Chapter 07
14 Granting of the Title (2)
“Michael von Eisenwert. Kneel.”
Michael knelt on one knee without complaint.
The cold feeling of the marble floor traveled up through his knee, but he did not care at all.
This moment was clearly important.
This was not simply a ceremony where he was receiving a title. It was the moment when his name was officially being brought into the politics and power structure of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Baldwin IV took the sword handed to him by an attendant and slowly raised it.
Then he placed the blade on Michael’s shoulders one after the other and declared,
“As the King of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, I hereby grant you, Michael von Eisenwert, the title of Baron. From this day forward, as the Baron and Lord of Tyre and Acre, you shall uphold the laws and honor of the kingdom, and give your loyalty and service to me and the kingdom.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Michael’s answer was short but clear.
Baldwin IV then handed him a document concerning his fief.
“This is the document recognizing your lands of Tyre and Acre, as well as your complete ownership and hereditary rights over them. I guarantee these rights in the name of the kingdom.”
Michael accepted the document with both hands.
The scroll felt heavy, and the meaning contained within it was even heavier.
At this moment, he was no longer merely a mercenary commander or an armed knight who had just set foot in the Holy Land.
Now, he was a nobleman who had firmly established his roots within the kingdom, and the head of an independent power that no one could easily ignore.
Immediately afterward, the attendants shouted loudly throughout the hall.
“Glory to Sir Michael von Eisenwert, Baron of Tyre and Acre!”
Some applauded, some remained silent, and some reluctantly nodded.
Just from the differences in their reactions, Michael could already tell how different the thoughts of the people gathered here were.
Michael stood up, paid his respects to the king, and slowly stepped back.
At that moment, his eyes briefly met those of several people.
Raymond III was looking at him with an oddly interested gaze, while Balian gave him a slight nod with a relatively gentle expression.
Jocelyn III, on the other hand, had an openly displeased expression, while Grand Master Gerard looked him over with eyes that seemed to judge everything about him.
Guy de Lusignan was smiling, but there was far more calculation and caution in that smile than warmth.
After the baronial investiture ceremony ended, a banquet was held inside the palace to celebrate Michael receiving his title and his suppression of the bandits in Galilee.
The banquet hall was much more splendid than Michael had expected.
Long tables were covered with roasted lamb and beef, game birds served with herbs, bread and fruit seasoned with honey and spices, and endless amounts of wine and beer.
Dozens of candles burned in silver candleholders, while the emblem of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the banners of various noble families hung on the walls, creating a different kind of dignity from the Great Hall.
Yet even amid all that splendor, the atmosphere was not particularly light.
On the surface, it was a celebration banquet, but in reality, it was closer to a political stage where people were testing and checking one another over the future direction of the kingdom.
Michael understood this atmosphere well, so he had no intention of speaking first.
He simply held his cup and observed the people from a slightly withdrawn position.
Just by watching who spoke to whom first, which topics caused someone’s expression to stiffen, and which names changed the atmosphere, he could learn quite a lot.
When the banquet had reached its peak, Raymond III was the first to bring up a topic.
“Now the north can breathe a little easier. Tyre and Acre have been stabilized, and the bandits in the Galilee region have also been dealt a heavy blow. Therefore, for the time being, the kingdom should avoid unnecessary conflicts and seek stability.”
Several nobles immediately nodded at his words.
The position of the noble faction was clear.
Although the kingdom looked fine on the surface, its internal strength was far from strong.
King Baldwin IV’s illness was worsening, internal politics were divided, and a great power named Saladin was constantly increasing his strength from the south and east.
In such a situation, an unnecessary war would be no different from destroying themselves.
Balian also put down his cup and continued.
“Saladin is by no means an easy opponent. He has already effectively taken control of Egypt and Syria and is bringing the Muslim forces together. It may be foolish for us to draw our swords first and provoke him.”
His words did not sound overly fearful.
Rather, they were closer to a calm judgment that accurately understood reality.
Balian was a nobleman who thought first about the damage that would actually be suffered by the people and the lands rather than relying on lofty ideals.
Then Jocelyn III let out a mocking laugh from the opposite side.
“If we keep retreating and retreating, what will be left in the end? We came here to protect the Holy Land. Is it truly wise to sit still while Saladin continues to grow stronger?”
Grand Master Gerard of the Knights Templar immediately agreed with Jocelyn III.
“He is right. We must not give the infidels time to gather their strength. God gave us the sword, and that sword exists for the moment when a decision must be made. Now is the time for the kingdom to show a stronger will.”
Gerard’s words contained the solemnity typical of a religious man and a certainty close to fanaticism.
He was not a man who discussed compromise in the first place.
Demanding a final battle against the enemy while raising the cross was simply his nature.
Guy de Lusignan also naturally joined the conversation.
“If the kingdom acts too passively, it will only make Saladin look down on us. A show of strength is a deterrent in itself. What they should fear is our faith and our swords.”
His words sounded very convincing on the surface.
Indeed, several young knights at one side of the banquet hall were looking deeply impressed.
