it highly likely that Anshelm was behind the spread of this gossip.
The problem was, Anshelm was still safely locked up in the underground dungeon.
This suggested that there might be another ally of Anshelm inside Belam, or perhaps someone who believed his baseless words and was spreading them around.
“Where did the rumor start?”
“Damned if I know. If I knew that, I would have grabbed my whip already.”
Lord Hermann responded in a rushed tone, his face showing signs of panic. It was understandable, as it was a massive disgrace for the wife of a knight to be caught up in an affair scandal.
Not only would the Cassel family’s reputation be ruined, but Lady Cassel’s maternal family, the Hoenthuringen, would also be left humiliated.
If that happened, the fingers pointed at Lady Cassel would inevitably also be pointed at her husband, Lord Hermann.
People would spread disgraceful rumors, suggesting he couldn’t satisfy his wife or that he was neglecting her in favor of another woman.
For a knight, being humiliated in this way, with his honor trampled, was almost worse than death.
“The church even questioned me. They asked if the rumors spreading through Belam’s market were true!”
To make matters worse, the Inquisitors and a few monks from the church had come to Belam for Anshelm’s trial.
At this time, an adulterous woman was considered a grave sinner.
Marriage, seen as a sacred covenant under God’s blessing, was considered sacred, and for a wife to abandon her husband for another man was as if she were discarding her faith entirely.
The one most severely affected by this situation was, of course, Lady Cassel.
The church might demand a public penance or a humiliating act of atonement.
This would result in a huge blow to the family’s reputation, and the Hoenthuringen family would not embrace the adulterous Lady Cassel.
While the church might not allow divorce, considering marriage a divine contract, that was not guaranteed.
The worst part was that the subject of the rumor was a heretic from a city full of betrayers.
“This is absurd! Last night, she whispered her love to me! How could that heathen touch my woman!”
Lord Hermann, despite being furious, had a pale face and his hands were trembling.
Lord Hermann, who loved chivalric literature, knew it well.
Whether it was true or not, people would enjoy gossiping about the absurd adultery scandal of a prominent person, and in the end, it would only be a matter of time before Lord Hermann’s honor was buried, regardless of his wife’s involvement.
He also knew how miserable a knight would become when their honor was lost.
This time, Anshelm had devised an extremely deadly plan.
It wasn’t meticulous, but at least it was a plan that showed Anshelm’s determination not to die alone.
Nothing had been confirmed yet about Anshelm’s involvement, but if it wasn’t him, there was no one else who would spread such malicious rumors.
“Trouble’s brewing,” Cedric muttered under his breath.
He thought that things would resolve smoothly this time, but, as always, human affairs were something to be watched until the very end.
“How dare that lowly heathen merchant challenge my honor!”
Lord Hermann, who arrived at the office with Cedric, immediately started throwing a tantrum. He was so angry that it seemed like he was about to smash everything in the office.
In fact, he really was smashing things.
Lord Hermann was pounding everything with his fists.
The desk was dented by his fists, and the bookshelves toppled over, causing the expensive books inside to fall to the floor.
Some servants rushed in after hearing the loud noise, but Cedric gestured for them to leave.
If they got involved, the innocent servants might be the first to lose their heads.
An angry knight couldn’t be stopped by anyone, not even Cedric.
However, after a whole day of shouting in fury, nothing changed.
After a while of smashing things, Lord Hermann finally approached his treasured book on chivalric literature, but he stopped short of tearing it apart.
It seemed that even he couldn’t bring himself to insult chivalric literature.
Cedric thought that the blazing fire of anger might finally be dying down.
After watching Lord Hermann’s violent outburst for a while, Cedric approached the still-breathing Lord Hermann and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Lord Hermann. Are you alright?”
“Ha… I’m sorry. I showed you such a disgraceful sight.”
“You clearly understand the situation.”
“….”
Lord Hermann, finally looking around at the wreckage of his office, looked mournfully at the destruction.
He was already upset enough, and now, with his typical knightly ignorance, he had smashed everything in sight. It all amounted to money.
Seeing money drain away like this, Lord Hermann slumped into his chair, defeated.
“What should I do?”
“….”
