Ch.198Eastern Roman Empire (3)

When most of western Anatolia had submitted to the Ulus, an envoy arrived from Sicily.

The envoy adopted European etiquette before addressing me.

The Venetian merchant immediately relayed what the envoy said through an interpreter.

“King Johannes of the Crusaders, who answered the Father’s call and punished the wicked heathens. I have come here on behalf of William II of Sicily, the rightful king.”

Now they were calling me the Crusader King.

Whatever I had become, my reputation had grown that much, which was something to welcome.

“I am well aware of William II’s reputation. Welcome.”

The envoy seemed surprised by my words.

It was understandable that he would be puzzled, as I gave the impression that an Eastern king was well-acquainted with William II.

“God reveals everything to me. I even know that William II expelled Stephen, removed Margaret from power, and took control of state affairs.”

“How did you know that…”

In truth, this was information known to all Sicilians.

But for me, coming from the distant East, to know this fact was bound to be a great shock to the envoy.

“As I said before, I am under God’s protection. What I know of William II comes from the Word of God (Verbum Dei).”

I recited the Latin phrase.

Surprised, the envoy looked at me and questioned in Latin.

“You… speak Latin?”

“Yes, Lamb of God (Agnus Dei).”

The envoy immediately made the sign of the cross.

Then he bowed to me and recited the names of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

“God’s army has arrived on earth. Is this the will of God?”

“Yes. The Father in Rome also commanded me to punish Andronikos for his sins. I will follow his will and, as the guardian of the rightful Roman Emperor Alexios II, punish the tyrant.”

At the mention of the Pope, the envoy nodded.

Sicily, ruled by William, was geographically close to the Islamic realm of North Africa, but Sicily was fundamentally a Christian nation.

As such, they had to follow wars sanctioned by the Pope.

And as it happened, the initiative for this war was held by Alexios, or more precisely, by me as his guardian.

This meant that no matter how much William II might attack the Byzantine Empire, he could not effectively claim any territory.

He could defy the Pope’s will and occupy land.

However, if he did so, Roman Catholicism might consider the Pope’s authority undermined and excommunicate the King of Sicily.

The Pope was not the type of person to go to such extremes.

But if Gregory VIII was a power-hungry individual, he might force an excommunication.

This was especially problematic because the current King of Sicily had no heir.

If a monarch without an heir was excommunicated, the entire country could collapse.

This was because any noble in that country could become king simply by removing the excommunicated king.

In such a scenario, the Sicilian nobles would ally with Rome,

and the Pope could unite with them to give legitimacy to the noble who would become the new king, greatly expanding church lands in Sicily.

Of course, this was an extreme example.

Nevertheless, because there was even a slight possibility of such an outcome, William had no choice but to ally with me to attack the Byzantine Empire.

“Therefore, the initiative for this holy war belongs to Alexios, and without the approval of me, his guardian recognized by the Pope, you cannot participate. I inform you of this in advance.”

Faced with this nearly flawless justification, the envoy could give no answer.

As I keep mentioning, their justification for war based on the massacre of Westerners fell far short of the legitimacy that Alexios and I possessed.

Given this situation, the envoy carefully tried to persuade me to resolve the matter.

“The Kingdom of Sicily and His Majesty William II also recognize the leadership of Emperor Alexios and his guardian, Prester John. However, Sicily has suffered greatly from Andronikos’s tyranny, including the murder of Sicilian people. Therefore, Sicily wishes to assert that it has some right to punish Andronikos.”

“That vengeance is just. However, the price for that damage will be paid in blood, and the integrity of Roman territory must be recognized.”

Though I spoke in complex terms, the meaning was simple.

I acknowledged their right to personal revenge.

But it was impossible to take territory as compensation after that revenge.

“The integrity of territory… you say?”

“Yes. The Ulus supports the unification of the Christian world as advocated by the Father. For this reason, we will only punish the tyrant and restore the rightful owner to his place. This proves that the Ulus shows no greed for Roman territory.”

Of course, this was nonsense.

Already, many Byzantine cities, including Nicaea, had surrendered to the Ulus.

Although they had technically surrendered to Alexios, as long as Alexios was a mere figurehead in our hands, these territories were effectively part of the Ulus.

But on the surface, the Byzantine cities had surrendered to Alexios.

Moreover, they had surrendered of their own accord. Therefore, the absurd sophistry that the Ulus had no greed for Byzantine territory could be established.

