"My child, the count's coronation ceremony has been completed, and I will embark on my return journey. When I return to Frankfurt, I will ask the priest of Winden Village to deliver grapes to your territory. May God bless you." Bishop of Frankfurt The eternally unchanging ice-like face melted into a smile, and he looked at the "pious" Simon gently.
"May God bless you." Simon breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling very excited inside.
The air in the hall was stuffy. After Simon said goodbye to the bishop, he stood up from the not-so-large armchair and walked towards the door.
"Hey, Sir Simon!"
An unfamiliar rough voice came from behind Simon. Simon turned away and saw a guy with disheveled hair and a noble dark blue embroidered robe striding towards him.
"Hello, Sir Simon of Dorsten, I am Regel of Hanlonbooz. Maybe you have not heard of my hometown, Barony of Hanlonbooz, but it doesn't matter, that's where I heard about you. Yes, hahaha!" Regel smiled kindly at Simon. He has a pair of unforgettable big eyes and a tall nose that seems to have been copied from the statues of beautiful men in ancient Greece. The only fly in the ointment is that he has a horrific scar on his cheek.
"Hello, Sir Regel of Hanlenbuz, just call me Simon. What can I do for you?" Simon grinned with a forced smile.
"Aha, you can call me Regel, but it's worth mentioning that before this damn scar appears on my face, you can add a handsome man prefix to my name," Regel curled his lips. He couldn't help stroking the scary wound with his hand, "I heard some time ago that the king will hold a competitive meeting in Dresden in the near future. Just as you just said that you are on the way to Dresden now, I thought maybe We can walk together so that we have someone to look after us on the way.”
"Regel, I'm sorry for the terrible experience that happened to your handsome face, but when it comes to the competition," Simon scratched his head in confusion and looked at Regel with confusion in his eyes, "Can you tell me Any more news about that tournament? To be honest, I don’t know anything about it.”
"Oh, my God, I thought you also set off from the distant Dorsten to Dresden to participate in the competition after hearing the news." Regel was a little unexpected, with a face full of surprise, " Of course, let’s go out and find a suitable place to talk. It’s not good to talk at the gate.”
Simon and Regel walked out of the Lord's Tower together, then walked to the wooden stairs next to them and climbed up the fort wall. The two of them held on to the sharp wooden stacks of the fort wall, enjoying the cool evening breeze, and under the last ray of sunshine on the western horizon, drinking wine from their respective water bottles and talking.
"Simon, my hometown is in the southwest of Rothenburg, near Württemberg. God bless it, it is a really remote place, and few travelers and caravans pass by. So with little information, we had to send a special The spies who collect information have lived in the town of Wiesbaden for a long time and regularly send us news from the outside." Regel took a sip of wine and moved his eyes to the vast forest on the other side of the river in the distance. "Just last week. , my spy returned to Hanlenbuz and told me the news and interesting things he had heard recently, including your feats in Folde Village, including the news that the king was going to hold a competitive meeting."
"But you happened to catch up with the succession of the new earl in your territory, so you came to Rothenburg, right?" Simon stroked the top of the sharp wood of the wall stack with his hand while drinking.
"Yes, I asked my father to take me to Rothenburg to attend the coronation ceremony of the Count. I plan to take my attendants to Dresden after the coronation ceremony. As for the Dresden Athletic Conference, I I heard that the king had set up several projects, including a large-scale battle between two armies including cavalry and infantry, a horse-mounted lance duel between two knights, and a duel between two knights on foot using various weapons. Even fighting with bare hands. All weapons and equipment are provided by oneself." As he spoke, Regel suddenly turned to look at Simon and said half-jokingly, "I heard that you killed Sir Linton in a duel. That frightening old guy. To tell you the truth, if you want to participate in the competition, I don’t want to be your enemy, that is simply asking for your own death.”
"Hahaha, Lei Jier, you don't have to be afraid. I was just lucky for a moment and got the favor of God. Otherwise, it's hard to say who will win!" Simon also learned the language habits of these people and attributed all these things to God, it comes down to God.
"It seems that your pious act of buying rotten church grapes in Frankfurt moved God, and God decided to let you win the duel. That old guy Sir Linton is an out-and-out bastard, and he will do anything bad. He has done everything, so we are not surprised at all by his final result, and we can even say that it is very satisfying."
"Haha, bad-tempered Linton can never show off his bad temper anymore," Simon laughed loudly. Suddenly he felt something crawling on his short boots. When he lowered his head, he saw that it was a fat mouse. " Oh hell, this damn beast, isn’t there a rat catcher or cat to punish these unscrupulous and arrogant rats?”
