IC 1337~1359: The Knight's Story 1

Saraka said, "Just try to relax. This is going to take a little while."
"How am I supposed to relax in a situation like this?!" questioned Raruba.
"Well," Saraka said, taking the thread in hand, as she looked down at Raruba. "You could try telling us more about yourself, Mister Knight."
Raruba sighed. "Alright. I guess I'll just try to bide my time here. Until my fellow Knights come to save me."
Saraka said, admitting with embarrassment, "I don't know much about knights. Or much about the outside world, honestly." As she started to stitch up Raruba's wound. "What is it like?"
"Urgh... Well," Raruba began. "I was born in the Holy Empire, about twenty... twenty-two years ago. I don't know the exact date. Since I was born a peasant, it wasn't really considered important. While I was happy enough at home, I always felt like I wanted to see more of the world."
"I'm listening," Saraka said, as she worked.
"Well, I tried at first attending a university in one of the imperial cities," Raruba explained.
"Ah, a university!" Saraka interjected. "Father told me about those." Then Saraka asked, "And how did that go?"
"Given that I was from a peasant family," Raruba explained, "We didn't have much money. There are three ways to attend a university in my country. The first is to pay tuition out of your own pocket. This is what merchants and nobles do when they want to send their children out for education. Of course, they could always hire private tutors at home, if they prefer. The second way is to get an imperial scholarship. The emperor organizes a commission for finding the most promising students for academic achievement and bringing glory to the empire. The emperor then pays for the student's tuition." Raruba continued, "And the third, and oldest way, is to join the church. The Holy Mother Church. The Holy Universal Church of the Blessed of the Three. It is not only the largest religious institution on the continent. But it is also the largest intellectual body in the history of the continent. During the fall of the first empire, when almost all of the knowledge of the ancients was lost, the church preserved what remained. Eventually, the church would create the first great schools to preserve that knowledge, and in time to grow it. These would be the first universities."
Raruba continued explaining the education system in his country. "As I said before, I didn't have much money to spend. Furthermore, I didn't come from any illustrious noble family. Nor did I have any particular achievements, I must admit with embarrassment. As such, the church was the only way to make something better of myself. I was never particularly religious when I was younger. Although, I did have faith in God.
The core curriculum at my university consisted of learning theology, medicine, and law. We were also expected to learn the rudiments of mathematics, rhetoric, etc. There were also new subjects introduced from time to time. Including the new science of alchemy, which had made its way from the East. Though any of these new subjects were regarded with extreme caution, as any kind of heathen influence could bring the doom of any churchman. We were instructed to simply take what was useful, and discard the rest."
Raruba sighed. "Unfortunately, as it turned out... I did not excel at academic studies. I found it difficult to concentrate during long lectures. I would always be looking out of windows, wishing that I could be out there, instead. And I found it difficult to remember minutia when it came to be time for examinations. I did find the idea of alchemy to be interesting. The course of transformations. However, I had no practical talent for it." Raruba admitted, "I caused a minor explosion in a laboratory, and I was banned from that professor's class afterwards."
More generally, Raruba said, "I barely passed my first year at the university. And I failed my last year." Raruba said, with shame, "It was a disappointment to my parents, who had sent me off to the city." Straining, he explained, "And I... I just couldn't return back." Raruba continued, "I had done well enough in my religion classes, that I had the option of becoming a priest. I wasn't smart enough to become a bishop or cardinal, of course... But, I was literate, at least... I could read the holy scripture. However... When I was preparing for ordination... I found myself unable to deliver a sermon. The thought of public speaking, in itself, gave me anxiety. And when it came to actually doing it... I just couldn't get the words out. Fear overcame me."
Saraka commented, "You seem good enough at expressing yourself right now."
"Ah, really?" Raruba questioned. "With all the pain that I'm in, I doubt that I'm coherent. But that's good to know. Maybe vocalizing my own failures is my area of expertise."
Saraka laughed, but added, "There's more to you than that, I'm sure." As Saraka returned to her handiwork, she prompted, "Do go on."
Raruba continued his autobiographical narration: "It was around that time, that it came to my attention, the existence of the Holy Order of Knights. Maybe this is what I needed. A way to travel the world, and to get a taste of adventure. So that is the chance that I took." Raruba sighed. "My parents were opposed to the idea, of course. They had invested so much into me getting an education. They didn't want me to go and go off to war and die in some foreign country. But I insisted. When I said that I was joining the Knights, my older sister said, that if I was going to go, then she would go with me. The idea was absurd, of course. But she was as insistent as I was. So, as soon as I received my first long-term station, she was going to apply to be a holy sister in the closest village."
"It sounds like your sister loves you very much," Saraka commented.
Raruba affirmed, "Yeah, I guess so. Truth be told, I haven't seen her in... quite a few months, now. When I get back, I'll make sure to give her a big hug."
Raruba somehow seemed sad, considering things, now. "Patienza, my sister... She was one of the few people that believed in me. Well, her and Baldur. When I was first entering the university, I didn't have many friends. Well, none, really. I was just some peasant boy coming from the countryside. Baldur, meanwhile, was from a city. And he was a noble. His father had been a count... Or something like that... But he was determined to find his own glory. He saw that I had dreams, too. He said to me, that we were going to be heroes together. And so, he convinced me to join the Holy Knights with him. Baldur took the name, Sanctimonious. And I took the name, Raruba."
Saraka listened quietly.
Raruba asked, "By the way, does your sister have a name?"
Saraka said, "You mean Secunda?"
Raruba asked, "Secunda is her name?"
Saraka responded, uncertainly, "Well... That's what everyone calls her, at least. Since she's the second sister."
Ariadne interjected, explaining, "Officially, she doesn't have a name. She's not allowed to."
"What?" Raruba questioned in shock. "Not allowed?"
Ariadne sighed. "It's part of our agreement with the powers. I'll have to explain later."
"Well... Alright then," Raruba acquiesced.
The younger sister of the pair said, "I told him to forget about my name. This guy has been calling me Amunezia since then."
Saraka intoned brightly, "Oh, we should start calling you that, then!"
Her sister groaned. Crossing her arms.
Saraka said, "Anyway, please continue your story, Mr. Raruba."