A Crusader with System in the Middle Ages

"That's more like it. After all, we're family, and I value family above all else. Though I have to say, I rather liked your rebellious look from before."

"A big brother for a day is a big brother for a lifetime. From now on, you lead, and I'll follow. Starting today, my life is in your hands!"

"Good, good." Eric smiled and patted Otto's shoulder.

Eric then asked Otto what had happened after that day.

After capturing Rufus alive, he had not returned to Fougeres Castle.

Otto explained what had transpired. He had been locked in his room for a full day, only being released by the Old Baron the following day.

He was furious about Eric's betrayal, but ultimately, he did nothing. He was not one to inflict upon others the suffering that had been inflicted upon him.

After being released, he went to Laponti, refusing to give up, to confirm the situation. It turned out everything was true.

Although he knew he might get some resolution by pursuing the matter to Normandy, he didn't insist on it.

Forcing a girl who didn't want to marry was not a moral thing to do, and besides, he genuinely sympathized with Helia's fate.

So, with a heavy heart, he traveled south to Apulia to meet his own bleak destiny.

He traveled south from Mann, through Aquitaine, then Provence, and then Milan. In Milan, he ran into some trouble and lost some of his supplies. He had only crossed into Tuscan yesterday.

Just half an hour ago, he was passing Canossa City when he saw the Outville family's banner. Curious, he entered the city and sent someone to make inquiries. He was told that some Norman had married the Marchioness.

He showed his coat of arms to the castle guard, who then led him into this hall.

He thought it would be that little devil Borsa, but he never expected it to be Eric.

However, Eric suddenly noticed that although Otto was wearing a long formal robe, he had Chain Armor on underneath it. It had clearly been put on in a hurry.

He also noticed the exposed Chain Armor at the robe's collar was blackened, as if with dried blood.

"Did something happen on your way back from Mann?" Eric reached out, pinching the blackened part of the Chain Armor between his fingers. He sniffed it. The smell of blood. It was indeed blood. "Run into bandits?"

"Don't get me started. I get angry just thinking about it. Those Milanese are insane." Otto slapped his forehead with his palm, looking tormented. "Your father assigned me one hundred and six horsemen. I lost twenty in Milan, and six of my Knights are dead.

Even without the matter of Helia, I reckon I'd be punished. I was originally planning to lie and say we were attacked by the Duke of Aquitaine."

"Milan? Did your fellow Lombards see you running with Normans and decide to teach you a lesson?" Eric picked up Otto's sword, which Judith had thrown on the floor earlier.

It was a typical Greek Longsword, and the materials looked to be of high quality. However, the blade was nicked and dented in two places, suggesting it had seen a fierce battle.

"Forgive my bluntness, Otto. My uncle Roger, with only a hundred or so knights, fought the Saracen Infidels in Sicily and easily destroyed their armies that were ten, even dozens of times larger.

You had a full hundred Norman Knights. Did they ambush you?"

The Normans were the finest knights in the world, renowned for their discipline and courage. No other knights could defeat them in a frontal assault.

A hundred knights was not a large number, but it wasn't small either. The composition of Milan's army was nearly identical to Tuscan's, consisting mostly of infantry.

"The situation is quite complicated. I can't explain it all in just a moment. I arrived in Milan about two weeks ago. I didn't originally plan to pass through Milan, but the Normans traveling with me refused to go by sea.

But traveling by land meant we had to go through Milan. Since I wasn't sure if the Marquis of Milan knew what you'd done, I just wanted to pass through quickly after entering his lands.

However, on the second day after I entered Milan, something major happened."

Otto took the longsword from Eric's hand and slid it back into its scabbard. "Eric, have you heard of the Patulin Sect?"

"A sect that's been popular in Milan for the last ten or so years. They claim they want to cleanse the filth from the Church, restore order, enforce morality among the clergy, strictly implement celibacy for priests, prohibit the sale of holy offices, redistribute property, and demand everyone live a life of poverty.

The sect's current leader, Elrond, is a staunch supporter of the Pope Faction. He has sided with the Holy See against the Emperor on the matter of choosing the Archbishop of Milan.

What about them? Did the Marquis of Milan massacre them?"

Rome's attitude toward the Patulins has always been ambiguous. The previous Pope, Alexander II, both supported and opposed the Patulin Sect.

Alexander repeatedly tried to mediate the conflict between the Patulin Sect and the Milanese nobility, sending envoys multiple times. The current Pope, Hilbrand, was one of those envoys.

As a result, the current Pope Hilbrand is very close with the Patulin Sect's current leader, Elrond. He strongly supports the Patulin Sect as a means to control the municipal affairs of Milan.

"I don't know the exact details. The news I got was that they took the Marquis of Milan hostage. By the third day, when I reached Milan City, they had basically taken control of the city's administration.

At first, everything was fine. A marquis reduced to a figurehead was a good thing for the townsfolk, the commoners, and even the serfs. For the struggling poor of Milan, it was practically the best news imaginable.

Everyone believed the earthly paradise promised by the Patulin Sect was about to arrive. They thought the benevolent and kind Elrond would make it all come true—that he was the Holy Spirit cast down to earth by God, a miracle of the Almighty's mercy upon the world, the Messiah reborn according to the Lord of Heaven's will.

