Temple Sword

Chapter 145 Responsibilities
More than two hours later, Antar Bator, Istvan Lakfi and the taciturn Simon rested and recovered in a spacious bedroom.

They hung their cold, drenched clothes to dry around the fireplace, save for a pair of knee-length panties, not that they weren't soaked, but neither of the three wanted to see the other naked.

This room belonged to a merchant family. The house was located in a relatively affluent part of the city. It was a long, single-storey stone house with a kitchen, storage room, granary and some small farmhouses beside it.

On the front is a spacious drawing room, used for large banquets with relatives, and inside is their only bedroom, where the whole family sleeps and dresses.

There was a wide bed, two closets, a fireplace, a small table, chairs, and trunks.

Istvan Lakfi stood in front of the fireplace, with his ass facing the burning fire, happily waiting for his panties and calves to dry.

Simon undressed and lay against the wall, snoring on the little hay bed that belonged to a little girl.

Antar sat on the box by the small window, looking at the muddy dark gray street outside with no expression on his face. Although it was raining, there were still surprisingly many people.

"I was wondering," Lakfei said suddenly, "Whether those people who can sell their mothers for money have patron saints..."

"What?" Antal asked in an emotionless voice.

"Because then I can pray for the merchant," Knight Sekai said with a grin, "but I don't know who to ask for help now."

"The man left home with his two young daughters and his sick wife in the pouring rain to stay with relatives temporarily," the knight reprimanded Lakfey, "just to keep you warm by his fireplace." Bloody ass, you should give them more respect."

"What the hell," Lakfey waved his hand, "I spent seven gold coins, seven lovely gold coins!

That bastard wouldn't let us live in it if it was purely kind.For money, he would rather let his sick wife go out in the rain!Pooh! "

He turned and spat into the fire. "I appreciate his accommodation, but what kind of world is this? Money rules everything... My friend, by the way, you owe me four gold coins!"

Before Antar had time to say anything, there was a knock on the door. With Lakfei's response, a young soldier walked into the warm room with a pot of stuff.

"How did it take you so long, my boy Bess?" Lakfee approached him, patting the well-built boy on the back of the head as usual. "Hope there's a lot of meat here, what's this?"

"Beef stew, I learned it from my grandfather." The young Sekay soldier looked around the spacious and warm room, a bitter and gloomy light flashed in his eyes.

"You can't be in a hurry, Captain! A cow is a stubborn animal, even if it's dead. It needs a long time of cooking to get it cooked and tasty."

"What did you put in it?" Lakfey took out a long wooden spoon out of nowhere, and without waiting for anyone else, he directly took a mouthful from the cauldron, chewing the stewed meat loudly. “Not spicy enough!”

"All kinds of roots, carrots, onions and water just cover the meat." Bess listed the ingredients and looked at the warm room, feeling more and more bitter. "It would be nice to have fresh saffron and parsley, but..."

"Forget it, it doesn't matter, give it to me!"

Lakfee grabbed the pot and put it on the table in the middle of the room, letting the steam of the hot food overflow.

"Come on, Master Barto, it's time to have a good meal!" he said to Antal. "Simon, you bastard, can you hear me, don't sleep, come and eat!"

No matter how much Antal succumbed to his unending grief and desire for revenge, he could not deny that he had to regain his strength.So he stood up, came to the table, and sat next to Lakfe with Simon.

They circled the cauldron, scooping up the stew without needing a plate, and devouring the last bits of stale bread and pie from their pockets, and soon wiped out the contents of the pot.

When they finished eating, Bess still stood at the door with his head down.Simon returned to the wall and continued to lie down and snore, Antal sat back at the window, staring at the gradually diminishing rain, and Istvan stood up awkwardly, placing the emptied cauldron in the boy's hand.

"I have to admit, this thing is delicious, my boy Bess!" He burped, "Your grandpa has great taste, although I have never tasted his food. When I become a noble , I will thank you."

"But my lord, you are already a nobleman." The young soldier said shyly, "You have been knighted by the king, and now you have the right..." He thought for a while, "Now you have rights that you didn't have before..."

Lakfee crossed his arms across his broad chest and looked suspiciously at Bess, who was two heads taller than him.

"What do you want from me, my child?"

"Let me serve you, my lord knight!" he blurted out. "Let me be your squire! I don't want to sleep in a wet barn and eat stiff, unsalted meat with other people!"

