Chapter 73

"Although I know some families will intentionally or unintentionally ignore and alienate their youngest son," Heraclius said: "But I didn't expect them to ignore you to this extent."

Longinus smiled bitterly. Some lords were always worried about having no boys or too few boys, but his father was worried about having too many boys. He had seven boys, and there were also four girls.

His territory was not prosperous, and couldn't even achieve the goal that had almost become a rule—that is, after supporting the eldest son to the top, continue to pave the way for the second and third sons in the Church and the castles of other lords—when Longinus was born, his mother was also old, and had no maternal love for this youngest son born by accident. She even called him a sin.

And at this time, his eldest brother was already married, and his nephew was even a year older than him.

Heraclius said so because he had asked Longinus before. His father didn't receive God's blessing, but his eldest brother had received the saint's favor. Although not much, it was enough for him to maintain this family from falling from the existing class. Perhaps for this reason, Longinus's father put all his chips on this eldest son.

But as an eldest son who had already "received Grace," he didn't reveal even a little bit of the real situation about the "Selection Ceremony" to his little brother. This person's character was truly worrying.

As for others, even without Heraclius's reminder, after becoming a squire and being able to walk out of the castle and come into contact with other knights, Baldwin and Cesar were too lazy to listen to the bragging that was simply a combination of the Bible and myths.

Those knights and monks who received God's blessing, either said they fought a dragon as huge as a mountain for three days and nights, or said they were tempted by seventy-two succubi but still maintained their chastity—completely ignoring that all "Selection Ceremonies" were held in churches.

But this was also human nature. If only a few people received God's blessing and saint's favor, people might hold them high and worship them as new "saints," but in this situation where there were more and more, and it looked like there would be more in the future, they would regard each other as competitors. What was wrong with eliminating a future enemy?

So trying to get the truth from these people's mouths was simply harder than getting water in hell. Longinus had tried to ask a few times, including clerics he escorted and knights he saved, but after hearing a few jokes, he felt he was the joke and never asked again.

Later, he felt he was a sinner and didn't dare to hold such fantasies at all.

"Then am I..." Longinus asked dryly.

"Yes, you have received a blessing, Grace, you are already a knight of God," Heraclius asked strangely: "What, you don't look very happy?"

"I don't know," Longinus said in a hoarse voice, "I don't know, my lord, I didn't see light, nor did I hear music. I just had a sleep."

"Who are you comparing with? Cesar or Baldwin?" Heraclius asked in surprise: "You don't think the favor they received is something everyone has, do you?"

"Of course not, but..."

"This is a blunder," Heraclius said: "That wasn't sleeping (speaking of this, he couldn't help but curse Longinus's eldest brother again), that was looking. You followed Saint Barabbas, and when he bestowed favor, the time might not have been long, and the clerics were outside the door, not noticing, but later, you were definitely really asleep..."

If Longinus had received guidance from his brother, when Saint Barabbas said the name, he would definitely have known he was chosen, instead of simply treating it as a dream and continuing to sleep ignorantly. As a result, when the clerics opened the door, they saw Longinus actually sleeping soundly instead of praying devoutly. It was no wonder they were angry.

This situation was actually not without precedent, but children who were luckily chosen would always be confused, but when they returned to the castle and their parents, they would always reveal a little unusualness—and what Longinus encountered were three despicable Crusader knights and one Saracen.

He guessed that he could survive, probably inseparable from the protection of Saint Barabbas. He even wanted to try to call the saint's name again, but was pressed down by Heraclius, "Don't add trouble to us," he said: "You will be put on a stretcher and follow the team for the next few days."

Cesar was busy doing things while still paying attention to Longinus. Hearing that he didn't succeed, had left the church, but hadn't returned to the castle, he immediately went out to look for him.

Fortunately, the place where Longinus had the accident was not far from the church—originally that bathhouse was built by the Saracens for pilgrims from afar to clean their bodies, and it meant the same as the Pool of Siloam under the Temple Mount. That Saracen also pulled him up.

"Have you seen that Saracen?"

"No," Longinus said: "But he definitely isn't an ordinary person."

Heraclius nodded: "I checked the body of that Crusader knight. He suffered multiple heavy slashes, the chainmail was broken, and the bones were broken, but the fatal wound was a cut throat. That person stepped on him with one foot and then cut across his throat with a scimitar..."

"I heard the knight begging, asking for last rites, but that Saracen refused. He asked if the other party had ever let a Saracen pray."

"There are kind knights who, under conditional circumstances, let their enemies—even if it's a Saracen—pray to their gods, but that guy definitely wouldn't be among them." Heraclius said affirmatively. It was indeed so. That kind of knight who was willing to give mercy to the enemy wouldn't do things like looting and raping women.

Just like Cesar, he would soon become a knight, but if you said he would become someone like Walter, Heraclius would never believe it.

"How is my master?" Longinus asked. This question made Heraclius rarely show a trace of worry.

——————

Amalric I chose to start the expedition in September, which was also considered. Starting the expedition in September, preparing the large army in Gaza-Jaffa, and starting the journey, it was already October. The flooding of the Nile had ended, and the army didn't have to worry about being attacked by floods.

