The Biography of Albrecht - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Translator: Nezu

Editor: Daed

By the time they saw a bridge on the Selbe river that flowed from the Kaltern Estate, the sun was already fully visible and had climbed above the top of a mountain. The transport station across the river looked like a log cabin. It was a place for checking and recording transaction books as well as a place to let carriage horses rest.

The building next to it that looked like an inn was much larger. It was a two-storey establishment with painted walls and roof constructed with red tiles. It looked more like the actual transport station than the real one. Also, for some reason, the people seemed to use this inn more than the transport station.

Two armed men near the inn were chewing grass and picking their teeth. They averted their eyes when they made eye contact with Albrecht, who looked huge and had blood on his surcoat. As Albrecht passed them, they cast an eye over the women who followed behind him.

Albrecht tied the horse to a post next to the inn. Diego took the chest, opened the door to the inn and entered. There were about fifteen or so people inside, and more than half of them were women. Everyone was silent, quietly sitting at their own table as they ate. It was somewhat strange.

However, a large knight accompanying a shabbily dressed man and three women were just as equally strange. They all looked at each other curiously. When the people inside the inn met Albrecht’s eyes, they immediately shifted their gaze to another place.

A middle-aged man who had been polishing glasses at the counter approached Albrecht.

“Would you be ordering food to eat? Or would you be checking in?”

The man usually stood where he was without leaving the counter while asking those phrases to a customer, but he would have been needlessly punished if he failed to keep his courtesy towards a knight.

Albrecht didn’t know what to say to him. He was only here to ask someone for directions.

An awkward silence between Albrecht and the innkeeper lasted for a moment. Then Diego, who was at the back, decided to speak.

“Please prepare a warm bath. For three people. And… We’ll talk about what food to order first and tell you later. Ah, there’s also a horse outside. If you could feed it, please.”

Albrecht interjected, “Please prepare warm baths for five people.”

The innkeeper thought for a moment before he spoke.

“That’s one silver and eight copper coins. Extra charges will be applied if the horse stays longer in the stable.”

Diego looked at Albrecht. The latter looked back at him stupidly, wondering why the man was staring at him. Then he remembered why and quickly took out the bag that contained the coins.

He immediately found one silver coin. Then he turned over the coins inside the bag with his big hands and took out eight copper coins one after another.

Diego, who had been eyeing him from the side, told him, “At a time like this, you should give out two silver coins.”

Albrecht listened to him and took out two silver coins which he gave to the innkeeper.

When he received the money, the innkeeper immediately shouted.

“Adela! Adela!”

“Yes!”

A girl with blond hair, blue eyes and freckles came out of the kitchen. Blond hair and blue eyes were common features in the North.

“Give them five hot tubs of bath water. Get Hugo to do it with you.”

The girl answered him and walked back to the back of the inn. The innkeeper looked back at Albrecht’s group and said, “Please sit down for a moment while we prepare your bath.”

The innkeeper went out and guided the horse to the stable.

Albrecht and the others went to the corner of the inn and settled down opposite to where the other people sat. He and the three women sat at different tables.

Diego might have been in high spirits at the prospect of being able to eat with his new friend, but he still hesitated for a moment to sit at the same table as Albrecht and looked at his face. Knights were not a humble existence that one could just simply dare to share a table and eat with them. They were in a league comparable to rich merchants, nobles, lords and kings.

Diego spoke carefully.

“Can I… take a look at that sword?”

Albrecht unsheathed the sword and handed it to him without saying a word. Diego flinched when he did so. He accepted it and examined it closely.

Albrecht felt a strange feeling as he looked at Diego carefully examining his sword. The man seemed to have nothing to do with swords; yet, somehow, he looked like he did and looked good with it.

“There isn’t a craftsman’s mark on the fuller – the beveled longitudinal groove on the sword. But even so, it looks well-made. Its center of balance is good. Its end also looks good.”

Diego tapped the table with the sword. The sword vibrated and made a buzzing sound. Diego leaned in close to the face of the sword to hear the sound. The noise lasted for a long time.

“Wow. Such a great sword, huh? My goodness. Seems like you really are a noble. This kind of sword is rare. It’s clearly made by a master craftsman. But why doesn’t it have a craftsman’s mark?”

Diego checked it again before giving it back to Albrecht.

“A sword’s hardness and malleability is important. If it’s too hard, it breaks too easily. If it’s too soft, then it bends easily. It is important to have a proper mix of the two. That’s why a high quality iron is important, as well as the skill of the craftsman. Although I’ve heard that weapons from the North are good, I didn’t expect that it would be to this extent. I can’t actually ascertain if a sword’s well made just by hearing the sound it makes but I could roughly tell that yours is the real deal. Do you have a name for this sword?”

Albrecht thought for a moment then said, “The cow-killing sword.”

Diego thought that it sounded crude and cheap to call such a sword like that.

Albrecht looked at the sword in contemplation as he pondered about Diego’s praises for the sword. Then he thought that his father had really given him such a good sword. It seemed like the sword was made by Arnold. So he wasn’t just a simple blacksmith but a master craftsman?

Albrecht stowed his sword into its scabbard and asked, “Why do you know so much about swords?”

Diego answered with a wry smile, “I used to handle weapons in our merchant group.”

Albrecht couldn’t answer anymore. Silence lingered between the two for a while before he asked.

