Turning east of Melfi to the coast, the march became more dangerous, and although the Duke of Apulia was still in Bari, the Duke's mother, Madame de Salerno, was at this time in the capital of the Duchy.

It was not easy to avoid the vast territory controlled by the Norman castle, but the presence of Bishop Dagobert made the Greeks and Lombards in the surrounding area at least superficially afraid to harass the group, and of course, the seemingly fierce Norman knights obviously added a lot of convincing power to the bishop.

Angus found that the Normans feared the Normans more than the Duke herself, and from William he heard that the Lady had followed her husband, Duke Robert Gisca, on her expedition to the east and personally led the army back against the Greek advance at the Battle of Dilakium, and that such valor had earned the Lombard warrior the fame of the goddess Pallas.

There were still some raiders on the eastern frontier of the principality, and the Normans did not dare to let anyone touch their horses when they passed by the market, and God knows if the local lords and peasants had organized any ambushes.

"It's getting more and more chaotic in the south." Dagobert lamented to Angus, "I have never heard of so many thieves before, and in some places, the lords themselves have become robbers. ”

"After all, the war has not really begun, and now it is nothing more than rumors."

Most of the peasants and drunkards were not sure, and a hunter riding a black ram passed by, and then a village was slaughtered, and a cow's milk turned to blood in a bucket, and the virgin suddenly disappeared in the middle of the night.

In this land, allegiances can change at any time, and most castles and towns are in fact loyal to themselves, wary of all external forces, and the passing of a Norman army can cause panic in the local area.

"The mess here has nothing to do with us, so let's quickly put on the saddle and leave." Bishop Dagobert didn't care which side of the barracks he entered, only the Normans would be wary of any incident, for them, Cannae was no less dangerous than Barry in front of him, the local lord Herman had been rebelling since Duke Robert Giska, and now it had been almost ten years, and God knows if this self-proclaimed count would be hot-headed and take the initiative to attack this invading army.

William was actually still wary of Angus's subordinates, these prisoners numbered more than the Normans, and if they started a trouble, it would also cause big trouble, especially since these people were too big, and the slaughter would definitely greatly offend the Pope of Benivento and the female uncle of Canossa.

The problem is that these people have just as big appetites, and they don't just eat turnips.

William was never a generous lord, his castle was at the southwestern tip of the peninsula, overlooking Sicily across the strait, and any pedestrian had to pay a toll for him, and he had two daughters, whom he had refused to take out of the convent in order to save money, under the pretext that he had completed a lady's education, but in fact it was only to save two dowries.

At the urging of Dagobert and William, the army soon arrived at its destination.

The square towers stand like islands, surrounded by Greek-like walls like those of Bari, and the sea lies respectfully below, and the conquerors reveal their presence through stone and water.

As he passed through the bars of Fort St. Angelo, Angus frowned slightly at the sight of the rust shards falling from his shoulders: the coldness of this place was in his bones, and like the ancient stone pillars of the Molay Heights, a dead air enveloped the world of the living.

Iron tools and bright blood were everywhere, and some deserters who had not yet been executed knelt on the ground, their knees as if they had been filled with lead, and the cold eyes of their robes occasionally turned in their direction, but they looked like crows looking at food.

Norman ......

In the high hall of the central tower, he met the owner of the fortress.

The man was talking about something, and he was a full head and a half than Angus, his golden hair was shaved short, he did not have half a beard, and his skin was as white as a virgin, and he still looked pretentious in the midst of a crowd of lords who gathered around a simple mahogany table, and this gentlemanly grace made Angus ashamed of himself, and in comparison, he was like a begging dog with his followers.

"Lord Bohemond, we meet again."

"...... How could you ......" The other party was a little surprised, and no one seemed to report it to him in advance.

"Now it's His Excellency the Archbishop of Pisa." William de Grande Mesnier reminded.

"It's still me, Lombard Dagobert. But since that visit, the courtesy of hospitality has dropped dramatically. ”

Bohemond laughed, the last time he saw the other party, this priest was only newly ordained, but he was quite good at subtle salutations and compliments, and now he was obviously not the same person in front of him.

"I'm sorry, it's too chaotic here, there are soldiers everywhere, and there is no slave who knows how to serve the nobles...... You're here to see me this time? ”

"The Holy See sent me to the Emperor of Constantinople."

"That's not bad, there should be a lot of minions in the capital of the Greeks, but I heard that the emperor has no soldiers with him, and if it weren't for my brother becoming more and more disagreeable, maybe I could go with you."

"Then I wish you a speedy capture of the Duke."

"I haven't seen a duke in battle, and as the eldest brother, I'll teach him how to use the sword, after I've dealt with that witch of Salerno."

Dagobert had never seen the noble Bohemond show such hatred, and he remembered the way he laughed when he saw him cooking. As a monk familiar with alchemy, mastering fire is a basic skill, and Bohemond once ridiculed this spirit of applying what he has learned, but even if he is sarcastic, he cannot make people hate, but will quite appreciate the innocence of this cunning child. Most of the time, Bohemond was full of affinity, and he would only be dismissive of his enemies, as he was with his brother Duke Apulia, and then he would calmly destroy them, whether with the minions of a lion or the cunning of a fox.

How on earth did that Madame Salerno provoke such a fellow to reveal his true nature?

Dagobert, who was ostensibly not interested in the Norman fight, was finally moved.

"By the way, about the misfortune that happened to your friend Mistress Reina......"

"He's not material for war, I understand." Dagobet waved his hand, and then suddenly changed his expression, "But, can't you see it, my lord?" Why let him participate? ”

Bohemond, who wanted to provoke a gap between the papal envoy and the Salernos, immediately put away his initial plan, he certainly did not say that he was just using the "elegant fool" as a bait, and that day he sacrificed a group of fancy mercenaries and an illegitimate child to capture an entire baggage detachment.

"War sometimes makes us make choices that we have to choose."