“My name is William G. Maryblood.” I placed my right hand lightly over the left side of my chest and did a simple, traditional bow, purposefully choosing the one for greeting those of lower rank.
There were many older dwarves among them. My name and my gesture quickly tipped them off, and they hurriedly responded with the bow for greeting a superior.
“First, I would like to apologize. I happened to meet Mister Al in town, and the two of us hit it off. I’m afraid I kept him talking until quite late.”
“N-No, that’s all right!”
I could hear whispers from the back and words like “liege” and “paladin.” I also saw a number of people trying to get a measure of my strength by sight, so I made no attempt to conceal it through my stance or movements. I made sure to present myself as strong.
“It’s really him.”
“Horrifically strong.”
The whispers continued. A dwarf with a plainly visible scar on his face warned the others with a heavy air. “More than that. All of us put together wouldn’t stand a chance against him. We’d be crushed.”
I, uh, I wasn’t sure I’d go that far. If everyone here suddenly turned on me, I could see myself hesitating about how to deal with it and making a wrong move.
As many of the other dwarves went pale upon hearing his words, the dwarf with the scarred face pushed through them and stood before me. “My name is Ghelreis. I would like to express our acceptance of your apology regarding the young master, and our deepest gratitude for your concern.” He cast a hard look over me. He had the eyes of a soldier. “Well, then, what business do you have with us?”
“I wish to take Mister Al as my squire.”
A murmur rose among the dwarves.
“You say you want the young master… as your squire?”
“But…”
“But that’s…”
The murmurs spread, and some people started to raise their voices.
“Master, being the paladin’s squire would be terribly dangerous!”
“You’d be taken along on beast hunts!”
“I beg you to reconsider!”
I looked at Al. He looked as if he didn’t know where to turn, and his forehead was damp with sweat.
“I think you had better spend a night slowly thinking this over.”
“That’s right. We’ll all talk about it together.”
Al went pale as they kept on pressing him. I could see he was about to nod. It was probably almost a reflex by now.
So I asked simply, “What do you want to do?”
Al’s eyes opened wide and his pupils trembled slightly, as if the voices all around him were making him hesitate. Then he pressed his lips into a hard line.
“I…” He forced the words out. “I want to study under this man!” His voice carried surprisingly well, enough that all the other dwarves, taken aback by his sudden outburst, fell silent. “I want to know what makes a warrior, what bravery is! I want to grasp the answer for myself, with my own hands!” His words were filled with a heat like fire. “Without exposing myself to danger, without taking a step forward on my own, what of warriors can I learn?! What of bravery can I learn?!”
Al pulled himself up straight, his braided black hair bouncing as he did. A scorching light dwelt in his wide-open hazel eyes. “I want to be one who feels no shame in who I am, not before the great spirits of our ancestors nor before the gods who created us! How can I claim to be a dwarf without knowing of battle, valor, and chivalry?! I have no intention of changing my mind!”
Al’s lone shouting overwhelmed the burly mountain-folk. I was amazed. To be honest, I never expected him to be able to say it so clearly. He was more amazing than I thought.
“Sir Will! I would like you to make me your squire here and now!” Al ran up to me, got down on one knee, clasped his hands together, and held them up to me. I heard Blood’s voice in the back of my mind.
— In the way of the warrior, clasping both your hands together andpresenting them to another is a symbol of offering your “sincerity.” If a warrioroffers you his sincerity, you have two choices: you either reject it, or you acceptit by wrapping both your hands around theirs. Don’t do it lightly. Accepting awarrior’s sincerity is serious business.
It was night in the temple. Blue will-o’-the-wisps inhabited his vacant eye sockets. His skeletal jaw clacked audibly as he grinned.
— What does it mean? Well…
“The sincerity thou hast offered—” I took his fervent hands and wrapped mine around them. “I shall protect by mine own hands.”
When we finished our atypical handshake and Al looked up at me, his expression, which had been stiff and anxious with tension and heady emotion, relaxed with relief.
“That’s not the full ceremony, but all the same, I have accepted Al’s oath to become my squire. As his knight and master, I will now take your questions.”
Clapping Al on the shoulder a couple times, I looked around at the dwarves. “I would also like to ask a question of all of you. Is my name insufficient to be his master, even if this is only temporary?”
A squire was not that low a status to hold in this day and age. There were even some members of the royal family and sons of nobility who, in order to add to their own prestige, served as squires of knights noted for their military and moral excellence.
In terms of the Kingdom, I was the feudal lord ruling over a faraway piece of land, and a retainer’s retainer. Specifically, I was a retainer of Ethelbald, Duke of Southmark, who was himself a retainer of King Owen. So, I wasn’t that high in the social order. But all the same, I had made names for myself and was well known as the Wyvern Killer, the Beast Killer, the Torchbearer, and the Faraway Paladin, among others. Whatever status Al had among the dwarves, I was confident that I had achieved enough that he shouldn’t feel ashamed to work for me.
The dwarves answered my question with hums and murmurs, stuck for an answer. Then Ghelreis muttered solemnly, “It is not for us to argue.”
“You accept this, Ghelreis?” another dwarf replied.
“The young master wills it.”
“But—”
“The young master,” Ghelreis repeated, “who has been considerate to our hardships and never once insisted upon his own way since childhood wills it.”
The dwarves who had been trying to argue back said nothing further.
“Young master, I will find a way to tell Grendir.”
“Th-Thank you, Ghelreis.”
“However—” Ghelreis turned a hard stare on Al, who twitched. “I will think of you as having died this day.”
“I…”
“Now that you have placed your sincerity in the hands of a superior warrior, never treat your life as something too precious to lose. Serve him well and be prepared to die without hesitation if that is called for.” The dwarf with the scar spoke to Al with a stern expression. The tension in his words made Al’s expression tighten as well. “Are we agreed?”
“I understand!”
Ghelreis looked at me. “Grendir and I will pay you a visit in the near future.
The young master is in your hands.”
“I hear you loud and clear,” I answered, and the dwarf’s scar creased as he smiled gracelessly. It was the smile of a warrior, and it reminded me of Blood.
Chapter 3
The black-haired dwarf Al became my squire, and Grendir paid us a formal visit a few days later. Good to his word, Ghelreis seemed to have persuaded him.