In fact, Viscount Charles was not unable to accept the war between Venice and Fatima, but he could not accept the war at this time, which meant that all his property would be seized by the nobles of the Fatimid Empire, but no matter how much he did not accept it, in the face of more than 800 heavily armed Fatimid soldiers, he could only give up his property and seek a chance to leave safely.

Fortunately, the Fatimid nobles kept their promise and personally supervised his departure with the Fatimid soldiers, until they watched them enter the territory of the Kingdom of Jelu, and this act of escort came to an end, but Viscount Charlie's bad luck was only just beginning.

Suspecting that he had lost the ability to pay for his services, the mercenaries confronted twenty of his guards and demanded that Viscount Charles send someone to raise money in the territory first, and that the employment fees be settled before returning to his territory.

Although Viscount Charlie's captain of the guard, that is, the Knight of Rohr, is very strong, but there are also a few ruthless characters on the mercenary side, and there are more of them, it really makes trouble, Viscount Charlie can't take advantage of anything, and he is also facing charges of violating the legal employment contract, which is a very serious crime in today's West, and it is even more shameful for the nobles, which will make his family lose honor and become the laughing stock of other nobles.

Viscount Charles was a proud man, and he was unwilling to bear such humiliation even if he died, so he sent the knight of Rolle with ten guards first, returning to his castle in the Republic of Venice to raise enough gold coins to pay for his hire.

The mercenaries and Viscount Charles himself set off a day late.

Fortunately, the Fatimid nobleman left them enough basic expenses to return home according to the ancient agreement, otherwise they might not even be able to return home.

After that, the journey went smoothly, the Kingdom of Jelu was founded by the Crusades, and the status of Viscount Charles was still very respected, and he traveled all the way unhindered, reaching the small seaport of Gaza in the south, and boarding the return merchant ship of the Republic of Venice.

The cost of the boat for so many people was not small, and Viscount Charles owed another debt for it.

Luckily, the rest of the journey went smoothly and the fleet arrived safely in Venice, the capital of the Republic of Venice and the beautiful city on the water.

The magnificent domed buildings, towering pillar stones, exquisite murals and carvings, and huge public baths all reveal the beauty of antiquity, and this completely different civilization also deeply shocked the newcomer Zhao Bufan.

Two days later, the knights of Rhore brought a huge commission, and the mercenaries got their due wealth and happily went their separate ways, while Zhao Bufan, although he boarded the ship halfway, also received more than sixty Venetian gold coins according to the rules, and at the same time completed the contract and regained his freedom.

But at this time, he was very dazed and didn't know what to do.

He wanted to follow those ocean-going caravans back to the East, but he had no pass, no protection from the group, no clear status class, no fleet would allow him to board the ship, and even no ship would carry him, and he was currently able to enter through the relationship of Viscount Charlie.

To put it simply, that is, Viscount Charles is the basis for his survival, and without the protection of Viscount Charlie, he is a suspicious person who entered the country illegally, as long as he is discovered, others can be charged with any crime, this kind of situation of being alone, not to mention crossing the ocean, how to leave Venice is a serious problem.

Viscount Charlie obviously knew this, and when those mercenaries had left, he quietly walked up to Zhao Bufan, pulled him alone, and said, "Liluo, if you have nowhere to go, then follow me, although I am already in debt, and it won't be long before I will go bankrupt due to debt problems, but at least I can give you a legal identity." ”

Zhao Bufan looked puzzled.

"Venerable Sir, why are you helping me?"

"Because you're not an ordinary person, I see a lion in you, you have an aristocratic temperament that those damn mercenaries don't have, that's the temperament of a ruler, you used to be a very successful lord in the mysterious East, and even managed large tracts of land, didn't you?"

When Viscount Charles said this, his eyes looked very special, and there was a strange light.

Zhao Bufan had no more options and readily accepted his suggestion.

"Well, I wonder in what capacity I'm going to be by your side?"

"Have you and that profiteer of the Chola Kingdom deceived me, that you are not going to seek a way out of the country at all, but that you cannot return to your own country?" asked Viscount Charlie suddenly.

Zhao Bufan felt that Viscount Charlie had insight into his desires, and knew that deception would only bring worse consequences, so he quickly nodded and admitted.

"You're as wise as ever!"

Sir Charles smiled heartily: "Then you will follow me as my knight and servant, if you can use your previous ability to help me, maybe you can become a nobleman again in the future, and then accumulate enough wealth, fame and manpower to return to the country you desire with honor, and by the way, bring back the glory of the Holy See of Light, of course, if you let me get more glory first." ”

"I'll do my best!"

Zhao Bufan silently performed a courtesy.

After that, Zhao Bufan left Venice with Viscount Charles and went to Fort Carter, located in the northeast of the Republic of Venice, which was located on a hillside near the Duchy of Austria under the Holy Roman Empire, and was the domain of Viscount Charlie and the many villages attached to it in Carterburg.

