Ch.168Crusader (1)

Priest Androun, dispatched from the Roman Papal Office, let out a deep sigh.

Then, looking up at the sky, he cried out.

“Oh God! Please show me the way!”

Despite his cry, the heavens did not answer.

At this, Androun wailed.

“On my way here, I encountered bandits. I lost the tribute meant for Prester John. And I was nearly captured by Islamic infidels and sold into slavery. Why do you send such hardships and trials to one who follows Your will!”

The heavens remained unmoved by Androun’s words.

At this, Androun bowed his head.

And he began to recite the Lord’s Prayer.

“Our Father, who art in heaven…”

At that moment, men with swords appeared beside him.

From their appearance, they looked like bandits.

“Looks like a monk.”

“He’s a foreigner, so he’ll fetch a good price.”

“Let’s grab him.”

Androun heard words he could understand. Along with this, the bandits rushed toward him.

In their eyes, Androun was an infidel. Infidels made good slaves.

So there was no reason to miss this opportunity.

“Ugh! Let go!”

“Oh, a young man.”

“And with such fair skin.”

“Delicious.”

They began to wet their lips.

Their god favored homosexuality.

So they believed that violating an infidel priest would even be blessed.

“Stop! I am a servant of God! You… ugh!”

“I can’t understand a word he’s saying.”

“Once his backside is loosened up, he’ll talk less.”

Saying this, they trampled the priest.

And they tried to strip off his clothes.

Just as Androun was about to face a humiliating situation, a chilling sound suddenly came from afar.

Swoosh.

“Gack.”

At that moment, the head of the man who was about to climb on top of Androun was pierced.

Seeing this, the bandits were startled.

“Da… damn! It’s the Mongols!”

“Oh no…! We shouldn’t have come here!”

The bandits belatedly came to their senses and tried to flee.

But the mounted warriors had no intention of letting them escape, closing in quickly.

And they beheaded the bandits as easily as taking items out of a pocket.

“Guk.”

“Aaack.”

The bandits, their heads separated from their bodies, died instantly.

Having narrowly escaped a terrible fate, Androun made the sign of the cross while crying out to heaven.

“Thank you. Thank you, Lord!”

The warriors tilted their heads at Androun’s behavior.

Then they approached him with their swords drawn.

“Please spare me. I am not a bandit. I am a priest. Look…!”

Androun hurriedly pulled out a cross from his body.

And he made the sign of the cross, hoping they would understand.

At this, the warriors’ faces grew serious.

Seeing their expressions, Androun couldn’t help but be terrified.

Because these men might be followers of Islam.

So Androun could only pray inwardly that God would protect him.

“!^@%#”

“!@#^!#^?”

“What… what are they saying?”

At this, Androun began to observe their reactions.

Seeing this, the one who appeared to be the leader of the warriors approached.

“!#@*&$?”

With those words, the man made the sign of the cross.

Surprised, the priest nodded his head vigorously.

“Yes. I too am a servant of God, a believer in Christianity.”

Thinking he was saved, the priest continued making the sign of the cross.

The leader smiled and nodded as if he understood.

And he gestured for Androun to follow him.

Androun didn’t even think about hesitating and immediately followed the leader.

This was because if he stayed here, bandits might continue to approach him.

So Androun followed the leader, prepared to either die or faint.

As he followed the leader, the leader gestured for Androun to ride behind him on the horse.

When Androun showed reluctance, the leader, still mounted, extended his hand to Androun.

Taking that hand, Androun felt his body suddenly lift off the ground.

And in an instant, he was on the horse.

“These people are truly strong.”

Androun uttered a pure exclamation of admiration for these incredibly strong individuals.

Then, things that had been invisible due to tension began to appear.

“They are certainly large in stature.”

Compared to the people he had seen until now, these men were enormously big.

Although Androun himself was quite tall, he felt diminished when standing next to them.

This was because they had broad shoulders and were very muscular.

So he couldn’t help but feel they were at least twice his size.

While thinking this, the leader of the warriors gestured for Androun to hold on tight.

Not knowing where to hold, Androun placed his hands on the leader’s shoulders.

