FMKE 09

Chapter 09

16—The Political Situation in Jerusalem (2)

“Princess.”

It was a short greeting, but at that moment, Isabella was strangely impressed by him.

He was young, attractive, and even handsome, but there was also a natural sense of intimidation about him—the presence of a man who had fought his way through countless battlefields.

And yet, even in front of royalty, he was neither overly submissive nor disrespectful.

All of this felt very unfamiliar and intense to the young Isabella.

Although she was married to Humphrey of Toron, she was still too young to have a real married relationship with him. After that, Isabella encountered Michael several more times in the palace, and little by little, she began to lose her heart to him.

At first, it was simply curiosity.

A young German baron who had come to the Holy Land, a knight who had cut down countless bandits and gained the king’s trust, and the man who had become Baldwin V’s swordsmanship teacher.

But as time passed, it did not remain mere curiosity.

Michael was not unaware of her gaze either, but he did not pay much attention to it.

His concern was entirely focused on preparing the board for the great upheaval that was approaching.

And so, time passed, and February 1185 arrived.

At last, Baldwin IV’s condition began to visibly worsen.

As his illness deepened, the number of times the king appeared at official events decreased greatly, and a subtle tension spread throughout the court and the surrounding areas.

No one said it aloud, but everyone knew.

The king did not have much time left.

Michael decided to prepare for any possible situation.

He immediately sent messages toward Tyre and Acre.

“Tell Bernhard. Have the Cuman cavalry we recruited placed under Sir Hugh’s command and sent to Jerusalem. As quickly as possible.”

The letter soon traveled north, and before long, Sir Hugh arrived at Michael’s residence in Jerusalem with fifty Cuman cavalrymen.

The sight of the Cuman horsemen riding black and brown horses and entering the residence with bows, curved swords, and spears was quite impressive even to the citizens of Jerusalem.

With these additional fifty Cuman cavalrymen, Michael now possessed a private military force that could not easily be ignored even within Jerusalem itself.

And finally, March 1185 arrived.

Baldwin IV was on the verge of death.

The king gathered the last of his strength and summoned those he absolutely needed to see.

Raymond III, Balian, Sibylla, Isabella, young Baldwin V, and Michael.

They all quietly entered the king’s bedroom.

The room was filled with a mixture of the smells of medicine and incense, and a heavy silence hung in the air.

Baldwin IV, lying on the bed, looked as though almost nothing remained of him but bones and skin.

His body had been consumed by illness to such an extent that even the white veil could no longer hide it, and every time he breathed out, it seemed as though a little more of his life was leaving him.

But his eyes were still alive.

Until the very end, he was a king.

First, he looked at young Baldwin V.

The young boy stood beside the king, desperately trying to hold back his fear and sadness.

“You must become strong… Baldwin.”

The king’s voice was hoarse and weak, but the meaning within it was clear.

After that, he left words for Sibylla, Isabella, Raymond III, and Balian as well.

To some, he gave advice. To others, warnings. To others, he quietly entrusted responsibilities.

And finally, his gaze turned toward Michael.

The young German knight who had come to the Holy Land from Jaffa and made a name for himself there, the man who had possessed an extraordinary presence from the very first time they met.

Baldwin IV remembered their conversation from that time.

He already knew how Michael viewed the Holy Land and what this land meant to him.

“Michael…”

The king struggled to speak.

“When I first met you… you said you would protect this land no matter what.”

Michael silently took one step closer to the bed.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Then… I ask you.”

Baldwin IV’s breathing became even more labored.

But he continued with the last of his strength.

“Protect… the Holy Land.”

Those words fell heavily into the room.

Raymond III, Balian, Sibylla, Isabella, and even young Baldwin V held their breath as they listened.

“And… Baldwin…”

The king’s trembling hand slowly reached toward his nephew.

“Protect… that child…”

Michael remained silent for a moment.

The king before him was no longer merely the sickly young king.

He was a king who, until his final moment, was worried about his kingdom, the Holy Land, and the child he would leave behind.

Michael looked down at him and slowly knelt on one knee.

Then he answered in a low but clear voice.

“I swear it, Your Majesty.”

His voice did not tremble.

“As long as I live, the Holy Land will not be trampled upon without resistance. And as long as my sword can reach him, no one will be allowed to harm Baldwin V either.”

At those words, a brief look of relief appeared in Baldwin IV’s eyes.

He could no longer say much.

But that brief expression of relief was enough to show that his final request would not disappear in vain.

Silence fell over the room once again.

No one could easily speak.

The king’s life was fading away, and at the same time, the Kingdom of Jerusalem itself was about to be dragged into another great storm.

And at the center of it all, Michael was no longer simply a baron or a young knight.

He was the man to whom the dying king had personally entrusted the protection of the Holy Land and the young king.

That weight quietly settled upon his shoulders.

Meanwhile, in the Holy Roman Empire, the story of Michael—who had defeated 500 bandits in the Holy Land and become the baron of Acre and Tyre—was being exaggerated into a tale of him defeating 5,000 soldiers under Saladin.

