In the Middle Ages, people drew cards to be promoted to nobility.

Lothar and Uldin walked side by side in the long and gloomy corridor.

Of the candle burning on the iron lamp stand, only the bottom piece of cotton thread remained, inserted among the debris of the candle's tears.

Lothar, who had been informed by his servants in advance and summoned, took Uldin with him into the palace that was regarded by most of the Jerusalem nobles as the place where the king was waiting to die.

Incense was still burning in the room, but it could barely conceal the faint smell of decay.

Baldwin IV, who was sitting in front of the desk, seemed to be unusually energetic and was pressing his seal hard against the wax oil dripping on the paper.

"coming."

He raised his hand, asked Lothar to sit down, and handed him the paper.

Lothar was a little surprised and said: "Appoint Hans von Sego as commander?"

Baldwin IV smiled and said: "He handled the affairs of the Knights in an orderly manner, but you still only awarded him the honor of flag officer. This is unreasonable."

"Or, because Knight Hans was once your squire, do you think doing this will make people think you are nepotistic?"

Lothar was slightly startled: "This"

"Indeed, Your Majesty. I hope everyone will think that I am a fair leader. As long as they are talented, I will never be stingy in promoting them, instead of just seeking personal gain for my subordinates."

"Baron Lothar, your idea is right, but there is something wrong with your approach. If even your cronies can't get fair treatment, how can you let others believe that you are a fair leader?"

"this"

Lothar wanted to tell the difference, but facing the pair of wise eyes under the other person's mask, he was no longer in the mood to tell the difference.

"I see."

Others would not understand how close he was to Hans, nor would they understand that Hans did not value these things.

From their point of view, they had indeed treated this knight who had been with them for a long time, talented and hard-working.

Baldwin IV spread his hands, motioned for Lothar and Uldin beside him to sit down, and said with a smile: "This is the new parish priest of your territory, Mr. Uldin, right?"

Uldin saluted solemnly and said: "Your Majesty, it is an honor to meet you."

He looked up and down at this legendary monarch who had left a mark on the Levant region in history.

His expression changed slightly. In his opinion, the flame of life of Baldwin IV was swaying like a candle in the wind.

Lothar said: "Your Majesty, Uldin is a favored person of God. He is not a wizard, but has the sacred power from the Father. This power can slowly cure all diseases - so, I I hope you’ll let Uldin give it a try.”

He told a white lie and did not reveal that Uldin could not cure leprosy.

But this is not a lie. As long as Uldin can help Baldwin IV survive, sooner or later, Lothar will find a way to save his life.

"The one favored by God?"

Baldwin IV frowned: "Father Uldin, if you want to get a donation, I can give you ten large gold coins now. As for treatment, it is not necessary."

Even witches could not cure leprosy. The long period of despair not only made Baldwin IV calm, but also made him completely accept the fate that he would die from the disease.

For him, death was a relief.

"Your Majesty, please believe me."

Lothar's determined expression made Baldwin IV sigh softly.

He still didn't have any hope, just said: "Losa, I am very grateful to you for taking care of my health. As your patron and lord, I cherish the friendship between you and me as a king and a minister, so I am willing to accept what you bring." But I hope this is the last time."

"Please wait and see."

Lothar looked at Uldin and said, "We can begin."

Uldin nodded slightly: "Your Majesty, please sit down. Next, I will preach to you. During this process, the power of the holy light will shine on you - but this is not the divine favor that the Baron said. It’s just an insignificant divine revelation, please be sure not to move during this process.”

Baldwin IV glanced at Lothar and said helplessly: "Oh, even if it is to make you give up, I will cooperate."

In a daze, Lothar felt like an elder brother was patient and playing with his younger brother.

This friendship between monarch and minister is really heavy.

Uldin added: "Baron, the treatment process will be very long. After all, His Majesty has been ill for a long time. Please leave the room during this period."

Baldwin IV looked at Lothar, with a little inquiry in his eyes.

Lothar nodded and said: "Your Majesty, to tell you the truth, Father Uldin is actually one of my most trusted confidants. He just came to Jerusalem today. If you trust me, please trust him too."

"All right."

Lothar placed a book on the table.

"This is?"

"Your Majesty, you are a book lover, and I happened to write a story. If the treatment is really effective, please regard it as a gift to celebrate your regaining health."

Baldwin IV was slightly startled, nodded and said: "Okay, just put it there."

He didn't know why he trusted Lothar so unconditionally. He didn't even think about how dangerous it was for the king to leave an outsider who was meeting him for the first time alone with him in the room.

Before going out.

Lothar added: "Your Majesty, please summon your personal servant in advance and tell him, otherwise I am worried that Urdin will suffer misfortune due to misunderstanding during the treatment process."

Baldwin IV nodded: "I will tell Abraham."

Ulm and his fellow hussars like "patrol", a boring job in the eyes of other royal knights.

When the majestic war horses carried them walking on the street, he could always feel the eyes full of envy and admiration.

This was an unprecedented experience for the rural peasants and soldiers of the past.

Although wearing a burqa makes you look bulky, when exposed to the scorching sun for a long time, it becomes even more unbearably hot.

But the hussars still cherish their armor and mounts very much, and spend a lot of time taking care of them every day.

This honor is enough for them to cherish throughout their lives.

"Did you find out clearly?"

"It's them!"

"We had an interview that night. Although it was too late and we couldn't see clearly, there were only a few pagans with distinctive characteristics like them in the entire pagan gathering place."

"You go back and report the news. The others, keep an eye on them and don't launch an attack rashly before the adults arrive."

"Ulm, there are only a dozen of them. We only need one charge to wipe them all out."

The rest of the people also looked at Ulm with some helplessness.

Someone murmured: "I know that there are too few lords who cherish the lives of their subordinates like your lord, but we are hussars, brave and fearless hussars, how can we not even dare to deal with such a small group of heretics?"

"That is, if this continues, how can we defend the safety of the Holy Land and Lord Lord?"

Ulm looked around at the crowd, swallowed, and said seriously:

"Don't think about those personal gains and losses. As you said - we are winged cavalry, not those self-righteous knight masters. For us, only implementing every order of the Lord is the most honorable behavior."

Ulm knew that his companions were all filled with anger.

Many knight masters, and even the squire cavalry of the Royal Knights, often laugh at them as they are simply an honor guard, having never accomplished any worthy feats and not having much actual combat experience.

But implementing Lothar's orders without reservation has been deeply rooted in Ulm's bones.

In fact, the reason why Lothar issued such an order was not entirely because he cared about the safety of his hussars.

Nestlings always have to go through hardships.

But Lothar believed that since these Turks were plotting werewolf corpses, they probably had some extraordinary power that could not be easily dealt with by secular armies.

Hard work does not mean losing one's life. Hussars are much more useful on the battlefield than in small-scale conflicts.