king of ros

Chapter 48 The Pagan Procession
Cheers resounded through the clouds from within the wooden and stone structure walls. It was the citizens of Kyiv cheering for their Grand Duke.

Although Rostislav couldn't see it, he could completely imagine the scene. Wherever the Grand Duke on a steed passed by, the subjects lined the road to welcome him, the Vicher militiamen tried their best to maintain order, the girl blew kisses, and the trees and roofs were crowded with people. People, hats, scarves and all kinds of things are thrown into the sky with cheers...

However, when the citizens cheered, they probably didn't expect that the Kyiv dignitaries who were sending off the Grand Duke had a quarrel with the Grand Duke before the expedition. As for the content of the quarrel, Prince Ross didn't know it. It was said that it was about the Kyiv market. Anyway, he didn't care about it.

Prince Ross put away the parchment full of words in front of him, and stepped on the horse. The troops were waiting for the prince's order. Now that the Grand Duke had already set off, they should also move.

Rostislav escaped the farewell ceremony for the departure of the army, not because he was not allowed to participate, but because he simply did not want to participate, and a real big battle would follow, and he had to be busy with a lot of things.

Moreover, Rostislav actually had a grievance in his heart, and he hadn't warmed up with his wife properly, so he was asked to go into battle again. He thought it would take half a month for the army to attack, but it turned out that the army started within four days after he came back.

Rostislav had no choice but to bid farewell to his wife. When he recalled now, the angry expression of his Greek cutie immediately came to mind. At that time, he pinched that angry little face, but his wife immediately exploded, like Like a tantrum kitten, he comforted her for a long time, and finally "persuaded" her on the bed.

The relationship between the prince and his wife is very deep. The two young people are full of longing for each other's bodies, and the separation makes the longing even stronger. They should have indulged in it for a while, but the war just interrupted it. It's easy to say goodbye to newlyweds, but it turns out to be another battle.

But once again embarking on the journey, Rostislav's team has grown stronger. He has a total of 500 more people under his command, some of them are Kyiv citizens who came to join because of his martial name, but most of them are Hilarion. Manpower provided by the Metropolitan.

The metropolitan was very satisfied with Rostislav's achievements, and he did not hesitate to increase investment. Thousands of armed monastery farmers and nearly a hundred church guards were handed over to him.

Those armed farmers have nothing to say, except that they are no different from ordinary farmers except that they are better disciplined. The guards are worth talking about. They are armed forces organized by the church with great difficulty. Protection was provided by them when the land of Ross preached.

Its equipment is the best in the whole of Ross. It can be said that it is armed to the teeth. The chain mail and scale armor are worn in two pieces. It is an elite who has experienced many battles.

Give this power to him to see the trust of the church. After all, this is their bottom-line power.

And when Rostislav accepted this kindness, he couldn't help but wonder why the Metropolitan did this and why he gave such a huge investment, but there is no point in caring about these now, let's talk about it after this battle.

Following the prince's order, the army moved forward according to the established route, joined the main force of the Grand Duke, and marched together, but they ran into a strange team not long after they left.

It was a group of strong men in ragged clothes, with strange white ash on their faces, but surrounded by a raised savage statue, on which Rostislav saw the symbol of lightning, which was the emblem of Perun.

At the head was a barefoot old man in a tattered robe, with a crown of flowers, a spruce staff in his hand, and a pouch at his waist filled with herbs. Seeing these features, Rostislav realized that this person was a warlock.

The so-called warlocks are the worshipers of the pagan gods on the land of Ross. They often have a huge voice in the local area, and their words are easier to use than any princes and nobles.

They obviously walked for a long time, and many of them looked very tired, but their faith still drove them to move forward around the statue, and some even self-harmed themselves with a whip. That smell is really too strong.

Some of them were wearing wolf skins, and the wolf's head was buckled on the head like that. At first glance, they were not easy to get along with. Rostislav even subconsciously wanted to stay away from this group of people.

Seeing such a team, Rostislav's uncontrollable expression changed.

"Pilun's pilgrims? There are at least a hundred of them. Why did they come to Kyiv at this time?"

No one answered the prince's question, because everyone didn't know how to answer it, and the pilgrims didn't care about the fact that they were marching the army, but just walked over with the statue on their shoulders.

This made the prince a little annoyed. The pagans ignored him like this. Presumably, in the eyes of these fanatics, he, the descendant of Rurik who betrayed the gods, was not worthy of respect at all, right?

But even so, Rostislav didn't choose to do anything—what could he do?Use force against Perun's followers?

This kind of behavior will break the peace and tacit understanding between paganism and Christianity, and then there will be another bloodbath, and the Grand Duke will never escape the responsibility if he is held accountable.

When the statue was lifted, many soldiers gave way in fear, and many even prayed with a cross that resembled the pagan god's emblem, and some even took out the pagan god's emblem directly.

After all, Ross's pagan beliefs were deeply rooted, and even the Grand Duke was surrounded by them, and this was why Rostislav, as Prince Rurik, did not dare to rashly attack the pagans.

Only a small number of staunch Christians have no fear of this, and the guards are even more typical. They look at the pagan gods with contempt, and their hearts are full of contempt for false idols.

And for these believers who despised Perun, it was as if they didn't see their disrespect and disrespect, and walked over with a blank expression.

Fortunately, these guards did not directly insult each other's beliefs. Rostislav couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed that they were not so fanatical that they lost their minds.

But think about it, since these people are guarding missionaries to preach in Ross, they should have known what should be done and what should not be done.

"These people are going to Kyiv at this time...that's all, maybe I'm thinking too much."

After the pilgrimage team passed by, the captain of the bodyguard Granva murmured, which just happened to be heard by Rostislav.

"Glanwa, what's wrong with those people?"

The prince asked aloud, although today's Kievan Rus is an Orthodox country, paganism can still be carried out openly and aboveboard. Rostislav has also seen pilgrims carrying pagan statues in Kyiv, but those people are better than those who just passed by. It should be more civilized.

Therefore, it is not surprising that pilgrims from other places go to Kyiv. Although they are rare, they still exist. After all, there are always country warlocks who want to go to Kyiv to compete with Christ for their faith.

"I was thinking too much, my lord."

Guvalan didn't say what he thought, because he himself felt that he was too superstitious, and the activities of pagans were normal, so what's there to be surprised about?
Rostislav glanced at him, and since the captain said so, he didn't ask any more questions.

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(End of this chapter)