This greatly raised the emperor’s reputation.

“Hahaha, it seems a remarkable talent has emerged from the Eisen-Schwert family. Sometimes I regret not keeping him under my command back then…”

If he had done so…

He would never have been able to restore his authority by raising his own reputation so quickly.

Afterward, the emperor legally squeezed money out of the princes under the excuse of supporting the emperor’s knight who had gone to the Holy Land.

He pocketed half of that money himself and sent the other half to Acre through Genoese merchants.

With the additional funds, Benedetto purchased even more Milanese steel and stopped by the Republic of Genoa, where he hired fifty Genoese crossbowmen before heading toward the Holy Land.

September 1185.

After Baldwin IV died, the young prince Baldwin V ascended to the throne.

Of course, because Baldwin V was still young, Raymond III, Count of Tripoli and Prince of Galilee, became regent.

Balian of Ibelin became the Seneschal, the royal administrator, pushing aside Joscelin III, Count of Edessa.

And Michael remained Baldwin V’s swordsmanship teacher.

Damn… Should I just leave Baldwin V to die? Or…

After spending time with Baldwin V, Michael began to wonder whether he should save him or not.

If he decided to save him even now, he could pay close attention to hygiene and, through the physicians of Saladin who had treated Baldwin IV, take precautions so that Baldwin V would not fall ill.

But if he did that…

The Battle of Hattin might never happen, and his plan to save Jerusalem from Saladin could also be ruined.

Stay calm…

If he saved Baldwin V here, he would lose the advantage of knowing the future.

Therefore, Michael decided to stand by and allow Baldwin V to die.

And as time passed…

Eventually, in 1186, Baldwin V died of illness, and the political situation in Jerusalem once again descended into chaos.

Michael’s residence.

Sir Matteo, a knight sent by Bernhard, reported on the condition of the territories of Acre and Tyre and the troops under Michael’s command.

“The number of heavy cavalry sergeants, including those currently here, has increased to a total of 100. All of them have been fully equipped with transitional armor.”

One hundred heavy cavalrymen.

They were essentially soldiers with strength close to that of knights.

“In addition, all 500 infantry sergeants have been equipped with chainmail and turned into heavy infantry. We have also recruited 50 new archer sergeants, and they are being trained in archery by the Cuman mercenaries.”

Even the ordinary sergeants had been fully equipped with chainmail, turning the entire force into heavily armored troops.

“What is the situation with the mercenaries?”

“A total of 50 Genoese crossbowmen arrived in Acre two days ago. Also, another 20 Cuman cavalrymen arrived, bringing the number to 50 in Acre and 50 in Tyre, for a total of 100.”

Including the 100 Cuman cavalrymen currently stationed in Jerusalem, there were now 200 Cuman cavalrymen in total.

In effect, Michael had replaced almost his entire light cavalry force with Cuman cavalry.

“So about 1,100 in total.”

For a lord who controlled only two cities, it was an enormous number of troops.

“It is about time… I return to Tyre.”

Of course, Acre was the larger city…

But since Tyre had been where he started, he felt more attached to Tyre.

Time passed.

The noble faction insisted that Princess Sibylla had to divorce Guy if she wanted to become queen, and since Baldwin IV had also left a final request that she divorce Guy, Sibylla had no choice but to swallow her tears and divorce him.

Thus, Princess Sibylla divorced Guy, held her coronation in Jerusalem, and ascended to the throne as queen.

But…

Once she became queen, she declared that she would choose her own husband.

She then took Guy, whom she had divorced, as her husband once again, effectively making him the co-king of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

The two leaders of the noble faction, who had been thoroughly betrayed by her, were left deeply shocked.

Meanwhile, Renaud de Châtillon, Gerard, and Joscelin III, who supported Guy, laughed loudly as they watched the devastated members of the noble faction.

Afterward, Joscelin III regained his position as Seneschal, while Raymond III stepped down from his position as regent.

Naturally, Renaud and Gerard took an extremely aggressive position, insisting that an attack against Saladin had to be launched immediately.

Raymond III, Balian, and the others strongly opposed them.

From Guy’s perspective, he desperately wanted to prevent the throne of Jerusalem, which he had barely obtained, from becoming as fragile as a lamp in the wind.

Therefore, he tried to suppress the aggressive faction by putting Raymond III at the forefront.

However, Renaud de Châtillon, who had played the greatest role in putting Guy on the throne, was completely impossible to control.

After somehow calming Renaud down and sending him back to Kerak, Guy held his head and shook it repeatedly.

Afterward, Michael declared that he would return to Tyre because he had grown sick and tired of the politics of the kingdom.

There was no longer any reason for him to remain tied to Jerusalem, and Guy, who felt uncomfortable with Michael’s position and background, did not try to stop him.

Thus, Michael was able to leave Jerusalem and head toward Tyre.

“Must you really leave at a time like this?”

Raymond III asked.

Michael answered.

“Someone must prepare for the future, must they not?”

“Hmm…”

“I pray that the Lord’s blessings will be with you in the days ahead.”

“And the same to you.”