It's a pity that it's almost not his now.

Since coming to Carter Castle, Zhao Bufan often noticed that there were foreign nobles visiting, and those people would talk secretly with Viscount Charles in the castle study every time, and after that, Viscount Charles would often be angry and had an extremely short temper, and the servants did not dare to provoke him.

Zhao Bufan didn't know what the reason was, but he vaguely felt that Viscount Charlie was probably in trouble.

Half a month later, Viscount Charles suddenly transferred all his servants to other nobles, and then he dissolved the subordinate relationship with several vassal knights such as Luoer, and let them find another way, except for Zhao Bufan, only Viscount Charles and his wife, as well as their eight-year-old daughter and two-year-old son, in the huge castle, were so cold that it was panicking.

At this time, Viscount Charlie finally confided the truth to Zhao Bufan.

"Rilo, I must tell you honestly, I am officially bankrupt, and henceforth I am a destitute bastard, and I borrowed large sums of money from greedy nobles in order to pay off a huge debt, using my territory as collateral, and then took great risks to start a great trade, and I have made enough wealth with my wits that I could have lived a rich life and even become a member of the council.

But the damned Fatimids have taken everything from me, and made my adventure a laughing stock for others, and now the creditors have come to me one after another, and asked me to transfer the land to pay off the debt in a legal way, and I can't resist, and now this castle and everything around it belongs to someone else, and my wife has decided to take the child back to her original family, and the child's grandfather will be happy to accept them, but will not accept me, a poor bastard who has nothing!"

Zhao Bufan has already seen through the ups and downs of life, and his emotions seem very calm, in fact, he himself has not fallen from the peak, according to the Great Song Dynasty, thirty years in Hedong, thirty years in Hexi, who can predict the future.

After a long silence, he gently performed the etiquette of obedience.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you, but maybe it's more important now to keep you alive. ”

These words made Viscount Charlie's eyes shine, and he looked at him with admiration: "Lillo, you are my greatest gain in that great trade, you are really so different, you are a true brave man, maybe I should call you the brave Rilo in the future." ”

"I'm honored!" Zhao Bufan said lightly.

Viscount Charles took a deep breath and quickly cheered up: "You are right, I can't be depressed, I can't make those greedy people laugh, I am not only a hereditary nobleman, I am also a brave knight, so I have made a decision, I want to go to the Levant to join the crusaders, maybe the Kingdom of Jeru, maybe the Duchy of Antioch, maybe the Count of Tripoli, maybe the Count of Edessa, in short, if you are willing to accept me." I swear now in the name of a knight that I will regain all the wealth and glory I have lost, and will you continue to follow me in gaining all this?"

Zhao Bufan sighed secretly.

What choice does he have, without the protection of Viscount Charlie, there is no way to gain a foothold, at least now it can be regarded as a share of honor and disgrace.

"As you wish!"

The next morning, Viscount Charles bid farewell to his wife and children, and when he faced his wife's brother, he seemed relaxed, but when the carriage gradually disappeared into the far end of the field, he suddenly wept like a child, and could not be restrained for a long time.

Zhao Bufan didn't care about it, packed up his bags alone, and after finishing it, he pondered the use of the two-handed sword on the side, he has now used this extremely powerful weapon to the fullest, and is trying to form his own swordsmanship.

Half a day later, Viscount Charlie recovered from his dazed stupor, cheered up and embarked on a journey into the unknown.

Out of decent considerations, the weapons and equipment he prepared for Zhao Bufan are very sophisticated, the leather armor that has been boiled through dozens of processes is not weak, and the key parts are also wrapped with iron sheets, which can be regarded as the best type of leather armor at present, and the two-handed sword is also a good sword, according to Viscount Charlie, it is called Carter's holy sword, which was obtained by one of his ancestors at great cost, and is one of the best weapons collections of the Carter family, symbolizing freedom and bravery.

The bow is also very good, it is a short compound bow, which can be used immediately, not the best, but it is also the best grade, but Viscount Charlie has to call it Carter Holy Bow, and it is a unique treasure with an unquestionable attitude, Zhao Bufan expressed his helplessness about this.

As for Viscount Charlie, of course, it was a standard knight's equipment, a knight's spear, a knight's sword, a wooden shield wrapped in leather, and the shield had a pattern of the family crest, and the body was a heavy one-piece chain mail, and a yellow striped robe was draped, which looked extremely powerful.

In addition, they were accompanied by two fine war horses and a pack horse.

Viscount Charles thought that Zhao Bufan was his last partner, so he didn't really treat Zhao Bufan like that, more often like a friend, so he gave his war horse to Zhao Bufan to ride on, and the excess equipment and sundries were placed in the caravan-drawn carriage, including the noble flag planted in the carriage.

Two men, two horses, a carriage, ten knights' spears, a few miscellaneous items, and a banner were all that was there for this army.

They followed the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea and slowly headed east towards the Levant......