A Crusader with System in the Middle Ages

The structural design of this Church was not exceptional. It wasn’t entirely stone, but a mixture of wood and stone, making it more fragile.

Two hours later, the Knights, and even the English Light Infantry and Welsh Longbowmen, had grown bored. They began to chat and eat in the makeshift camp set up outside the Church.

Only a small handful of men still occasionally operated the Catapults and Giant Crossbows, continuing the assault on the Church. They listened to the panicked cries of the Patrin Sect Monks from within for their own amusement, then let out merciless, mocking laughter.

Some of the common soldiers felt they were no longer needed at the Church, as the outcome of the battle was clearly decided.

Before the monks surrendered, they planned to go look around other parts of the city. This Church was clearly the Knights’ prize, and it was unlikely they would get a chance to share in the plunder.

They could only hope that in a city this large, there had to be something valuable hidden elsewhere.

If there really was nothing, they intended to make their own fun.

Meanwhile, some Knights patrolled the main street on horseback, attempting to maintain order. However, rather than restraining their soldiers’ excesses against the citizens, they were more concerned with reminding their own men. They shouted at the wild-eyed soldiers not to burn the town down.

After all, they needed a military fortress, not a city reduced to rubble. Even if there was no gold or silver to be had, the city itself could serve as a stronghold.

Besides, the Knights had learned from Eric before the war that Knights who distinguished themselves might be granted land in Italy, so they were reluctant to cause too much destruction.

Jesuade was pained to see the devastation Alexandria was now suffering, even though not long ago he had been forsaken by its people. The citizens had even unanimously decided to burn him to death.

He hated violence, but in this world, it seemed violence was the only way to achieve anything.

"Faith should be joined with love, not with violence..." Jesuade murmured.

He recalled the story from the Old Testament of Sodom and Gomorrah, two cities filled with sin. Because their wickedness had reached its peak, God decided to destroy them, and the great Prophet Abraham questioned God’s actions.

As evening fell, a monk emerged from the Church, holding a Cross, and approached Eric.

"My lord, we surrender to you." The monk knelt before Eric, his face filled with fear.

"To whom do you surrender?" Eric asked abruptly.

"To you, my lord," the monk repeated.

"Is that so," Eric said, patting the monk’s shoulder. "It seems you’ve forsaken God."

"No, God is on our side!" The monk suddenly shot to his feet, looking agitated.

"Then why were you kneeling before me?" Eric asked, turning to face the monk.

"I... W-we are fulfilling God’s true will! To return all things to their primordial state! We are correcting the Church’s misinterpretations of the Bible!" the monk cried out.

"And for that, you left all your followers outside the Church?"

"It was a necessary sacrifice! They gave their lives for the Lord’s cause; their souls will ascend to Heaven. They will thank us! They said they were willing to die for the Lord..." The monk’s voice suddenly trailed off.

"Deep down, you already know the answer, don’t you? Is a Heaven built upon a Hell worth the cost?" Eric sighed. "Remember, He taught us, ’Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.’ Romans 12:21."

The monk fell silent, then sank to his knees once more.

Eric paid the monk no further mind.

"Let’s go in." Eric waved to the surrounding Knights, who were already chomping at the bit.

Belem and Jesuade followed.

Upon entering the Church, they saw that much of the interior had collapsed. Some unfortunate citizens had been crushed to death beneath the rubble.

Eric ordered the Knights to drive the citizens and monks out of the Church.

He noticed that the citizens inside the Church seemed to be in much better condition than those he had seen outside.

The Knights wasted no time, eagerly beginning their search of the Church by smashing open wooden crates and furniture.

The storeroom was full of wheat and flour, but the Knights weren’t interested in provisions. They wanted gold and silver.

In the Church’s chapel,

The Knights began to interrogate the monks about the treasure. "Where did you put the gold and silver, you damn monks?"

"There is nothing here. Gold and silver are sinful."

"Material possessions are products of evil. Satan is responsible for all of this; Satan and his Demons created the material world, and the Church has been corrupted by them..."

"The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth..."

"..."

The monks rattled off one line after another, reciting the tenets of the Patulin Sect and scriptures the Knights didn’t recognize. The Knights couldn’t have cared less; it only made them more agitated.

"What about the sacred vessels? The Holy Grail! Silver Candlesticks! Those are required for the sacraments and holy rites! You must have them, so where the hell did you hide them! How can you worship God without them?" one of the Knights demanded, kicking a monk to the ground.

"God is spirit, so his worshipers must... must worship in spirit and in truth. We... we have no need for such worldly things," the monk said, struggling back to his feet.

The Knight planted a foot on the monk’s chest, pinning him to the ground. "Bullshit! How can you be saved if you don’t receive Holy Communion!"

"Salvation is attained only through knowledge and revelation, not through the rituals and dogmas of the Church..." another monk interjected, trying to save his comrade. He looked to Eric, who was clearly the one in charge. "We melted down all the gold and silver, my lord. There is no gold or silver of any use here."

"Well then, it seems our only profit will be selling the people of this city to the Saracens," Belem said with a smile, drawing his longsword and laying the blade against the monk’s neck.

Belem then glanced at Eric, but Eric wasn’t looking at him. He was currently sizing up the large holy image in the chapel.

"They believe gold and silver are the creation of Satan, for their existence destroyed the equality of all people under God and created division among men," Jesud explained to Eric. "But they have broken their own vows. All believers are equal before God, but some are more equal than others."

"That doctrine sounds familiar. If I’m not mistaken, it originates with the Bogomils of Bulgaria, doesn’t it?" Eric said, looking at Jesud.

"Bogomil?" The Latin name was unfamiliar to Belem.

"A sect that was prevalent in Bulgaria a century ago. They were fanatics who, seduced by Persian heretics, believed in dualism. They hold that the world was not created by God, but by an evil Devil, or Satan. God created only the human soul.

"They don’t use the Christian cross or build churches, because they revere their own bodies, believing them to be temples unto themselves.

"They shun material possessions, which they see as the Devil’s creations. They reject the Church’s hierarchy, believing that by hoarding wealth, the Church has become an agent of the Devil. They believe the Church should not create divisions among men, but treat all as equals.

"They advocate for strict asceticism, rejecting carnal love, marriage, the ownership of property, and..."

Eric knocked on the holy image, then waved two Knights over.

This caused the Knights to exchange uneasy glances. They had no problem looting sacred vessels of gold and silver, but desecrating a holy image was another matter...

Eric clarified that he just wanted them to tip the holy image over.

The moment the holy image crashed to the ground, Eric swung his longsword and pried open its base.

With a crisp clatter, a dense flood of gold and silver coins poured out from the base.

They rolled all the way to the monks’ feet, piling up high enough to cover the soles of their shoes.

"...and their opposition to the worship of holy images," Eric finished, his eyes narrowed as he looked at the monks.

Many of the monks hung their heads in shame.

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