Although as early as 600 years ago, with the Cyrillic priests brought the Bible to the Balkans, they also brought the Cyrillic alphabet derived from Latin, so that the Balkans had their own script, but the Bosnian language born from the early Cyrillic alphabet and the popular Italian Latin are still very different, especially in the fifteenth century, the Italian language has more local pronunciations and different readings, and even the natives of the Italian peninsula. It is also quite different from the Latin used by the Vatican in Rome, because the official language used by the Holy See is more similar to the ancient primitive Latin.

When the dean heard Alexander's words, the first thing that came to his mind was "this man is not a Bosnian."

Soldiers from foreign countries are always more feared and even feared, because no one knows where they come from or who they are, so they are even more unscrupulous in their actions.

Mercenaries have a bad reputation not only in Italy, but also in Bosniaks, who are more sensitive to foreign armies, as they instinctively think of the Ottomans or their mercenaries.

The Ottomans would also hire European mercenaries, and those mercenaries were sometimes even more terrifying, robbery was not a difficult task for them, and even sometimes they were more robbers, and the mercenaries were only part-time.

Now that he saw a foreign army suddenly stop him, the abbot couldn't help but become nervous, and he wanted to calm himself down, but he didn't know whether it was fear or the cold of his bare feet that made his body tremble, and the rosary holding the cross in his hand shook back and forth like waves.

Alexander noticed the dean's uneasy look, which made him both a little disappointed and somewhat reassured.

The disappointment was due to the fact that he had planned to use his oratory skills to motivate the dean, but now it seemed that it should be useless, and he was relieved that he felt that the dean would definitely be very knowledgeable about current affairs.

"Abbot, I need to requisition your monastery."

Alexander's words were very simple, but the content of the words made the dean stunned, he didn't seem to understand, but after seeing that the soldiers were all dressed differently, but they were all holding terrible weapons, the dean wisely chose to be silent.

"Obeying God's call is everyone's heart's response to God's faith," the abbot wanted to make himself look a little dignified, after all, it should make the other party feel a little more jealous, "You are free to enter the church, and no one can stop a congregant from listening to God's will." ”

"Yes, Abbot, so now your convent needs to be under my command." Alexander looked out into the woods, and in the distance the monastery of Alijoe looked very tall, and against the background of the surrounding houses, it looked like a giant looking down, "I believe that soon the monastery will be busy for a while." ”

The barefoot procession of the Monastery of Alijoe is not a daily practice, but a ritual that precedes special days such as the anniversaries of Jesus Christ or the memorial of a saint, as well as the annual or monthly Great Sacrifice Day, in which the monastery demonstrates the friars' devotion to God and their desire for forgiveness through penance.

Today's barefoot parade is such a special day, as it is the day of remembrance of the Mordod saints.

The world knows about bringing the written word to Cyril in the Balkans, but even less about his brother Modood.

In fact, the Cyrillic script should be called the Cyrillic Brothers, and in the great work of spreading Latin throughout the Balkans and even as far away as Russia, Modod was no less than his brother Cyrillic.

Even after Cyril's death due to illness, in the years that followed, Modod continued his deceased brother's ambition to perfect the Cyrillic script, which was why the Cyrillic brothers became saints recognized by both the Eastern and Western Churches.

Unlike today, when the question of whether Duke Signacci should be canonized can lead to a conflict between the Eastern and Western Churches, to the point that it is inconvenient to even mention the Duke's name publicly in the Vatican, the Cyril brothers are saints respected by both the Eastern and Western Churches, and such anniversaries are widely valued even in places like Zagreb, which are full of religious contradictions.

On such days, both the nobles and commoners would go into the church to pray and wish their best wishes, especially in the local schools, where a large mass would be celebrated, because without the brothers there would be no Bosnian language today.

The Monastery of Alihoe, the largest cathedral in Zagreb, undoubtedly plays a leading role on this important day, and although there is still one day to go before the anniversary, it is customary not only to carry out barefoot processions, but also to hold a grand mass in the monastery.

However, the procession led by the abbot himself seemed to be longer than usual, and the procession was not seen for a long time after entering the woods, although this did not attract much attention, but the monks in the monastery, who were waiting for the abbot to return and give orders on other matters, became a little anxious.

St. Modod's Day is a bit different from other saints' memorial days, because of the great influence of the Cyril brothers, processions and ceremonies are held throughout Zagreb, and nobles attend Mass in the monastery churches, all of which require some preparation.

The monks waited for the abbot until they were already a little anxious and even worried, when they saw the procession slowly coming out of the woods.

Although there were often people who volunteered to follow the procession, the number of people was often limited, but perhaps because they were in too much of a hurry, the monks always felt that the group that came back seemed to be much larger than the original number.

