I was surprised he’d managed to say all this through his quivering. His courage deserved a modicum of respect. It seemed he wasn’t a complete worm.
“Well, you’ll have to bring those charges to the capital and explain them to His Majesty and his ministers. Of course, when that happens, I’m sure this boy will confess everything he knows before God.”
The ceremony he’d spoken of had simply been a trash fire. However, if I couldn’t avoid excommunication, it honestly didn’t mean much to me. The temple was a powerful backer, but I had other allies, such as the dragon riders. The Knights Templar were in the middle of a reorganization, and they were not part of my forces. Anyway, excommunicating God’s messenger was quite a notion. What would this priest get in exchange? A scandal like that would just give his political enemies more ammunition to use against him.
Seeing the head priest’s features contort in irritation, I knew I had hit the mark.
“Hero, may I ask something, then?”
“What is it?”
“What precisely do you intend to do with a fugitive from Kerulgarz?”
“Nothing much. I thought he could help out with finances, perhaps.”
Thret was a war buddy who had survived the battlefield with me. I had no intention of stirring up his life any further. That wasn’t to say I didn’t have any ulterior motives—for instance, using Gils’s safety as an incentive to get him to join the fight against the orcs once more. Still, in the end, I would respect Gils’s wishes regarding his fate. If he wanted to return home, no matter what the consequences might be, then send him to Ricard I would.
I returned to the manor with Gils on foot. The dragon keeper kept Veralgon on a lead a short distance away, since the dragon would try to bite Gils if he got too close. Gils didn’t have the talent, and it seemed he couldn’t ride. Even if that hadn’t been the case, I didn’t want to load the dragon with three riders. I’d considered flying back on my own to fetch a horse, but that idea made me anxious. The head priest could try to silence Gils in my absence.
I asked the young man some questions as we walked.
“You’ll be in my care for the time being. Are you all right with that?”
“Yes.”
Naturally, Gils was completely grief-stricken after all that had occurred.
“We’ll need to think up a new name for you. Any suggestions?”
“No, not particularly.”
“Then George it is.”
“Very well.”
He was like this all the way to our destination…not that I blamed him.
“I don’t mind if you remain in your room for a time until you feel more at ease, but that might get pretty boring. I’d like to send some jobs your way. Any requests?”
“No, not particularly.”
“Can you read? Write? How are you at math?”
“I have received a basic temple education.”
“I see. What other things did they teach you there?”
“They taught me God’s teachings. I know blessings and prayers. I also know war ceremonies, but I can’t draw magic circles.”
Among the war ceremonies was a spell that provided a protective barrier. By sending mana into a circle traced upon the ground, a normal shield fitted with an appropriate talisman could exhibit effects on par with a shield of light. However, I could already produce protective shields at will. Also, we already had more than enough priests in our territory, so how would I make use of him?
“What job were you originally aiming for in your own territory?”
Gils—or, rather, George—looked terribly sad at this question. His future had just been thrown into chaos, and here I was asking him about a former future he had envisioned for himself. I regretted asking the question.
Nevertheless, he answered. “After receiving my vestments, I would have been sent to some distant temple to gain practical experience. Then, after training further at the capital’s grand temple and advancing my rank, I would have returned to Kerulgarz as the castle’s personal priest, to support my father and brother.”
According to George, priesthood was not an uncommon path for second and third sons of a lord.
“Since I possess mana, a noble son like me could have joined the Knights Templar, but that would have meant cutting ties with my house. I could have tried ascending through the upper ranks of priesthood, but that just wasn’t for me. I also could have furthered my priestly studies by traveling the land as a scholar. To be honest, I was interested in such a direction, but my brothers wanted me to return home after my training.”
That rat-priest was definitely hoping to climb the ranks. If he made it all the way to high priest, he would have even more influence than any of the lords. As this young man had said, he himself didn’t seem a good fit for that world, and he had instead dreamed of becoming a scholar. Come to think of it, the priest who had come to teach me history had also called himself a scholar.
“What exactly does such a scholar do?”
“Most of them research war ceremonies or interpret sacred texts. Some deeply examine the rules God imposed upon this world.”
So their main fields of study were scriptures and magic, both of these being the primary sources of the temple’s authority. Priests who became adept at protective magic were then lent to lords whenever they endeavored to subjugate orcs or quell rebellions.
“Are there any scholars who specifically study orcs?” I asked. As interested as I was in how magic worked here, this was what I wanted to know most.
“Orcs? Those filthy things?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not sure. I don’t know too much about scholars, myself. They tend to be rather detached from the secular world, but perhaps there are some who study that area.”
“I see.”
The standing of scholars seemed to be consistent among most worlds.
“I apologize for not being more informative,” George said sullenly.
We had gotten off track. I was supposed to be considering what job to give him. Unfortunately, I didn’t think that I had any priestly position to offer. In any case, I’d leave this matter to Torson.
Torson looked at me dubiously upon seeing the bruised young man I’d brought back with me. “Hero, who might this be?”
“His name is George. It’s a little convoluted, but the short of it is that I’ve brought him here from Kerulgarz.”
“I see.”
I thought I saw Torson’s eyes sharpen ever so slightly. Perhaps he smelled something amiss. While his clothes were in a shabby state, George had no way of masking the hints of his noble upbringing. Anyone would have questions, spoken or unspoken, to see someone like this emerge from a war zone.
“And what can we do for Sir George, then?”
“He has nowhere to return to. Please find him work.”
“Work, is it?”
Torson looked at George thoughtfully. He asked me, “You’re not looking for a personal attendant, are you?”
“Not really.”
I didn’t mind having someone attending to me, but I couldn’t take him anywhere if he couldn’t ride dragons. Additionally, there was no telling who might drop by at the manor, given my position; they’d likely come face-to-face with my personal attendant at some point. One such visitor might recognize the face of Gils, son of the former lord of Kerulgarz. I couldn’t let my guard down with the temple either.
“Can you read and write?” Torson asked him.
“Yes.” George meekly nodded.
“What about math?”
“I can do math.”
“Then you’ll be my own assistant for now. I’ll watch how you do and decide your future work from there. How does that sound?”
I had no objections to that, nor did George.
With my mission in Kerulgarz completed, that fulfilled my current assignment from His Majesty. I decided to take it easy in my own territory for a while. If I were to head for the capital, I got the feeling I would just be summoned right back here again to deal with some new trouble. It wasn’t so easy to call for me out here; they’d need a dragon rider just to send a message. Anyway, there was something I’d been meaning to test out here in Kadann Hill.