Chapter 59: Swear (Special thanks to Alliance Leader Sunset Oath for the extra update!)

"If at the beginning," Cesar asked: "I did not directly kill those servants who intended to harm me, but instead appealed to you or ran away..."

Baldwin closed his book and made an assumption as Cesar had said.

"Hmm," he said hesitantly: "Perhaps you would have been sent away," he added: "I know you are a kind person, but if you are not only kind but also indecisive, you are not suitable for living in Al-Salu. You would die. Even for your own good, we would have to send you far away."

This was a predictable answer. Cesar's heart was calm: "Then what about you?"

"Me?" Baldwin let out a dry laugh: "Not long before you arrived here, back when I was still healthy, shortly after my ninth birthday, I executed a base thief under the supervision of my father and my tutor."

"He came from Lower Lorraine and was a noble," he continued: "Because of this, my father allowed him to build a castle on a small territory near Yafa. At the time, he generously promised that all pilgrims passing through his place would receive safety, warmth, and free food and water in his castle.

Afterwards, he also seemed to have fulfilled his promise faithfully. Groups after groups of pilgrims entered his small castle, and after resting for a night, they left full of energy. They were full of gratitude for this master, swearing to pray for him before Christ's tomb.

In fact, many people did leave, but some people stayed forever.

He was a cunning hunter. You must know that pilgrims mostly traveled in groups, using villages or parishes, or a city as a whole; there were also wealthy pilgrims who would request lords to send knights to escort them (for a fee) or hire mercenaries.

But there were also some naive believers who thought that since the King had issued a harsh law that "anyone who harms a pilgrim will be executed," and God was watching at all times, there should not be any crime on this land flowing with Christ's blood—they entered the castle and, under the bewitchment of wine, revealed their secrets.

Their relatives and friends were thousands of miles away, their purses were filled with gold or silver, and there were no relatives or friends of theirs in the Holy Land. Even if they had a surname, it was not prominent," speaking of this, Baldwin glanced at Cesar: "When they got a separate room, they were happy, but in the end, they were either strangled in the dark or smashed to death with a hammer.

This Viscount was also very cautious in his work. He did not even sell the young victims to heretics as slaves like some people did. All the corpses were thrown naked into the dense forest, and in one night, wild beasts could help him finish the subsequent work. Guess how he was discovered?"

"How was he discovered?"

"Heraclius casually took his castle to give me math problems. This is much more interesting than simple numbers. He asked me to calculate how much monthly expenditure is needed to maintain a castle with fifteen knights, thirty squires, fifty armed attendants, twenty craftsmen, and one hundred handymen...

Then, after deducting these expenses, based on his income, and calculating according to the quota of one loaf of bread per pilgrim, how many more people could he receive?"

"The gap is huge?"

"More than huge, he should have gone bankrupt long ago," Baldwin said: "With the doubt, the subsequent things were easy to handle. Heraclius borrowed a few Holy Sepulchre knights from the King. They observed and monitored outside the small castle day and night. When the servants carried the corpses in manure buckets out of the castle," he made a gesture, "they were caught red-handed."

"He was a noble, he shouldn't have been hanged—he even prayed for a trial by combat, but no knight was willing to agree. In the end, Amalric I felt that this might be a suitable teaching material. Although Heraclius felt that I was not yet a squire at that time and this course was a bit too early, who knew if there would be such a fool later?

However, I didn't finish this course very well," Baldwin said with regret: "At that time, I had not yet received the blessing. Although I was stronger than my peers, but..." he was silent for a while: "He suffered a lot, and I suffered a lot. The axe slipped from my hand and almost hit my toe. His head was still cursing and swearing when it hit the ground.

Sometimes I also wonder, whether I was infected with leprosy because I let a Christian suffer torture he shouldn't have suffered, and God punished me like this."

Definitely not, Cesar said in his heart, even if someone made a mistake, that was Amalric I.

A hand was gently placed on his knee, "Today you went to see Geoffrey, what did he say to you?"

Cesar rarely hid anything from Baldwin, and even less so when going to see the Templars: "He told me some things about the battlefield. Baldwin, I am worried, I... I might not be the kind of decisive person you think I am. I feel pity when I see the weak, and I cannot judge others based on my own thoughts... I..."

"What is there to worry about," Baldwin answered unexpectedly lightly: "I order you to do it! I am your master, you must obey my dispatch—blood flowing over a sword does not make it lose its color, and you are the same—if there is sin, let it all be on me!"

While speaking, he carefully examined Cesar's expression. He said these words, of course, hoping to release the shackles Cesar had placed on himself.

Baldwin did not understand Cesar at the beginning, but now he knew at least three or four parts. At least he was not the kind of person who could slaughter pregnant women and infants without any psychological burden just by saying "killing heretics is not only not a sin, but a merit."

But to say he was a sentimental person like a woman, unable to lift a sword, that would be intentional slander.

"You are worried that you will degenerate into the kind of person you also look down upon, right," Baldwin held Cesar's hand tightly and said seriously: "Yes, I have seen them. They come full of love for God, but in the face of famine, pain, and the threat of death, they have to become beasts that cannot think. So," he asked solemnly: "What kind of person do you think I am?"

"A good person, in this era and this place, undoubtedly a good person. People call me 'Little Saint'," Cesar replied: "But I never take it to heart. It's not that I am arrogant by nature, but I know this is just people's false praise and expectations for me. But I think, you are the one who is a saint, Baldwin."

Anyone can be a saint with empty hands. Baldwin has status and power, yet still does not wantonly indulge himself. He is the one truly worthy of admiration.

