Chapter 9: The way of the knight
After Steve bought the Scholar with his scientific knowledge and the Holy man by his alien language the king gave him the right to walk around the castle without a guard and talk to anybody from the high officers. He tried to help the king's cousin who was responsible for domestic affairs concerning noble houses of the country however, social-economic issues were surprisingly complicated for him to handle.
After King told Steve that he has such rights and he got better food and clothes. He also put a ladder to get to his ship and felt some relief. This could actually work! If anybody knows anything about the way home, it was the king, right?
It was evening and Steve was finally enjoying some good food in the form of simple vegetable soup. Since he got stranded, he barely ate anything that was more complicated than cooked meat.
"Hmm," he said while looking at the chalkboard before him. Paper was too expensive to waste for his ideas, but he could do just with this.
"Maybe I could ask the old man about the other worlds now...but what If that makes me look suspicious? I don't want to insult anybody again!" he said to himself.
"Ah! I will ask about other countries! Maybe some might have more information! I should probably give him something to make him trust me more! How about math? God damn, I never expected math might help me!"
***
"Wake up you weirdo!"
"What?" Steve quickly jumps from the bed and sees the General looking at him.
"Let's talk!"
"Right,"
"You gave some pretty weird ideas to the guard...I want to talk with you about strategy. Come with me,"
"R-roger," Steve was afraid of the General, so this sudden change of his behavior made him worried even more, although he was acting friendly.
"I prepared the map here, it's not real, let's talk just theoretically,"
"Right," Steve couldn't say anything else and rather looked at the map on which were small figures made from wood depicting the units.
"Oh, I know what kind of army you use, but what about the enemy?"
"Hmm, well they use cavalry a lot, practically every fight on an open field. As far as I know, they have several ranks of it all with some kind of spear, but the biggest rank has the horse covered in armor. They use crossbows and almost no bows and only a few units of spearman,"
"So they focus on the fight at the plains?"
"They are not stupid, almost every time they don't fight in the forest, that is why we reached the castle so fast, but most of their country are fields and plains,"
"What about alias? Do you have some?"
"Of course, we have three countries!" The General starts to explain the politics of this planet while Steve dug through his memories to think of anything useful, but not completely unorthodox. The last thing he wanted to do was suggest something taboo. In the end, he suggested a few ideas mostly concerning using other countries that were neutral. Using unofficial deals to ask for man or food and such.
"Well, your idea lack honor, asking for the help of cowards?! Unofficially make alliances? However, I will bring your ideas to the High officers. Did you have a master?" the General looked at Steve.
"Master?"
"Somebody who taught you ideas how to fight!"
"Yes, several,"
"Really? How old are you?"
"Fifteen,"
"You were lucky in life. Normally you would be in the war!"
"..."
"I cannot have you deciding the lives of so many people without any sweat! Guard!"
"Yes?"
"Train him! Several hours a day, he still has his own job to do! Go now!" It happened quickly and Steve was forced to train with a sword.
His days were suddenly filled with work. From helping in the workshop, training, to talking with the Holy man. So he didn't realize that another week in the castle finally ended and the catapult was ready for a test outside the town. The catapult did well and Scholar discussed with the smith making the trebuchet.
Steve came back only to worry about his ship since it started to rain, but thankfully nothing happened. He did have to train in the rain though and for the first time he fought with the guard and lost terribly, got several bruises, and barely held his tears, but the guard wasn't angry at him and help him to his room, so he could go to sleep.
Three catapults were made and send to destroy the castle with a big supply of simple bows and five balista armed with harpoons. Steve looked at them leave the town with pride, but although he could sleep here comfortably, he still missed home very much. He was also out of ideas for the workshop and asked the guard to train him with a bow for the whole day. The reason was simple, he didn't want to get beaten by the practice wooden sword.
"I should ask them soon, but getting free training might prove useful. Every planet I visited was too dangerous!"
Steve was just preparing for the training when he heard some noise in the hall inside. Before he opened the door, the guard came in running. Steve made several steps back and his first instinct was to think about running to the ship, but the guard smiled.
"We won! We got the castle! The king wants to see you," the guard almost forced Steve to go with him to the war room he met the king for the first time. Other officers were in the room as well.
"The victory of your invention helped us achieve was a great one! Since your existence is a secret I cannot give you any land, so I decided to have a vote. The vote to give you the title of a knight. Of course, with such a noble title you will have to learn proper etiquette and the way of the sword. So who is in favor and why?" the king was talking right as Steve entered the room and didn't give the boy any room to question anything.
"The boy can read the language of the gods! Of course, he is worthy of such a title!" said the Holy man.
"His ideas are innovated and his connection to gods has nothing to do with them, it's just his brilliant mind! His worth is obvious!" the scholar noded while praising him.
"I don't think his manners, knowledge, or physical skill are worth of a knight," The General shakes his head.
"His knowledge of economics is basic, politics are also just ideas, but he showed an interesting look at some policies, for such a young boy however I think it shows potential," said the king's brother.
"So it's decided! As of now, you are the knight of the Kingdom of knights. When you manage to impress the general with your sword skill you will get the title!"
"Thank you, my king," Steve bows his head and the king smiles at him.
"From now on you can also leave the castle, but not the town,"
"Thank you,"
"You are dismissed,"
***
"A fucking knight?" Steve relieves himself in his room when he is finally alone. He never got any reward back home, mostly for lack of training in any competition. It put a bright smile on his face.
"Is this place really where I end up for good?" he was really missing home. The food here was much better than in the village, but they didn't have any tropical food, seafood, corn, or potatoes. Sweet things were only made out of honey and fruit. Milk was rare, not to mention cream and cheese. Cheese, in particular, was only used in the church. Steve missed the spices from his world, fried food, and soda. He found himself drinking wine, just because he could. He didn't get drunk since the Scholar didn't allow him to drink much, but got used to its taste.
