Ch.136Report on the Downfall of Diligence (1)

# Long Ago, There Lived a Nobleman Named Bartel

Long ago, there lived a nobleman named Bartel. Though he wisely governed his territory, he was naturally suspicious and distrustful of others, especially regarding matters of the opposite sex.

When Bartel remained unmarried well past the appropriate age, his serfs and servants advised him, “If you wait too long to sow your seeds, it will be difficult to bear fruit.” They wished for a wise successor like Bartel to continue governing as he did.

So Bartel chose his bride from the poorest household among his serfs, a woman named Agnes.

When Bartel took Agnes as his bride, he commanded, “Obey me in all circumstances,” to which Agnes replied, “You are my lord and master, so I will gladly do so.” At that time, their age difference was twenty years.

When Agnes had given birth to a daughter and a son, Bartel was already old, but Agnes was still in her prime. As his wife continued to receive praise for her beauty, Bartel’s suspicious nature flared up again.

“From now on, you shall remove all your clothes and walk around naked. You must not wear anything without my permission. However, I will allow only shoes that reach your ankles and silk ribbons around your neck and waist. My name will be embroidered on the ribbons to indicate that you are not a madwoman, but mine.”

When Bartel commanded this, Agnes answered, “You are my master, so I will do as you say,” and did as she was told.

When people of the world insulted Bartel as a foolish and insane man, Bartel thought, ‘I am being insulted because of my wife,’ and his unnecessary suspicions grew even stronger.

After many years passed, Bartel called his wife and said:

“I have been insulted because of you, bringing indelible shame to our family. From now on, you shall not see your son and daughter. Live only in the courtyard and the drill ground. Eat, sleep, and bathe there as well.”

Agnes replied, “You are my master, so I will do as you say.”

People gathered and set up curtains and sunshades in the courtyard and drill ground. Even Bartel’s soldiers provided water for bathing and drinking, and their wives helped cover Agnes’s nakedness.

When she replied, “My master has commanded me not to wear clothes, so I cannot,” the wise women brought fishing nets and wrapped them tightly around her body, saying:

“Even when wearing this, everything underneath is visible, so this is not clothing. Also, it has no sleeves or trouser hems, so it is neither worn nor draped—it is merely wrapped around the body. If anyone questions you, answer like that.”

After many years, even fellow noblemen began to reproach Bartel for his suspicions. When he was disrespected even by those he considered his peers, Bartel summoned Agnes and scolded her harshly.

“My life has been ruined while living with you. Since the bishop has refused to grant a divorce, I cannot divorce you, but rather than living with you, I shall take a new wife as my primary spouse and live with her. That woman is in the next room, so go and help prepare my new wife.”

“You are my master, so I will do as you say.” Agnes withdrew and went to Bartel’s new wife. There was a very beautiful young maiden whose age was similar to Agnes’s when she first married.

As soon as the maiden saw Agnes, she burst into tears, crying, “Mother!” Agnes then recognized her as the daughter she had been separated from long ago. Nevertheless, she helped prepare her daughter, saying:

“My master has ordered me to prepare you, so I shall do so. How can you cry on such a blessed day? Stop your tears.”

But the maiden wept bitterly, and even the guests gathered to celebrate the marriage heard her cries.

When the maids rushed out to report what was happening, everyone—from the lowly to the noble, aristocrats and merchants, students and clergy, even beggars and thieves—became enraged and went looking for Bartel.

“Who is this man who mistreats his wife, attempts bigamy with his own daughter, and even makes the mother prepare her? We should beat him severely and then feed him to the dogs.”

At that moment, the door to the room opened, and Bartel entered and knelt down.

“My lady, I wanted to know how far you could endure and be patient. I have suspected you all my life, but now I recognize my mistake, so please come back and live with me.”

“You are my master, so I will do as you say.”

Agnes obeyed, but the angry crowd came up the corridor and pounded on the locked door. Then Bartel cried out, “I, who have wisely governed this land all my life, have come to this because of my wife!” and threw himself out the window. It was true that he had governed the land wisely.

Bartel broke his neck, but the merciful God spared his life. However, he became unable to move even a finger or speak a word for the rest of his life, and it is said that he lived under Agnes’s care for the remainder of his days.

The anonymous author (meaning the writer here) notes on this page:

Bartel was a master but not a master, and Agnes was a slave but not a slave.

The master never ceased his suspicions and continuously tested the slave, thus falling into his own test. Bartel clung to the slave to confirm his mastery, meaning he could only know himself as master through the slave, so the master was not truly a master.

Even Bartel’s marriage was not his own will but due to the urging of the crowd and his servants, which can happen when a master is dragged around like a slave.

Meanwhile, a slave must satisfy the master’s service and has a duty to follow unconditionally, whether it pleases them or not.

However, Agnes’s service did not satisfy her master, and she willingly followed all of Bartel’s meaningless and even cruel demands, considering them good, so though she was a slave, she was not truly a slave.

The ancient sages say, ‘Be diligent, and all will go well.’ But the anonymous author asks here:

Is the reason people today are unhappy despite being diligent because they lack diligence, or because masters are not true masters and slaves are not true slaves?

What is certain is that there are men and women like Bartel in the world, but none like Agnes. Also, it cannot be overlooked that while there was prosperity under Bartel’s rule, there were many in the crowd who could not tolerate his behavior.

– Excerpted from ‘The Scholar’s Tale’ in ‘The Canterbury Tales.’ Written by Archbishop Chaucer.

