In the dimly lit hall, more than a dozen candles burned on an iron lampstand.

The king's personal servant, who was holding the golden sword of demon blocking, bowed down at the door: "Everyone, please come in." ”

In the hall, Baldwin IV, with a somewhat thin body, was leaning on a chaise longue and sitting in front of a lampstand.

When he took off the mask, his facial features and silhouette looked extremely soft, and he could vaguely see that he had a delicate appearance similar to Princess Sibylla.

Because he had no beard, he looked younger than Lothar, and his face and complexion were noticeably better.

"Your Majesty."

Lothar drew a cross in front of him and greeted.

He was obviously a little surprised by Lothar's visit, but he returned the salute first, and bowed slightly: "Lady Jeanne, Lady Prajna, and Lady Fringella, it's a pleasure to meet the three of you." ”

"You may be seated."

He put away the books spread out on the table, and his demeanor was calm, looking a little elegant: "Luo Saqing, you deliberately made such a trip, is there anything wrong?" ”

Lothar smiled and said, "Of course, I am seeing Your Majesty, and I am much more relieved to see that you are in good health." ”

Baldwin IV smiled and looked at Lothar deeply: "To be honest, I still know you, and there is no need for such false words between you and me. ”

Baron Gofrey gave a good-natured scoff: "Some time ago, Lothar wrote me a letter, I thought it was going to invite me to Hebron as a guest, but I didn't expect to be polite, and actually asked me to fund another group of craftsmen who built the city. ”

His tone paused slightly, and he added, "At the very least, you have to be polite." ”

Lothar said with some embarrassment: "No way, building the city is a matter of urgency, the new Habsburg is my hub connecting Hebron and Transjordan, although the initial investment is larger, but once it is built, it will provide me with a steady stream of finances and taxes." ”

His tone changed and he complained: "You two should also know that I, the Earl of Jordan, only have two fiefdoms, Hebron and the barren Yogrisburg, and even the vassals under my command are stronger than me. ”

This refers specifically to Baron Argon of Petra, and to Renard, former Earl of Transjordan.

Baldwin IV said softly:

"Okay, don't say anything about complaining, the situation of me and Gauffrey in Jerusalem will not be much better than yours, just say anything."

Lothar coughed lightly and said, "Your Majesty, I have published a new book, and I hope that you and Lord Goldfrey will help me spread it throughout Jerusalem in a short time." ”

He placed the song of winter and summer on the table.

The cover, composed of black and white stripes, is a giant dragon with wings ready to fly, because there is a real reference, so it is vividly drawn.

There are also some illustrations of important characters, although they are all black and white stick figures, but the style of painting is much stronger than the popular religious paintings of this era.

"If the quality is similar to that 'The Witcher,' I think it would have become popular even without the help of the two of us."

Lothar nodded: "Of course the quality is guaranteed. ”

Gao Frey was a little puzzled: "Lothar, I don't understand that this little thing alone is worth your trip?" ”

Because of the lower literacy rate, Lothar's original release of The Witcher made a small profit, but the printed commemorative edition of the Bible sold better.

But this gain, compared with maintaining an army, is tantamount to a drop in the bucket.

"Also, in the book, I advertise many of my industries, the most important of which is plate armor. It was about the armor shop I was going to open in Jerusalem, and if I could make plate armor popular, I think it would be enough money for me to maintain a standing army of five hundred. ”

"I've seen the half-body plate armor your hussars equipped," said Goldfrey with a smile. The sight of the Iron Knight Lady Pranya charging on the battlefield is also fresh in my memory. I don't know where you got a more skilled armorsmith than the blacksmiths in Milan, but the price of this plate armor must be definitely not low. ”

Lothar nodded, "Of course, but it's worth the money." I think it's a good thing for them, and for us, rather than having the knights spend all the money in their pockets on women and wine to buy plate armor. ”

Gao Frey nodded and said: "This matter is no problem, if you need a shop, I can vacate a few and give it to you, anyway, in my hands, I can't make a few dollars." ”

Lothar thanked again.

He didn't say that he was going to send a set of refined plate armor to Goldfrey, because he didn't have one for Baldwin IV - after all, production capacity was limited, and Baldwin IV didn't show up to advertise him.

