Baron Fulke opened his eyes a little tiredly, and before him was a cage made of logs—there were so many of them that it was impossible to count how many there were in sight for a moment.

The air was filled with a foul stench, and from time to time someone let out a suppressed wail.

Someone was already talking nonsense.

He subconsciously followed the sound and saw that it was a soldier who had been stripped of his armor and wore only a pair of shabby linen trousers, and the wound on his leg was covered with dense green-headed flies.

He hurriedly withdrew his gaze.

Baron Fulke vaguely remembers that he was hit in the helmet by a flying chain hammer (meteor hammer) from the enemy, causing him to fall from his horse and not escape in time.

So I am, captured?

At this moment, he saw a crusader soldier in a red and yellow burqa approaching, with a large string of keys tied to his waist, apparently the caretaker of these cages.

He subconsciously opened his mouth to explain his identity, and immediately saw the guard shouting loudly: "Chief, Lord Tiberias wants us to immediately drag all the cowards who escaped into battle to the square and execute them. ”

"Got it, do it right away!"

Following the guard's line of sight, a one-eyed man with a striking scar on his face cursed and scolded: "Those bitches raise idiots who drink good wine and fuck Greek chicks every day, but let us watch these pagan dogs all day long, it's time to scare these soft eggs soaked in wine jars." ”

The warden smiled and replied, "Yes, sir, I still have a bottle of good wine hidden there, or we will be tonight."

"Ahem—"

The scar guard coughed lightly, his eyes swept over the prisoners peeping next to him, and said with a grim face: "You dirty pagan dogs had better be honest, don't play tricks, you can leave safely as soon as the ransom comes, otherwise"

He pointed to the side, hanging on the gallows, and at the end of the day, the corpse looked like it had been dried in the air.

Subsequently.

Right under the noses of the prisoners, a group of "Frank's own men" were pushed and shoved into the square in shackles or straw ropes—no matter what army they were in, it was unforgivable to escape.

Fulke looked at this scene, and the eagerness that he originally wanted to reveal his identity gradually cooled down.

"You're awake..."

Behind him, a familiar voice sounded full of energy.

Fulk turned his head and said in surprise: "Ivan? ”

"You're also captured?"

A familiar face next to him Mamluk said sourly: "If it weren't for the adults trying to save you, we wouldn't be surrounded by enemy troops." ”

Fulke was ashamed of what he said.

Ivan, however, looked calm and breezy.

"I swore to you before the battle that no matter who you were or what god you believed, you were my siblings. The siblings are trapped in the enemy camp, can they give up?

It's a pity that all the money we carry with us is in the camp, and after these crusaders have captured the camp, they have all gone to them, and there is no way to pay our ransom. Otherwise, we would all be on our way home by now. ”

Fulke was a little overwhelmed for a moment: "I will definitely help everyone leave safely as much as possible, I know the steward of the Marquis of Lothar and the wife of Baron Renard." ”

"Fulke, don't do anything superfluous, the Franks ask for money, and Lord Takidin will prepare a sufficient ransom for us."

Ivan shook his head.

Fulk was silent.

There are so many thoughts in my head.

In battle, he has killed his own Crusader knights, and one of them may even have a true noble knight. (Knight is a title, but it is also a profession, and many nobles, from kings to barons, are knights)

Once identified, he would definitely be recognized as a murderer and blasphemer.

Ivan continued: "Furk, if you want to return to your own territory in Languedoc, I suggest that you do not identify yourself now, wait until the Franks let us go, and do not let anyone know that you have ever joined us. ”

"Ivan!"

Fulker's heart was deeply moved.

