A Crusader with System in the Middle Ages

The dire state of Mann was far worse than Eric had estimated. He had heard that William’s violent conquest had caused a famine, and on his journey from the Hebrides Islands to Caen, he had seen children who had fled from Mann and the Alençon Region.

At the time, he had wondered why he hadn’t seen any adult refugees. It was only upon entering Mann that he discovered the reason: William had blockaded the region, intending to use starvation to force the Mann People to cease their rebellion and strictly prohibiting any adults from fleeing.

William was already exasperated by the frequent rebellions of the English, so when the Mann People rose up in concert from across the channel, it ignited his fury.

While the English Channel is not wide, moving armies across it was no easy task. The rebellions in England were more intense, so William stationed his main forces there. To deal with the Mann People on the continent, he primarily hired Mercenaries from Brittany or Flanders.

The mounting extra expenses led William to make his suppression of Mann increasingly brutal.

This brutal suppression led to plague and famine ravaging Mann, leaving the land exceedingly vulnerable and its people forever plotting revenge.

William had ordered most of the castles dismantled, leaving only a few standing in the border regions.

Eric had originally planned to lead his entire army directly into Mann, crush Rufus’s main force, and drive him out. However, the miserable state of Mann meant it couldn’t possibly provide enough provisions for his army.

Transporting supplies from the Cotantain region of Normandy would create too much of a stir. Not knowing Rufus’s exact location or the extent of his control over Mann, such a move was too risky. Furthermore, the presence of plague in Mann made it unsuitable for a large army to march through.

Therefore, Eric surmised that Rufus probably hadn’t brought a large army into Mann either. Perhaps Rufus hadn’t even waged any major battles there; he might have simply raised the banner of the King of France and won the support of many members of the Mann Nobility.

Alternatively, Rufus might have struck a deal with the King of France, promising Mann as the King’s personal domain.

Thus, Eric abandoned his original plan. On the second day after entering Mann, he entrusted three hundred Knights and three hundred Archers to Leif, ordering him to return to Cotantain in Normandy for the time being. From there, he was to dispatch one hundred Knights and two hundred Archers to reinforce Rouen, letting the defenders of Rouen City know that help was on the way and preventing them from surrendering prematurely.

Eric himself, leading one hundred Knights and one hundred Archers, would continue to operate in Mann and search for Rufus’s main force.

....

”If this damn thing actually worked, he’d be out here dancing a jig with us. How many Cultivators have done this, yet now they’re all stinking to high heaven, left for the worms to feast on. Pathetic.

And I’m next.”

The long-haired man pulled up his hood and took something from a small pouch. He rolled it between his fingers into two small, fluffy balls and stuffed them into his nostrils.

They were little bundles of clove and lavender. The Cultivators believed they could prevent evil miasma from entering the body and ward off sickness.

But the Cultivators who’d said that were almost all dead now.

Then he put on a ragged cloth mask. It was damp. ’That Priest poured something on it... I hope it’s not poison.’

’Even a Priest goes to Hell for murder.’

Comforting himself with the thought, the long-haired man wrapped the girl’s father’s corpse in a bedsheet, then gave the sheet a sharp tug, pulling the body onto the floor.

He paid it no mind. ’It’s not my father. I couldn’t care less.’

’I was forced into this risky line of work. How much enthusiasm can they expect from me?’

’Dammit. A few centuries ago, they would have made a Saint out of someone for doing this.’

Cursing under his breath, the long-haired man dragged the corpse outside.

Eric, the girl, and a group of Knights were waiting by an oak tree a short distance from the house.

Upon seeing Eric, he fell silent.

He grabbed a shovel and started digging a grave for some unlucky father he’d never even met.

The long-haired man remembered that when the girl had found them, she had asked for help putting her father in his grave. ’But there’s no grave at all.’

’She was just playing on our sympathy to get us to do the work for free.’

The long-haired man cursed her out in his head.

The girl, of course, had no idea that the long-haired man was mentally cursing her up and down.

The girl went back into the house and returned a moment later, a bundled-up bedsheet slung over her shoulder, clearly filled with possessions she intended to save.

The girl squatted on the ground, untied the bedsheet, and took inventory of its contents. She bit her finger, trying to remember if she had forgotten anything.

”He called me his little moon,” the girl said suddenly.

”What?” Eric looked over at the girl, unsure who she was speaking to.

”His little moon. That’s what he always called me,” the girl continued. ”He was a good man. My father was a good man.

He was a Lawyer. He had a chance to become one of the Nobility once. My father helped a great nobleman win a lawsuit against the King. The nobleman said he would give my father a piece of land on the condition that he marry his sister.

But my father refused because he had already promised my mother. He said the most important thing was to be a man of your word.”

”He was a good man.”

”Of course. But then the Duke of the Normans came. Everything changed. They hung my father for a day and a night, and after that, he wasn’t a Lawyer anymore.”

”I’m sorry.”

”It’s not your fault, Sir Priest. After that, he became a beekeeper.