But Michael sensed that there was more calculation than emotion behind Guy’s words.
Guy wanted war.
No, more precisely, he wanted a situation where he could maximize his own presence through the stage of war.
Raymond III then answered coldly.
“It is easy to say that everything will be solved if we simply trust our swords. But when war breaks out, it will not only be knights who die. Farmers will die, villages will burn, taxes will stop coming in, and eventually the entire kingdom will bleed.”
“So you are saying we should do nothing because we are afraid?”
Jocelyn III immediately sharpened his tone.
“Not fear. Calculation.”
Raymond III did not back down at all.
“Saladin is not a reckless man. Neither should we be reckless. What we need now is not unnecessary provocation, but to stabilize the borders, strengthen our internal affairs, and preserve the kingdom’s strength.”
Grand Master Gerard slammed his cup down.
“Strength has meaning only when it is used, Lord Raymond. If we continue to let opportunities granted by God pass us by, we will eventually be judged.”
Balian let out a small sigh at those words.
“Grand Master, saying that every problem is a test from God does not solve everything.”
“Then are you saying that human calculation is more important than God’s will?”
“At least when it comes to killing people, calculation is necessary.”
The atmosphere instantly became tense.
The gazes of both sides collided directly, while the nobles and knights sitting nearby watched the scene while barely even breathing.
It seemed as though the conflicts that had been building for a long time were finally taking shape and revealing themselves here today.
Baldwin IV quietly watched everything from the head of the banquet table.
His face remained unreadable beneath the veil, but the king did not stop the argument.
No, it was almost as if he was deliberately allowing it to continue.
It seemed that before his death, he wanted to understand exactly where the currents within the kingdom were flowing and what each person was thinking.
At that moment, Jocelyn III suddenly turned his gaze toward Michael.
“Then what does the newly appointed Baron and Lord of Tyre and Acre think? Since he is the man who cut down five hundred infidels in Galilee, I suppose he has more than enough qualifications to speak.”
At those words, every gaze in the banquet hall turned toward Michael.
Raymond III, Balian, Gerard, Guy de Lusignan, and even Baldwin IV at the head of the hall were quietly looking at him.
It was quite a troublesome question for a young knight who had just stepped into the center of the political stage.
The moment he clearly sided with one faction, he could turn the other side into an enemy.
Michael put down his cup for a moment and looked around before calmly speaking.
“If you ask for my opinion… I have not been in Jerusalem for very long. Therefore, there is still much I do not know about the local situation…”
He deliberately paused for a moment.
Even though he felt everyone’s eyes focused on him, he did not become impatient.
“But there is one thing I know for certain. There are times when we must fight, and there are also times when we must not fight. The sword is certainly important. But knowing when to draw the sword is just as important.”
At those words, Raymond III’s eyes narrowed slightly, while an interested smile appeared at the corner of Guy de Lusignan’s mouth.
Michael had not completely taken either side.
Michael continued.
“As the person responsible for defending Tyre and Acre, I do not take the chaos along the borders lightly. Whether it is Saladin or bandits, if someone threatens the people of the kingdom or its trade routes, then of course they must be driven back. But at the same time, I do not think it is wise to overturn the entire situation first by spilling unnecessary blood.”
He slowly took a sip of the wine remaining in his cup before adding,
“In the end, what matters is not who speaks the more correct words, but whether the kingdom can actually endure, is it not?”
The banquet hall became quiet for a moment.
His words were extremely general, but at the same time, they were a realistic answer that no one could easily argue against.
To Raymond III’s faction, it sounded like a warning against excessive aggression. To the hardliners at court, it could be interpreted as saying that he would not hesitate to fight when necessary.
Guy de Lusignan smiled lightly.
“A clever answer.”
“It is simply what I honestly think.”
Michael answered without expression.
Balian then smiled quietly and raised his cup.
“At least it is fortunate that you do not desire bloodshed without reason.”
Grand Master Gerard snorted as if displeased, while Jocelyn III still looked dissatisfied.
Raymond III, on the other hand, gave Michael a short nod.
He probably did not consider Michael to be completely on his side, but it seemed he had decided that there was no need to make him an enemy right away.
The banquet continued afterward, but the argument from earlier was not over.
Rather, that argument was merely a preview of the great fracture that would shake the entire Kingdom of Jerusalem over the next three months.
March 1185.
When Baldwin IV died, the kingdom’s power structure would certainly be thrown into turmoil once again.
The noble faction would try to protect its interests by placing the young Baldwin V at the center of power, while the hardliners at court would push forward even more aggressively in the name of faith and war.
And in the middle of all that chaos, Michael, who had newly acquired Tyre and Acre, watched the flow of events with a face that seemed to belong to neither side.
But no one knew what he truly thought.
Under the bright candlelight of the banquet hall, he simply tilted his cup and quietly listened to the words of those around him.
Yet his eyes remained cold and calm.
There were many people talking about the future of the Holy Land, but perhaps the only one who could most clearly smell the coming bloodshed was this foreign baron.
And that fact would eventually become the seed that would shake the fate of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
