Levi nodded to Lancelot who replied with a nod of his own before walking towards the seat in the front.
He sat resting his chin on his palm and looked at the knights standing before him. Smiling he spoke, addressing them.
"Good morning men, how was your rest?"
"Quite lovely"
"Great."
"Fine my lord."
Various replies came from the crowd in front of him.
"OK then let's get down to business, you all sought my presence for some great importance I presume. So, what's up?" He asked, curious why the knights called for an impromptu meeting.
The knights all raised a brow in confusion before one blond in his early twenties responded hesitantly.
"The... sky?"
"..."
Cough, cough
"I meant why did you want to see me." He coughed to hide his embarrassment.
"Ohh..." The youth made a sound of understanding before another knight, perhaps his late thirties walked out. He seemed to be the spokesperson of the group.
"Lord Levi, we appreciate the care your household had showered us with and we are sincerely gratefully for all the grace and support his eminence had shown us, but my lord...
Some of us seek to be relieved of our oaths." The spokesperson said in a soft-spoken but firm voice.
Although the knight tried to break the news as lightly as possible, it was clear that some of the knights wanted to leave Greenfields for elsewhere. But worried about being tagged as a deserter he was very careful with his wordings.
Levi looked at the said man expressionlessly for a few moments. Staring into the knight's eyes although he felt a hint of guilt and unease, he also felt a strong unyielding stance. It was clear the knight had made his mind up.
Looking around the hall, Levi saw similar expressions on the faces of a large majority of the crowd and he sighed.
He knew it could not be helped. Levi had long expected this. Even before the attack on Redwater, some men had deserted and many more were leaning towards doing the same.
Sean's betrayal, the nobles desertion, the knightage in shambles with most of its members either dead or turned traitorous and worse Aden's uncertain state at the capital.
It was clear the knights saw no future in remaining sworn to Levi's house.
Even despite the fact that they had an overwhelming victory against the Heras, they were all clear on how close to death they and their families were that night.
Most of their success could be attributed to the peculiarity of the situation then and luck.
If Gilbert had responded appropriately to the threat they presented the results of the battle might very well have been totally different.
The only reason they stayed with Levi till this point was because of their loyalty to Aden and the pity they probably felt for Levi.
So despite the reluctance he felt within. he nodded and calmly replied.
"Alright, that's OK. How many of you want to leave?"
Over two-thirds of the knights in front of me raised their hands, although they were mostly the young men amongst them which were a surprising discovery to Levi.
Almost all the men in their early forties didn't choose to leave and a few younger ones, but still they numbered at just a paltry seventeen in total.
Seeing such a large chunk of the knightage leave just like caused Levi to wince a little, but despite his inner turmoil he didn't let it show on his face, neither did he change my mind regarding letting them go.
Standing up he reached towards Lancelot who quickly responded by handing him his longsword. Stabbing the tip of the blade into the wooden floorboards the spoke.
"OK then, I Levi of house von Greifenberg in place of my father Aden of house von Greifenberg hereby relieves you of your oaths of fealty and free you of your responsibility to House von Greifenberg."
Certain of the fact that such a practise didn't exist during 15th-century Earth, James almost didn't know what to say. During medieval times sworn oaths of fealty were generally lifelong affairs with a knight serving the same lord throughout his entire life.
Thankfully though Levi had witnessed such in the past. It appeared this was a very common affair here on Anno given how frequently they appeared in Levi's memory.
"Thank you, my lord." The spokesperson said relieved.
"For the bravery, you all showed in the defence of my house and the townspeople shall all be rewarded with a gift ten Gold Trites. Small as it may be it represents the appreciation and the respect I have for you all."
Although he could have given much less to send them off, he knew it wouldn't be wise to play miser with the people he had entrusted his life with. Levi was clear on the fact that in this era trust and loyalty is built on precedence.
If he wanted to ensure the loyalty of future subordinates he needed to give them a reason to be loyal. Besides historically setting great precedence had never been a wrong move for a person in power to make.
But still giving out so much money left a gaping hole in his tiny coffers, so while the amount was on many levels smaller than what most knights receive as retirement gifts, especially after committing such great acts of valour the men didn't complain but accepted it with wide smiles on their faces.
Clear on how much Levi had to his name, they understood that if he had more he would have treated them better, so they weren't resentful in any way.
After saying a few more words of thanks similar to the kind he had heard Aden say in the past, he returned to the study to draw up plans in preparation for the coming spring.
. . . . .
Meanwhile...
Back in the now scantily occupied castle hall, Lancelot stood facing seven knights who all looked older than himself in silence for a few moments before asking with furrowed brows to neither of them in particular.
"Why did you choose to stay? I honestly expected you people, in particular, to leave given how inexperienced the young master still is. I can't still believe that despite your pride as veterans you choose to be lorded by a fledgeling, weak young man even after being voluntarily relieved of duty."
The men stood there silently contemplating Lancelot's question before one of them sighed and turned to look towards the direction of the study were Levi was, staring at the wall as if he could see through it.
"Even I am honesty baffled by my choice to stay, maybe it just my reluctance to leave all the memories I have here or it's something else, but I can feel something different about Aden's little spawn...
He appeared to me to be more reliable than before the incident with Sean and appears to be brimming of a latent potential I can't seem to lay my finger on."
"Potential?" Lancelot asked with a raised brow whilst looking at the brown-haired man who spoke.
"Uhmm..." Another continued.
"I don't know if it's his adopted brother's betrayal or something else that caused the change but I am certain of one thing...
And that he would achieve great things in the end if he is allowed to mature, so I plan on seeing him through to the end."
"Besides, we are getting old and have families to look after. Unlike those young hotblooded ones who can choose to leave for greater things, we can't just go looking for another noble to swear ourselves to at this point in our lives."
Lancelot ignored the last part of his speech as he clearly knew that if the knights truly wanted to leave there weren't many things in Greenfields that could truly hold them back.
"Potential you say..." The viscount mused turning to look towards the study.
"Let's hope what you say is true then my good sir..."