A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

"Yes, from your perspective."

Chapter 160 A distinguished guest arrives 2

"Let me put it this way: he was a monk filled with courage and conviction, yet also extremely self-disciplined and obedient," the knight replied. "It's almost hard to describe... but he truly could inspire confidence in victory. I don't know if this is the right word, but he was like... the sun!"

He looked at Pierre cautiously. This Grand Commander was completely different from Thomas. He looked melancholy and gloomy.

Except when he had to speak, he always maintained the necessary silence, like a sculpture.

"Very self-disciplined...observant of the precepts?"

"You could say that. You know, our former Grand Master, Monsignor Fernando, although very brave, had many flaws in this regard. But Thomas is completely different. Besides that, he has another characteristic: he's very sensitive to numbers."

"Sensitive to numbers?"

"Yes, he attaches great importance to the logistics and financial work of the Knights. Everyone says that he is a man who fights wars with spreadsheets and reports. Of course, this is just talk..."

"Does he have any taboos?"

"Yes. My Lords, you are here for nothing else, but please do not mention the words 'eight thousand florins'. Especially not in front of Grand Master Thomas. A few days ago, an unfortunate fellow got into trouble and was banished to a remote town to guard it..."

The ship slowly sailed into the dock and docked.

The Knights of Rhodes Island were obviously well-informed and had already arranged personnel to welcome them here.

"Master Pierre!" A knight, who was obviously in charge of ceremonial reception, came forward. He recognized the Grand Master.

"Excuse me for disturbing you," Pierre said politely. "I've come here specifically to visit Grand Master Thomas."

"My lord, I'm sorry, but Grand Commander Thomas happened to be out inspecting the surrounding towns yesterday and is away right now. But don't worry, he will be back tonight or tomorrow. You just need to wait a day."

……

At this moment, in a large building on the distant Rhodes Island.

A group of people are gathering here.

They were all merchants dressed in gorgeous clothes.

This is the headquarters of the Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce.

Previously, someone broke into the Knights' headquarters at night. Although the person was killed, the Knights also lost people as a result.

The case has spread throughout Rhode Island.

The president of the Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce sat in the main seat with a grim expression.

He is now over fifty years old, and although he has several children, he only has one son, John.

But now... he's dead.

He rubbed the armrests of his chair so hard that the wooden armrests were rubbed so hard that sparks almost came out.

Although daughters are an option for businessmen to inherit their businesses, even a fool knows that sons are better.

Moreover, his son is not a playboy, but the most outstanding and promising one among all his descendants.

He is excellent in both his behavior and knowledge.

When he was around 20 years old, he was already proficient in multiple languages ​​and successfully managed part of his own business.

"Can anyone tell me what exactly is going on? How did my son die?!"

Everyone in the hall was silent.

No one wants to come forward and get into trouble at this time.

Because, fundamentally, the Rhodes Island Chamber of Commerce and the Knights had always been at odds. While they weren't hostile, they weren't particularly harmonious, and it was even more unlikely that they would share honor and disgrace.

The Knights had suffered a crushing defeat before, and seeing the dire situation, the Chamber of Commerce quickly moved away.

Now that the situation has stabilized, they have moved back.

The structure of the entire chamber of commerce is feudal, and each chamber of commerce member has his own fleet and personnel, forming a network of relationships similar to that of a monarch and princes.

We formed an offensive and defensive alliance to face various difficulties together and share power, information and orders.

This is the case with most chambers of commerce these days.

The reason why the president is the president is naturally because he controls the most powerful fleet in the entire guild, and also has multiple smuggling routes, which allows for relatively safe smuggling.

It was said that he had even reached an agreement with a certain lord of the Star-Moon Cult, occupying a small island and using it as a maritime trading market, or black market. Many things that were considered illegal in other countries, whether smuggled or looted, could be traded on the black market.

Everyone can get considerable benefits through his network of connections.

Therefore, his position as chairman is very stable, and is even becoming a one-man show.

He had been living well in Constantinople before, and had even reached agreements with several governors to smuggle and sell stolen goods.

I didn't expect something like this to happen.

"President," someone finally spoke. He was a middle-aged, burly man with a face thick with flesh and a gleaming gaze. He looked shrewd and fierce. Even in his finery, he looked more like a pirate than a merchant.

In fact, this is very normal. It is common for businessmen these days to play the role of pirates.

Otherwise, there wouldn’t be dual-use military and civilian vessels called “armed merchant ships”, right?

This man, François, was not a local, but he joined the Chamber of Commerce with the support of the president and was now the president's top supporter.

Many people know that François is probably not a clean person and may have been a professional pirate.

Maybe even a part-time pirate now!

"When Master John was kidnapped, there should have been many witnesses at the scene, right?" François asked. "The first thing we should do is question the witnesses."

The president coldly shouted towards the corner of the room: "Come here!"

Soon, a man came over.

He has a tough military air and you can tell at first glance that he is an experienced soldier.

Everyone recognized that this was John's guard, the bodyguard arranged by the president, who always followed John closely.

"You were with John at the time. Tell me what happened. I want an explanation!"

"Before this incident happened, I had been following Young Master John closely, so I saw everything that happened."

The guard remained calm.