"Oh, Simon, you don't know something. There once was a black cat that slipped into the old count's bedroom. The old count thought that the cat was the incarnation of the devil, waiting to take him to hell. So the old count was ill in bed some time ago. At that time, he recalled this incident, so he ordered all the cats in the territory to be killed, and also invited the parish priest to come over to exorcise the devil. But all this was in vain, and in the end he still passed away." Regret regretted it. The ground shook his head.
"No wonder there are so many rats here. I'm afraid a plague will break out here soon." Simon thought with a frown.
"Of course, those cats didn't die worthless. Did you see the fort wall over there?" Regel pointed to the fort wall next to the fort in the middle section in the distance. Simon followed his finger and saw that there was a pile of logs on the ground in front of the fort wall, as well as a pile of gravel and mortar used to fill the fort wall.
"It is said that on the day when the cat-catching order was issued, people buried the cats alive in the renovated castle wall. They believed that this would protect the safety of the castle. Some cats were also buried alive in the fields of nearby villages. Farmers believed that this It can remove weeds from the ground." Regel said lightly, as if this was already a common and strange thing in his eyes.
"Extremely ignorant! When the ghosts of those cats come back with the plague, you will know how powerful it is." Simon thought to himself.
Simon knew that the long-term unfair treatment of cats in the Middle Ages would indirectly help spread the Black Death that swept across Europe hundreds of years later. This can be regarded as a cycle of cause and effect.
………………
"Sir, we set out from Rothenburg, march northeast, pass through the earldom of Bamberg, and then enter Meissen. There is a castle in Meissen that the king ordered to build two years ago. When we see it, we leave Dresden. It's not far. Walk southeast for half a day from the castle under construction to Dresden." Gabriel packed his luggage, fixed it on the back of his black horse, raised his head and faced Simon said.
"That means Dresden is actually very close to here." Simon stroked "Lucky" and sketched a rough route in his mind.
"Are you ready, Simon?" Suddenly, a shout came from the distance. Simon looked along the sound and saw that in the morning light, Regel was wearing a tall Norman helmet, a hooded mail coat, and his family's heraldic robe, riding a horse. A chestnut horse slowly walked towards Simon and his party who were getting ready to go.
Following Regel was an attendant riding a traveling horse carrying a bag. This attendant had a young appearance and looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old. He was wearing a leather turban and an old leather shirt over his dark green linen lining. The little squire carried two shields on his back, held three spears with the heraldic flag of Regel, and had a somewhat rusty armed ax on his waist.
"We are all ready, let's go." Simon waved his hand, and everyone rode through the gate of the Rothenburg outer fort one after another.
After embarking on the journey again, everyone's morale was still relatively high. Everyone knew that their final destination, Dresden, was close at hand.
Traveling is always boring and boring. No matter how beautiful the scenery is, you will become tired after seeing it too much. Everyone shared their interesting experiences or stories they had heard and passed the time during the trip.
Regel looked very excited, and it was easy to tell that this was his first long journey. He especially liked to hear the well-informed Gabriel and Pedi talk about their past lives as mercenaries and caravan guards, as well as the customs and battles they had seen. Even after the two of them finished drinking, Regel generously asked his little attendant to take out the mead produced in his hometown from his bag and share it with everyone.
Simon and others rested for a night in the town of Lot in the Earl of Bamberg, bought some supplies, and continued towards Meissen. Sometimes when camping and resting, in order to prepare for the martial arts tournament, Simon and Regel would practice swordsmanship together and point out the opponent's deficiencies in defense or offense.
During the journey to Meissen, Simon learned from Gabriel that in the east of Dresden, the vast tracts of land on the eastern border of the current kingdom were all occupied by King Heinrich in the past twenty years. The wars fought by the Pomeranians even retained the tribal chieftaincy system in many places, which was barbaric and backward.
"Unfortunately, in Görlitz, Lausitz, Werle, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg on the east bank of the Elbe there are still many people who believe in primitive Slavonic polytheism. The bishops of the kingdom sent We have invited many missionaries to preach in that pagan land, so that the light of Christ can shine in more uncivilized lands and save more lost lambs." As Gabriel spoke, he suddenly noticed the sight in the distance. There is a faint outline of the castle. But what is different from ordinary castles is that there are many scaffoldings on the outer walls of the castle. In front of the castle, there is an endless stream of oxcarts and carriages, as well as many simple tents for workers to live.
"Look, that seems to be the castle under construction in Meissen. We are about to arrive in Dresden!"