However, the explanation of the abbot, who soon returned, dispelled some people's confusion, according to the words of the abbot, they had met those pilgrims in the woods, these people had come from far away to attend the commemoration of St. Modod, and as the Cyril brothers had stopped earlier when they traveled throughout the Balkans, although there was no shadow of Zagreb at that time, there were still many pilgrims who came here unexpectedly over the years, but with the arrival of the Ottomans, the number of pilgrims became fewer and fewer.

Now seeing that there were pilgrims at such a time, many of the monks were so moved that they kept making prayers and blessings, but they did not notice that the faces of those who were traveling were quite ugly, and some seemed to be about to move, but soon they were strangely quiet.

There were more than a dozen people when they went out, but when they came back, the group became dozens.

All the monks were held in the middle, and although they did not believe that these men would kill them, when they saw them enter the monastery, the abbot suddenly shuddered inexplicably.

"Are you feeling unwell, Lord Dean?" A deacon who had not been on the barefoot parade before came over and asked with concern.

"I'm ......" The dean looked back behind him as the two heavy doors slowly closed, the narrower and narrower light in the middle finally disappeared, and he felt an indescribable dry hair in his mouth.

"Lord Dean is fine," an unfamiliar voice came from next to the deacon, and when he saw the man slowly take off the tattered robe he was wearing on the outside to reveal his outfit, the deacon seemed to hear a sigh from the Lord Dean beside him, "Trust me, he just needs a break." ”

Although the threat from the Ottomans is now overwhelming, St. Modod's Day is still highly regarded in Zagreb.

This is not only because of the far-reaching influence that the Cyril brothers have on the Balkans, but also because of the special situation in Zagreb today.

The death of Duke Signaci further complicated the already deep contradiction between the Eastern and Western Churches, although the initial cause of the conflict was caused by Duke Signacci's unauthorized conversion, but the fact that the Orthodox nobles finally killed the Duke and expelled Viscount Helva in such a drastic way made this contradiction almost irreconcilable.

For the duke's killing, there are people in the Vatican who directly accuse the Orthodox nobles of accepting bribes and bribes from the Ottomans, and that it was the Ottomans who exchanged gold coins for a shameful murder.

Although this accusation has not yet been publicly proclaimed in Zagreb, it is only because of fear of the armies of the nobility.

It must be admitted that Sistine IV was indeed very skillful, and he not only encouraged the Duke of Signaci to proselytize, but also supported the duke's full implementation of the Catholic doctrine in Zagreb, so that the number of converts increased rapidly in a short time, and the result was that in Zagreb, the number of converts to Catholicism among the common people in a short time was almost equal to that of the Orthodox Christians, and except for the nobles of Zagreb, The number of converts to Catholicism among the nobility elsewhere in Croatia is not to be underestimated.

Duke Signacci became an enemy of the Orthodox aristocracy, who may tolerate their duke being a Catholic, but they must not tolerate the people of their fiefdoms also practicing Catholicism.

It's just that the Duke's murder had such a bad impact on Zagreb that the conflict between the Eastern and Western Churches here was more intense than anywhere else.

Because of this, St. Modord's Day became a good occasion for the Orthodox aristocracy to try to ease the tension between the two sides.

The Saint-Cyril brothers, who were saints of high standing in both the Eastern and Western Churches, were a good opportunity for the nobles, who may not have cared much about the Catholics accusing them of murdering Duke Signacci, but the rumors that they had been instigated by the Ottomans made them restless.

Fortunately, Viscount Helva's forward-looking personality caused him to never make up his mind to stand up and fight for power.

Despite this, in the face of great pressure from the Ottomans, the nobles of Zagreb still wanted to solve this conflict that had been entangled in Zagreb for a long time as soon as possible.

The anniversary of St. Modod gave them this opportunity, and the nobles began to publicize this anniversary of great significance to the local area, hoping to ease the conflict between the two sides through this celebration.

As for the rumors circulating in the streets that the nobles were planning to make peace with the Ottomans, in an age when secrets were not taken seriously, almost no one thought it strange to hear of such a thing.

Over the years, the aristocracy of Zagreb has mainly gathered in the two castles of Ali Hoe and the Right Bank, and the nobles in the Ali Hoe Castle are more noble and numerous, which makes the residents of Ali Hoe feel more proud and proud, and often prefer to be dominated by Ali Hoe when various grand ceremonies are held.

However, the nobles of the castles on the right bank did not show weakness, they always tried to overpower Alijoe, and once they couldn't do it, they simply held the same ceremony in their own castle, and this method has been passed down in Zagreb for a long time.

The Alihoe Church is the largest church in Zagreb, and in addition to the usual Mass, some special days of aristocrats still have to come to the Alihoe Church to attend the Mass.

"Will the nobles of Zagreb surrender to the Ottomans?" Alexander asked the abbot sitting opposite, looking at the originally inviolable abbot's face and now his face was ugly and he didn't say a word, Alexander showed a smile that seemed very hateful to the abbot, "Abbot, can you help me answer this question?" ”

"I wouldn't just talk about a person, let alone a group of nobles."