And, the harvest of Egyptian crops was in June to July, but when attacking at that time, the Crusaders still had to hire farmers to harvest, and this month, wheat and rice had all been harvested, dried, and threshed, and all the food was well stored in the warehouse, and it was the season to start planting—if they couldn't sow at this time, the farmers here would starve to death next year.

So, their resistance wouldn't be too serious, only begging to leave them a little food and seeds—if handled properly, there wouldn't be too many behaviors like slaughtering livestock and burning grain.

Of course, how the Crusader knights would do it was unknown.

And in order to avoid too much consumption and loss of personnel on the expedition, Amalric I had to frequently hold tournaments and hunting meets. Each tournament set up considerable prize money, as well as beautiful and elegant noblewomen—that's right, in the conflict between Amalric I and Templar Walter de Mesnil, noblewomen shouldn't appear, only prostitutes would follow the army.

But it was different in a holy war, because every expedition took two to three years, and some knights and lords' wives protested that if they weren't allowed to be with their husbands, how could they bear children (only armed monks needed to abstain), and if their husbands died, what would they rely on to live?

The Church finally had to compromise, saying that because the war against heathens was sacred, wives were allowed to follow the army.

Some Crusader knights did indeed return to their hometowns with their wives and children.

So after staying in Gaza-Jaffa for a period of time, many gorgeous colors appeared among the tents of nobles from Frank, the Apennines, and Hungary. These noblewomen, of course, couldn't come here alone, and also brought their maids and female servants.

The blooming of these charming flowers did calm down the anger of many young warriors. They no longer haggled over a piece of bread or a bowl of meat soup, nor did they try to leave the camp to burn, kill, and loot around—after all, violating the women of heathens instead of killing them would be suspected of not being devout or having poor self-control.

The friction between them also became less. It wasn't that they no longer eagerly wanted to fight, but they could consume this energy in tournaments and hunting meets. After all, these meets would have rewards and the smiles of ladies. Being able to kiss their fingers wasn't better than anything?

Only when there were tournaments and hunting meets, Baldwin and Cesar had to appear. Their fame had long spread out of the Holy Land. Everyone knew that King Amalric I had an heir who received the favor of Saint George, and a squire who received the favor of Saint Jerome. They swore an oath to each other, and were brothers without blood, just like gems inlaid on gold, reflecting each other, making people not know which one to cherish more.

They served by the King's side, and sometimes were borrowed to serve some noblewoman. Of course, they wouldn't be used as servants, more as a decoration—Cesar received especially much attention, so much that Heraclius was annoyed. Although Baldwin's illness could be counted as a reason, he didn't need the favor of noblewomen, but...

"They have spent too much time around women. It's time to let them see the Saracens." When the King said this, Heraclius didn't feel surprised, only thinking, finally it's here. He bowed and took the order, going to ask if anything had happened recently.

The Saracens hadn't watched this large army march forward with their own eyes, they had been setting up obstacles and repeatedly harassing, but none of them could cause any impact.

"I was just about to tell you," Count Raymond, who was asked by him, said with a cold face: "We need some people to take revenge."

————

Damara slammed into Cesar's arms and burst into tears.

Baldwin and Cesar didn't know what had happened when they were called to the edge of the camp. They saw some knights gathering in one place, some shouting angrily, some kneeling on the ground praying to God, and some tearing their surcoats, raising their fingers and making oaths.

When they came over, someone shouted: "Prince Baldwin is here!"

So everyone made way for them, and at the end of the path were several corpses covered with cloaks and flags...

And Damara was throwing herself on one of the corpses, weeping bitterly. As soon as she saw Cesar, her first reaction was to rush over, pull his sleeve tightly, and drag him to the corpse: "It's... it's... it's Elena," she cried so hard she was almost suffocating, but still insisted on saying: "She was killed, killed..."

A knight on the side walked up and told them what had happened before.

Elena was the noblewoman who shopped with Gerard de Redford at the market. She was several years older than Damara and had married a Crusader knight after Amalric I married the Byzantine Princess.

This expedition, she couldn't bear to part with her husband, and her husband couldn't bear to part with her, and they had no children, so she followed.

And just a few days ago, Elena and several other noblewomen, along with the knights guarding them, went out for a horse ride. On the way back, they saw a dense fig tree forest, and the deep purple fruits inside were as many as the stars in the sky, so the knights walked in to pick some fruits for them to quench their thirst.

Unexpectedly, a group of Saracens suddenly rushed out from inside. They shamelessly ambushed the knights, killed them, and kidnapped Elena and other noblewomen.

Elena's husband immediately led people to search, but found nothing. He immediately found the King, begging him to negotiate with the locals, even if he had to exchange a box of gold for them, he wanted his wife back. But before the culprit was found, Elena and other noblewomen all returned—in a way of being beheaded.

"She, she..." Damara sobbed, pointing to the corpse and couldn't go on, but the knight who had been standing by the corpse—who should be Elena's husband—bowed to Baldwin: "If you are willing, no," he said: "You should see her corpse."

He lifted the cloak covering the corpse.

(End of chapter)