Chapter 111 Hope Blue Diamond (Twenty-eight)
◎May the Lord bless him◎
There weren't many things sent from Florence. There were some trauma medicines newly developed by Astasia. This talented female doctor always maintained her contempt for men and was determined to serve women. Raphael borrowed Lucreza's name to get some medicines from her. The quantity was not large, but they were all good things that worked very quickly. There was also a flintlock rifle that was obviously from the collection room of the Papal Palace. The parts were greased, and the brass barrel and trigger were shiny and very well maintained. There were a few clothes and other miscellaneous items underneath.
Redrick took out the gun and turned it twice in his hand. Compared with most of the other bulky guns that are as long as an arm, this gun is much smaller and lighter. It is only a little over one and a half feet long. The gun body made of teak and brass has smooth lines, and every part has been hand-polished to fit perfectly, revealing the beauty of mechanical precision.
Redrick found the emblem of the Papal Palace on the handle. This should be a forbidden object dedicated to the Pope, but now it has crossed the ocean and been delivered to him.
What does this mean?
He stared at it, feeling an indescribable emotion in his heart.
Finally, he looked at the gun again and again, and put it on his belt casually, and waved to the orderly behind him: "Hurry up and count the things. There has been movement in the north in the past two days. I will take a team to take a look."
As the influence of the "Act of Freedom of Religion" gradually expanded in Assyria, more and more people came for Raphael, the "last descendant of the Sargon family". People missed the peaceful and free life when this family ruled Assyria, so they entrusted them with the most simple trust. The death of Queen Amenra and Sancha's succession to the throne of Roman completely broke up the Sargon dynasty. Everyone believed that a new dynasty would be born in Assyria-until the appearance of Raphael.
This monarch, who already had a crown, declared his legitimate rule over Assyria, which meant that he would not abandon Assyria, and the Sargon family would most likely continue its glory.
Before seeing it with his own eyes, Redrick found it hard to imagine how a surname could have such a strong appeal, but in fact it was the Sargon family that did it. The Assyrian people came to the south from all directions, and in the final analysis, the only thing that supported them to get here was such an illusory surname.
Raphael kept writing letters and sending people over from Florence. He established a management system for the town, prohibiting soldiers from looting and officials from collecting any taxes. He encouraged people who came here to cultivate the land and build houses, and ordered soldiers to be paid and allowed to participate in town construction - this would increase their desire to protect this land, and the desire to protect is often the most effective way to promote war.
The officials who came in accordance with the Pope's will strictly followed all the instructions of His Majesty. They wore black robes and were as ascetic as monks, but they worked as efficiently as an experienced farmer. They initially rebuilt the city destroyed by the war, and the colorful tents and ribbons reappeared on the ruins - of course, there were also cattle and sheep grazing leisurely.
"...The initial preparations have been completed, and more and more people are coming to seek refuge. Our food reserves are on the verge of being very dangerous. If you insist on accepting people indiscriminately, then I think I will need more support," Redrick said in the letter. He tried his best to keep his tone official, but he didn't know if it was his own illusion. He always felt that no matter what he said, he was a little bit... coquettish? No, no, no, this must be his illusion. "People are eagerly looking forward to the arrival of their monarch. I can't say that they have any doubts about the Sargon family, but an emperor who has never appeared in front of the people - this sounds very unreliable, right?"
"They want to see you. I know this is part of your plan, but as the commander here, for security and related matters, I think I should have the right to know your specific itinerary first."
Redrick stared at the words. They were clearly written by himself, but why did he feel that there was a strange, uh, sour taste between the lines? He got goosebumps at his own thought.
I just want to know when he will come. His safety is related to the Papal States and Assyria. Many people want to kill him. If the Pope dies now, the entire Syracuse Peninsula will fall into a violent rage.
The storm, and Ashur, Ashur will never be able to climb out of the abyss again, not to mention that protecting him is one of my duties... Redrick explained to himself in his heart, although he didn't know why he was looking for excuses.
