Chapter 908 - 132: Arrival
Just like Constantinople across the water, Galata City had not been peaceful last night either.
The nobles of the Crusaders were at each other’s throats, arguing without end.
Outside the church in Galata City, many Crusaders and Clergy spent the whole night in devout repentance.
Whether they were truly overawed by the divine favor Losa had displayed, or had long felt guilty for turning Blades and Guns against their brothers in Christ, now they wished only that Losa might forgive their sins and send them on to continue the campaign against the Heretics, so as to cleanse their guilt.
A Hermit from Gaul Aisne, eyes brimming with tears, climbed to a high place and cried out loudly:
"Brothers, we cannot keep marching on along this false road. The great God‑favored Monarch, the very Losa who struck down Saladin with his own hands, reclaimed the Alexandria Major Archdiocese, and defended the Holy City of Jerusalem, has now come in person to Constantinople, vowing to put an end to this war—can we still let ourselves be blinded by the Devil and heap sin upon sin?"
"No, we cannot keep fighting on."
"Honored Monk, tell us how we should repent?"
The Monk shouted, "Of course we must go to the Eastern lands, and continue that great holy war!"
"Lord, have mercy on us who have been deceived, forgive our faults, wash away our sins; we are willing to swear to fight the Heretics to the end, to use our whole lives to glorify Your holy name! Amen!"
"Lord, according to Your lovingkindness have mercy on me; according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions."
Bella III, fully dressed and about to head to the council hall, pulled his Cloak tighter around him when he heard this.
Blinded by the Devil?
Who is the Devil?
He hardly dared to think.
The Attendants beside him could not help but stick up for their Monarch: "It’s all that Alexios’s fault. That crafty Greek is the Devil who bewitched us onto the wrong path. How could anyone think this was Your Majesty’s fault?"
Bella III shot him a savage glare, quickening his pace as he pushed through the crowd.
If his identity were recognized in a place like this, and he were beset by Pilgrims and Crusaders, then even if he beat back these ’rebels,’ his reputation would be utterly ruined throughout Christendom.
Before long, Bella and the Knights and Attendants hurried into Galata’s council hall.
This had originally been the upper‑level governor’s office of the Empire’s Galata City. After the Crusaders’ Fleet arrived, the Venetians inside the city quickly opened the gates in collusion, and it was taken and turned into the meeting place for the Crusader nobles.
In the great hall, a multitude of Crusader nobles had already gathered. According to their friendships they clustered in little cliques, clearly separated from each other.
Some were drinking, some were chatting, and quite a few nobles had even pulled out Gwent Cards and begun to play, from time to time letting out cries of frustration or delight; the entire council hall was as chaotic as a marketplace.
When Bella III entered, he did not at first draw much attention.
But once the first noble stepped forward to greet him, more and more people set aside what they were doing and turned their eyes upon this man of exalted rank.
"Well, if it isn’t the noble King Saint Stephen, Your Majesty. Now that we are trapped in Galata, with no way forward or back, and that King Losa keeps saying he will hold us to account for our sins, what wise counsel do you have for us, Your Majesty?"
Others were not as sarcastic as this man, but they could not help asking, "Your Majesty, what should we do now?"
Bella III forced down the anger in his heart and cursed, "Who could have thought that Losa, busy besieging Cairo, would drop everything at a time like this and rush to Constantinople?"
"And who could have thought that the Empress of the Eastern Empire would hand half the Empire’s legal claims to a foreign Monarch she had met but once?"
"If not for these twists of fate, we would already have taken Constantinople. Each of us would be wrapped in splendid silks, with bulging Money Bags in our belts, and under the new Emperor of the Eastern Empire’s patronage, we’d have set out on the Eastern Expedition."
"By then, whatever sins we bore would all be wiped away with a single stroke, wouldn’t they?"
He strode fiercely to the center of the council hall. "Since all of you came here, was it not precisely because you agreed with this plan of mine?"
A Crusader noble, eyes bloodshot, shouted, "At worst we fight them to the end. I refuse to believe that Losa, as King of the Egyptian Crusaders, could truly slaughter us all!"
"Yes, that’s right. Losa is nothing but the second son of some country Count; he seized the throne of Egypt by sheer good fortune. Does he now mean to block the path by which we successors gain wealth and power?"
The naked words of these two nobles tore away the fig leaf hanging over many faces in the hall.
If Losa was on their side, then he was a God‑favored Monarch; but if he blocked their road to profit, then even if God Himself descended, He would not win their approval.
So it was in truth; yet once their words fell, the council hall sank into a long Silence.
After a while, someone sneered, "Fight him? With what? You won’t even get close to him. That malformed three‑headed Demon Dragon can melt your flesh and bone with a single breath."
"We wouldn’t even need that Demon Dragon. The Witch Consultant Team under His Majesty Losa—everyone has long heard of their power. Bella III has recruited no few gifted oddities under his banner; I imagine he understands better than we do what that means, doesn’t he?"
Someone raised his head high and walked to Bella III’s side. "If you ask me, the only thing we can do now is sit here and wait for His Majesty Losa to arrive, then go kiss his toes and trade that for his forgiveness."
"Shameful! The Montmorency Family is a most illustrious house—how did it produce a spineless wretch like you?"
The man looked utterly unconcerned. "Brothers, if we speak of bloodlines, the Habsburg Family can also trace its line back to Charlemagne the Great Emperor. For His Majesty Losa, as a mere second son of a noble house, to become King of the Crusaders in the Holy Land in only a single year—if that is not a Miracle, then what is it?"
"Godfrey of Bouillon, the great Holy Tomb Guardian, took three years from setting foot in Asia Minor to retaking Jerusalem and receiving that Thorn Crown!"
As they argued, startled cries suddenly rose from outside.
At once, three clear, melodious dragon roars sounded from far to near, echoing without cease.
The Crusader nobles all rose to their feet. They knew that the dragon‑riding Monarch, the new Basileus of the Eastern Empire, the King of the Crusaders ruling Egypt, had arrived.
The Crusader nobles all rose to their feet. They knew that the dragon‑riding Monarch, the new Basileus of the Eastern Empire, the King of the Crusaders ruling Egypt, had arrived.
The Crusader nobles all rose to their feet. They knew that the dragon‑riding Monarch, the new Basileus of the Eastern Empire, the King of the Crusaders ruling Egypt, had arrived.