Simply put, it was wordplay.

However, this wordplay was intertwined with considerations of papal interests, peace in the Christian world, and the influence of the Byzantine Emperor.

Therefore, this sophistry could not be dismantled by simple logic.

This sophistry was like the Gordian knot.

To untie it, one would need to cut it with a sword like Alexander the Great.

And behind that sword stood the great army of the Ulus.

Unless the Kingdom of Sicily was foolish, they would not—or rather, could not—do something as stupid as confronting a large army with legitimate justification.

“Envoy of Sicily.”

“Sp-speak, Johannes.”

“Is Sicily a wolf-like nation that breaks the peace of Christianity under the pretext of the massacre of Westerners and seeks private gain? Or is it a true nation that helps the Ulus, supported by the Father and the legitimate heir of the Byzantine Empire, to restore fallen justice?”

The Sicilian envoy suddenly found himself in an awkward situation.

If things continued this way, he would have to help the Ulus unconditionally without any benefit.

Of course, they would achieve revenge for the massacre of Westerners, but it would be impossible to occupy territory as in the original history.

“Th-this is a decision I cannot make. I will inform my country of this and then relay their response to you.”

“See that you do.”

After saying this, I sent the envoy away.

Having been harassed by me for a while, the envoy fled in haste.

Then Munglig approached me with a question.

“Is it alright to let him go like that, brother?”

“I pressured Sicily through the envoy, but I cannot force them to help us.”

In truth, Sicily had a way out.

They had promised supplies to Richard I and Philip II, who were participating in the Crusades.

So they could use this as an excuse to delay support for the Ulus.

“But if they delay like that, Sicily cannot avoid damage to their diplomatic reputation.”

There was a reason why the Sicilian envoy had sought us out in the first place.

It strongly implied that they too had a justification regarding the Byzantine Empire, so let’s join hands and divide it between us.

My thinking on this was simple.

If they had no interest in territorial division, they should have approached Alexios, not me.

This meant they also knew that Alexios was nothing more than a figurehead.

So they tried to negotiate with me,

and I simply dealt with Sicily, like moths to a flame, and then counterattacked.

“Seeing things like this, I truly feel that you are a person chosen by God, brother.”

I responded to Munglig’s praise with a smile.

Then I turned my head to look at Constantinople.

There, spies from Venetian merchant backgrounds, dispatched by Muqali, were active.

It was about time for the second order I had given them to arrive.

* * *

“The country is in turmoil, so students are easily swept up in the atmosphere.”

Michael of Ephesus, a philosophy professor at the University of Constantinople, said these words as he put down his teaching staff.

This was because the entire country was in chaos, and not a single student came to attend his class.

He could only lament the irrational atmosphere that had gripped the country.

“A tyrant’s actions are temporary, but learning continues. Shouldn’t students fulfill their duties as students for the country to stand upright…”

He rose as he said these words.

And in a dejected voice, he murmured as if sobbing.

“A professor without students to teach is nothing.”

With that, he packed all his belongings and was about to return to his hometown.

Then a man appeared before him.

“Are you Michael of Ephesus?”

“I am. But what business do you have? You don’t seem to be a student…”

The man did not answer.

Seeing this, the professor thought that his time had come and extended his hand.

“It seems the Basileus is angry because of my critique. I do not fear death.”

This was because Michael had written a critique criticizing the current emperor’s tyranny and the state of education.

Indeed, many intellectuals at this time condemned Andronikos’s tyranny.

His friend and mentor, Michael Sikidites, had lost both his eyes after being imprisoned merely on suspicion of participating in a conspiracy against the emperor.

Given that the tyrant conducted such a reign of terror, Michael assumed he would meet a similar fate.

“‘I do not fear death.’ A good saying, but I have no intention of killing you. Rather, I’ve come to save you.”

“Save… me?”

“To be precise, I’ve come here on my lord’s orders to save Constantinople’s intellectuals, artists, and architects who would suffer from the war.”

“War… do you mean Emperor Alexios? Then… you are…”

“Yes. I serve Prester John, the legitimate Khagan of the Ulus and Emperor of the Central Plains.”

At this, Michael of Ephesus could only blink in surprise.

It was difficult to understand that Alexios’s guardian had sent someone to save Constantinople’s intellectuals.

This phenomenon was not unique to Michael of Ephesus.

The same was happening to soldier-historians like Eustathius, Johannes Zonaras, and Johannes Kinnamos.