Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 159 One City, Two Worlds
The scorching sun baked everything on the ground. Under the shadow of the city wall, Garys showed Lorian and others how to draw the bow and shoot arrows.

Garys placed his feet shoulder-width apart to stabilize his body.

Hold the bow handle with your left hand, raise the bow to your chest, hold the bowstring with your right hand, and raise your elbow slightly.

"When you pull the string, use your index finger, middle finger, and ring finger to hold the string together. This way you can pull it steadily and give you time to aim."

"When aiming, remember to overlap the arrow head with the string and your own pupil so that the three points are in a straight line."

As Gellis spoke, he drew his longbow.

The longbow with a pulling force of 160 pounds was not a burden at all for Garys. Even his breathing was normal.

Lorian and others on the side were also studying carefully.

The archery method taught by Garys is the Mediterranean style of archery, which is what he uses most in his life.

In his previous life, when Garys played with the bow, he often used the Mongolian style of shooting.

Both shooting methods have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Mongolian shooting uses the thumb to hold the string and emphasizes rapid and continuous shooting. The archer can shoot multiple arrows in a short period of time, and can even reach a speed of 15 to 20 arrows per minute.

This is often what is meant by arrows raining down.

The Mediterranean shooting method often uses three fingers to hold the string, allowing the archer to hold the string for a long time so that more time can be spent on aiming, but the shooting speed is much slower.

After Garys gave a brief explanation, he released the bowstring. With a click of the bowstring, the arrow whistled and accurately hit the bull's eye thirty steps away.

Then he signaled Lorian and Waldo to take aim.

During these days, Gailis selected those young people in the lower city who were still in good physical condition. In addition to taking them to patrol the city walls, he also took advantage of any free time to teach these people how to use weapons.

When defending a city, swords are of course not very useful, but bows or spears do require time to hone their skills.

Moreover, even though many people in the lower city had been able to eat and drink to their heart's content for the first time during these days thanks to the food provided by Acting Bishop Ame, they were still very insufficient in terms of physical fitness and strength.

Gillis himself can easily pull a 160-pound bow, while the average adult can barely pull a 60-pound bow.

A 60-pound bow... to be honest, at a distance of thirty steps, it may not even be able to penetrate leather armor.

In other words, they are bullying the Middle Eastern armies these days, whose armor rates are lower than one another...

If the armor rate of the Kingdom of Jerusalem could be as high as 45%, the lowest could be as low as 30%.

Then the normal armor rate of Muslim armies in the Middle East may be only 20%.

The 60-pound bow really came in handy.

There was another sound of the bowstring, and although Lorian's arrow did not hit the center of the target, it at least hit the target.

As for the other young people, they still need to practice.

At this time, another young man quickly ran to Garys' side and whispered something.

Garys nodded and said to the person beside him, "I have to leave for a while because I have something to do. Let Lorian take you to practice more. Learn from others. Don't just eat all day and forget your lessons!"

The young men laughed kindly, and Lorian seemed embarrassed, showing a shy expression.

……

On a warm afternoon, the sun shines through the stained glass windows of the church, casting colorful light and shadows.

Amedena's wrinkled face was reflected, and the traces of time left deep marks on his pale skin.

He knelt on his knees at the simple altar. This was not his magnificent cathedral, but the smallest and most dilapidated church in Karak.

Amedee's shoulders trembled slightly and he murmured softly, but in front of him was the cross where Jesus was nailed.

"Lord, I kneel before you, filled with guilt and remorse."

"In the past I was so focused on power that I ignored your teaching: Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant."

"I didn't care about those poor souls, leaving them alone and helpless beside me."

“Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. I am deeply ashamed of my indifference to the poor.”

“May I repent, listen to their cries, and be their refuge.” “May God grant me wisdom and mercy, so that I can bear witness to your love through my actions.”

“May I always remember your teachings, and bring your grace to everyone in need at every sunrise and sunset.”

"Amen."

When Amadeus was confessing in a low voice, he suddenly heard a voice.

"May the Father in heaven, who reconciled all things to his Son through his death and resurrection and who gives the Holy Spirit to forgive the sins of the world, forgive you for my humble service and give you peace. Now I forgive your sins in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. May you rest in peace in the light of the Lord."

Amedee quickly stood up and looked up, only to see Gairis. He didn't know when he appeared in front of him, blocking the cross with the statue of Jesus nailed on it.

At this time, Garys was still wearing rags and no armor.

And Garys was also examining Amedee. He was not sure whether Amedee was truly repentant. This was most likely another show by the bishop.

But considering that the bishop came to the downtown area this time without any guards and his clothes were more simple, Gailis felt that he could show some goodwill.

The Kingdom of Jerusalem is now in danger. Facing the threat of Saladin, the broken fragments of the Kingdom of Jerusalem will try to move towards a new center.

Garys would naturally have the opportunity to tame the fragments and reassemble them according to his own wishes.

“Some saints say that they are sinners because when they look at Jesus, they see that they are very different from themselves.”

Listening to Garys' words, Amedee replied unhappily: "Are you praising me?"

"Whatever you think, what do you want to see me for this time?"

Having said this, Gailis sat down on a church bench nearby.

Amedee also sat on the bench on the other side.

"The king's army was defeated."

"Ah."

"Aren't you surprised?"

"I knew it long ago, long before any of you knew it."

Amedee looked at Gailis deeply. He ignored the mysterious tone and continued, "Adil, Saladin's brother, who is outside the city, sent someone to deliver Humphrey's token, threatening Lady Stephanie to hand over the city."

“But the MPs are not happy about this, right?”

"Well, many of them have businesses in the local area. Some small nobles even have Muslim serfs in their manors. If they surrender directly, it means their businesses will be taken away and they will have to leave their homes."

"So what do you want to say to me?" Garys tilted his head and glanced at the old Bishop Ame, who had been talking for a long time without getting to the point.

"I went to find Stephanie, and that woman Stephanie was completely impossible to communicate with. Then Adil's delegation came again."

"Again?"

"Yes, Adil proposed a surrender plan, and many members of the parliament were very tempted. Adil's envoy said that as long as the people in the city are willing to surrender and pay the ransom, they can avoid being sold into slavery."

“This may not be enough to impress those legislators who have businesses in the local area.”

Garys responded. In his opinion, the insects in the upper city were craving for the local industries that could not be moved. If it were not for the fact that these industries could not be moved, they would have surrendered and evacuated the city long ago.

"Adil also added that as long as the city residents paid double the ransom, he would protect the safety of that resident's property."

"Residents? Individuals? Adil collected ransom based on individuals?!" Even Garys was stunned for a moment.

He suddenly realized how experienced Adil was.

Perhaps, Karak is a mighty city that is difficult to conquer even with thousands of troops, but that does not mean that Karak has no weaknesses.

"The ransom is 10 gold dinars for men, 5 gold dinars for women, and 2 gold dinars for children. Those who cannot pay the ransom will be sold into slavery, and those who can pay double the ransom will be able to stay in the country and keep their property."

The city of Karak can be divided into the upper city and the lower city. It is a city divided into two worlds by a tangible boundary.

For the people in the upper city, it was easy to pay the ransom or double the ransom.

However, for the families in the lower city, how many families can have such surplus to redeem themselves and avoid being sold into slavery?

　Fourth update (additional update)
　　
　
(End of this chapter)