“Why did you tell me to give two silver coins to the man earlier?”

Diego looked at the counter for a moment before he leaned in close to Albrecht and whispered.

“It’s better to give tips or something in an inn. Otherwise, you won’t get a decent service from them. They could give you spoiled food, or they could spit in it, or they could just clean your room roughly. Though, not all inns are like that.”

Albrecht agreed. It was comparable to Earth; unless one complains about the service given to you, it would usually be done roughly.

Once the conversation was started, Diego started to ask questions naturally.

“But where are you headed?”

“To Penbacht. I heard it’s in the South, but I don’t know exactly where.”

Diego spoke after a moment of recollection.

“Oh… I’m from the South so I know it’s not in the South exactly. It should be on the southern end of the Central region. It’s on the boundary between the South and the Central region so it could be mistaken by people as a place in the South…”

“I see.” Albrecht nodded. Diego continued.

“Can I ask why you’re going to Penbacht?”

Albrecht answered with a bitter expression, “I have an oath to keep.”

What oath? Diego felt like Albrecht was saying some peculiar things again. He was willing to go this far not because of a deal or a contract, but because of an oath? This kid was really good at talking like an elf.

“You said you’re from the Kaltern Estate, right? Which kingdom do you belong to?”

Albrecht thought for a moment before he spoke.

“We don’t have something like a kingdom. No, I mean, we do, but how should I explain this… There is a king but…”

The basic social system in this world was feudalism. But it wasn’t fully established yet. It was still in its early stages. That meant that the lords didn’t listen to the king.

The situation was even worse in the North and in the Central region. For example, if one had their own territory and was also able to seize other territories next to you, then the first person could be considered king.

The territories that they conquered could be considered as belonging to a kingdom, but it actually wouldn’t last long.

In the North and in the Central regions, the concept of a king meant to be the lord of all the lords, with no one else above him. And yet, even if one succeeded in seizing the surrounding territories, it would actually be hard to make them submit. The defeated side would feel hindered if they submit to a kingdom. Most of the time, the lords would end up pledging their loyalty through a differential protective treaty – a bilateral contractual relationship. But no tribute or taxes were paid. It was only a contractual relationship. The king could exert pressure to them through coercion or cajoling, but it would not be easy to satisfy the lords under him.

However, it was not unusual for these contract relationships to not be maintained. If one leads a rendezvous at once at a king’s call, then one could be considered as a very honorable person.

The problem was that there was no concept of a state in here nor was there even something that functioned the same way as how a state does. The people in a territory were oftentimes oppressed, which in turn decreased their efficiency in the long run. Once a territory weakened due to the decrease in productivity, the people would commit theft against other territories or transfer to other territories. If that went on, the territory would perish.

Because of this, deserters and fallen soldiers of a territory who had no place to go back to become bandits. Areas swept away by war were often the places where security became very lacking and all hell broke loose. This vicious cycle from constant wars resulted in an influx of bandits.

But the Kaltern Estate was a bit far from the ring of this war. It was originally a remote area where the indigenous people lived, and was created by the merging of people led by Albrecht’s grandfather.

There were probably conflicts that formed between the people but the marriage between Burkhardt and Adelheid, the head’s female daughter, may have helped unify the people.

In short, Kaltern was sort of like a powerful family clan. So, their head wasn’t called a ‘Count’, which could signify a kingdom’s sovereignty and a king’s recognition. Instead, he was called a ‘Lord’.

The king in the Southwest tried to subdue Kaltern. But since Kaltern was geographically far away, it would be hard to mobilize his troops and leave his own territory vacant for a long time.

When Albrecht roughly explained this concept to Diego, Diego contemplated for a while and replied, “That’s not much different from our situation. Though we do have a king.”

A female employee came up to them, interrupting their conversation to inform them that she had already prepared all their baths.

Albrecht looked quite scary, but Diego held his palm out to him.

He requested, “Give me a copper coin.”

Albrecht pulled out a copper coin and let the female employee guide them. Their rooms were on the second floor and had water ready for them to bathe in.

Albrecht entered  his own room first, and the rest followed suit.

The moment Albrecht took off his cloak, he realized that he couldn’t take off his chain armor alone. He needed someone to help him.

He rushed to the room next to his and opened the door. Martina, who was taking off her clothes, was startled.

Albrecht looked at the floor, appearing very embarrassed.

“Ehem, ehem. Uhh, I was wondering if you could help me take off my armor.”

Martina put her clothes back on without a word and followed Albrecht out. He pointed to a loop part of the chain armor at his back.

“Yes, right there. If you could untie that loop.”

After unfastening the loops, Albrecht had now gained space to take it off. He leaned down deeply to take off his chain armor. Martina held on to his armor and fell back onto her butt due to the weight of the armor.

Feeling somewhat guilty, Albrecht hurriedly lifted the chain armor and set it aside.

“I can take off the rest. Thank you.”

Martina was just about to leave the room when she looked back and said, “Can’t you talk to me, too?”

The sudden question caused Albrecht to stare at her in mild surprise. However, he answered with a smile, “How old are you anyway?”

Martina also smiled and said, “Much older than you. I’m 22 years old.”

Then she left, and Albrecht took off his gambeson with a smile on his face. He slipped into the bathtub and felt pleasant because of its warmth. It felt great to open up to people and become friends with them. His heart felt warm as well.