In 1258 AH, the four-year crusade ended with the reconciliation of King Richard and Saladin, Jerusalem fell, and the Holy Land once again fell into the hands of the Easterners. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoThe Western world was in an uproar, but no one accused King Richard of secretly armisting the Crescent Empire, but became a hero of jihad in people's hearts.

Although Jerusalem fell, it recovered other important cities in the Levant, and saved countless civilians in Jerusalem.

The reason is simple, that is, he avoided the fate of the West in the war in the East, and at least allowed Saladin to let them end up decently.

While many of the upper echelons knew that King Richard had actually reached a compromise with the Crescent Empire, the more common people rejoiced at the message as if they had won a battle.

This also leads to the fact that even if the Holy See is very dissatisfied with this matter, it is helpless, not to mention that their main force is still in Anatolia.

Apparently disobeying the orders of the Holy Church, the kings of Aragon and Richard returned to the West and were treated like heroes. Voices of praise were everywhere, and if they were to be punished, the cardinal would have to worry about the influence of public opinion, and the fall of Jerusalem was already a terrible thing.

"Hmph, that's ridiculous!" In the chamber of the cardinal in Rome, a cardinal sneered. "Do you hear who is not in the streets and alleys now glorifying our saint King, His Majesty Richard?"

This is, of course, ironic, for the king of the Norman kingdom, dissatisfaction has already arisen.

Many people are looking forward to King Richard's death, because apart from his private peace with Saladin this time, his own actions in the country have touched the core interests of the Holy Church. The Archbishop of Canterbury in his realm has been elected by the Normandy royal family for three generations, and the Holy See feels that its control over the overseas kingdom is becoming less and less.

What's more, the Holy Roman Empire, supported by the cardinal Archangelia, and Normandy also had territorial entanglements. The defeat of the Crusaders in the face of Saladin was inevitable, but now that Richard had become a hero, they could do nothing about it.

Richard, who returned from the East, did not return home directly, but took the elite mecha with him through various principalities and viceroyalties in southern Italy, and the princes and governors made the right decision, they personally led the guard of honor to welcome the returning hero with a grand ceremony. Not because of the king's high morals, but because of the fact that during the expedition, he indulged his troops in plundering villages and towns, earning him the nickname "Lionheart".

Therefore, the local nobles who have learned to be well-behaved are waiting and singing praises of virtue, which is why there is such a strong public opinion orientation now.

King Richard was still thousands of miles away, touring the countryside of the South, while news was constantly transmitted back to the Holy See by telegram, such as a certain count praising King Richard as a great general, and a certain governor of the republic praising him as the pillar of his holy church, as the saint-king of the Western world...... The news spread in Rome, and thousands of people rushed to tell each other about the arrival of the hero.

The cardinal originally wanted to blame King Richard, saying that he was not supporting Jerusalem effectively, but the other side had recovered the area along the Levantine, and even if there was a conflict between the other party and Saladin, the archbishops were helpless.

Even if the local lords along the way were dissatisfied with the arrogant and domineering king, they would not be able to attack him, and no one dared to try the power of destroying the bones of the people.

King Richard traveled all the way, the route was very uncertain, sometimes to the north, sometimes to the south, no one knew what his intentions were, although the cardinal wanted to summon him, but he could not catch up with the other party's whereabouts at all.

As for the other king, this was even more dissatisfying to the cardinal, and that was that the king of Aragon, whom they had been supporting, Jaime, also showed disloyalty, which felt like being bitten by his own dog.

"Archbishop Viola, if I remember correctly, His Majesty Jaime is your cousin. If such a thing happens again, we do not deny that we will support the descendants of the Kingdom of Castile, who will become the ruler of Iberia. ”

But in the face of such a threat, the Archbishop Viola was very casual, "If you want to recall the Knights of Santiago, if you want to recall, if the cardinal is unwilling to consolidate the Holy Church in Iberia." ”

"It's as if we can only rely on the Kingdom of Aragon, we don't need him, we're the same—"

"But the truth is that no one but Jaime has the ability to complete this reconquest." The archbishop was at the bottom of the table, but was clearly the spokesman for the interests of the Kingdom of Aragon in the Holy See.

But he was right, King Jaime's qualifications were something that the cardinal masters had to admit, which was why they chose that man in the first place.

Viola retorted like this, and the archbishop couldn't help but get angry, obviously the other party didn't take him seriously at all.

"You-!"

And at this moment, a majestic voice suddenly sounded, interrupting the quarrel between the two sides.

"Enough!"

For a moment, everyone in the hall couldn't help but shudder.

Speaker?!

On the steps, I don't know when, an old man stood in front of everyone.

And he is the president of the cardinal, although the Pope is nominally the supreme leader of the Holy See, but in reality, the old man has more power.

"Your Excellency, Speaker!" Viola bowed his head respectfully, he didn't dare to think anything else in front of this terrible man.

"You're right, Viola." The old man spoke softly, and everyone understood that the matter of Jaime, the king of Aragon, was over.

The cardinal from before was still talking, but the random old man's gaze stopped him.

"Gentlemen, now that the secondary matter is over, now that the official matter can begin."

For the Holy See, King Richard and King Jaime were not enough to shake this huge state apparatus so much.

Because, now the Holy See is facing a powerful enemy, and that is the Knight King.

"As we know, my lords, our nightmare is back, and he is now lurking in the darkness, he is the Knight King of the New Roman Empire......"

The old man sighed a little, and spoke quietly, and every word made people feel heavy.