A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

My father's injuries were too serious... This was mainly due to the cruelty of the person who attacked him and the inability to treat the injuries immediately.

In the monastery, the father had no choice but to ask someone to cast a healing spell on him.

But magical healing is not a panacea.

There is no problem with simple external injuries, but if it is a serious injury that penetrates deep into the internal organs... hasty treatment will have side effects.

Because when the body is stimulated by magic to grow rapidly, different organs will be mixed together.

Only a high-level "restoration technique" can cure this troublesome disease.

That's why they came to Rome.

Rome did have "restoration technology", but the price was too high.

Their money was far from enough to purchase such a restoration technique. To make matters worse, soon after they left, the monastery was struck by war. Not only the monastery, but the entire province was affected by the war.

As a result, all their support was lost.

My father tried hard to find him, but unfortunately... his condition worsened too quickly.

The only thing his father could do was to use the remaining money to buy a cheap house in Rome and find him a low-level position in a church.

I can’t explain why, maybe it’s because I don’t have enough money.

Otto sighed silently, and told himself not to be greedy.

As an outsider with no roots, his current situation is already very good.

If only he had a connection with the middle and senior levels in Rome, he would definitely have a chance to succeed.

He couldn't help but pray silently to God, hoping that an old friend of his father would appear in Rome and take up a high position...who could instantly save him from this suffering.

There was a commotion in the distance. Otto looked in that direction for a long time and asked the people around him, "Are there any activities today?"

"Oh, today the Holy Father appointed the new Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes Island, and the official canonization ceremony is taking place over there," the man replied. "If you want to see it, you can go upstairs and see it there."

"Oh, is that so..." said Otto.

The ceremony is not far from here, probably just across the street.

Otto stood up, walked up to the second-floor balcony of the shop, and looked over there.

Over there, flags and drums were blazing, and a group of mighty knights in gorgeous armor, surrounding a man, paraded through the streets amid noise and cheers.

That person should be the new Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes Island.

Otto's eyes widened instantly because he recognized who the Grand Commander was!

It's Thomas!

How can it be?

He rubbed his eyes and looked again, and yes, it was Thomas!

After all, we just saw him a while ago... and Thomas's appearance has hardly changed.

Of course this is normal. Except for people like Otto who have experienced ups and downs in life, it is extremely difficult for human appearance and temperament to change significantly in two or three years.

How can it be……

Otto was delighted, but suddenly he remembered something.

His whole expression fell.

His hands clenched into fists.

Because he remembered the last time the cardinal summoned him.

At that time, the other party asked the last question: "Are you friends?"

He now finally understood why his father had placed him in this position instead of looking for a better one.

Because he is stupid and short-sighted.

And he is unaware of his own stupidity and shortsightedness.

Chapter 54 Before Departure 1

Early in the morning the day after the inauguration ceremony.

Thomas and five or six people who accompanied him went to the Pope's private reception room.

These five or six people are all members of the Knights Templar, and they are here to witness the new Grand Master taking office.

This naturally includes the secretary Demetrios.

Thomas could sense the hostility from these subordinates.

Although they could not deny Thomas's status, they obviously wanted to use another trick: to undermine him.

Even if he is the leader of a group, no one listens to or pays attention to what he says... Then what is the difference between this leader and a salted fish?

But Thomas was in no hurry.

Sooner or later he would convince these people.

After all, facts are the most convincing.

And with the arrival of these people, he also learned another thing: that the Knights of Rhodes had received support from Byzantium.

After all, the two are adjacent.

When the Ottomans besieged Rhodes in the previous life, Constantinople had already fallen. So the Ottomans could free up their hands without any worries.

And in this world, Byzantium at least managed to maintain the dignity of an empire.

Although the Crescent Moon had largely devoured most of Asia Minor, they still held many territories in Europe. The Balkan Peninsula, including Greece and Macedonia, and many islands, were still Byzantine territory.

So naturally, in times of crisis, the Knights naturally turned to Byzantium for help.

It's true that Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy don't get along, but that's just a quarrel between brothers. Facing the threat of the Crescent Moon Cult, mutual assistance is a matter of course.

The Byzantines sent a prince, which was a very important gesture.

So Thomas couldn't just go straight to Rhodes by ship. Instead, he had to meet up with the prince halfway, then go to Constantinople together and take a ship from Constantinople to Rhodes.

So in this way, the specific way to get to Rhodes Island is basically determined.

Leo XI did not appear, but a cardinal did so instead.

In fact, he did not show up at the official ordination ceremony yesterday, and a cardinal also took his place.

Thomas was not deaf; he had heard what others were saying. Everyone said that Leo XI was not optimistic about the new Grand Master.

After all, Thomas is an unknown person who appeared out of nowhere.

Before this incident, how many people knew who Thomas was?