"The Holy Crow has received accurate information that Calais and the Pilgrimage Alliance have indeed joined forces. They have been harassing our city for more than a month, trying to make us make unforgivable mistakes in our exhaustion. However, their stupid plot did not succeed. After I raided their house once, they no longer use such stupid methods to provoke me. Maybe they are brewing a bigger conspiracy... But who cares? I will make sure they never return."
He sealed the letter, handed it to the Holy Crow, and watched the young man in the black cloak board the ship, which looked light after unloading the cargo.
The Pope was indeed preparing to go to Assyria, but they were not in such a hurry and only packed a little bit of things every day, as if this was a relaxing and leisurely journey that they could embark on at any time and postpone the plan at will.
Raphael was waiting, waiting for the movement of Calais. He needed to wait for a change in the situation in Assyria - a change that could be good or bad. Then he could leave the Papal States in a natural way, let Francis IV relax his vigilance, lead him to Assyria, and provide Leshet and Duke Francis with an opportunity to attack Calais.
But Calais was very patient, and Raphael could only wait and see.
"This is very strange... Francois gave his lover great privileges. Viscount Julian did not seem to have received any systematic military education, but he has not made any mistakes until now. This is incredible." Raphael said softly, with the map of Assyria spread out in front of him.
Julius stood beside him, holding a glass of crystal-clear amber honey wine in his hand: "Perhaps he is a military genius whose talent has been buried?"
The Pope glanced at him with an indescribable look in his eyes.
Julius chuckled. "Well, such a dramatic story shouldn't happen. So what's your guess?"
"What else could it be? The fact that he doesn't make mistakes can only mean that there are people around him who won't let him make mistakes." Raphael said with his eyes downcast.
"…And that person's words even forced the famous 'Queen Dudley' to obey." Julius continued smoothly.
They were silent at the same time.
Raphael stood up suddenly: "Is the ship ready? I will set off tomorrow - no, today."
Julius frowned. “It’s just a guess.”
"It's a guess that is very likely to be true," Raphael said. "We can never guess the thoughts of a madman."
They were waiting to dig a hole for the little emperor, but how could they be sure that the little emperor was not also preparing to dig a hole for them?
"Then I'll go with you," Julius said without hesitation.
"What about Florence?" Raphael asked.
Julius frowned at him. The Secretary General of the Papal Palace rarely made such suggestions. Every time Raphael left Florence, he was the undisputed candidate to take over the affairs of the Papal States and stabilize the Vatican for the Pope. But only this time... Julius didn't know why, his heart was beating fast. He felt that he had to follow Raphael. It was like the devil's horrible prophecy. He couldn't even think about anything else.
“I—” Julius was interrupted by Raphael halfway through his words, “I’ll leave the Holy See to you. I’ll come back safely.”
There was a hint of comforting tenderness in his final tone.
The man with iron-gray hair stood there in silence for a while, and reason prevailed again. He bent down and kissed the Pope's soft lips.
"Then I am here to guard your throne for the Holy Father."
The Pope's ship had snow-white sails with the Vatican's golden emblem and fleur-de-lis totem spread out on the sails. Along with the loud bells of the cathedral, the sailors on the bottom of the ship frantically stepped on the pedals, providing the ship with the initial kinetic energy for movement. In the boiler room, the blazing flames made the cheeks and chests of every shirtless sailor red and hot. They desperately shoveled coal into the huge furnace, and the heavy and huge ship finally started to move from slow to fast. The people on the shore who heard the news and came to see him off took off their hats and scarves and waved them vigorously at the ship.
On the same day that the Pope entered the Black Sea, Redrick decided to move the border another ten miles north.
This was not a hasty decision. The Holy Crows had been exploring for more than ten days and proved that there were only regular troops of the Pilgrimage Alliance on the opposite side. Since repelling their harassment last time, Calais had focused all his energy on expanding the land to the west.
But Redrick didn't expect that he would meet Calais' army here - no, this should be a surprise for both of them. Opposite them was a small convoy with less than fifty guards. Judging from the formation, they should be escorting an important person and wanted to pass by here secretly. Unexpectedly, they ran into Redrick's plan to attack today.
