Chapter 6. Jealousy (1)
Woe to the sinful nation,
A people laden with iniquity,
A brood of evildoers,
Children who are corrupters!
Isaiah 1:4
***
There was a man driving his horse somewhat urgently on a road where people came and went. His black hair, rare to see in the empire, fluttered in the wind. His striking appearance combined with the elegant way he spurred his horse drew people’s attention.
Because of his fast speed, the surrounding scenery flashed by in an instant. His deep blue eyes gazed steadily ahead without wavering, but the story he had just heard continued to echo endlessly in his mind.
—His Holiness called us and said that it seemed everyone, including the captain, needed time to cultivate their hearts for a while, and that we could think of it as taking leave and stay at the Papal Court. And……
—……Those who don’t need such things should continue doing their work without being conscious of the captain’s absence. He said to act justly according to God’s word.
—Well, me…… Since the captain wasn’t around, I thought it wouldn’t be bad to rest for a while and came into the Papal Court…… Ah, some guys were apparently so enthusiastic that they went around capturing those written on the list.
—That wouldn’t be much of a problem…… But isn’t there also that guy Ardwino or whatever among them? That bastard always looked down on our boys, didn’t he? Since such a guy was listed as a sinner, they probably thought this was their chance…… Of course, I would have liked to capture and throw that bastard in a hundred more times if I could, but still, I knew the captain took good care of him and all. When I heard that such a guy had been captured, I went to check it out myself……
—……He really was in prison.
Lef, who didn’t care if he died but was concerned about Eckart, said he thought he should inform him of this fact before Ardwino was executed, so he had been looking for him. However, he wasn’t at the Papal Court, the training ground, or even at the monastery where Eckart originally lived, so he had no choice but to ask Ardwino, who was in prison, and he had given him this address.
Eckart immediately mounted Lef’s horse. Lef also gave him the horse without a word, and thanks to constantly urging it on even after departing in haste, Eckart was able to arrive in front of the prison much faster than when he had taken a carriage.
Eckart dismounted and immediately entered the prison. Even though so many people died every day, the prison was still cramped without room to set foot. Finding a familiar face among them was also a task. As Eckart peered into the prison and tried to pass by, voices continued cursing or hurling abuse at him.
Eckart couldn’t hear them at all. Only his blue eyes, deeply steeped in bewilderment, moved busily.
How far had he gone in like that?
“……Captain.”
A familiar voice came through the commotion. Eckart hurriedly turned his head toward where the voice came from. Ardwino was crouched down in a narrow space where it was difficult to even stretch his legs, let alone turn his body, with his arms and legs crushed against the iron bars.
Unable to believe that what he was seeing was reality, he stopped abruptly and stared blankly with a dazed gaze, when Ardwino opened his mouth with a bitter smile.
“Ha, Captain…… Our captain has come.”
“……Ardwino.”
“You came looking for me, right? It’s an honor, Captain. This isn’t a place for you to come, but because of me alone……”
When he barely moved his hesitant steps and approached closer, Ardwino twisted his body little by little and barely managed to extend just his hand to grab the iron bars. Eckart couldn’t hide his desperate expression at all. He looked down at him precariously, like someone whose footing was about to collapse.
“Why…… Why are you……?”
“Well, since I committed a sin, I should rightfully receive punishment. But isn’t God being too harsh? To say that love is a sin…… Isn’t that right?”
“You should have run away instead. You should have.”
“Why would I run away? Of course, at first I worried a lot about whether I should…… Actually, I was prepared from the beginning. Why wouldn’t I be? When someone like me comes to love someone of high status, how bad the end always is…… You would know too, Captain. So when I met Lord Hakan, I was prepared in my own way, but I didn’t expect I would die like this.”
Seeing Ardwino’s face laughing clearly, he became uncontrollably distressed. He wanted to ask why he was laughing, how he could laugh. When he had been branded a sinner overnight and ended up imprisoned like this. When he would be executed in a little while. Knowing that, how could he……
Eckart’s face must have looked so terrible that Ardwino instead comforted him.
“The Captain doesn’t need to feel guilty. You didn’t force me to sin. It’s simply God’s will. The Captain is just following God’s will. It’s natural that a knight who wields his sword for justice, a believer who carried the scriptures in his bosom, would end up like this after committing sin.”