Mamluk, who had been following Ivan for a long time, said with a disgruntled face: "Furk, the lord fell in to save you, are you such an ungrateful and ungrateful villain?" Even the Gypsies and Jews know more about righteousness than you do. ”

Ivan reprimanded: "Enough, Nur, don't say any more, Fulk is not like us, he never joined us voluntarily. ”

Fulke was silent for a long time, and then suddenly said: "I will not go back, Ivan, and in the future, I will follow you—perhaps now, my brother is being invited out of the monastery by the family with a look of surprise to inherit my title." ”

In fact, it is more likely that his realm will be taken over by his lord, Count Carcassonne, due to his disappearance, which he will most likely hold in trust unless news of his death is returned.

If Fulk had had been saddled with the reputation of having "served the demons of heretics", even if the Crusaders had spared him and returned to his domain, he would have no place to live, and would even be hanged by his lord and the ecclesiastical court.

What's more, the crusaders could not have been so merciful.

Even the Marquis of Lothar has a reputation as a "bloody butcher" when dealing with those pagan leaders.

Bang –

At this time, the scar guard knocked on the wooden fence of the cell with the beam stick in his hand with an impatient face: "Be quiet, you guys, are you escaping in tandem in private?" I warn you all to be honest. ”

Ivan raised his head and snorted softly, "If I say no." ”

The only remaining eye of the Scar Guard showed a dangerous light: "What did you say? Pagan dogs. ”

Ivan raised his voice: "You don't know what kind of important person you are imprisoning, but I am a confidant under the command of Lord Takiddin, commanding an entire army of Mamluk cavalry generals. ”

"How dare the prisoners be so arrogant?"

The Scar Guard pulled out the weapon in his hand and looked fierce: "No matter how big an official you are, now you are under my control, you know?" ”

Ivan leaned against the cage with a disdainful face: "It's just a brainless idiot, you still don't understand what my identity means - it means, I'm now your lord's money bag, understand?" ”

The Scar Guard's face froze suddenly.

Ivan lowered his voice and said coldly: "Now, prepare a meal for me and the soldiers under my command, and I also need a doctor to look at the poor worm in front of me to see his fly-ridden legs."

Otherwise, when my lord pays the ransom, I will surely reprimand your lord - because of you, he will be missing at least five hundred golden coins! ”

The scar guard's one-eyed gleam with a dangerous light, he hesitated for a long time, and with a loud bang, he shoved the half-drawn weapon back into the sheath: "Wait, I want to ask my lord." ”

Ivan made a "please go, don't send it" gesture with confidence.

Looking around, facing admiring glances, he winked at Fulke: "Have you learned?" ”

Fulke couldn't help but laugh and said, "Awesome! ”

With such a mistake, he had almost forgotten the depression in his original heart, and it seemed that it would not be bad to follow Ivan, an interesting man in the future—anyway, he was already an unforgivable sinner who was the enemy of the Guardian of the Holy Lance.

The man lifted the curtain of the tent and said excitedly:

"Drem, deserters are being executed in the square, why don't you go and see the excitement?"

Dreem was drinking stuffy wine, his nose was red, and when he heard the words, he stood up and grabbed the man's neck: "Bastard, almost half of our brothers died, do you still have the heart to watch the excitement?" ”

The man was stunned for a moment, and said angrily: "So what, can I hide in the tent like you and not go out to see people all day long to bring my brothers back to life?" This is a war with the Saracens, a war with Saladin, didn't you think about what kind of big man Saladin was before you brought us here? With just one finger, he can crush the piercing Raouf who rides on our heads, and you don't know the price of fighting such a big man? ”

He unscrewed Drem's hand that was clamping his collar and scolded, "We are a group of poorly equipped nomads, those slave cavalry, the Cumans, the Turks, none of them are better than us—they were already murderous while we were still herding sheep." ”

Seeing that Dreem was a little stunned, the man continued:

"Wake up, it doesn't matter what you have done or what knightly title you have! We're still alive, and we're already the luckiest of all! ”

Dreem sat down on the floor in a somewhat decadent manner.