"But I am safe here!" he said out loud. It was still the best place he found and who knows if it is even possible to get home...
"Can I come in?" somebody knocked on the door, interrupting his thought.
"Yes, come in," only one person opened the door, the Holy man.
"I bring you a book..."
"Hmm, what kind of book?"
"It's one of the holy texts that talks about morality, war, and human destiny,"
"Is it written in the Ancient language?"
"No, of course not! It is a human creation! However, it holds great significance to our beliefs,"
"Okay, but why do you want me to read it?"
"Ah, it is a common practice to read some passages for the military leaders after a battle. Since you helped win the castle, I felt you should listen." since Steve was silent, trying to not offend, the Holy man started to read the passages. Vague simple rules about not getting drunk on one's victory and on the importance of human lives.
"Now that I think about it, why there was war in the first place?" the was going on for months before he arrived here and it felt like a commonplace to him, he never asked about its reason before.
"I thought you know, it is pretty common knowledge,"
"I honestly didn't want to hear the tragedy that forced two nations to start killing themselves," Steve tried to put on a fake smile and using his best speech to fool the Holy man.
"Well, a year ago king sister was supposed to marry a nobleman from the Iroin kingdom's, however, the king of the Kingdom of roses send his only princess to marry the brother of the nobleman. That created friction within all three countries and the Irion Noble houses started to show dissatisfaction with being used as political tools so they rebel and in that fight, King's sister was humiliated and send home. That was a great insult and..."
"Wait, just wait, it was just because of political bullshit?"
"Bull..."
"How many people died?"
"In the rebellion or the war?"
"The war!"
"Thirty thousand people, give or take." said the Holy man unphased.
Steve couldn't believe his words.
"H-How many died in the last battle?"
"About two thousand,"
"T-Two...." Steve realized he was lying to himself all the time.
He knew he was helping in a war. He knew he was, in essence, giving them better ways to kill people. But he deluded himself in thinking he was on the good side of the war. The death wasn't close to him. The words the general said to him were like home when people talk about stuff on the other side of the world. The number hit him hard and he kicked the Holy man out and locked himself in the room.
***
"Open up! Hey!"
"Leave me alone!"
"I got several new mechanisms! I also got the oil and thought we could use it on the rocks for the catapult!"
"Do that, just leave me be for now!"
"Fine, but I hope you are working on something! The war is not over yet!" Steve took a big sip of the wine and look at the table with his writings. He didn't want to think about weapons, so he tossed everything on the ground and rather thought about other stuff. This kind of work was much more enjoyable and made him stop thinking about the dead.
He still couldn't focus and since the easy stuff he already figured out, he was getting more and more despair. His only worth was his ideas and maybe his alien language and if he loses one, what will the king do to him?
"Steve! Can you help me with something?" Since Steve was already on the verge of running away, he opened the door.
"Just help me throw this garbage out,"
"Garbage?" says Steve and looks at the crate filled with small pieces of metal.
"What are you working on, right now?" asks the Scholar, but Steve shook his head.
"Nothing? Oh well..." Steve took the crate from one side and both slowly walk to the back door, to toss through the big pipe down where it gets melted.
"What is this smell?" asks Steve as they walk through the workshop.
"I got some new stuff,"
"New stuff that smells like shit?"
"It is shit, bat shit! It somehow changed the cave rocks,"
"Bat shit?"
"Is something wrong?"
"No, it's just..." Steve remembered from his class. Bat shit was used to make early gunpowder, with sulfur and charcoal. The Scholar was more than smart enough to make it, but that would only kill more people. Or less? If the victory would be fast the war would end without more dead.
"You think about something? That shit is useful?"
"Well yes, it's very dangerous,"
"Show me!"
"I don't know-how, yet"
"Hmm," Steve had a general idea of how to make the gunpowder, but not only it was dangerous, it was also not necessary for Steve to help him.
"I'll go back to my room, I am working on light reflection,"
"Wait!" but Steve left quickly to his room.
The next day Steve left his room only to give the Scholar a few pages of ideas and eat some food. He didn't go train and didn't talk with anybody. He was trying to not think about anything else than his ideas, but that was hard to do. Especially when the next morning General came to him personally and lecture him about etiquette.
"You are not focusing at all!"
"I am sorry..."
"Is something wrong? If you want to know we have several small victories after advancing further north, the swords we get from the enemy are very useful indeed and several knights already voluntarily learned how to use a bow on a horse..."
"Let's not talk about the war..."
"Why the sudden change of heart?"
"It's just that I never realized how many people died!"
"The dead on our side were in hundreds while the enemy lost several thousand people, it was a great victory!"
"What? Are you kidding me? Hundreds? Just hundreds?" Steve couldn't believe what he just heard and run to his room. The General quickly catches him and holds his arm.
"What is this?"
"Let me go! I won't be here any longer! So many dead! I don't want to have anything else to do with this!"
"I cannot let you leave, you know too much! Also, this attitude worries me... Guard!"
"Yes?"
"Guard him again!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Your knighthood has to wait a bit!"
"Let me go!" Steve finally freed himself and shuts his room door, before anybody else could come in he locked it.
"Let me in!"
"No, I'll work here, just leave me be!"
"Fine," the guard answered after a while.
"What the hell am I doing?" Steve sits behind the door and puts his head in his hand. This was getting out of hand, he should prepare to leave. He still had a few addresses of other planets, he didn't check and this planet still had other countries. How? How can he leave? Leaving quickly shouldn't be a problem since he can still go next to his ship, but he spent too much work here just to leave empty-handed.
"I'll steal everything I can and leave! If I steal some valuable artifacts or gold! Fuck it! It's all or nothing!"
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