A Crusader with System in the Middle Ages

On a side note, Duke Godfrey of Lower Lorraine, the second son of the Count of Boulogne, and his youngest son, Baldwin, were in Constantinople.

Brinyos had no choice but to agree to Robert’s proposal. After all, he had just accepted the man’s silver, and Robert had treated him very well throughout the journey. The impression this Norman King gave him was surprisingly different from the Norman Lords of Apulia.

In the end, Brinyos, Eric, and the others set out for Constantinople on ten Pisan galley-type ships, transporting one hundred knights.

The Pisans were quite familiar with the waters of the Aegean Sea. They had close trade relations with the Byzantine Empire.

They were even active in the Black Sea region north of Constantinople, trading in goods like silk and spices. They had also obtained certain privileges in Constantinople, including establishing their own commercial centers and churches within the city.

A little over a decade ago, after Pisa won a decisive victory over Genoa and gained basic control of the Western Mediterranean, the Pisans began focusing on expanding into the Eastern Mediterranean to compete with the Republic of Venice. Though their success was limited and Venice still dominated the Eastern Mediterranean, they had managed to secure a foothold.

Leif, meanwhile, was drawing a nautical chart of the Aegean Sea; he considered the Pisans’ charts of Greece to be somewhat crude. Leif was adept at reading currents and winds. He would walk to the bow, lift his chin like a sharp-nosed hound, and turn his head to feel the wind’s direction.

He had two special stones. With them, he could locate Polaris and determine the sun’s position even on cloudy or foggy days, allowing him to determine their bearing.

Whenever the stars were visible, Leif would stand by the ship’s rail, a knotted rope dangling from his mouth with a small piece of walrus ivory tied to one end. He observed their course, periodically reminding the Pisans to make adjustments, which greatly displeased the Pisan navigator. Lagman’s Nordic warriors, however, sided with Leif.

They encountered a small mishap along the way: a sea fog, followed by a strong gale that blew their ships eastward.

It should have been a perilous time, for which the dozing Pisan navigator was to blame. But after the gale, the ships were unharmed, and one of the Pisans was astonished to discover they were approaching Patmos Island. The gloom vanished, and joy instantly filled everyone. The priest aboard was so ecstatic he nearly jumped into the sea, ready to swim to Patmos Island immediately.

The Nordic people and some of the Franks on board, however, were not quite sure what was happening.

Brinyos suddenly explained with a touch of pride, ”Patmos Island. That is where Saint John once lived. Saint John, one of the twelve Apostles of Christ. Legend has it that he completed the Gospel of John and the Revelation there.”

”We have fragments of the original manuscript of the Gospel of John in Constantinople. When Saint John wrote his gospel, he used Greek, you see? Latin is a secondary translation, in which the true meaning is distorted.”

”The Eastern Orthodox Church is the one closest to the true intentions of Christ and the Apostles.”

This drew a chorus of boos. They had always detested the self-satisfied superiority of the Greeks, and though they couldn’t find a reason to refute him, they instinctively opposed Brinyos’s view.

”Yes, yes, the Greeks are the greatest! So great they exiled Saint John to a tiny island. And then they smugly brag that the place he was imprisoned is in Greece.”

”That’s right. I remember Saint John was exiled to Patmos Island by the Romans for preaching the word of God.”

”Saint John probably used Greek because he felt this bunch of morally deficient Greeks needed to be educated the most.”

Several Frank priests started to cause a scene, and Brinyos’s Greeks, not to be outdone, began to argue back.

By contrast, Lagman’s Nordic warriors were much calmer. After showing their reverence toward Patmos Island, crosses in hand, they returned to their places.

A Nordic Warrior asked, ”What are they arguing about?”

A Nordic Warrior answered, ”Something about the language of the Gospel Book, I think.”

Another Nordic Warrior scratched his head and asked, ”What’s a Gospel Book?”

Everyone was speechless.

One of the Nordic warriors continued, ”Oh! I know, I know! It’s a kind of book, like a saga. I love sagas!”

A Frank priest who overheard this was so incensed he nearly coughed up blood.

At that moment, the argument between the Franks and the Greeks stopped instantly. They returned to their seats and admitted to each other that they had all gotten a bit carried away.

Of course, besides the joyous event of approaching Patmos Island, there were also less pleasant sights.

South of the Hellespont, aside from a few small islands, the coastal regions of Anatolia had fallen. Eric and his party could clearly see the tragic state of the Anatolian coastline.

Some of the Nordic warriors who had been to Constantinople before asked where the Imperial Navy was. It made no sense that they couldn’t even defend the Anatolian coast.

Brinyos explained that since the disaster at Manzikert had destroyed the Imperial Army, and with the frequent raids by Turkic Cavalry Archers, the Imperial Navy was stretched too thin to manage alone. Many of Anatolia’s coastal regions could no longer be placed under the Empire’s protection, and all they could do was try their best to evacuate the local residents.

Brinyos’s words were mournful, and his poignant speech stirred the Franks’ sympathy, as well as their hatred for the Turkic people.

After that, the atmosphere between the Franks and the Greeks eased considerably.