“My wife has always loved only me. I can swear in my honor that this is true.”
For a knight to swear on their honor was like entrusting their life to it.
Cedric nodded, his expression stiff.
“I don’t doubt your innocence.”
“Cedric, you’re… you’re right…”
“But, Lord Hermann, the situation you’re in is indeed quite troublesome.”
For a brief moment, Lord Hermann’s face showed a glimmer of hope at Cedric’s words, but it quickly turned grim again.
The fact that he was a greedy merchant who had betrayed the city, or even a hostile lord, or a pagan was of no use in this situation.
All of Anshelm’s filthy, ugly sins had come back to bite him in the ass, this time on Sir Hermann’s neck.
The further down Anshelm went, the further down Frau Cassel, who was rumored to have had an affair with him, would go.
It would be better to dismiss the rumors outright, or to explain that they were untrue, than to give the public a taste of the sensationalism.
Now that Anshelm had taken a ‘you die, I die’ approach to Sir Hermann’s honor, Sir Hermann could no longer tolerate the situation.
There was no way to clear up the scandalous accusations, which were false in the first place, and no way to prove her virginity, and Sir Hermann and Frau Cassel were already in their fourth year of marriage.
It’s an affair. Sir Hermann was caught between a rock and a hard place.
Keldric suddenly realized that Anshelm was indeed a manipulative and cunning man.
He had even planned in his mind how to kill himself with everyone else, rather than die alone, in case he was captured and everything came to naught.
It was a plan that no other commoner or serf would have thought of.
Anshelm’s position of influence in Belam was such that he could do this.
Keldric didn’t like the vicious, nasty way he did it.
“Anshelm, is he trying to use this to save his life?”
Sir Hermann asked in despair.
Keldric decided to give him a half-hearted answer, even though he didn’t seem to be expecting one.
“I can’t promise you that. But at least we know this is the situation Anshelm was hoping for.”
“Perhaps I was too complacent.”
“You are not complacent. None of us expected this.”
“When I heard the rumor …. at dawn, my wife was about to take her own life by the sword.”
If Mrs. Cassel was a woman, Keldric had seen her many times over the past few days at the dinner table.
Her stoic demeanor and the way she stood by her husband, Sir Hermann, made it impossible to think of her flirting with another man.
Especially a heathen. From what Keldric had seen of Mrs. Cassel, she was extremely devout.
It was no wonder she had been caught up in such a ridiculous scandal, and it was no wonder she felt shamed to the point of wanting to die.
“I……………. what am I to do now?”
Keldric pondered.
There weren’t many options for Sir Hermann in this situation.
Ignoring it and going out as a stagehand was out of the question.
And even if he did, the public, the Church, and the Houses of Kassel and Hoenthuringen would not stand for it.
“Then how?
As Keldric stroked his chin, deep in thought, there was a knock on the door of his office.
Lord Hermann nodded helplessly as he opened the door. Seeing that, Keldric spoke in a strong voice to the person outside.
“Come in.”
The door opened, and it was a castle servant.
He hesitated for a moment, finishing his greeting, then spoke in a nervous tone.
“Lord Hermann. Master Anshelm has an urgent request for the monks from the church.”
“…A request? That heretic scoundrel made a request?”
“Yes… that is…”
“What is it? Stop beating around the bush and speak quickly.”
When Keldric urged him, the servant nodded hastily, his face pale.
“Ah, Guildmaster Anshelm has applied for a trial by combat. A knight representing him has just arrived at the castle.”
“…What?”
Sir Hermann stared at the servant in disbelief.
A trial by combat was usually something requested between nobles.
No matter how powerful a guildmaster he might be, it was unheard of for a mere merchant to challenge a knight.
Anshelm, however, cared nothing for propriety and had outright demanded a trial by combat.
This was yet another humiliation for Sir Hermann.
Nevertheless, the current situation had the unusual circumstance of the church’s involvement.
If the church questioned Lady Kassel’s piety, they might very well accept Anshelm’s challenge for a trial by combat.
“That heretic merchant scum… What is it that he wants?”
“Well… he said if he wins, he wants his life spared…”
If Anshelm’s life were spared, it was certain that he would immediately flee to Baron Gottfried.
