A Crusader with System in the Middle Ages

”What makes you think God is on your side?! Or do you think the almighty God, the merciful Lord of Heaven, is as cruel as you are, as hypocritical as you are? As arrogant and high-and-mighty as you are!”

”That was martyrdom! They should thank me! They died for the Lord’s cause!”

”Then why are you still alive? Such an honor should belong entirely to a devout believer like you! Shouldn’t it? If you claim to have such Devotion, to be acting on God’s will.”

”If you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. God has other plans for us! We will not retreat forever. This temporary retreat is for the sake of the Lord’s victory!” (Gospel of Matthew 10:23)

”A man who retreats, yet shamelessly thinks of himself as an Apostle? Let’s return to the previous question. Which one are you?

Saint Peter, who went alone to Pagan Rome to fight for his faith and bring the gospel to the western frontiers? Or Apostle Paul, who preached far and wide with wisdom and zeal, holding fast to his faith even in prison, until his martyrdom?

All twelve of Christ’s Apostles were martyred for their faith. Tell me, which one do you compare to? A villain? A blasphemer? Which Apostle’s hands were stained with the blood of believers, as yours are?” Eric laughed and threw the man to the ground. ”Or do you think you’re greater than them? All because of those butcher’s hands of yours!?”

”They died because of you! Because of you rabble-rousers and your bewitching words! Because of you bandits who act in God’s name!

You are more despicable than Saul of Israel!

Yahweh sent him, saying, ’Go and completely destroy the sinful Amalekites and all their possessions. Attack them until they are annihilated.’

God wanted him to utterly destroy all the possessions of the Amalekites, yet he spared the best of the cattle and sheep!

He said, ’My lord, I have carried out your command!’”

Eric bent down, grabbed a handful of Gold and Silver Coins, and then slammed them back onto the ground. The coins crashed against the Church floor, letting out a violent, piercing clatter, and a few Silver Coins struck the elder’s face.

”’Then why do I hear the bleating of sheep and the lowing of cattle in my ears? Where did they come from?’” (Old Testament, 1 Samuel 15:14)

Jesuade picked up the thread, ”And the faithless Saul replied, ’The people brought them from the Amalekites. They spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to Yahweh your God, but we have completely destroyed the rest.’”

But Eric roared at the elder, ”Silence! Does Yahweh delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying His voice?

To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams!

I tell you, rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry!

Because you have rejected the command of Yahweh, He has also rejected you as king!

And I tell you now! Yahweh has departed from you and has become your enemy!” (Old Testament, 1 Samuel 15:16-23)

”Impossible! Impossible! Impossible! My Lord is with me! My Lord is with me! Devil! The world is the Devil’s creation!”

The elder ran screaming out of the chapel, and a few Monks chased after him.

A few Knights were about to give chase. Just as they were about to step out of the chapel, a loud crash echoed, followed by a scream of agony, and then the clinking of Gold and Silver Coins.

Eric walked out with the Knights and was immediately hit by the thick stench of blood.

The Patulin Sect elder was lying on the ground, pinned beneath a wooden Holy Image—the wooden Holy Image of Christ from the bell tower.

Having fallen from the tower, the wooden figure had split open, spilling the Gold and Silver Coins from within. They rang out with a crisp sound, a rhythm that seemed almost deliberate.

The weight of the wooden statue alone, especially a hollow one, would have been survivable. But the weight of the gold and silver inside was more than enough to crush a man.

Eric looked up and saw two rather bewildered-looking Knights standing on the tower, in the spot where the wooden Holy Image used to be. ”Count, are you alright? We... our hands slipped. This Holy Image was surprisingly heavy, and we couldn’t keep our grip.”

”Come down when you’re done.” Eric waved his hand dismissively and turned his gaze to the Patulin Sect elder.

His spine must have been shattered. Blood stained a large swath of the Gold and Silver Coins. He stretched out a hand, trying to crawl away, but it was useless.

His bloodshot eyes turned his vision into a sea of red. ”God is... with me...”

In his blurry vision, he saw a woman crouching before him. A woman cradling a dead cat, blinking at him.

”Come down from up there, come down from up there...” the woman chanted, pushing at the Holy Image on the elder’s body and then poking it with her finger.

Delirious from a fever, she looked like a madwoman.

Finally, his arm lost its Power, and he stopped breathing.

......

With the ”accidental” death of the Patulin Sect elder, all the Patalin Monks in Piacenza completely abandoned their resistance.

Piacenza, this city, now belonged to the Normans.

Eric had his Knights round up some of the citizens and bring them back to the front of the Church. He made them witness the Patalin Monks standing outside the Church, confessing their sins to a Holy Image.

Afterward, Eric set up a table outside the Church and planted his heraldic banner beside it. He announced that he would hear any citizen’s appeal and would adjudicate any and all disputes that had occurred during the time the Patulin Sect controlled Piacenza.