Drawing Cards in the Middle Ages to Rise in Ranks-Chapter 633 - 405: Ghost Dragon
These days, many pamphlets have appeared in Semanud City, with simple paper quality and easy-to-understand stories written on them; the slightly more expensive ones even have crude illustrations.
Moreover, the final pamphlet narrates the illustrious past deeds of the Duke of Lower Egypt, Count of Transjordan, General of the Limassol Military Zone, and Grand Marshal of the Crusade, Losa.
To call them deeds would be a stretch; in people's eyes, they are miracles.
This method of publicity seems too avant-garde for the people of this era.
The literacy rate of the Coptic people may not be high, but it's considerably better than that of the Franks; often, there's a crowd gathered on the streets listening to literate people reading aloud.
Baron Charlie, dressed in a dark coverall, and his Flanders Knights are toasting and exchanging drinks.
Baron Charlie, born into the Alsace Family, has close relations with Gaulish nobles and a somewhat close blood connection with Richard the Lionheart. Many of the knights under him are Walloons who speak Gaulish.
But when it came to choosing between Richard the Lionheart or Losa, he chose the latter without hesitation.
He still remembers how he convinced his knights.
"His Majesty Richard indeed holds an exalted position and has impressive battle achievements, inheriting the most powerful southern duchy of Gaul from his mother and a whole kingdom from his father; but what about Duke Losa?"
"When he arrived in the Holy Land, he brought only an attendant and a group of refugees."
This choice wasn't particularly rational either.
Because Duke Losa is also the second son of a family with no land inheritance.
Baron Charlie, along with a group of similarly...
After the fervor of the First and Second Crusades, the main force of the Crusader Knights typically consisted of family members who couldn't inherit family territories, often second sons.
Instances of families bankrupting themselves to mortgage all their lands and wealth to fund troops for the Crusade are becoming fewer.
Losa's good reputation among the lower nobility is partly because they see themselves in him; these young knights called 'colts,' possibly full of rogues, impoverished, and arrogant.
But they share a common trait: they admire the strong.
While drinking, Baron Charlie listened to the minstrels narrating the contents of the pamphlet, his mind wandering.
"Bartender, give every guest here a drink and put it on my tab."
"Thank you for your generosity, my lord."
Baron Charlie smiled while raising his glass, but he shook his head: "Let's toast to the Duke—may the glory of God always enshroud the Duke, enduring forever!"
…
Noon in Alexandria, bright with sunlight.
Though its status diminished after the Saracens established their capital in Cairo, Alexandria remains Egypt's largest and most important port city, the core territory of Ayyubid Dynasty rule over Egypt.
Back when the Saracens captured it from the Eastern Empire, the commanding general reported to his master in Baghdad: "I have seized a city 'with 4,000 palaces, 4,000 baths, 12,000 oil merchants, 12,000 florists, 40,000 tribute-paying Jewish people and 400 theaters or other entertainment venues.'"
Today, Alexandria is also home to over three hundred thousand people, comparable to half of Constantinople, ten times Paris.
In a remote corner of the Governor's Palace on Fatis Island, a bird lands on the ground and with a thump transforms into Shemir wearing a black robe.
Shemir arrives at the door of a secret room and knocks on it.
Cre-e-eak—
The door opens.
The man inside squints due to sudden exposure to sunlight, showing a slight displeasure on his face: "Did you gather the materials I need?"
Shemir silently hands over a withered grass-like herb.
The man brings the herb to his nose, takes a deep breath, and instinctively makes a gagging motion: "Yes, this sour stench, ugh, at least it's the three-hundred-year-old Ghost Spirit Grass, sufficient for the requirements."
Shemir discreetly wipes his palm on his robe: "Can you let me in to take a look?"
"Ordinarily, no."
The man's tone shifts: "But since you brought those precious ancient books, and provided the 'refined' raw materials this time, you may as well take a look."
He steps aside, allowing the door to open.
Inside the pitch-black room, it seems impossible to see anything from the outside, as if a terrifying giant beast's mouth capable of swallowing light resides within.
Shemir doesn't hesitate and walks right in.
"Once inside, don't move recklessly, or I can't guarantee your safety."
The man casually remarks.
Shemir's face is full of awe. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦
The room is far larger than it appears from the outside; some sort of space expansion magic seems to be used, and the walls are pure black, unidentifiable in material, tightly fitted but like an inner lining within the outer walls.
Currently, the entire room is filled with a dense aura of death.
A gigantic black dragon covered in black scale armor fills the entire room.
Its body is semi-transparent, lacking solidity.
"Old friend, you..."
Shemir's eyes are a bit moist, reaching out, instinctively wanting to stroke the black dragon's body, yet his hand passes right through it.
"It can't communicate with you now."
The man frowns, reminding.
Shemir has considerable strength and knowledge, presumably able to understand, yet he instinctively makes such a reckless move—perhaps this is the legendary love?
Or perhaps it's a cross-species love.
The man speculatively and maliciously thinks, if one is to love across species, one should pick something with human-like form, like a Siren, Enchanting Demon, or Vampire; how does one romantically engage with a large lizard?
Shemir struggles to control his emotions, quietly asking: "Does it have any hope of regaining its senses?"
The man scoffs: "Don't be silly, Shemir. You're not like those naive youngsters just starting out; this dragon is already dead. What's before you now honestly has nothing to do with its former self, but rather is a Ghost Dragon born from its soul."
Shemir falls silent, with a look in his eyes showing a shattered hope.
"Are you done observing? If you are, you should leave. Given that our cooperation this time was pleasant, I advise you not to meddle in the secular conflicts; that Losa is not one to be trifled with."
"I know." "But over our long lives, there must be something for which we are willing to give everything."
"Tch, a stubborn lunatic."
He spits with little interest, not finding it strange at all. The extended lifespans make most Casters cautious, but it's not unexpected to breed a bunch of bored fools.
"How long until it can revive?"
"Come see me again at this time tomorrow."
Shemir nods in acknowledgment.
Saladin has gathered a new group of Casters, with varying skill levels; some came for secular glory, while others were drawn to the Library of Alexandria.
This ancient library, founded in the B.C era, has a nearly 1,500-year history, with holdings ranging from texts in Phoenician, Coptic, Greek, Latin, and more, covering a vast array of subjects, and tens of thousands of papyrus and parchment scrolls stored.
Had it not been repeatedly ravaged by war, its collection would even exceed that of the Empress in Constantinople, the Empire Library.
It's imaginable how vast the knowledge hidden within must be.
A work that may take an ordinary person a lifetime to decipher could contain the secret spells of ancient gods for a Caster, even Shemir, a powerful Caster approaching legendary status, only understood the richness of the treasures there once he visited in person.
He even found a set of ancient Babylonian cuneiform stone tablets in the Library of Alexandria, which after simple deciphering, Shemir named—Stairway to Divinity!
The implication is not that deciphering these tablets will make one a god.
'God' here is merely an adjective.
Contained within is a form of power unlike any existing power system, and Shemir suspects this power likely cannot be restrained even by Demon-Blocking Gold; he even theorizes that the power of the "Demon Duke" may originate from it.