"Then you should believe in me, just obey my orders. I will never ask you to do things that violate your own vows, and will never let you become someone you don't even recognize. As long as I am here, you will always be Cesar. Are you willing to make a vow with me?"

"I am willing."

————

Heraclius had already fallen asleep. After being called up by the two children and listening to their wishes, he could not help but feel a moment of hesitation.

"Do you know what you are saying?" he asked Baldwin, "If you make such a vow, you are equivalent to taking on the destiny of another person, you know?"

"I understand." Baldwin replied: "But only such a vow can ensure that Cesar is always free." Although Cesar was his attendant, once they both became squires or even knights of Amalric I, his master would not be Baldwin, but Amalric I.

If Amalric I were just a lord of Frank, things might be easier to handle, but the Crusaders originally adopted the method of "collective leadership," "As stipulated at the beginning, no one, whether noble or lowly, shall oppose any matter of the army's orders."

Although major counties and kingdoms have been established now, this "law" still has a certain effect, especially on the battlefield.

If someone deliberately uses this to make things difficult for Cesar, Cesar's situation will become difficult. He must either abandon his original self or be forced to withdraw from the army—but in the situation where the successive Kings of Al-Salu are equivalent to the leaders of the Crusaders, does he really have to go to a monastery?

"Are you also willing to believe in Baldwin?" Heraclius asked Cesar.

"I believe in him."

Heraclius turned to Baldwin for the second time: "But in this case—although we all say that after going through the 'Selection Ceremony' together, we are brothers under the gaze of God, but this kind of vow, to be honest, is not very reliable—I mean, Amalric, Raymond, Bohemond, and..." he hesitated, but still said it: "Joscelin, the Count of Edessa."

This name was rarely mentioned in the Holy Cross Castle. This was a scandal.

Edessa, Antioch, Tripoli, and Al-Salu should have been a natural alliance of Christian nations, but in 1144, when the Zengi dynasty attacked Edessa, neither Al-Salu nor Antioch nor Tripoli took action. Of course, there were many reasons for this... but it was shameful for anyone to say it out loud.

Not to mention, Count Joscelin of Edessa participated in the Second Crusade in '49, was captured by the Seljuks, and was locked in a prison until he died in '59, never waiting for anyone to redeem him.

"But if you make such a vow, Baldwin, you will no longer be Cesar's master. He and you will be completely equal. You can order him, and he can order you. You must support each other and guarantee each other. This contract must not only fall on you, but also on your descendants. If one party breaks the vow—no one will ever believe in your loyalty again."

"I certainly understand," Baldwin said from the heart: "Besides, for me, why wouldn't I need an upright person to hold my reins?," he turned to Cesar, "You are worried that you will change, but wouldn't I?" he looked at his arm: "God's trial does not know when it will end. I know that many people will go crazy in such a difficult journey... Why wouldn't I be one of them?"

His eyes were bright, "This is good. My restriction on Cesar can keep him away from others' malice, and his restriction on me can keep him away from my malice. He believes in me, and I also believe that he will be a loyal person. No, I don't mean he is only loyal to me, he is loyal to God, because the path he walks is the same as the path God pointed out to humanity."

"Your father will not be happy."

"At first he will, but after thinking about it, he won't." Baldwin said, "The thing he has been worrying about has been solved. The one paying the price is me, but Cesar's loyalty must be extended to my descendants or my brother, or even his descendants. Isn't this a good thing?"

Heraclius was silent for a while, "I must seek the King's consent."

"Go," Baldwin said, "He will agree."

Baldwin still knew his father. Amalric I was furious, but he still agreed to his request. As Baldwin said, this move was undoubtedly putting him and a slave on the same level—of course, this did not mean that Cesar could suddenly become the Crown Prince of Al-Salu—but they were responsible for each other and could guarantee for each other.

"There is a recent example of this, although both sides were not very willing."

Heraclius said: "Have you heard of the Castilian knight Rodrigo? He was a knight of Castile. At that time, King Sancho of Castile and his brother Alfonso joined forces to attack another brother, Garcia. In this process, Alfonso also joined forces with their sister Urraca. No one knows what happened, but Sancho died.

After Sancho died, his heir was Alfonso. He did not have the trust of the Castilian knights, but no one could force a king to swear an oath. At this time, Rodrigo walked out. He demanded that the King swear an oath with him—it was this oath. As a knight who had once captured five Moorish kings, his making this request was not an insult.

Alfonso had to accept this request, and later Rodrigo demanded that he swear an oath under the Church of Saint Gadea, and the King could only swear... although he later exiled Rodrigo because of this humiliation. But in any case, he did not deprive him of his title and territory, and Rodrigo, after establishing himself on the land of heretics with his own strength and wisdom, still fulfilled his obligations.

A large amount of money flowed into the Castilian treasury. When Alfonso's protégé was usurped of the throne, he brazenly sent troops and cruelly executed the traitor. After every war, he picked out the best spoils to offer to the King, even though he was already a master of one side at that time...

And in 1099, after he died as a Christian king, his widow was unable to continue to hold Valencia, and it was also King Alfonso who gave the final protection."

Heraclius watched Cesar. He hoped that this child could understand that this deal looked like Baldwin was at a disadvantage, but the one who truly had to pay more was Cesar. Baldwin was still plagued by chronic illness, and it was unknown whether he could live past thirty—once the vow was made, Al-Salu would have an extra powerful arm that could support this country for forty or fifty years, who knows...

Others didn't know, but Heraclius knew that there were some signs on Cesar, and what made him tremble all over was that the saint Cesar perceived did not report his name, yet he could still use the power He bestowed, and in all the records and scriptures, the only one without a name was...

"Alright," he reached out to touch Cesar's face: "If this is your wish."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 60 =====