Berserk of Gluttony (LN) - Volume 4 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

The Bloody Winds of Change

SENSING THE STORM of murderous intent swirling around me, Rudolph threw his sword to the side and cowered. If I’d found anything about the situation funny, I’d have laughed, given his arrogance mere moments earlier.

“You dare call yourself one among the five esteemed families?” I said coldly.

“Wait! Wait, I see the error of my ways now, so please, please…”

“Enough. You wish to be treated like a knight? Then act like one. People like you soil the name of holy knights.”

The sight of Rudolph—bleeding from the eyes, begging, cowering in fear—disgusted me. His whole life, he had turned a blind eye to his city’s treatment of the weak, and now he had paid for his inhumanity with his sight. In his city, I would have been branded. Forsaken. I was sick of looking at him. Sick of looking at him on his knees, acting like the wretch he had always been. I would be his reckoning.

I swung the black sword down.

“No!” Rudolph shrieked. “Please, no!”

His desperate scream echoed through the halls, punctuated by the high-pitched clang of metal on metal. My black blade—the messenger of my declaration of war—had been stopped by a gleaming white spear. One of the throne guards had moved in swiftly, stopping the black sword’s blade a breath away from cowering Rudolph’s neck.

That wasn’t all. The other white knight’s spear touched my throat. The point of its blade cut just barely into my skin.

I slowly sheathed Greed, watching my bright blood drip onto the crimson carpet. I hadn’t put all my strength into my attack, but the speed of the white knights still awed me. They’d also revealed that their attacks could draw my blood, meaning they were in the Domain of E. They were strong.

The crowd of holy knights began to shout excuses. Garbled justifications calling Rudolph useless, or pointing out how effortlessly I’d been stopped by the white knights. In response to the babble, one of the white knights drove the butt of their spear into the stone floor. The sound sent the holy knights into a stunned silence. As I looked around and saw that the blood had drained from their faces, I realized this might well be the first time any of them had seen the true power of these two white knights.

Listening to the uproar, Rudolph’s attitude shifted once more. Thinking himself saved by the king’s bodyguards, his fear dissipated. “You masked clown!” he shouted. “You see what happens, fool? The king has chosen to aid me! Not you! This is why nobodies like you are no better than the forsaken trash that live in the slu—huh…?”

Rudolph’s torrent of abuse ceased with a grunt. His punishment had arrived, though not by my hand. The white knights he’d mistaken for saviors thrust their spears through both of his arms. Then, before he even had a chance to turn his startlement into another scream, they drove the spears through to his heart in the form of a cross. On their white blades, golden-armored Rudolph was lifted into the air for all the holy knights to see. Then, finally, the white knights wrenched their spears free. Rudolph’s body thudded to the ground, dead. His fresh blood stained the carpet a deeper shade of crimson.

The assembled holy knights looked on, stupefied. They had never seen an execution like this.

One of the white-armored bodyguards turned to the crowd. “Rudolph Lanchester has forfeited his seat. We assume there are no further objections.”

The knight’s voice was cold and emotionless. It was impossible to tell whether it belonged to a man or a woman. Regardless, the holy knights understood the message: any further objections to my appointment to their number would bring forth another rain of blood. None spoke a word. Instead, they could only stare at the lifeless face of Rudolph as his blood stained the red carpet.

With heavy steps, the two white knights returned to their places. From behind the veil, I heard the king’s applause. I still couldn’t see his face behind the heavy curtain, but it was clear these events had pleased him.

“The king welcomes you,” the bodyguards said. “He expects great things.”

I dropped to one knee and bowed. Then I raised my head, a gesture that concerned the white knights.

“Oh? That look on your face… Do you have something to say, Fate Barbatos?”

“I do not mean to speak above my station,” I said. “But I’d like to make a request, if I may.”

“Speak.”

