Chapter 929 - 152: The Conception of an Overseas Language
By the time Belian arrived, the tavern was already filled with people lying on the ground.
He looked at the only two still standing in the room, a man and a woman dressed luxuriously, not even the hem of their clothes was dirty, and he automatically categorized them as the new casters recruited by His Majesty Losa.
"Sir Belian has arrived!"
A Knight clutching his stomach, writhing in pain on the ground, struggled to get up and shouted, "Sir Belian, you’ve come at the right time, quickly stop this impostor daring to pose as a member of the Imperial Family!"
"Sir Belian, you must not let him leave."
Emotions were running high in the room, yet no one dared to step forward to use force.
Just a moment ago, this man and woman effortlessly knocked down about twenty strong men, among them were famous sword masters from Jaffa City, and judging by their relaxed demeanor, it was obvious they were far from their limits.
Belian coughed slightly, "Sorry, everyone, I must inform you, this is a misunderstanding. That Sir Rudolf is indeed a member of the Habsburg Family recognized by His Majesty Losa."
"What?"
"How is that possible?"
"Doesn’t His Majesty Losa only have one brother named Sir Otto?"
As the news of Baldwin IV intentionally appointing Losa to concurrently hold the position of King of Jerusalem spreads, Losa has now become the most dazzling monarch in all Christendom. His family members and genealogy have already been thoroughly studied by many.
"You were startled, Sir Rudolf, I apologize for the occurrence but I hope you understand that the people of Jaffa acted out of respect for the Habsburg Family, which led to such irrational acts."
Belian scrutinized the elegantly dressed man carrying a sword, who raised his firm eyebrows and flashed a warm smile, "It’s alright, I should be the one to apologize. This money is left for everyone to cover medical expenses."
He placed the heavy money bag on the table.
"Sir Rudolf, His Majesty invites you over."
"Alright."
Rudolf looked apologetically at Lady Mary beside him, "It’s all because of my stubbornness, unwilling to hide our identity, ruining our first adventure in Jaffa."
Mary, seeing the gloom fade completely from Rudolf’s brow, shook her head with a smile and said, "This kind of experience is quite interesting, Rudolf, I think in the future being a pair of wandering knights aiding justice would be great too."
"Mary, in this world without gossip, newspapers, the intricacies of court intrigue, stripping away all unnecessary identities, let’s start anew!"
"Rudolf..."
Mary, for the first time, did not call Rudolf by his title, they looked deeply into each other’s eyes, their gaze seemingly forming a thread.
Belian thought if he didn’t do something, the two might begin kissing on Jaffa’s main street, and such an inappropriate act, if it attracted that inflexible Church deacon from Jaffa City, who knows what kind of trouble it might brew.
He coughed lightly to urge, "You two, His Majesty is still waiting for you, we need to hurry on our way."
"Sorry for keeping you waiting so long."
Rudolf smiled apologetically, somewhat understanding the conservatism of the Middle Ages, even if he didn’t care about the punishments or societal judgments, he knew not to cause trouble for his "ancestors."
Behind him, two soldiers picked up the money bag left by Rudolf, distributing the coins among the injured.
Suddenly someone exclaimed with realization, "I understand now!"
"His Majesty is truly kind and merciful, even allowing a bastard to use the family name."
A leader of mercenaries, born a bastard, lamented with emotion, "If my ’brother’ could be half as tolerant as His Majesty, I wouldn’t have ended up in the Holy Land living on the edge as a mercenary."
Rudolf Crown Prince, indeed, Losa had vested high hopes in him, lacking in talent for internal affairs.
No matter how bad, Rudolf was still groomed as the Crown Prince of a country before.
However, as the Empire’s Crown Prince, like his mother, he was a liberal, even publicly supporting republicanism, making it hard to entrust him with significant responsibilities right away.
He thought Rudolf’s biggest deficiency was experience on the grassroots level, lacking closeness to public sufferings, he should undergo some apprenticeship as a rural lord like a common Imperial Knight.
Of course, even if he could not be raised successfully, Losa wouldn’t be disadvantaged, no matter how bad, Rudolf was the legitimate Crown Prince of Debang, and could play an important role in the "War to End All Wars."
"Captain, I apologize for causing such a trouble."
Rudolf had his pride, unwilling to fabricate his background casually.
He also couldn’t understand the extremely fervent religious atmosphere of this era, or the stature of the greatest Crusader King in the eyes of people in the Holy Land.
Nobles and clergy in the Holy Land might hold personal grievances against Losa for their interests, but ordinary people, citizens, lower nobles, and Knights eagerly looked forward to Losa becoming their King.
"This was merely a misunderstanding."
Losa didn’t have any intention of holding Rudolf accountable, "From Alexandria to Jaffa, any thoughts from the journey?"
"It’s very prosperous, although there are remnants of the ravages of war, it’s much better than the medieval period I imagined."
Upon birth and most of his life, Rudolf Crown Prince lived when Austria was still the Austrian Empire, not later Debang.
At that time, except for the economically developed Austrian core, Veneto, Lombardy, and Bohemian Crown Lands, regions like Galicia, Hungary, Nitra, and Croatia were considered medieval.
In contrast, Egypt from the Ayyubid Dynasty through Mamluk warlord division, continuous fighting and then under Ottoman rule, it spiraled downward, war, land desertification, natural disasters, and plagues made Victorian Egypt, for a long time, worse than medieval.
Now, Egypt is amidst its peak of development.
Losa nodded gently, "Not bad indeed. But you might also notice, like early Austria, my Kingdom is a multinational country. Though problems are subtle now, they will need addressing sooner or later, besides mineral exploration as the primary occupation, do you have interest in pursuing your career?"
Rudolf once envisioned compiling a "Lytania Language" to address Austrian ethnic issues.
Later, Austrian unity with Debang, obtaining autonomy across Crown Lands, shelved the idea thoroughly.
"You mean composing an offshore language?"
Rudolf hesitated, "But the differences among Gauls, Germans, Latins, Greeks, Saracens, and Copts are so vast. Compiling them into a single language seems highly challenging? Moreover, even creating such a language, without anyone using it, would only be a dead language."
Losa shook his head, "Precisely because of high difficulty, early planning is necessary, literacy rates in this era are already low, it’s both a good thing and a matter of difficulty."
Advantageously a blank slate for free drawing, difficult because hardly anyone knows even their native script, striving for overseas language popularization, even if developed, the rollout would undoubtedly be an extensive task.
"How to get people to use this new language is none of your concern."
"It may sound harsh, but even Emperor Franz’s administration over Austria might not exceed my Kingdom’s administrative efficiency."
The Vienna Government then might lack the capability to popularize education to establish Lytania Language nationally, but it doesn’t mean Losa couldn’t achieve it.
Rudolf appeared doubtful but since Losa proposed, he didn’t decline, accepting obediently, "I will comply."