The Antichrist prophesied in the Bible had been defeated. Milan would no longer belong to the Marquis, but to all people. Almost everyone believed this without a doubt.

Elrond did not disappoint them, though I don't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Not long after, Elrond conducted a mass of unprecedented scale.

At the beginning, everything was normal. If I had to say what was different, it was that it felt more sacred, more solemn. The people's cheers in praise of the Lord of Heaven far surpassed the singing of the choir.

Until suddenly, a hermit shouted, 'Gold and silver are objects of corruption! Proof of sin! God suffers in the spiritual world while we wallow in the material one! Repent! Repent! Messiah, lead us to tear apart this sinful, worldly realm! Let us see the Celestial Realm! Let the Lord's kingdom come...'

I don't remember the rest. He rambled on for a long time.

Anyway, after his strange shouting, a crowd of people began clamoring for Elrond to fulfill his promise: to execute all nobles and citizens who violated the laws of the Bible, to destroy all gold and silver, and to restore the ancient Christ Association. (Christ Association refers to the self-sufficient, autonomous Christian communities of the early Church, originating from The Acts of the Apostles 2:44-45 in the New Testament.)

I was standing pretty far away at the time, so I didn't hear clearly what Elrond said. It sounded like he wanted everyone to wait, and I think he mentioned the Holy See... probably wanting the Holy See to make a ruling. Then, somehow, the scene spiraled out of control, and everything became chaotic.

Some people questioned if Elrond had betrayed the Patulin Sect, accusing him of being corrupted and bought off by the Marquis. Some even started calling him a false prophet, trying to sell Milan to the equally corrupt Pope.

Others tried to defend Elrond, but then someone threw the first stone—I don't know who—and it smashed a man's skull.

The spattering blood was the last straw. The two sides started attacking each other, and the holy mass turned into a bloody battlefield. I thought the chaos would only last a day and quickly subside, but in the following days, both factions began attacking each other's camps, slaughtering supporters of the opposing side.

Both sides claimed they were purifying the world to bring about the Lord's kingdom. The slaughter soon spread to the foreigners in the city. The Normans, with their notorious reputation, naturally bore the brunt of it."

Otto sighed. "But they could tell I was a Lombard. They even 'kindly' offered to spare my life if I surrendered without a fight. That was probably the only good thing that happened."

He shrugged with a smile as he spoke.

"That's a grim joke."

"Tell me about it. I was asleep in the inn, wearing nothing but my breeches, and when I woke up, I was already being dragged out the door. Luckily, my second-in-command immediately arrived with the knights on watch and saved me.

But that didn't solve everything. The Normans were too conspicuous, and we couldn't just take off our Chain Armor. We ended up being hunted by both sides. Those people fought like they had a death wish. It was so intense I almost forgot they were Lombards. If they'd been that brave back in the day, they wouldn't have let the Saracens push them around so much.

As much as I hate to admit it, I have to say, the Lombards of today are a far cry from our ancestors. Compared to the Teutons north of the mountains, they're more like Greeks. It really gave me a shock that day."

"Experts at civil war, amateurs at foreign wars. That's a common story. What's the situation in Milan now?" Eric patted Otto's shoulder and asked.

"I'm not sure. We were being hunted after that, and we just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. They chased us for a long time."

"How long did they chase you?"

"I don't know for sure. In the end, we had no choice. We caught them while they were resting and drove them into a river. Some of the border cities in the Milan Marquisate are also controlled by the Patulin Sect, and they sent people to hunt us down too."

"Then it seems Elrond is likely dead or in grave danger. He is an ally of the Holy See. Regardless of who controls Milan now, we must ensure Milan does not side with the Emperor. But this isn't all bad news. It might be an opportunity. A chaotic Milan gives us a lot of room to maneuver.

We need to act quickly."

"Many areas on Milan's border are now controlled by the Patulin Sect. Bavaria, to the northeast of Milan, is the territory of the Marquis of Milan's eldest son, Welf. There's no reason he wouldn't go to rescue his father. And the eastern border of the Milan Marquisate almost completely adjoins Tuscan.

Tuscan is situated between Milan and Bavaria. The most direct route from Bavaria to Milan is through an Alps mountain pass, and that pass is within Tuscan territory.

Not to mention, I just fled from Milan to Tuscan. They will definitely be heavily guarding Milan's eastern border." Otto shook his head in disagreement.

"Who said we're going by land? Pisa is a nation built on the sea. Milan's naval power is completely dependent on Genoa, and Genoa's navy was completely destroyed by Pisa just a few years ago. The Marquis of Milan used this to firmly control Genoa, which had been in a semi-independent state before that.

When all attention is drawn to the eastern border, no one will be paying attention to the sea. After the retreat of the Saracens and the Vikings, wars have rarely started from the sea.

Besides, even the Marquis of Milan, fool that he may be, should know that before Genoa was destroyed by Pisa, it constantly acted independently under his rule only because it possessed a powerful fleet.

I don't believe Milan has the manpower or the finances to maintain a patrol fleet, especially not under such chaotic circumstances," Eric said with a smile.

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