The burly knight Sekai laughed loudly.

"Are you crazy, you fool?" he asked with a smile. "Do you think I'm going to promote you because you thought you were more comfortable? That's not a very convincing reason, don't you think?"

Bess immediately realized he had said something wrong and quickly tried to improve his situation.

"I'll make you a lot of stew, my lord!"

"Do you want to be a cook or a servant?" Lakfee snapped at him. "Get out of my sight while I'm in a good mood!"

"But, Captain!"

"Didn't you hear, you bastard?" the short man, wearing only a pair of underwear, reprimanded sternly. "If you don't return to your team immediately, you don't even think about being my soldier, get out of here, damn you!"

Few have been as sad, disappointed and resentful as Bess is right now.

He hugged his cauldron like a boy clinging to the foot of his mother's apron, shrunk his neck, and left his chief, whimpering and choking like a puppy, for which even Antal took pity The guy had mercy.

"Why did you drive that kid away?" Lily Knight asked after Bess left. "Isn't he good enough to be your squire? He's young, smart, strong...

He can ride a horse, wield a spear, and even analyze clues.He loves his captain and can cook a good dish.Didn't you tell me he danced gracefully with his saber?What more do you want? "

"Oh, please!" Lakfei waved his hand, turned around and looked at Antar with a smile. "Of course he will become my attendant! But he must first learn to wait for the right time, I am..."

He touched his chin thoughtfully, "I'm testing him, although he doesn't know it."

"You are too mean to him." Antal shook his head, and wanted to continue to say a few more words for Bess, but he stopped suddenly when the words came to his lips.

Through the window, through the curtain of drizzle, his eyes caught a terrifyingly familiar figure.

Although the gloomy gray makes it difficult to distinguish, the knight is more and more sure of that half-covered face, that slightly hunched posture, that...

"It's the Miller!" he exclaimed, jumping up from the box as if stung by a bee, and ran to the door, wrapping himself in his cloak, nearly knocking over the table and everything that stood in his way.

He darted down the street to make sure it wasn't a hallucination from too little sleep.

An hour later, the miller of Dubica Manor was sitting in the room, wrapped in a dry blanket, holding a glass of brewed wine, trembling slightly with every sip, ready to tell his latest encounter, And how the once-prosperous estate fell into ruins.

"It is Mykolai," began the old miller, for he knew that the first thing the knight wanted to know was a name, "it is Mykolai, my lord!"

Antal's jaw tightened, but there was no sign of surprise on his face.

According to what he saw in Chalakoz, he already knew that his steward had betrayed him, but he still lacked the final proof, that is, the confirmation of the witnesses, he just didn't know what the reason for the betrayal was...

"It happened in Holy Virgin month (August), long before St. Stephen's day (August 8)," continued the gray-haired old man,

"Mikorai disappeared for a few days, and then one night, when we were all done for the day, he came back with a team of mercenaries, those bastards with over 200 people!

I don't know their names, but their leader was a huge, brutal man.Their banner is almost entirely black, save for a dark red slash.

They call your name, my lord, they want to punish you and call you a heretic.

Of course we didn't let them in, we all took up arms, your soldiers, your servants, even your wives!You'll be proud of us, my lord..."

Tears welled up in the Miller's eyes, and his hands shook more than ever, and his voice was deeper, but he went on.

"Lady Agnes, like a true knight, held her ground, fighting off one filthy bastard after another from the wall, until your faithful Captain Varos ordered her to leave the walls, lest she be killed.

At that point he already knew we couldn't hold the gate anymore, we couldn't win.

Then, my lord, your farmers roared out of their cottages, shouting the name of your family, and they all rushed to their death, trying to stop the assailants. "

The old man was sobbing, and Antal's face was also washed with tears.

Lakfe and Simon watched from a corner of the room, silent and gloomy.The old man held the wooden cup in both hands, and sipped the hot red wine.

"We could no longer hold the walls," continued the Miller, "and after a while the gates were breached, and we withdrew into the house with the rest of the survivors...

Please, my lord, don't hit me, a cowardly wretch!Do not be angry with me, a sinner, my lord! "

"What did you do?" Antal looked at him suspiciously, "You helped them?"

"By God, my lord!" cried the Miller, almost spilling the wine on himself. "No, there's no such thing! I just... I fell behind the others in the retreat,
Then... I deliberately fell down, lay down next to a dead body shot by an arrow, covered myself with his blood, and pretended to be dead.