Even now, no one knows how he was appointed Grand Commander.

After exchanging some meaningless official pleasantries with the cardinal, he left.

According to custom, Thomas would pray to God alone in a quiet room nearby for several hours before leaving.

So we left early in the morning, but could not set out until around noon - but to be honest, this kind of red tape has been improved a lot. Because according to the older tradition, Thomas needed to confess and pray before God all night.

After all, he is the Grand Master, and a religious lord is also a lord, and his status is on the same level as a bunch of kings and dukes.

The crowd left, leaving Thomas alone before the image of Christ.

Thomas had not prayed for long—in fact, he was just standing there, not praying at all—when he heard a noise nearby.

When he looked again, he saw his teacher dressed as an ascetic, but he came in through a small side door.

Thomas just wanted to complain.

He now understood why the old man had not appeared as the Pope before.

This is clearly an attempt to be mysterious.

Even now, the old man doesn't want to reveal his true identity.

But there was nothing he could do, after all, he was too emotional. Even though he saw through it, he couldn't say it out loud, so Thomas could only play along with him.

But I don't know why the old man came here at this time.

"Teacher, what are you..."

"Thomas, this time serving as Grand Master of the Knights Templar is no easy task," the old man said. "First and foremost, you must be wary not only of your enemies but also your allies."

"Constantinople?"

"That's exactly what I mean. Don't assume they have good intentions," the old man said. "That's what I'm most worried about. You're inexperienced and could easily be taken advantage of."

"Besides, you don't have many allies at sea. The Venetians and Genoese are untrustworthy. Even within the Knights Templar... there are probably enemy spies hiding there! In fact, almost everyone is untrustworthy."

I get it. These days, allies are meant to be betrayed!

As for the Knights Templar, Thomas was naturally wary. After all, it was a traitor who had killed the previous Grand Master.

No matter how stupid Thomas was, he knew to be careful.

In reality, Thomas remembered the history of the Crusades in his previous life. Countless heroes had been hampered by a bunch of idiot teammates, unable to fully realize their potential. The example of King Richard the Lionheart was particularly striking.

"What do you think about the future?" asked the old man.

"I have a few ideas. If I were a Christian, I could capture Rhodes Island in two ways. The first is a surprise attack, relying on the help of traitors to capture the entire island in a flash. The second is to mobilize all Christian forces, so that no one's fleet can support Rhodes Island in time, creating a brief vacuum period of at least two or three months. Then, use this vacuum period to capture Rhodes Island."

As for the third method, it would be to first subdue and intimidate each Christian faction one by one, and finally launch a frontal assault on the island with an upright army. This was the approach taken by the Ottomans in a previous life. However, the Star-Crescent Alliance in this life did not have the strength to do so.

"As for the Star-Moon Cultists...if they truly had a visionary leader, they should have chosen the second plan, as the first was too risky."

"really……"

"Regardless, capturing Rhodes Island would require hundreds of warships and tens of thousands of troops," Thomas said. "A military buildup of this magnitude is extremely difficult to conceal. This means we'll get the news before they've even assembled their forces."

As long as you pay the price, it is not difficult to get reinforcements in time.

After all, Christians are not at a disadvantage in terms of naval power.

"Therefore, we must use other means to force the numerous forces to have no time to reinforce. This will make it easier to besiege Rhodes Island with a large army."

"So, you already have a solution?"

"A little bit," Thomas replied. "Teacher, I hope I can help you."

"Is there anything else you want?" asked the old man.

"I need fleets and soldiers," Thomas said. "The more the better!"

"Tsk... This is difficult!" After a long time, the old man replied.

"The Pope promised me a warship and 50,000 florins, which is really too little!" Thomas said eagerly.

He didn't know about this before and thought that the teacher was getting extra benefits for him and he couldn't ask for more.

Now I know that it was all a play performed by the teacher.

"The Holy See can't do anything about it..." the old man sighed. "There are some things he can't decide. Besides, a truly capable leader of a knightly order must be self-reliant."

"Well... if we can't give money, at least we can give policies!" Thomas said immediately.

Chapter 55 Before Departure 2

At noon, Thomas walked out of Rome with a dozen people.

Although yesterday’s inauguration ceremony was lively and exciting, today’s departure was quite deserted.

Thomas walked out of the tall city gate carrying a simple luggage.

He walked along the long road out of the city, leading his mount.

The luggage and horses that were previously left in the hotel in the small town outside the city were taken back by Thomas during this period.

The road out of the city was just as smooth and wide as when he first arrived here, and was filled with pilgrims and tourists.

But there are still obvious changes between early winter and early spring.

The grass and trees on the roadside have begun to sprout new buds, and their green leaves are swaying in the wind.

Thomas looked back at the dozen or so people around him.

There were only five official members of the Knights Templar (excluding Thomas), and the rest were followers.