“And the knight fighting on his behalf? What is his family and name?”
“He is Sir Johannes of the Furenstern family.”
At the mention of that name, Sir Hermann scowled deeply.
“Why? What’s the issue?”
“…The Furenstern family is a vassal family of Baron Gottfried.”
Baron Gottfried made no secret of his ambitions.
Even if Sir Johannes claimed to be here simply to earn some coin, no one with any sense would believe that Gottfried wasn’t pulling the strings in this situation.
Sir Hermann rubbed his face repeatedly in frustration.
A trial by combat sounded straightforward enough.
If it came down to it, Sir Hermann could storm out and deal with everything himself.
But there were three problems with that approach.
First, his dignity.
Sir Hermann was the knight who governed Belam.
While it was not entirely inaccurate to think of knights as brave warriors, Sir Hermann managed the city on behalf of Baron Yaben, exercising administrative and judicial authority.
For someone of his stature to personally enter a trial by combat was both beneath his station and damaging to his dignity.
Furthermore, if Sir Hermann were to get injured or killed in the trial, he would be failing Baron Yaben’s orders to govern Belam. This would create chaos, destabilizing the city’s governance.
Lastly, there was the strength of Sir Johannes, which rivaled or exceeded his own.
Judging by Sir Hermann’s somewhat uneasy expression, it was clear that Sir Johannes was a formidable opponent.
“He’s a renowned knight. He’s won eight tournaments,” he said grimly.
“What do you think the outcome would be if you fought him?”
“…To my shame, he’s slightly more skilled than I am. Out of ten matches, I’d probably win about four,” Sir Hermann admitted with a heavy sigh.
There was no avoiding the trial by combat.
Ordinarily, he could have ignored a frivolous challenge from a merchant, but this time, Sir Hermann’s honor was on the line.
Unlike the conflicted Sir Hermann, Keldric saw potential here.
“Sir Hermann, may I ask you a favor?”
“A favor? It would be an honor to assist you, but right now might not be the best time…”
“For the sake of your honor, I would like to step forward as your champion.”
Sir Hermann stared wide-eyed at Keldric.
Though he had never witnessed Keldric’s combat skills firsthand, judging by his massive build and commanding presence, Keldric certainly wasn’t someone to be underestimated.
Moreover, tales of him smashing through bandits and slaying a stone troll with his bare hands lent credibility to his reputation.
However, stepping forward as a champion in a trial by combat was an entirely different matter from brawling with local toughs.
Representing Sir Hermann’s honor required not only assured skill but also a reasonable degree of justification for participating in such a duel.
As someone who had been a guest in Sir Hermann’s manor, Keldric met both conditions.
Yet it was Keldric who had to shoulder the weight of Sir Hermann’s honor and risk his life in the duel.
“Sir Keldric, this isn’t something to decide lightly. You must consider your own dignity and safety!”
“Sir Hermann, over the past few days, you have treated me with utmost hospitality and care. You even avenged my honor by punishing the guildmaster.”
“That was…”
“And as for safety—what does that matter? As a knight, how could I refuse a fight that defends the honor of a friend?”
Sir Hermann’s expression looked as if he’d been struck on the head with a hammer.
Knowing Sir Hermann’s love for chivalric romance, Keldric added with a flourish:
“It seems the time has come to repay your kindness. For our shared honor, allow me to lend my sword to this cause.”
Hearing Keldric’s solemn words, Sir Hermann’s face crumpled, and he began weeping as he embraced Keldric tightly.
“Sir! You are truly… more honorable than even Sir Gernhilt! I have never known a knight as magnificent as you!”
Feeling his shoulders grow damp from Hermann’s tears, Keldric nodded awkwardly.
Though Keldric had never seen Sir Johannes’ combat abilities, stepping into a trial by combat could indeed be reckless.
However, if Sir Hermann’s assessment was correct and Sir Johannes was only slightly stronger than Sir Hermann…
“I’ll have to ruin him.”
The opponent was a lackey of Baron Gottfried, a man unafraid to dirty his hands with despicable deeds.
Without overthinking it, Keldric decided that this time, too, he’d simply break everything in his way and return victorious.