The abbot first retorted angrily, and then looked at the young man in front of him a little helplessly, "I don't know who you are, although you claim to be an earl, but I don't see any noble shadow from you, on the contrary, you kidnapped the entire monastery, do you know how big a crime you have committed?" ”

"I think I know, but you don't need to worry about me," Alexander squeezed back the words of the dean as soon as he spoke, "Can you please tell me that the local nobles will surrender?" ”

The abbot's face could not help but hesitate when it was another question, but Alexander did not wait for him to speak, and seemed to have found the answer.

"Apparently those people have this possibility," said Alexander, standing up, ignoring the abbot's desire to speak, but only to himself, "these people will give up their resistance for fear of the Ottomans, or perhaps they will not be able to defeat the enemy even if they resist, and this fear will make them finally choose to surrender." ”

"It's just speculation......," the abbot tried to argue, but was interrupted by Alexander waving his hand.

"You know as well as I know that this is just an excuse, that those people will betray the city out of fear, so someone has to step up and save the city."

The abbot stared at the foreigner with an ugly face, when he had been kidnapped by this man, he thought this man was a robber, but now he thought that this man was a conspirator: "Who will save?" You? ”

Looking at the dean's stiff and straight neck, Alexander couldn't help but smile.

"How can you think that I, of course, am the real master of Zagreb, and that only one can convince the people of Zagreb, right?"

The arrogant look on the abbot's face, which had just risen, instantly froze.

Alexander's words had just made the abbot think that this man was clearly spying on Zagreb, but the thought suddenly became important when the abbot, who was still nervous, suddenly felt that he had become important.

Although he would certainly not admit the rule of Zagreb by this foreigner who came out of nowhere, since this man was concerned about the throne, the dean felt that he should not be in any danger.

It's just that just when the dean was about to let this person understand how important he was, he suddenly heard something that seemed to be very strange.

Who is the rightful heir of Zagreb?

There can be no doubt that only the descendants of Duke Signaci are eligible for this.

The abbot was not stupid, but he was wise, so he immediately thought of the only answer.

"Viscount Helva?!"

The abbot, who had only been tentative, immediately received the answer from Alexander's smile and nod, and for a moment he could no longer maintain his composure, and the abbot stood up from his chair and stared at Alexander with a pair of eyes full of anticipation and disbelief.

"Where is the viscount now?"

"Rest assured, the Viscount is in a safe place," Alexander replied with a smile, and when he saw the abbot's appearance, he wasted no time in saying that he was with his army. ”

"The Viscount's army? Yes, there should be someone who will support him, the orthodox heir of Zagreb. The dean couldn't help but whisper, but when he heard what seemed to be excited to himself, a pair of eyes always looked at the young man in front of him seriously, "What do you want?" ”

"The viscount hopes that the succession to the ducal throne will be peaceful and not cause another bloody storm, after all, too much blood has been shed among Christians, and now we have to defend ourselves against the infidels."

Alexander's words made the abbot, who had wanted to continue to hide it, seem to be slightly stunned, and then his expression gradually became solemn.

The dean looked at Alexander without blinking, and after a long while, he said in a deep voice, "What do you want?" ”

"Help the viscount inherit the ducal throne, but as I told you just now, Zagreb doesn't need a massacre to change all that."

The Dean gasped slowly, knowing that he was facing a very important choice.

"If you can help us fulfill this wish, you can win the favor of the Vatican."

Alexander's decision to add is not necessarily a key blocker, but it certainly has a significant leverage.

Then he saw that the dean, though he was still trying his best to keep calm, was obviously a little uncontrollable.

"Are you going to help the Viscount?" The dean first asked, then immediately waved his hand, "I don't want to know what you can get out of this, I just want to know if you are sure?" ”

"Of course," Alexander straightened up and looked at the abbot opposite, "this is actually a very easy choice for you, if we fail you can say that the monastery was hijacked, and if you succeed, have you ever thought about how much you will be rewarded?" ”

The dean's cheeks trembled slightly, and he already understood the meaning of the young man's words.

With just a slight groan, the dean took the cross on his chest with both hands and raised it towards Alexander: "May God bless you, then God will judge who is right." ”

Coming out of the abbot's room, Alexander came to the courtyard, looked at the men who had taken control of the entire monastery, Alexander opened his palms slightly to look at the clenched cross in his palm, and then raised his head to look at the deep dome of the church overhead.

"The time of God is over." Alexander whispered.

In the early morning of February 28, 1499, the gates of the Alihoe Monastery in Zagreb were opened, and the long-awaited nobles of Zagreb entered.

The bell on the bell tower rang as usual, and the gate slowly closed.

In an instant, terrifying screams resounded through the Aríhoe Monastery!