- Even so?
" Not only that, you will be surprised, but the same people testified that the prince, before certain events, which caused the death of almost all his direct relatives, did not pay attention to his studies. As evidence I was shown three bastards that grew up in the village.
"But Eric was less than fourteen. "
"The prince joined in this simple affair at once, as he had such an opportunity, namely three months before his fourteenth birthday. "Actually, he was so carried away that he threw all the cases and terrorized the young girls of the whole district. If he had not been a baron's son, he would have been beaten mercilessly, and so, using actual immunity, he created a terrible debauchery.
- All this is strange, since it does not fit with his subsequent behavior, nor with the fact that he is credited with many serious improvements in the blacksmith and military craft. How do you evaluate the events near Edessa?
" Using our agents, we learned the details of that battle. Honestly, I'm deeply shocked by what happened there. This is not even an adventure, but some kind of insanity, which, strangely enough, it succeeded. Remember, immediately after the events came very conflicting information about the exact size of his squad at the time of the attack on the troops of Suleimanshah II.
Yes! Did you find out the exact number?
- This is nonsense!
- Yes, that's what everyone thought on that advice when Eric decided to attack. They then sat for a while and decided to see what he would do, having thought, they came to the conclusion that he wanted such a gesture to manipulate and subordinate to his will.
" Why did they contact him at all? "He organized a massacre among civilians there.
" That's why they contacted. "Initially, Emir Mosul had a plan to use the prince to repel the attack of the Sultan, and after that he was killed, since he brought so many losses and grief to these places.
"And what changed his plans? "
- The Battle of Edessa. When he learned that this madman not only won, but did not suffer losses, he was stupefied. Yes, in fact, they all went into a deep stupor, as they made inquiries about him, who he was and what he had been doing before to try to press. And then the perfect surprise.
" Do not go aside. "So, they all were stunned. What next?
" In general, they decided not to quarrel with such a comrade, for such amazing accidents do not happen, and on the advice to offer to pay a ransom for the deceased noblemen. "But the spirit of no one to say this was not enough straight, only hinted. In general, they talked. They received much more than they could have guessed - a successful trade corridor, which seriously simplified matters on the southern branch of the Great Silk Road. And the anticipation of gold saved these prudent and mercantile people from claims against Eric. Not only that, the ruler of Edessa invited him to stay and, according to al-Zahir, spoke of him as the most educated person he had met in his life.
- Here you are what.
- Miracles And what about the Bospor? You said he built a lot of different structures and using them produces iron of excellent quality?
" Yes," he took a knife from his bag and handed it to Innokentiy. "He gave this device to me as a sign of location. "They say that in the market it will cost about a hundred denarii. - Dad took in hand a small, neatly made knife, carefully examined it, tried to finger the sharpness and elasticity of the blade and put it on the table, and he himself, finally, settled down in a small wooden chair.
- Indeed, the amazing quality of iron. When the prince built these structures, he, I believe, used some drawings. Did you get them?
- No, and I doubt I can.
- Why?
- Because they are not. He practically did everything based on some of his conclusions.
"What, no strange texts at all? "
" Why, we managed to get some things of absolutely unclear content. "Here, "he took from his bag a small bundle of crumpled paper. - We could get these sheets by bribing one of the servants in the residence. Erik called him to clean up the room, and the guy was able to pull out a few crumpled sheets from the basket that stood near the fireplace.
" Is that paper? "He spends a fortune writing on paper from China? I thought that it was he who gave me honor and respect with such letters.
" It's true, it's paper. "Only it is made in the workshop of the Bosporus, and not in a far eastern country.
aboutIn that case, can you organize purchases for my yard at a fair price?
- I think this is out of the question, since it is only for internal use. The maximum I can promise is a gift in a number of sheets.
- Did our people try to read these texts?
Yes! To no avail. The language is unknown to them. The only thing they came to is that these groups of small geometric figures are used to write numbers, and the whole text was some kind of calculations. He was stolen back in the summer of last year, during the development of his strange in every respect crossbow.
" Do you suppose he has anything to do with his device? "And why did you take so long? It's been more than six months.
- What is the point in the unencrypted text? Our people have been trying to disassemble it all this time.
" What sort of man is he? "In appearance, the usual butcher, and you dig deeper, then the questions are much more than answers. By the way, do not you know what rumors are about him? Maybe people say something interesting to us?
- Rumors go the most diverse, and are classified from delirium to complete delirium.
YesCurious. Tell me the most delusional.
" That's just one rumor. "It is rumored that Eric is the earthly embodiment of the ancient Greek god of war Ares, he is Mars in the Romans. Say he settled into a guy when the assassins killed him, and since then it's not a little boy, but an ancient god.
- Really, delirium. He is, of course, a striking person, but only a man. And where did this bike come from?
- You will be surprised - from the Order of the Knights Templar.
-
- Yes, I also almost lost my speech when I heard this from the Grand Master.
"Is he sure about that? "
- No, of course not. This is just a guess. However, in my opinion de Plessier very much desires it.
Why? Just why? ? What is the benefit to him?
- Well, how - the ancient god, who once acted as a competitor to the true God, now accepted Catholicism and performs great charitable deeds. The hearts of many people will be affected by this news. And theologically it will be very profitable. The main thing is not to give any official comments. Let it be only rumors.
Ok then Gossip. Something really hurts a lot about one living man of strange rumors and legends. I have a strong impression that we are playing with fire, a very dangerous fire. But this is not scary, but the fact that we do not know anything about it at all - only scattered pieces of contradictory information that mutually exclude each other. You say, the ruler of Edessa speaks of him as a very educated man. Right?
'Certainly.
"How much did he kill civilians there while robbing caravans? "
- Thousands. But all the witnesses were random and saw him only from afar.
- And how to connect this? One of the most educated people is independently engaged in such matters? Have you seen at least one learned monk who was eager to release guts to the gentiles only because they have something to profit from?
"Do you think I'm not an academic enough? " Honorius looked down and blushed slightly.
" But you and you're right. "We completely overlooked this detail.