The preliminary findings were shocking, and Edgar had heard that many families in Burton and the surrounding area had never received Holy Communion from the church, and that Fr. Billig had more influence in the local area than could have imagined, and that the dying would reject other priests as long as the purist priest saved his soul, and that the villagers would rather go to the woods to hunt blackbirds, pheasants and squirrels than attend the Sunday Mass in the church.

"The only people who attended Sunday Mass were the village chief's family and the shepherd's family." The abbot reported to the king, "Others will only go to that Billig when they have a problem, but he has no reverence for the Lord Jesus on the cross, but prefers to call himself a friend of God." ”

The king made a cross, appropriately expressing his personal shock.

"He also said that fasting is like a wolf hungry!" Roger's indignation was sparked by the Dean's words, and this Norman knight, though not religious, could not stand the unseemly slander of the faith.

Edgar turned and took out a golden cross from under his shawl, engraved with three lines of runivan, beginning with "Krist waes on rodi" (Christ on the cross), and he gave the treasure to the shepherd: "My friend, your faithfulness will not be forgotten, and this grace does not come from us, but from God. Now, we declare to you one thing, that, in view of the state of faith and other dangers of Burton, we appoint you, Theowulf Edburdin, as the elder of Burton, and that you will be the royal family of Theon, and that you will be the shepherd of this heretic-infested land for us. ”

This meant that Elder Alden's estates and vassals would be transferred to Theowulf, and Edgar understood that the next cleansing of heresies could be dangerous, and that as an informer, Theowulf would probably die without his own followers.

"Something I forgot to tell you, your wife has woken up, she's here now, and you'll see you later." Edgar smiled at the shepherd, and without waiting for the other's gratitude, moved on to the next topic.

"We need to send people to Italy immediately, we need the support of the Holy See to deal with the Cleanist problem, and above all, we need to provide new assistance to the Cardinal at this critical juncture." The king was talking about the crisis of the Pope's exile, after Robert Gisca's Norman army burned the Eternal City of Rome, Gregory VII was banished to Cassino Hill, the emperor's army had returned, after this crisis, the authority of the Holy See almost fell to the valley, many parts of Italy accepted the emperor's pseudo-pope Clement III, the whole of Europe was aware of this sudden change, and even the Grand Duke of Kiev sent a messenger to congratulate the newly crowned emperor.

"Lord Roger, I have discussed this matter with His Excellency the Archbishop of Canterbury, and you will personally escort His Excellency the Bishop to Mount Cassino on our behalf, and besides, the Earl of Mercia has a personal request, which we have also agreed."

Roger, Earl of Hereford, hurriedly replied, "It is my pleasure. ”

"Well, in that case, I declare that the Knight Robert Mallett, son of William Mallett, the governor of the castle of Carnarvon, will be sent from the mission to Italy, and this is also his personal pilgrimage of atonement, do you all understand?"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Everyone in the hall was full of applause, and everyone knew that this was a concession from the king to the Earl of Mercia, perhaps because the situation was changing inside and outside, and the king must immediately unite internally to resist the pressure of the rapidly rising Emperor Henry......

Since crossing the sea, Angus has seen almost all the wonders of the world, he has enjoyed the strange journey like a true lord, the tall fortress of Calais, the beauty of the Seine, the vineyards of the old road of Provence, all of which have left a deep impression on his mind. But what fascinated him even more was the sea, from which the glorious blood-red sun rose; The clouds move in the air, containing infinite meaning; And the wind on the sea, sometimes murmuring, sometimes howling like a wild beast, all brought him the pleasure of freedom, and seemed to remind him of the power of creation, the power of nature that overrode everything and dominated destiny made him yearn for it.

Riding the sea breeze to the ancient provinces of Italy, Angus quickly felt the clouds of war, the land was full of the marks of the army, the victorious army, the defeated army, almost indistinguishable from the inhabitants, the peasants were wary of any armed pedestrians, a fierce soldier in armor often meant survival and destruction for a peasant farmer, and for the Italians, the soldier was Caesar.

"Master Angus, when are we going to Rome?" Gillick asked cheerfully, in his mind, Italy meant the center of civilization, for a man of letters, to arrive in this land is like returning to the homeland of the heart, the words on countless scrolls of paper have become tangible entities, the great ruins of the ancient world are at the end of the road, Gillick is counting on a glimpse of Rome, the city of seven hills, personally touching the huge walls built by Augustus and Aurelian, his eager gaze attracts Maeve to eat and laugh.

"Marble can't fill your stomach, of course we must first find an employer who is willing to exchange silver coins for my sword." Angus replied, "Now it seems that there should be no shortage of such people here. ”

He's grown in size, at least no one will mistake him for a maiden anymore, and Angus is most angry when some of the unscrupulous mercenaries stop them and claim to show him the "real man", and that time, he showed the brute his sword.

"Are we going to war?" Maeve looked terrified, fearing that her companion would be one of the corpses that could be seen from time to time on the roadside, or that she would be hung miserably in front of the castle's drawbridge.

"I'm going to war." Angus corrected the little girl, "You will stay far away from the battlefield and pray for me." ”

"What about me?" Gillick was afraid that his young lord would also let him pray, God was above, he liked to read, but he did not want to become a priest.

"You're going to guard our mules and horses and luggage, and equip me with weapons and armor, and I don't want to find my helmet buckle unfastened inside the shield wall."

"I knew ......," Gillick muttered, but he did not dare to complain any longer, lest Angus would not let him follow.

The three of them arrive at a roadside hotel, set up their vehicles and luggage, and Angus hopes to get useful information from the conversation with the drinkers. He was not yet proficient in Italian and needed to be explained by Giglik from time to time, and the conversation of the drinkers and the unbridled laughter were always mixed and difficult to discern, until it was dusk when a rumor of impending fighting in Modena caught Angus's attention.