My lord, please understand me, my cowardice took me, and when they began to break in, suddenly... I didn't have any courage, but..."

"Calm down, old friend!" said the Lily Knight in conciliatory tones. "You did nothing wrong, tell me what happened next!"

"Your family and others locked them in the house. Mikolaj and his mercenaries tried to break down the gate or climb the wall, but they were unsuccessful.

I was lying quite far away from them, but I could hear them clearly enough that it wasn't long before they were talking about trying to force the occupants out with fire and smoke...

But then the unthinkable happens, the door suddenly slams open and like a holy army of your men, soldiers and servants roaring out of the house and attacking those who surrounded them.

At that time, I thought they could defeat the evil. They did kill a lot of mercenaries, but when those people recovered... God, they were so angry that they didn't even spare the women, they killed them all! "

"Where are the children?" Antal clenched his fists hard, his fingers completely white. "Ire, Corta, Sepke...?"

"They're all right," the Miller shook his head, wiping the tears from his eyes, "I'm sure of that, somehow...they got away..."

"Secret Tunnel," the knight whispered. "So they escaped, my wife? Varos, the others?"

"I think they've... don't look for them, my lord," the old man's voice trembled, "your children may still be alive...others died that terrible night. Your soldiers...your servants... Your wife..."

"But I saw footprints in the tunnel," Antal shook his head. "There are children and adults."

"Maybe they stayed with the boys for a while," said Miller, "but then, once they knew the boys would be all right, they turned and joined the attack together, all of them.

It was dark, my lord," he added quickly. "I could see nothing, and I was very old.But I think, my lord, I'm afraid you won't see those adults again until after death..."

"I can't accept this answer." Lily Knight shook his head. "After all, you survived..."

"I've been playing dead all this time," whispered the old man in shame, "and when they grabbed me by the limbs and dragged me to the pile of corpses, and started pouring oil over us and lighting that terrible fire, I'm very lucky……

While they were not looking, I rolled down from above, and managed to crawl into the stable in the dark, where I hid for a while.Then I climbed a little farther and hid in the bushes.

I didn't dare to get up until the morning, by which time they had already left.I was terrified, but I walked around the estate anyway, and I didn't find a single living soul...

Then I immediately set off to Timisoara, where I have been waiting for your arrival since the month of Saint Michael, my good lord!

They wouldn't let me into the castle, and when I asked, they said Antar Bator wasn't here.

I thought I could go and get a job somewhere, working at a mill or a baker, but there were hungry people looking for work everywhere, and few vacancies.

You can see the rags on me, I've been begging for almost three months, wandering the streets, hoping I'll run into you one day, good master.

I can't go back because I don't have the strength to go far...I think if I don't stay in one place and wait for you, I might miss you...I'm sure if you are alive, you will appear sooner or later In Wangdu, God bless you, you are finally here! "

The miller finished his story, his eyes lost in the cold wine.Long minutes passed in silence, save for the drizzle pattering outside the window and the crackling woodpile in the fireplace.

"Where is Mikolai now?" Antal asked in a low and hoarse voice. "Where is that vile traitor?"

"I don't know, my lord." The old man shook his head painfully. "From the moment I was dragged into the pile of corpses, I could only run for my life. I don't even know where they went..."

"It's okay, old man," Lily Knight stood up and patted the miller on the shoulder, "Thank you for telling me all this, you don't have to be afraid, you will not lack anything in the future. Before you recover, you will get a lot Good care."

The miller just nodded. On this day, the others were in no mood to talk anymore.

Everyone retreated to their little corners of the room, some musing over what they had heard, others thinking about the future.

The night fell slowly, and the rain stopped, and the merchant's bedroom was as quiet as a coffin.

When the men awoke the next day, they found that Antar Bator and all his belongings were gone, his horse was not tied up in the stable, Istvan Lakfi, Simon were left Timisoara, the squire has no knights, the master, and of course, the four riders.

The Knight of the Lilies did not wait for the king to receive him.

He decided to do it himself, so at dawn, before the rooster crowed, he took his sword and left five gold pieces for Lakfell, four for him and one for the old man, and disregarded the coming winter , Riding out of the city alone.

He didn't know exactly where he was going, he was only sure he had to kill.He must avenge everything and everyone, he must do what his honor demands, and his duty as a man.

(End of this chapter)