Chapter 77: Departure Ceremony
Chapter 77: Departure Ceremony
Today in Jerusalem, many streets appeared much quieter and emptier than usual. The people had all gathered before the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to watch the departure ceremony for the Crusade marching north. A dense tide of humans blocked everything, making passage impossible.
With Regent Raymond needing to head north, all affairs of the Knights of Jerusalem fell into the hands of Baron Godfrey, who served as Commander. He rode alongside Lothar on their warhorses, conducting a patrol.
Lothar chuckled, teasing, "Baron Godfrey, your dark circles look like the eye powder used by those Saracen slave girls. It seems the position of Commander isn’t so easy either."
Godfrey retorted irritably, "I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in three days! The Knights of Jerusalem are vastly larger in scale than the Royal Knights!"
The Knights of Jerusalem had over thirty thousand registered members in total, though this included numerous honorary members. But the portion stationed in Jerusalem, directly under the command of the King and the Grand Master, still numbered as many as three thousand armed personnel, not even including non-combatant servants and the like.
Compared to the Royal Knights, who numbered no more than eight hundred in total, the Knights of Jerusalem were a veritable behemoth. Their strength in Jerusalem was not much weaker than that of the Knights Templar or Knights Hospitaller.
Lothar jested, "Let’s hope Lord Tiberias isn’t like Sir Godfrey, leaving a Commander in his Knightly Order who is solely focused on unseating the Grand Master. Oh wait a minute, Sir Godfrey ’is’ the Commander? Then never mind."
Baron Godfrey said huffily, "This year, I had to spend half my time in my own fief and even took a ship to Provence. The affairs of the Knightly Order had to be handed over to Count Philip, which is how his prestige in the order greatly increased. But how was I to know he would openly stand up to challenge your position?"
Their mood was actually quite good.
After Count Raymond and other members of the Nobles’ Party, along with some nobles from the Queen Mother’s Party who were also joining the expedition, left Jerusalem, the King’s Party had finally gained more power.