If the person is caught, he can be exchanged for money from the Emperor of Calais.
This was Redrick's first thought.
Nobles always have various privileges on the battlefield, including the right to be captured. They will receive all the treatment that nobles should receive, and then be redeemed by their own country with money. This is not surprising.
Redrick planned to make a quick buck on this deal—that’s what he thought before he saw the face of the “big shot.”
The army of the Papal States had obviously frightened the other side greatly. They tried to flee in terror, and the "big shots" sitting in the carriage hurriedly got off and changed horses. But when Redrick saw the young man who was surrounded and mounted on the horse from a distance, he felt as if he had been hit on the head and was stunned.
Why is Raphael here? !
The young man in the distance had his long golden hair tied behind his head, and the lines of his profile were smooth and delicate. He quickly glanced over here, and his purple quartz-like eyes almost made Redrick think he was hallucinating.
However, he reacted quickly and discerned the man's identity from the confused voices of the guards on the opposite side.
Viscount Julia.
The "Queen Tudlais", who was well-known in the Syracuse Peninsula due to erotic novels, was the lover of Emperor Calais and the man who was said to be favored by the young emperor.
Redrick knew that there was such a person, and he also knew that the other person had rare blond hair and purple eyes, but he never knew that this person was actually, actually... so similar to Raphael.
It was not the similarity in appearance, but in clothing, expression, and temperament, that mysterious and indescribable similarity, as if every gesture and movement had been carefully reproduced according to Raphael and imprinted on this young man.
Even the clothes he wore were white robes similar to the Pope's daily ones, with intricate and gorgeous gold embroidery on the edges.
The Duke, who was particularly familiar with the private lives of the nobility, was briefly confused for a moment, and his brain suddenly roared as if it had been blasted apart by gunpowder -
François! ! ! ! !
How dare he - insult the Pope like this!
The extreme anger made Redrick completely forget the previous idea of capturing him alive. He just wanted to quickly catch the damn Yulia and make him disappear completely from this world.
A group of people rushed out in a hurry, chasing each other. Redrick still had some rationality left. He ordered his adjutant to take the elite guards to take a shortcut to block the road in front, while he and the army chased after Yulia. Yulia and his group of people were running in front in a panic. Redrick stared at the back of the man who was staggering on his horse, and he was so angry that his teeth were about to bleed.
Looking down from the air, two trails of dust rose from the ground. A small group of people were running wildly in front, and another larger group of people were chasing them closely behind, like wild beasts staring at a rabbit, biting it fiercely from behind.
Redrick chased for more than ten minutes, and saw that Yulia's guards in front of him were in panic but none of them fell out of the team. The vague uneasiness in his heart quickly grew. Could a team that was suddenly attacked and pursued escape in such an orderly manner?
…This looks like an elaborate trap.
The alarm in Redrick's mind rang sharply. He raised one arm and pulled the reins hard. The guards following closely behind him stopped one after another. Another adjutant looked at him: "Sir?"
Redrick narrowed his eyes and watched Yulia and his group running farther and farther away. He was silent for a while, and finally shook the reins: "Go."
He changed direction with his guards and no longer followed Yulia foolishly. Instead, he turned back and returned much faster than before. However, when they saw the valley they had passed through from afar, he discovered it first and heard some strange noises coming from the valley.
Flocks of birds flew up from the forest in panic, like arrows rising into the sky. When they had chased each other through here before, they had also caused quite a bit of noise, but the chaos this time was obviously not the aftermath of what they had brought.
Redrick instantly realized that an encirclement was forming against them - if he was a little slower in reacting and turned back later, the army waiting here would easily swallow them up without them noticing.
But the other party did not expect that their reaction was so sharp that they almost gave up the bait that was so close to them, and thus ran into the trap that had not been fully set up.
In order to form an encirclement, the number of people on the opposite side must be large, and Redrick only had his personal guards with him. The others were sent to the front to besiege Yulia.