Eckart couldn’t say anything. To resent this situation where he was imprisoned would mean resenting the work he had been doing all along, and to resent Ardwino for committing sin—Eckart had no right to do that.
In the end, the arrow of resentment pointed toward heaven. Why does God call this man a sinner? Why does He call us sinners? If He wished for us not to sin, He should not have created sin in this world. He should not have created Satan.
When Eckart silently gripped the iron bars tightly, Ardwino, who had been trying to smile with sad eyes, reached out and placed his hand over Eckart’s.
“Don’t doubt, don’t resent, and don’t be sad either. This is what I chose. Rather than that, I really wanted to repay the debt I owed the Captain, but I’m truly sorry I couldn’t do that. I thought that if I followed you around, there would be at least one opportunity to repay the debt, but the Captain is really……”
“You’re really a monster,” Ardwino muttered in a low voice and smiled clearly. That innocent and affectionate smile made Eckart hurt even more.
“You never owed me any debt.”
“How could there be none? The Captain saved my life.”
“I just did what I had to do.”
“Exactly. Even on a battlefield where the Captain might die at any moment, you saved the life of a mere foot soldier who was just filling numbers……”
“You were my shield and a perfect friend beyond compare.”
Ardwino seemed to lose his words and froze with his mouth open for a moment. Soon he smiled brightly as if embarrassed or overwhelmed.
“Really……”
Ardwino quickly composed his expression. He continued speaking with a rather reverent expression and voice.
“It was an honor to get to know the Captain and to be able to fight alongside the Captain.”
“The same goes for me.”
The two looked at each other for a while. They were steadfast as if they would never forget that face they saw now, even unto death.
It was Eckart who had saved and taught Ardwino, who had been dragged to the battlefield at a young age and was desperate just to survive. Ardwino, who had grown quickly, was willing to sacrifice his life for Eckart again.
Because they were people who depended on and helped each other, they were especially close…… and this current situation was heartbreaking. He wanted to deny this situation where they stood as sinner and guard with iron bars between them.
It was even more devastating because unlike on the battlefield, he couldn’t even save him.
“May I make one request?”
“Anything.”
“Please tell Lord Hakan something. That it’s not because of Lord Hakan, so don’t feel sorry, and don’t risk danger to come looking for someone like me.”
“I’ll convey that.”
“……Thank you.”
Looking at his shoulders drooping as if finally relieved, Eckart struggled to open his mouth.
“I’m really…… sorry.”
“Why should the Captain be? Actually, if I was going to be caught anyway, I wanted to be caught by the Captain. But I was dragged here by the most unlucky…… no, the guys I least wanted to encounter, and that’s what bothers me most. If I had known this would happen, I should have just walked in on my own.”
Still, when there was no sign of Eckart’s expression clearing, Ardwino let out a laugh mixed with a sigh.
“As for me, wasn’t I a life that should have died hundreds of times on the battlefield anyway? Thanks to the Captain, I’ve lived enough, so it’s fine. So please hurry and convey my words to Lord Hakan. I’m worried something might happen to Lord Hakan too, so I can’t even sleep well.”
“……I’ll come again.”
“You don’t need to come. I’ll lose even more sleep worrying that the Captain might get hurt too.”
“I’ll still come.”
Eckart, who repeatedly said he would come again, moved his feet that were reluctant to leave. Trying hard to hold back his head that kept wanting to turn toward Ardwino, he constantly pondered whether there was truly no way for him to be safe.
It was when Eckart, who had come up to ground level, belatedly realized that he hadn’t heard where he should go to meet Hakan. The surroundings were noisy. When he turned his gaze toward where the commotion was coming from, a noble was being dragged away with both arms held by soldiers.
“Just give me a moment! First, listen to what I have to say……!”
“It’s troublesome if you keep doing this. The Chief Justice said that if you come looking one more time, he’ll have no choice but to report this matter to the Archbishop.”
“No, I’m just asking to have a brief conversation, just let me look around for a moment, is that so……”
The noble who had been shouting in a quite aggrieved voice stopped when he spotted Eckart. Soon he shook off the soldiers’ arms himself, brushed off his wrinkled clothes, and walked toward Eckart. His appearance was so disheveled that the wrinkled clothes were barely noticeable, and he looked undignified.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