* * * * *

Someone kicked Kain awake. Wrapped in rags, he opened his eyes groggily.

“Hey. This is my spot.”

Kain couldn’t understand what the man said. The vagrant was missing his four front teeth, which affected his pronunciation. Kain ignored him and pulled up his straw mat.

“You son of a bitch…”

“I was here first.”

“What good is that? This is ‘my’ spot, I tell you. If the Emperor leaves his throne briefly, does sitting on it make you the Emperor?”

“So you’re saying you’re the Emperor?”

The vagrants around them snickered at Kain’s retort. The toothless vagrant muttered, “This bastard,” and pulled his foot back. He was about to deliver a powerful kick.

But he quickly backed away with a “Ptui!” Kain had pulled out the handle of a worn dagger from under his rags. There’s no stronger argument than the threat of being stabbed.

In an alley always in shadow between two buildings, nicknamed “the rat hole that never sees sunlight,” Kain had been hiding for days. He was evading trackers, watching the city council building across the street, and listening to rumors.

But the most crucial reason was to hear the gossip.

* * * * *

Here in the City of Lombardt, the influence of Hans the Diligent was absolute. Being tracked, Kain couldn’t infiltrate the upper echelons.

‘Where did he come from anyway?’

He couldn’t figure out his identity at all.

They had been traveling south with an escort from the Monastery of St. Georgios.

Fortunately, Maria had regained consciousness, and Kain had told her a considerably edited version of what had happened with Elisabet. He thought it would be better for both Maria’s honor and his own.

The escort consisted of Holy Grail Knights from the Magdeburg branch, but Maria didn’t recognize them at all. They didn’t seem to recognize her either.

In a way, this was natural—Maria had spent most of her adult life avoiding her father Heinrich by staying away from home, and Heinrich, knowing this, had dispatched her as an external investigator outside Magdeburg.

Because of this, Maria didn’t know much about the people of Magdeburg. The problem arose afterward when the escort tried to arrest Kain and Maria.

“How dare you!”

Maria snapped her fingers at just the right moment—not at the people, but at the horses. Suddenly, the horses, their eyes filled with bright light, went berserk and ran in all directions. In the confusion, Kain and Maria barely managed to gather their belongings and escape.

“Inquisitors do get attacked sometimes. Usually assassinations,” Maria explained, gasping for breath.

“It’s better to claim a noble died at the hands of vagrants than to be executed as a heretic. But this is too blatant!”

They couldn’t even be sure if these men were really Holy Grail Knights. Kain decided to head toward the nearest Imperial territory.

They stopped at Reidelberg, where Kain sent the three volumes of obscene diaries and other collected items to Anna and hastily wrote a report.

“You should be careful,” the Royal Guard Bureau branch chief cautiously continued.

“There’s a rumor spreading among street thugs. A red-haired woman. A black-haired man. And a blonde woman a span taller than the man. They’re offering a reward for capturing them. They don’t care if they’re dead, but they’ll pay more if they’re alive. There’s no blonde woman, but the other two sound like your group.”

“Who put out such a thing?”

“I could dig into it, but it would take a while. And that kind of bounty typically comes from high places. Are you planning to stay here until then?”

It was a hint that nobles or even higher authorities were involved. Kain and Maria disguised themselves and left Reidelberg. They couldn’t afford to be delayed any longer.

After struggling over mountains and secretly crossing rivers, they finally reached the City of Lombardt, where Hans the Diligent resided. But Kain drove their horse to a secluded spot.

“We’d better act separately. The world may be full of red-haired women and black-haired men, but there’s no benefit in staying together.”

“That’s for the best. I don’t want to play house with you either. Ah, when Lily was around, we didn’t have to worry about this…”

Maria sneered.

“So, what’s the plan? Are you going to find the Security Bureau branch? The City of Lombardt is directly under Imperial control, right?”

“You know too much about the Security Bureau,” Kain said with a smile, shaking his head.

“No, that won’t work. Other Security Bureau branches disguise themselves as post offices, but here they really only function as a post office.”

“Huh? Why?”

“The situation here is complicated. It’s better to assume there’s no Security Bureau support. So…”

Kain handed all his belongings and the money he’d received in Reidelberg to Maria.

“Why are you giving this to me?”

“Because we’re acting separately. Find a decent lodging and rest. Take care of yourself…”

Both Kain and Maria had weakened from their life on the run. They hadn’t been eating or sleeping properly and had discarded everything except the luggage they couldn’t afford to lose. They still had scratches and bruises from their struggles.

But Maria was as prickly as ever.

“Do you think I’m some forest princess? Shut up.”

Kain couldn’t help but smile at her prickliness. That very reaction made Maria suspicious.

“You really didn’t do anything with my mother, right?”

“I told you nothing happened,” Kain protested.

“Then why do you keep looking at me like that?”

“I’m just glad to see the Maria I know is back.”

“Is that supposed to be good or bad? Should I call my mother back?”

Kain just burst out laughing at Maria’s sarcasm.

After discussion, Maria took almost all of Kain’s belongings. She left him with just a rope and a dagger.

After some consideration, Maria took a job as an odd-jobs worker at the city hall. She decided it would be better not to present herself as a clergy member for the time being. And thanks to her experience as an undercover investigator, she was skilled at this kind of approach.

Kain disguised himself as a street vagrant and blended into the back alleys. While Hans the Diligent’s position was solid, news from the underworld was typically more extensive and varied, and Hans himself might not be entirely above board.

Sitting in an alley where rumors flowed, Kain quietly waited for his big catch.