After seeing off Inspector De Vries, who had boarded the ship and rushed back to Rhodes that night, Ladislaus returned to the Colonna Palace full of melancholy.

Although Inspector De Vries insisted that he had been paid, Ladislaus still forced him to give him the two scrolls he had copied recently for manipulating the dead. This venerable knight originally refused to accept the reward anyway.

Moreover, he repeatedly stated that these two level-4 scrolls greatly exceeded the normal price of an operation.

However, Ladislaus said that these two scrolls were not a reward, but his respect for the noble behavior of the Knights Hospitallers fighting in the most dangerous areas. Inspector De Vries solemnly thanked him before taking the scrolls.

On a dangerous journey home.

Ladislaus's generosity rewarded him and was the cause of his melancholy.

The mission "The Fate of the Hospital Knight" appeared on the system. Although it has not been activated yet, the name seems to imply some ominous future.

However, for the time being, Ladislaus can only hope that the super fortress complex on Rhode Island, which has been operating for two hundred years, can protect these brave hospital knights.

Ladislaus also had his own battles.

On December 25, 1521, after the birth of the first Apostle Cyric, which was Christmas, His Majesty the True-Elect Pope Adrian VI held the annual Christmas Mass in front of people who came from all over the place in St. Peter's Square.

In the presence of fifty thousand believers, it was announced that the Republic of Siena had committed the two unpardonable crimes of murdering Cardinal Colonna and the new Bishop of Siena. All members of the Parliament and nobles of the Republic of Siena were excommunicated.

They are not allowed to believe in any gods of the Europa pantheon. Any god who shelters them is considered an offense to His Majesty God, and all those involved in the murder are cursed to be burned by the karmic fire of hell after death.

In fact, before the public announcement of His Holiness the true election of the Pope, that is, on December 24, Ladislaus followed the old Colonna's army and marched towards Siena.

The city of Rome and the city of Siena are very close, and on December 25, the Church of Christ crossed the border.

When the pope was elected to celebrate mass on Christmas Eve, the troops of the Roman Church were already ravaging the villages belonging to the Republic of Siena.

Although Old Colonna did hope that the timing of Christmas Eve would give him an opportunity for a surprise attack, because the Roman Church State had a large number of cardinals from various countries stationed there, its internal factions were much more complicated than other feudal countries.

Although Old Colonna has chosen an unexpected day, the Republic of Siena has already received the news. All the border guards have withdrawn from the city of Siena, but they have not done a good job of clearing the country. It is no wonder that for a long time, Siena has

The Republic of Jena has always been threatened by the Republic of Florence in the north, and the Papal State in the south has always been an ally of Siena. Without tragic memories, it would be more difficult for officials to ask local residents to abandon the land they depend on for survival and flee.

Moreover, the local soldiers and mercenaries in Italy rarely go too far and kill them all. After all, although they are two countries, there are actually many contacts between the residents of these city-states.

Nobles should also consider the feelings of soldiers and not give orders that are too cruel.

But these scruples are no problem at all for the "Hand and Half Sword" mercenary group, which is mainly composed of Saxon and Württemberg people.

Theoretically, the main function of these highly effective cavalry should be to cover the battlefield, protect one's own legion's information, and conduct scouting operations to obtain the opponent's information. However, in fact, Captain Kessell-Vitting was most concerned about robbery.

This cannot be entirely blamed on the Colonel. In order to obtain command rights, old Colonna made major concessions on the issue of military expenditures. The treasury of the Church State only provided military expenditures of 10,000 talers.

Military rations, oats for the war horses, five hundred crossbowmen with ten crossbows each, and money needed by the common people.

Because they have to go to the front line, each spellcaster has an opening fee based on their level. Ladislaus got five hundred thalers, and Anna also got two hundred thalers. This expense is the privilege of all spellcasters in Europa.

No matter how good a favor is, you must accept it, otherwise it will break the rules.

Old Colonna could only subsidize a large sum of money from his own pocket, and the things he spent with his own money were always not as good as those spent with public funds.

He forced most of "Half Sword's" remuneration to be paid after the war.

In addition, the "Hand Half Sword" mercenary group set out from the Port of Venice via the Adriatic Sea and bypassed Naples. They just came down from the Port of Odias the day before yesterday and were dragged onto the battlefield without even entering the city of Rome.

No rest.

Moreover, they only received a mere down payment of 600 thalers in total. After the group leader cut off a little bit, each of the more than 300 German gangsters basically only received one thaler for their hard work. If they were not given a channel to vent their anger, that would be

The group leader must also be unable to suppress it.

But after all, they had just disembarked, and most of these people had never seen the sea for most of their lives. Although this half-month trip at sea did not take away their physical strength, it at least took away part of their abilities.

Coupled with Old Colonna's strict orders, at least large-scale rape did not occur. After all, the purpose of this visit was to annex rather than just grab a handful and leave. If the place was ravaged into a mess, it would not be worth the gain.

Farmers and women who had lost all their property were forcibly recruited as auxiliary soldiers and set up camps. The work of collecting fuel was never too large.

The other three hundred cavalry of the Roman army are private soldiers of the Colonna and Orsini families. They are the cornerstone of the old Colonna's control of the entire army. They are all concentrated in the central army as a means of suppressing the formation, and these people can be regarded as

Professional soldiers have better discipline.

Another good news for the people of Siena is that although the war horses of the "Half Sword" mercenary group were transported by Venetian merchant ships a few days early, they are still recovering. The bandits with insufficient war horses cannot poison too many villages.

Only a few relatively wealthy villages near the road suffered disaster, while most of the mountainous villages escaped.

However, things in the world do not have to be balanced. Although the soldiers of the Roman Church Army are all paid, seeing the "friendly troops" returning home with a full load after they went out to conduct reconnaissance, the passion of these people was also aroused.

Several officers suggested that Old Colonna conduct a thorough "reconnaissance" of the surrounding area first. Of course, Old Colonna, who could not even send out scouts, would never allow such a move that might lead to an enemy attack, let alone if he could conquer this area.

, the Colonna family is bound to get the biggest cake.

The Roman officers who did not get permission to rob did not dare to offend the dignity of the commander directly, but they were bold enough to offend the "hands and half swords" who came from a foreign land with a small number of people. In addition, the opponent's number was insufficient, and it seemed that there was nothing to do.

worried.

They clamored and demanded that the mercenaries hand over the spoils and share them equally.

According to the principle that all spoils of war will never be returned to the public, even Captain Kessell-Vitting cannot ask these subordinates to hand over their property.

Old Colonna had already considered this issue when he withheld part of his commission, so he promptly restrained all middle- and high-level officers to avoid large-scale conflicts.

But a conflict finally broke out at noon when they started setting up camp.
Chapter completed!