Although he said "I want an explanation", in fact he had already told the president about the matter, but this time he just said it again in public.

The guard cleared his throat.

"Before, there were rumors on Rhodes Island that we were disloyal to the Knights by slipping away when they were in trouble."

"Afterwards, the young master spent a huge amount of money in Constantinople to buy a golden apple! I don't think I need to explain the golden apple, everyone knows what it is."

"But for some reason, the Knights learned of this. Andrea, the Knights' adjutant, came to the door and asked to meet with the young master."

"His excuse was that Grand Master Thomas was collecting rare treasures to present to the Holy See."

"Then the young master received him on the ship. The two sides negotiated the matter of the golden apple, but the price was not yet discussed. Andrea asked to see the golden apple first."

"Then, the young master asked me to take people to get the golden apple. Then, while I was away to retrieve the treasure, there was an argument between the two parties. Andrea suddenly took action, kidnapped the young master, and jumped off the ship."

"Afterwards, the young master's body was found at the Knights' headquarters. It was said that Andrea had killed him personally."

Chapter 161 A distinguished guest arrives 3

"However, Andrea claimed to be unaware of all the previous events and that he had never discussed any business with the Chamber of Commerce. He claimed that he only killed the thieves who dared to break into the Knights' headquarters at night."

Everything here has formed a simple chain.

Many businessmen looked at each other in confusion.

"So you mean... this is the Knights' retaliation for our previous evacuation of Rhodes Island? But, this kind of retaliation..." someone asked.

Something is not normal.

In other words, it doesn't seem like something the Knights would do.

"That should be the case," the guard nodded. "Other than that, I can't think of any other reason."

"Knight Andrea is a veteran of the Order..." someone hesitated. "There's a lot of ambiguity about this."

It’s not that the Knights won’t do it, but they don’t need to.

"I suggest that we send representatives to the Knights to confront them in person and exchange information to determine the truth," another person said.

This suggestion was approved by most people.

"In that case," the president said. "Del, take your men to Smyrna and find the Grand Master to see if they have any explanation."

"Okay." The businessman named Del nodded heavily.

"But," he was about to leave, but stopped and turned back. "Master, if this is truly the Knights' punishment for us... then how should we proceed?"

"If you're sure it's them," the president's eyes flashed with a chilling light. "Then make them pay!"

Businessmen do not want to be involved in military struggles and only want to make money.

But this doesn't mean that we don't have the ability.

The Knights now seem to have defeated the Crescent Moon Cultists and captured Smyrna, and are in great glory.

But in fact, the main forces went to Smyrna, and Rhodes Island was left unguarded.

On Rhodes Island, only the city defense forces remained. However, although they were ostensibly under the command of the Knights, they were not members of the Knights.

The city defense force is an army composed of residents on the island.

The Chamber of Commerce has great influence among the residents of the island.

If the entire Knights were here, he would still be a little afraid. But now that the main force has gone to Smyrna, the situation is different.

Kill someone and pay with your life. Don't blame him for retaliating.

It's not impossible to just start a rebellion.

He didn't believe that he couldn't deal with the few remaining knights on Rhodes Island!

At that time, they could even secede from Rhodes and directly pay tribute to Byzantium.

In fact, anyone with a keen sense of smell knew that the Byzantines had long intended to reclaim Rhodes Island and had been trying to win over the island's forces. Therefore, even if they offended the Knights, they would not be afraid at all.

……

The next morning, Thomas returned from his inspection of the surrounding area, and the two Grand Masters of the Knights finally met.

Although both are knightly orders, they are completely different.

The Knights of Rhodes Island was a small group, with fewer than 200 official members. Even in its heyday, the number of members was only slightly over 200.

Apart from Rhodes Island itself, there is not much territory to speak of.

The Knights Templar, however, were a massive organization. In fact, according to Thomas's memory, the Knights Templar of his previous life had tens of thousands of members at their peak, and they owned vast estates and territories across the Christian world (not including those in the Holy Land). They could easily muster a heavily armored army of 20,000 to 30,000 men!

There is no comparison in terms of financial resources. As we all know, the Knights Templar have started banking business.

In Thomas' previous life, banker was synonymous with "rich man".

The two Grand Masters met in Thomas's simple room.

This used to be a wing of the City Lord's Mansion. After the City Lord's Mansion was destroyed by war, this became the best preserved room.

But even the best is relative. In fact, according to normal people's standards, this is a very shabby place to live.

Of course, the Knights had to spend every penny they had, so they had no money to repair the City Lord's Mansion. The accommodation conditions were as bad as they could be.

Anyway, Thomas is well aware of the truth that "starting a business is difficult and requires many battles." No matter how bad his conditions are, they will not be worse than those of the Red Army back then.

Just be patient and it will be fine after one or two years.

Anyway, as a protector of the country, I won't get sick from fever or cold.

For the sake of a bright future, temporary inconveniences can be tolerated.

Pierre looked around, a strange expression on his face.

This Thomas...if he wasn't wearing armor, he would almost think he was an ascetic monk!

I had heard before that Thomas kept the precepts, but I didn’t think much of it. Now I understand that this Grand Master is probably really... a devout practitioner of Christ.

No wonder he was favored by the Holy See, accepted as a disciple, and given two sacred objects.