Lothar added: "One more thing, Your Majesty, if I want to recover the lost territory of Transjordan, can I tear up the peace treaty with Saladin?" ”

The lost territory here refers to the bishoprics of Port Ayla and Alandreux.

They were all de jure territories of Transjordan, which were pushed back and taken by the army led by Adil after the failure of Reynard's original dryland boat strategy.

Baldwin IV was silent for a moment, then said, "If he wishes, he will." ”

"But Saladin is probably unable to get out of his way now, he is all focused on dealing with the internal rebellion, Saleh's little guy is doing well, and the rebellion in Aleppo is also huge."

"In addition, the king of kings in Sassanid is said to have led his troops to the border to ask him why he is making a truce with us, and he is now in a hurry."

Lothar asked, "So, it just doesn't count, right?" ”

Baldwin IV frowned: "Well, but where do you have the military strength to attack the two fortified cities now?" ”

Lothar said: "The defenders of these two cities are limited, and in the castle of the bishopric of Alaindel, the defenders are only three hundred, and I plan to give it a try. ”

Baldwin IV nodded: "Yes, after all, you are also famous, but don't be like Renard, wantonly looting villages and massacring civilians." ”

"I swear in the name of my Heavenly Father that I will not do this."

"I think so, too, Lothar is a knight of integrity, more chivalrous than most knights I've ever seen. ”

The corners of Jeanne's mouth, who was sitting on the side, curled slightly.

"Yes," he muttered, "I am a good knight even though I want to break the peace treaty. ”

Lothar then asked, "Your Majesty, how is the development of the Order of Urdin?" ”

"A number of pilgrims were admitted, and the total number grew to fifty. I gave him a church at the foot of the Temple Mount as the home of the Redemption Order of St. Lslu, and it was on the right track. ”

"What about Hans?"

"He's leading a hunt down to an evil heretic... In the cellar of a tavern, they discovered the ritual performed by the heresy to sacrifice a tampered image of the Father. ”

Baldwin IV got up and pulled out a yellowed book from the bottom of the shelf.

Lothar picked up the book, and before he could get closer, he smelled a stale smell on his face, and he tried to open it, and his brow immediately furrowed.

The content is written in Greek and is illustrated with several illustrations.

These illustrations are made up of simple lines, and even just looking at them, you can feel a strong sense of evil and weirdness.

Baldwin IV said in a deep voice: "This is from the infidels. ”

"They would gather in a cellar at night, tear up the corpses of babies from nowhere, and wrap them in flour to make a profane communion."

"Their leader, a man who called himself a bishop, tricked the faithful into giving their daughters, and when they gave birth to the baby, they would chop it up and drink it mixed with wine."

"If Hans hadn't happened to capture one of their followers, I would have hardly imagined that such sins could have been hidden in holy Jerusalem."

Lothar said in a deep voice: "That 'bishop' is a liar? ”

"No, the evidence shows that he does possess some extraordinary evil power, and of course, it cannot be ruled out that it is just a trick to deceive fools."

Baldwin IV paused slightly, looked at the three ladies behind Lothar, and said earnestly, "If we can get the help of the three spellcasters, I think these demons who have misinterpreted the Bible will soon be brought to justice." ”

Prajna nodded slightly.

Fringira looked at Lothar: "If the adults want us to make a move, we will definitely not refuse." ”

Jeanne frowned deeply: "It is an unforgivable sin to take a child as a sacrifice, and no one with a conscience will allow this to happen." ”

Lothar also said happily: "Leave this matter to me." ”

Fringira has no human view of good and evil, and she is willing to blindly obey Lothar, even if Lothar asks her to slaughter the city, she will not refuse.

Prajna's words are different, although she doesn't pay attention to many things, it doesn't mean that there is no good and evil and right and wrong.

It's just that if Lothar forces her to do something that goes against her ideas, she may not refuse, but she will feel uncomfortable and disgusted.

Jeanne was not at all.

Lothar guessed that no matter how close she was to her, she would definitely refuse when he asked her to slaughter the weak against her will.

That's not a bad thing.

Because Lothar didn't want to see herself fall to that level in the future.