The audience chamber remained completely silent. Everyone’s gaze was glued to me, waiting to hear what I would say. I hadn’t told Aaron what I had in mind, because I was certain he would oppose my idea and tell me to be more careful. But even after I’d journeyed so far, Seifort hadn’t changed. I knew I couldn’t leave without so much as making an attempt.

“Would it be possible to send the forsaken people of this kingdom, those born with so-called useless skills, to the Barbatos estate?”

Aaron’s eyes widened at my words, and for a moment, he looked ready to interrupt. An instant later, his face softened into a kindly smile. If that is what you wish, his smile said, then as always, live as you will.

The Barbatos estate, Hausen, was still in the midst of reconstruction. More than anything else, it needed people. The people who lived there now were those who had lost their homes and been driven into the wilderness; in their own way, they were forsaken too. However, though they lacked meaningful combat skills, these people were far from useless. Given time and opportunity, they would develop trades of their own, as well as the ability to produce or craft worthwhile goods. They only needed a chance to change their lot. We would never learn their true potential unless we worked together with them as equals. But to do all that, we needed people, and I wanted to start with those forsaken in the capital of Seifort.

There would be great meaning in starting with the people at the heart of the kingdom. If the lands of Barbatos prospered thanks to the influx of the forsaken, we might be able to attract similar people from other estates. It would be no simple task to regrow our estate in this way, but I had to try.

As such, I started by facing my greatest obstacle. The commoners of the capital of Seifort lived under the direct rule of the king, and I was essentially asking him to grant me his citizens. Aaron understood the monumental weight of my request, thus his surprise.

Conversely, the white knights seemed outraged, but behind the veil, the king remained silent. Time passed and I waited, wondering if perhaps I had asked for too much. Then, the silhouetted figure gave the slightest of nods.

Could this mean…?

“The king has agreed to your request. The forsaken of Seifort are free to move to the Barbatos estate. Use them well in rebuilding your lands.”

“You have my thanks.”

I bowed and glanced at Aaron, still standing by my side. He was also bowing, but he returned my glance with a wink. I’d stunned him at first, yet he was now fully on board with my idea.

After our audience with the fickle and bloodthirsty king of Seifort was finally over, Aaron and I walked back down the long corridors of the castle.

“I almost froze in shock,” Aaron said. “I never could have imagined you would make such a bold request, especially at your very first audience with the king!”

“Well, securing people for Hausen is one of our top priorities. And, well, let’s just say I have my reasons.”

“It seems so,” Aaron mused, his mind seeming to slip into the past. “Hm… By the way, Fate.”

“Yes, Aaron?”

“About young Rudolph Lanchester. If the king’s bodyguards hadn’t intervened, would you have killed him?”

There was something sad in Aaron’s face as he asked this question. I couldn’t bring myself to answer him directly.

“I am what he said I am. Forsaken. Even if I become a holy knight, I’ll never forget my origins.”

“Fate…” Aaron said softly.

I changed the subject. “Come on, let’s head to Barbatos Manor. It hasn’t been used for many, many years now, and I’ll bet it’s covered in dust. We have to get busy cleaning!”

Aaron laughed. “I suppose you’re right. And we’d best hurry before we make her angry.”

He meant Myne, who was waiting for our return in said incredibly dusty, exceptionally leaky manor that we really, really needed to clean.

Later, when I thought back to that audience with the king, I realized two familiar faces had been missing from the audience. Lady Roxy wasn’t who I meant—she was still in Galia and would remain stationed there until her duties were fulfilled. Rather, I had expected to see the Vlerick siblings, my former employers. I’d killed Hado with my own hands, so of course he was absent, but there had been no sign of the oldest brother, Rafale, or of his younger sister, Memil. Before his death, Hado had told me they’d left for a mountain city in the east, so… Perhaps they had still not returned.

As Aaron and I headed to Barbatos Manor, all I could think of was what the Vlericks might be up to. Rafale was nothing if not deviously cunning.