Thinking of this, Redrick felt that he was in a dilemma - if he wanted to survive, he just had to rush out of the woods now. Although he would lose some people, he would most likely be able to leave safely, but the more than a thousand people following him would definitely be caught.
More importantly, in order to complete this plan, he sent out more than 10,000 main forces of the Papal States, intending to encircle them from two directions. This would have been a foolproof choice if there was no trap waiting for them here.
How many people are there in the woods? What are their next plans? The one who can use Yulia as bait——
The emotion in Redrick's eyes changed from anger to shock. If Emperor Calais really came to Assyria in person, why had he never learned of this important news? There was no way Raphael could have hidden such an important matter from him. The only explanation was that the Papal States had never been informed of Emperor Calais's movements.
The young emperor's previous action to purge the Holy Raven in Calais dealt a fatal blow to Raphael's intelligence network. Until now, Ferrante's intelligence on Calais still had many gaps and omissions, which led to such a big negligence.
If Francis IV were here, he would not be able to leave.
Redrick thought calmly that the madman deliberately used Yulia, who pretended to be Raphael, to disrupt his sanity. This was a trap set for him.
He had to delay time, at least to buy those more than 10,000 people a chance to fight.
"When the chaos comes, disperse all the Holy Crows and have them run in different directions. As many as possible can escape. Tell them that Emperor Calais is probably here with the main force." Redrick said in a low voice.
The adjutant quickly passed on the order, turned around and looked at him anxiously: "Sir! Please leave here quickly! Before the siege is formed, you can go with the Holy Crow and let me put on your clothes--"
"Shut up." Redrick's face was a little distorted, and he used all his strength to stop his heart from beating too fast, which would make him look like a cowardly and stupid coward.
"He is coming for me." Redrick was extremely sure of this. As the Pope's agent in Assyria, his life was more important than all the papal troops present here, and Emperor Calais would rather let everyone go than watch him escape.
At this moment he clearly saw the end of his fate.
"I'm the fucking Duke, and Dukes never run away!"
Redrick suppressed his pounding heart, drew out his heavy sword, held the heavy iron weapon in his hand, and touched the leather waist with his other hand.
The uncontrollable trembling of the flintlock in his belt suddenly disappeared inexplicably.
Redrick raised his head, feeling calmer than ever before. "Now, let us pray devoutly for His Holiness the Pope."
He said: "May the Holy Lord protect him and may the light of the Holy Father spread over the continent and the sea."
Behind him, the cavalry followed his movements and drew their swords, while the infantry stomped their spears heavily into the mud. Their voices were solemn and low, like countless souls shouting like the wind: "May the Holy Lord protect him, and may the glory of the Holy Father spread across the continent and the ocean!"
On the day he set foot on Assyrian soil, what greeted Raphael was not a joyful crowd or a lively welcome ceremony, but tired-looking soldiers and bad news.
"Your Excellency the Duke encountered an ambush by Emperor Calais. Only one messenger escaped. Your Excellency was very brave. With 923 men, he caused 3,600 casualties on the other side... I'm sorry, Your Excellency, we only found your body. His head was taken away."
The author has something to say:
The stinky little brother is offline!
The character of the younger brother should have had more scenes, but there were too many things to write about, and while I was writing, he disappeared... But I had already decided his ending long ago, and this paragraph about his ending has been lying in my draft box since the name of this character was born.
The college entrance examination is this week, and I have to go to be an invigilator, so I will be late for a few days again. I wonder if there are any senior high school students following this article (if there are, please hurry up and cram for the exam instead of reading the article!!!) I wish all the candidates will get all their guesses right in the exam, and may you have a bright tomorrow and a glorious future. Every drop of sweat and every dark morning will not be in vain! As a teacher, I would like to say a few final words. Please pay attention to the standard of answering questions! Be sure to write down all the steps! Please give points for each step! Even if you don’t know the liberal arts subjects, you have to fill it out! Come on everyone!
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