Suddenly, the horse began to gallop.

“Whoa!”

Androun was greatly startled by the sudden departure.

But soon he adapted and was able to look around.

“Wow…”

He marveled like a child.

This was because after riding for just a short while, they arrived at a place where a well-paved road stretched out long.

He didn’t know where the road led, but seeing the many people coming and going on it, Androun found the sight fascinating.

“They even carry expensive items on their heads. That means there must be no bandits here.”

It was immediately apparent how good the public security was.

This was because if security was poor, it would be impossible to move around with such items.

Just now, Androun had merely been walking by himself when bandits approached him.

So if these warriors hadn’t helped him, he might have become a slave again and been taken to an unknown place.

He felt fortunate to have escaped such a terrible fate.

As they rode on, the horse carrying Androun eventually reached the outskirts of a city.

Seeing the magnificent scale of the fortress, Androun opened his mouth wide.

“What an enormous size. This must be the capital of this country, as it rivals Rome in scale.”

Saying this, Androun looked at the fortress or city.

Upon arrival, Androun dismounted and was guided by the warrior to a temple inside the city.

During this process, Androun was greatly surprised to see various temples coexisting within the city.

“Islamic mosques, Christian churches, and various other temples all together. It’s simply amazing.”

This would be impossible in Europe.

Androun was aware that such practice itself was heretical, but he kept his mouth shut for fear of being expelled from the city if he mentioned it.

His goal was not to lead this country into God’s embrace but to request Prester John to send crusaders.

Anyway, while thinking this, they arrived at a Christian church.

This Christian church followed the Nestorian school, which had been exiled at the Council of Ephesus and expelled from the orthodox church.

The Nestorian school was not completely branded as heretical. This was because they argued that human nature and divine nature unite to form a single person.

This was similar to the dyophysitism of the Chalcedonian school, which is recognized as orthodox in current Christianity. So while not recognized as orthodox by the council, Christianity did not consider Nestorianism heretical.

Of course, this was only from the Roman Catholic perspective.

If one were to look at Nestorianism, which had migrated eastward over many years and blended with local cultures, diluting its essence, Catholicism would clearly define it as heretical.

However, unaware of this fact, the Pope considered Nestorianism as part of Catholicism and sent Androun to request help.

Anyway, while Androun was thinking this, someone approached him.

Seeing that he was wearing purple vestments worn by bishops, Androun immediately recognized him as the bishop of this place and greeted him.

“Grace be with you in the Lord. Are you the bishop?”

The man, who appeared to be Sogdian, nodded.

He answered in fluent Latin.

“Yes, I am. But seeing that you speak Latin and have fair skin, have you perhaps come from beyond the Anatolian peninsula?”

“Yes, I have. I have come to meet Prester John, following the will of the Father, His Holiness.”

“Johannes…”

The bishop fell into contemplation for a moment.

Seeing this, Androun was inwardly filled with thousands of thoughts.

Could it be that the legend of Prester John was false?

If this were false, the current Christian world would inevitably fall into despair.

And many Christians would surely suffer at the hands of infidels.

The danger Jerusalem faced was proof of this.

At this, Androun made the sign of the cross and called out to God.

And he earnestly prayed that the Lord’s grace would be proven to exist in this land.

Perhaps his earnest prayer reached its destination.

Soon, the bishop smiled and nodded.

“You have come to the right place.”

“Then… is the legend true?”

“I don’t know what legend you’re referring to, but the current leader of the Ulus was baptized with the name Weihan, so it must be correct.”

“Weihan…?”

“Ah, I apologize. Weihan is the Chinese pronunciation of Johannes.”

“Ah…! So the legend of Prester John was true!”

Androun collapsed to the ground.

And with tears streaming down his face, he looked up at the sky.

“Lord. Lord… I feel once again that Your providence is here. That You are watching over the Christian world.”

The bishop tilted his head with a puzzled expression at this sight.

And looking at Androun, he asked a question.

“You keep mentioning the legend of Prester John. What is this legend?”

At the bishop’s question, Androun could not say anything.

This was because tears would not stop flowing from his eyes.