Chapter 57

"We have to set you up properly with the appropriate material since you're a beginner. I'm sure there's someone on this farm, that it'd be alright to kill..."

- Fox

Young Master (若様, Wakasama) is the 57th chapter in the series and the first chapter of Volume 9.

Overview
Einar is pleasantly surprised to see a man as rich as Ketil is bothering to do manual labour in the fields. He observes him getting into an argument with a young man; Thorfinn tells him it's Ketil's son, Olmar, who is set to inherit the farm. Olmar yells at Ketil that he never wanted the farm and wants to make his way up in the world with his sword. That night, Einar tells Thorfinn that Olmar does not realize how lucky he is and probably thinks that warriors are cool since he's never known war. He tells Thorfinn of the two times his village was attacked by different armies and comments that he hates warriors and that they are beasts in human masks. Elsewhere, a frustrated Olmar leaves a girl he has just bedded after she comments he should consider taking over the farm instead of becoming a warrior. On his way out, he passes by the girl's parents and tells them he knows they want his father's fortune and think they can live luxuriously by becoming part of the Ketil family. On his way back, he runs into two of Ketil's drunk guests, Fox and Badger. Eager to gains some favour with Ketil, they lead Olmar to come drink with them at the fortress. After getting drunk, Olmar gets angry again and tells Fox he wants to test his skills with the sword. Fox easily gets Olmar at swordpoint and is surprised when Olmar starts crying. Reluctant to have Snake possibly get angry at him for making Olmar cry, Fox reassures Olmar he can become a man by killing someone. He tells him that as a beginner, it is lucky that he has men around he is allowed to kill.

Summary
Children bring spring water to Ketil and the workers in the fields. Einar remarks he is surprised that someone as rich as Ketil would do manual labour himself and comments that he is a good master, asking Thorfinn if he thinks so too. He ponders that people work hard regardless of where they're from. Ketil gets frustrated at a teen boy and tells him once again to cut the crops around knee-height in order to leave enough stems for the livestock's grazing. They yell at each other. Einar asks who it is the master is getting so angry at and Thorfinn responds that it is Olmar, Ketil's 17 year old son. Olmar yells at Ketil that he thought he would be nice and help, but that he's had enough of Ketil complaining about small details. As he hops on a horse to leave, Ketil says he should be at least a little responsible, since he will inherit the farm in the future. Olmar yells back that he did not ask for that and that a man like him wouldn't want to do trivial field labour. After embarrassingly having a lot of difficulty unsheathing his sword, he says he's going to make his way up in the world with his sword, then leaves. Later that night, as Einar and Thorfinn settle into hay to sleep, Einar says that Olmar doesn't understand how lucky he is to be inheriting the farm. He comments that Olmar knows nothing of war and probably thinks warriors are cool, even though people who fight in wars are monsters. Thorfinn tells Einar to go to sleep as they need to wake up early in the morning. Einar keeps talking and tells Thorfinn that when he was a child, soldiers came to his village twice: first, an English army who burned their house down, his father dying while trying to fight back, Einar claims he did not know the reason, and would not be content if he did. The second was a Danish army, who told them to hand over their food so that they could liberate them from the King of England, then left them with nothing while thinking themselves righteous. Thinking back to some upsetting war scenes, Einar says they were beasts wearing human masks and that anyone who wants to be like them is an idiot. Einar asks Thorfinn if he is sleeping. Thorfinn, awake, seems thoughtful and does not respond.

Olmar, chest bare and waving around his sword, tells a naked girl in his bed that he will not waste his years in the middle of nowhere and will instead join the royal army of King Canute's brother and achieve distinguished services by fighting in England. He tries to slice a flying moth and misses. The girl asks him when he will do so, and Olmar replies it will be soon enough, as King Harold will be gathering troops to send off a ship shortly. He plans to go then. The girl tells him she thinks inheriting the farm would be better for him. She tells him to come back to bed so they can do it one more time and says she wants a child with him. Outside, the dwelling, the girl's father listens at the door and approves of his daughter's shrewdness. His wife comes with food for Olmar, but her husband shushes her and tells her to wait, as round 2 is about to begin. The couple gesture enthusiastically, as their family's future is secured as long as the young master continues to show interest in their daughter. Olmar looks to the door and walks out. The couple startle and ask him if their daughter did something, but Olmar interrupts them, telling them to shup up, calls them poor peasants and says he knows all about their ulterior motives. He asks if they want his father's fortune and think they can live luxuriously by becoming part of the Ketil family. The couple start to deny it and tell him to wait, but Olmar leaves, claiming they're all the same and that he is not just one of Ketil's things. As he rides away, two stumbling men, Fox and Badger, tell him going around in the dark can be dangerous. Olmar asks them what they're doing out in the fields. Fox tells him they went over to a woman's place, but were found by one of the servants and got into an argument, which caused Snake to get angry at them. As they explain, Olmar notices they're crushing the crops as they stumble about. Fox comments that there's nothing fun to do in the village except having fun with women. Badger tells him he's lucky he gets to do whatever he wants and can pick and choose his women as well. He notices he looks angry and asks him what's troubling him. Olmar yells that he doesn't have time to deal with them and tells them to go back to the fortress and sleep. They tell him he's cold and starts leading his horse, telling him to come drink with them and that they'll listen to his troubles. Olmar grumbles that they're just using him to get more booze, but Fox tells him it's fine and that they're friends. Olmar tells them to let go of his horse, but they ignore him.

At the fortress, men are fighting each other as others cheer them on. At a nearby table, Olmar drinks with Fox and Badger. Inebriated, he tells them that nobody understands him. Fox tells him they do understand, as being 17 and neither man nor child is tough. Starting to get angry again, Olmar asks for another drink and asks them if they're also laughing at him on the inside. Fox and Badger whisper that things are getting bad and that Olmar should sober up. Olmar unsheathes his sword and yells that they think they have the right to look down on him despite only being guards and pets of his father. Fox asks that he refer to them as "guests" instead, as they're good at fighting. Olmar asks if he's ever even worked, as he's never seen him fighting. Fox replies it's because the village peaceful, almost to a boring level. Olmar tells him to draw his sword so he can test how skilled he is. Fox simply casually turns over the table between them with his foot, knocking Olmar over, then points his sword at Olmar's face with one hand while still holding his drinking horn in the other. He reminds Olmar that they make their living by the sword. Olmar starts to cry and tells Fox to just kill him. Fox and Badger are startled by his reaction; the men who were fighting and socializing nearby start making fun of them for making Olmar cry. Fox tells them to shut up and asks them not to tell Snake. Fox and Badger wonder what to do — Fox thought they could gain the favour of the Ketil family by merrily drinking with Olmar, but wasn't expecting this. Fox approaches Olmar and tells him he knows what he wants is to not be treated like a child anymore. Fox replies that he can't blame the men for treating him as such, since he is still just a kid. Badger interrupts him and tells Fox he said to cheer Olmar up. Fox says he is working on it and keeps talking to Olmar, telling him that all he needs to do to become a man is to go through a sort of rite of passage, which he could do today or tomorrow. Having caught Olmar's interest, Fox specifies that it is the experience of killing someone, an act that requires confidence. He says that the experience makes one better in the end, after seeing how fragile the human body is and exerting power and dominance. Olmar start to ask who he could kill. Fox says they can set him up with the appropriate beginner material, as there's people on the farm he is allowed to kill. The last words overlay a panel of Einar and Thorfinn.

Characters in order of appearance

 * Ketil
 * Einar
 * Thorfinn
 * Olmar
 * Fox
 * Badger