He covered his face: "Ali, did you think that this would be the result when Sheh and the others promised us to join the army together?" ”

In this battle, their exploits were not enough to obtain even one title of "cavalry", and when they came, there were eighteen people, but now there are only ten left, almost half of them are dead, and in exchange for their merits, they are only three Mamluks.

As lightly armed cavalry, the effect they can exert in the frontal cavalry hedge is too limited.

Ali grabbed Drem's shoulder with some anger: "Cheer up, Dreem, you are the captain of our company, and we will follow your command on an expedition to Egypt." ”

Drem looked at his people a little numbly: "I want to cheer up too, but now you tell me, when I go back, what should I use to explain to the parents of my dead brothers?" What to give an account to Shech? If you go to fight Egypt, how many lives will you lose? ”

Ali was silent for a moment, and then muttered: "The marquis's pension for the war dead is very high, and on average, everyone can settle in Alandler, and get a piece of land on which to build their own farm."

Drem sighed, it was a great blessing in misfortune that even the war dead could be properly resettled under Lothar, but it would not make him feel any better.

"Ali, you're the only one left in your family, right?"

Ali let out an "um", and his voice became choked, they had already lost too many brothers on the way to serve in the military for Rauf and escape from Rauf's territory, and this time they came out with most of the young men of the Shayo tribe.

Drem remembered the rhetoric he had made when he left.

He couldn't help but smile bitterly: "If I hadn't asked the Ulm knights to fight, but had honestly fulfilled our duties as scouts, things wouldn't have ended up where they are now, I'm sorry brothers." ”

The tent was opened.

"Nobody blames you, chief!"

"This is also our own choice, the Ministry of Shayo has never produced cowards!"

A group of young scouts from the Sajot tribe crowded into the tent, each of them was tanned, but they were very energetic, these young scouts, who were not bad at riding, and after the baptism of war, they were already considered real warriors.

Drem couldn't help but choke up a little: "Are you still willing to recognize me as the leader?" ”

"Of course."

"It's all you!"

"It's not your fault, if it weren't for your command, we would have been wiped out a long time ago."

"Here we are, if you say the Franks, you can't deal with the Franks without you."

The crowd replied with a mouthful of tongues.

"Where are they?"

Outside the tent, a young knight in a red burqa walked in.

"It's pretty lively."

He only glanced at the furnishings in the tent and basically understood what was going on.

"Lord Ulm."

Everyone greeted each other.

Their scout squad is now a cavalry squad directly subordinate to Ulm, and they are hardcore supporters of Ulm, even if some people have little affection for the Franks, and they are full of respect for Ulm, and Lothar, whom they have almost never met.

"Good news for you."

"What?"

Ulm smiled and said: "Your Shekh, old Hassan led a group of old men from your Sayo tribe to behead nearly 100 people in the defense of Ila Harbor, and he was very meritorious, Lord Andreas wanted to promote old Hassan to be the tribun of Alain and canonize him as a knight, but he asked to give you this opportunity. ”

Everyone was stunned, their faces full of disbelief.

For a moment, Drem didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

He said with a complicated expression: "Shehe, he is so old, can he still make such a great contribution?" ”

Ulm said with a smile: "I was surprised when the news came, but it was the case. Master Andreas wrote to me that there is an interesting proverb circulating in the port of Ella. ”

"What?"

"Old dogs have good teeth, too."

Ulm patted Drame on the shoulder: "Go wash up and buy yourself a good robe, this afternoon, the Lord will personally canonize the meritorious heroes of this battle, and you are among them." ”

Dreem: "."

In the envious eyes of a group of friends.

Drem only felt that the whole person was fluttering, was there a surprise? Of course!

But more than that, it was a heavy feeling that weighed him down and he couldn't even breathe and wanted to cry.

"My lord, do you think I am really qualified to be canonized as a knight?"

Ulm smiled and put his hand on Drem's shoulder: "Of course, although you are still a little immature, I believe that it will not be long before you become a qualified commander." ”

This recognition, from the person he admired the most, made Dreem's eyes red for a moment.