Who can separate a man from his sword? Without each other, neither is worthless. - Estonian epic "Kalevipoeko"

After the award at Westminster Hall, Captain Edward found himself lost in the middle of the capital, but the bounty he had just received from his pocket gave him confidence wherever he went, so the new Royal Thane scurried around with a Scyphere mandate until he approached the Ethelred Ferry, where he was found by Father Elfwin, who was tired of tracking down a wolf hunter.

"If you can't tell the direction at sea, I'm afraid the Admiralty will have to reconsider your appointment."

"If it's at sea, my friend, I can smell the wind in the porthole, but here there is the smell of horse manure and salted fish, and I feel like a drunk in the middle of the city."

"Let's go have a drink, maybe there's a beauty in the hotel that can sober up the adults."

"What have you heard?"

"It's nothing, we've got a 200-man ship." Elfwin's bland answer couldn't hide the excitement.

"That's a whole thousand Hydes—it looks like we're going to have to pick someone out there."

The Royal Navy's demands on the operation were extremely high, and the newly delivered flagship was not yet combat-ready, so a commander of Captain Edward's rank was overstretched by his seafaring experience and outstanding performance in last year's naval battle.

The silver penny engraved with King Edgar's face was quickly exchanged for liquor and cold beef by the two, Captain Edward ate and drank while listening to the priest calculate his expenses, the ordnance officer needed a detailed account report before issuing a warrant to receive supplies, and as for many details in last year's logbook and military letters, they also had to be unanimous, especially the attribution of Elfwin himself, which has not yet been resolved.

"We'll probably be sent to Zealand, and we'll first put that Danish prince on the throne of Roskild." After eating and drinking, the two gradually began to chat.

"Don't the Danes have a ship?"

"You saw the Danish fleet last time, and the ships of the Ascomanni (the Germanic name for the Norse) are probably all destroyed in Dover, and this time it's some Noll at best."

"God forbid, I hope this time we can meet that Flemish pirate, last time their ship was two chains away, and actually let that guy escape." The priest was still haunted by the pirate's mark on his forehead.

"There will always be fighting." Edward poured the priest another glass of sloe juice, "As for the Flemish, if you give me enough gunpowder, sooner or later we will be able to hang the heads of those pirates on the side of my ship as lanterns." ”

At this time, it was not customary for England to be hanged on masts, but in a few decades, not only pirates, but even the king's ministers could be turned into corpses dangling from mast slings.

"Speaking of which, I'll have to go to Oxford first." Elfwin suddenly changed his tune.

"How?"

"I've heard that someone has arrived at the King's Academy, and I'm going to ask for some advice, which may be useful in the future."

Elfwin has not been idle in these months, the experience of serving at sea has allowed him to collect a lot of useful data, but he lacks the necessary knowledge of marksmanship, in the current navy, gunnery is still in the stage of experience, and in the case of the gunner's increasing proficiency in operation, a real gunnery manual and supporting instruments are needed for substantial improvement.

In the evening, Angus, who had left the barracks, planned to talk to Gillick about Maeve, but as soon as he arrived at the foot of Canossa, he met an old friend.

"Come with me to Madame." Without saying a word, Dagobert grabbed Angus's swordsman, almost instinctively allowing the latter to launch a counterattack.

The summons of the female bian uncle is usually not so early, after all, Angus is just a "pastime".

Moreover, this kind of summoning obviously does not seek Dagobert to pass the word.

Arriving at the hall in confusion, Angus found a new group of newcomers, with extremely short beards and triangular robes similar to those worn by Dagobert.

"The Holy See has died." Dagobert reminded him quietly.

Angus followed the monk close to the coals of the fireplace, took a square towel from the waiter's hand, washed his hands and made a cross.

Why should I be brought to this conference?

Obviously, the female was also a little surprised to see Angus here, but she knew that this was not the time to ask.

"The war has entered a new phase." An envoy wearing a shawl of an aco-priest conveyed to the female Bishop the words of the Bishop of Ostia: "Our enemies are boasting of victory, and we sit in darkness with only the consolation of God's light. ”

"What can I do for the Cardinals?" Matilda asked helplessly, and suddenly, she noticed that Angus was sipping wine while observing the peacock feathers on her turban.

"We're going to march into Rome." The envoy stated his purpose.

The Tuscan nobles present were silent for a moment, this plan was obviously crazy, whose proposal was it?

"The Bishop of Ostia believes that only by holding our elections in Rome can the lies of the puppet emperor be completely shattered."

"But though the walls of Rome are broken, and the Teutons have many trebuchets and ballistas, it is impossible for us to send our army to death for a ruin." A vassal couldn't help but reply.

"This is not death, they are sacrificing for the cause of the Lord!"

Silence returned to the whole court.

"Isn't there a true sword of Christ here?"

"There's one person who can." Dagobet loudly interrupted the envoy, converging all eyes of the entire hall on himself.

Matilda followed Dagobert's meaningful gaze and finally began to tremble.

Angus realized that something was wrong with the atmosphere, but he didn't expect this old friend to be watching him.

"Everyone here knows who was the last one who brought us victory - if it were Lord Angus, I believe the Cardinal would have been able to march towards Rome with confidence." Dagobert looked directly at Angus himself and said with an unchanging face.

At this time, in full view of everyone, the female uncle flicked her sleeves and left directly.

Angus was stunned for a moment, his eyes became like a sharp sword, and he stabbed Dagobert fiercely, and then chased after him.