Chapter 933 - 156: Monarch’s Dominion
Jerusalem Royal Palace.
The Royal Knights in purple battle robes had long since formed ranks outside the palace gate.
Losa had once served as Grand Master of the Royal Knight Order, though not for long; he soon handed the post over to Hans.
"Good day, Your Majesty!"
"Your Majesty, now that you’ve been crowned the Common Lord of all the Crusaders, when will you lead us to give those heathen savages another good beating?"
Their expressions were a little excited; as the royal household troops, most of them came from illustrious families and had the privilege of using the finest Equipment from the Royal Armory.
But in essence, they had always been a garrison force guarding the Royal Palace; in recent years their only real combat opportunity had been following Losa to fight Saladin in the Battle of Kaler Castle.
That battle thoroughly established the Royal Knight Order’s renown, saving them from being seen by the people of Jerusalem as mere showpieces living off the battle honors of their predecessors at Mongisa.
"Where has His Majesty Baldwin gone?"
Everyone looked at each other; after a long moment, someone finally stepped forward and said, "His Majesty has left the palace. He said he was going to Jaffa to visit Her Highness Sibylla."
Losa frowned and said, "In the time I’ve been away, you really have gotten quite lax."
He was asking despite already knowing, but appearances still had to be kept up.
Losa waved his hand: "All right, dismiss. Go back to your own posts. I’ll hold an internal tournament tomorrow. Out of the several hundred men of the Royal Knight Order, we have to leave at least half to guard the Royal Palace."
The Royal Knights’ excitement cooled quite a bit; they weren’t at all certain they could stand out in the selection.
Entering the Royal Palace, Losa looked at the familiar furnishings and felt a bit wistful.
"How are you handling the shift from guest to master?"
The Female Knight in bright silver Plate Armor had at some point appeared behind Losa.
Losa didn’t even turn his head. "Our Knight of Chivalry has already set out."
"Mm. And with a very well-rounded adventuring party setup, too. If His Majesty Baldwin really learns to use Holy Radiance, I’d say they might even start working on the great enterprise of dragon-slaying."
Losa let out a light sigh.
Ranger Knight was just a nicer way of saying Landless Knight, because most Feudal Knights had to garrison their fiefs, manage their manors, and fulfill their feudal obligations to higher Lords, making it impossible for them to roam about.
And Landless Knights were, for the most part, a band of idle layabouts who thought far too highly of themselves.
Robber Knight, Mercenaries—those two labels were generally bound together with Landless Knights.
The so‑called "Knight of Chivalry" in this era was nothing more than a story concocted in taverns by Minstrels for petty city folk who had barely seen any Knights in their lives.
Out in the vast countryside of Europe, the so‑called Ranger Knights’ reputation was anything but good.
Because the Knights who truly possessed a chivalrous Spirit had long since died, with not even their bones left, in battles against bandits, brigands, Fierce Beasts, and Demons.
Losa removed the heavy Crown and placed it on the tray held up by the Maids.
Jeanne casually picked a chair and sat down, crossed her long, lithe legs, and propped them up on the table. "Now that your great work is accomplished, why do you look even less happy than before? Are you worried about His Majesty Baldwin?"
"Actually, not too much. With that set of Dragon Scale Armor I gifted him, plus Nishaya and Dimitri watching over him, his safety shouldn’t be a problem."
Though Nishaya was just a little Witch, in the cultivation novels Losa used to read in his previous life, she would count as a scion of a prestigious sect—gifted, sharp, and qualified to appear in the early Chapters as the main character’s childhood sweetheart.
The vast majority of Wild Mages had never gone through such systematic Mage training; that was why Wizards were so keen on endless exploration and secret‑seeking, or else on cloistered research.
According to the Extraordinary principle that "knowledge is Power," Nishaya had in fact already obtained the key to entering the ranks of Advanced Casters.
"Then why are you still frowning?"
"The tree longs for stillness, but the wind will not cease. I originally just wanted to relax for a while after taking back Egypt. That’s why I never meddled in the Northern Crusaders. But the situation has changed; looks like I have to reorganize the army and march North, to completely sweep away the lingering enemies in the Levant."
Losa rubbed his brow; the scope of what he now had to manage really was a bit too large.
On one hand, he had to raise resources to send the Crusaders who had originally been besieging Constantinople on to East Africa, to launch an Africa Crusaders campaign; on the other, he still had to keep campaigning against the remaining enemies in the Egypt Region.
And now he also had to at the same time—
"Isn’t that a very easy matter?"
"What I fear is that the increasingly fanatical Crusaders still won’t be satisfied even after annexing the Levant. To the east there’s Elanshahar occupying the Two River Basin; to the west the Turkic people entrenched in the inland of Asia Minor; to the north the Seljuk Turkic people ruling the Armenian kingdoms, and further North still the Kingdom of Georgia."
He actually did not like Alexander‑style expeditions—one generation conquers vast territories, but most regions remain under nominal rule rather than real governance; once the Monarch falls, everything breaks apart into pieces.
"The Crusaders are a war machine. Leave it unused too long and it rots; keep driving it and it turns into a team of carriage horses."
Losa chuckled softly. "Pretty vivid metaphor. I didn’t expect you to say something that philosophical."
Jeanne couldn’t help knocking Losa on the forehead.
"I’ve been Grand Master of the Holy Knight Order for so many years at least. Do you still take me for that peasant woman who only knew how to write her own name?"
Losa couldn’t help complaining, "If you didn’t act so scatterbrained in your usual words and deeds, I wouldn’t be so taken aback every time you get even slightly serious."
His smile
"Isn’t that a very easy matter?"
"What I fear is that the increasingly fanatical Crusaders still won’t be satisfied even after annexing the Levant. To the east there’s Elanshahar occupying the Two River Basin; to the west the Turkic people entrenched in the inland of Asia Minor; to the north the Seljuk Turkic people ruling the Armenian kingdoms, and further North still the Kingdom of Georgia."
He actually did not like Alexander‑style expeditions—one generation conquers vast territories, but most regions remain under nominal rule rather than real governance; once the Monarch falls, everything breaks apart into pieces.
"The Crusaders are a war machine. Leave it unused too long and it rots; keep driving it and it turns into a team of carriage horses."
Losa chuckled softly. "Pretty vivid metaphor. I didn’t expect you to say something that philosophical."
Jeanne couldn’t help knocking Losa on the forehead.
"I’ve been Grand Master of the Holy Knight Order for so many years at least. Do you still take me for that peasant woman who only knew how to write her own name?"
Losa couldn’t help complaining, "If you didn’t act so scatterbrained in your usual words and deeds, I wouldn’t be so taken aback every time you get even slightly serious."
His smile