The Youngest Prince Of The English Royalty House [EN]: Chapter 42

[Special Vacation (1)]

“Waaaaaah!”

The Crusaders began to rampage wildly.

It was a grueling war. Of course, they had volunteered for the Holy Land defense, but still.

The war was not as easy as expected.

In times like these, the members of the Crusades thought of their children back home.

Many felt a sense of responsibility and a desire to survive.

Yes, they were also someone’s fathers.

They were the ones who could understand the feelings of a child on the brink of death better than anyone else.

The news of Prince John’s life being in danger also reached others.

However, even in that situation, the sight of the old knight Henry II proclaiming that the Holy War was more important than his own son, Prince John,

Paradoxically, his prioritizing the war over his child deeply moved the Crusaders, who were exhausted from the endless, tedious battles.

The Crusaders, making the sign of the cross before their greatswords, cried out.

“Lord’s army!”

“Grant us the courage and faithfulness to fight like the army of Joshua!”

The army of Joshua, Moses’ successor, the best elite force in the Bible.

The Crusaders prayed to God to make them as strong as Joshua’s army.

“Kill them!”

“We are the Crusaders!”

Of course, Henry II, who had incited the Crusaders, did not act emotionally.

He issued important orders to his commanders as needed, seeking out the weak points of the still unorganized and bloated Islamic coalition forces.

Fortunately, Henry II’s commanders.

Many were accustomed to such chaotic battles.

“We Englishmen have seen much while fighting countless civil wars.”

England is an island nation.

Cut off from the continent, their civil wars were especially brutal and fierce.

Wasn’t Henry II the great general who had led all of England’s civil wars to victory?

However, although he was furious at the news of John,

he quickly cooled his anger and thought.

‘I must use this as well.’

He wasn’t the head of the Angevin-Plantagenet family for nothing.

At this moment, Henry II was thinking of using the fact that his son was in critical condition for the war effort.

That was the heart of a commander.

‘But if John really dies, I cannot live under the same sky as those Islamic bastards.’

Of course, if John were to die,

Henry II would be more determined than anyone to exterminate the infidels.

Moreover, it wasn’t just Henry II who was angry at the news of John.

‘When I was the Crown Prince, John was the only one who treated me with respect…’

Alexios II, who had felt favorably towards John in many ways since childhood.

Now, the Eastern Roman Emperor of the Crusades.

He was furious at the fact that John was fighting for his life due to the cowardly schemes of the Muslims.

“The Sultanate of Rum must be destroyed.”

In fact, the Islamic coalition forces.

Had a very big weakness.

That was. They were so surprised by the scale of the Western Crusaders that they failed to consider another strong power, the Eastern Roman Empire.

Soon after, a trumpet sounded.

The trumpet was blown by a Christian.

The Crusaders blew the horn trumpets that Joshua’s army had used to bring down Jericho.

They were charging with sheer grit.

**

The Islamic soldiers in the Islamic coalition’s camp.

Heard the trumpet sound from the Crusader camp with their own ears.

“Waaah!”

“Let’s go forward!”

“Bring down the ‘Jericho’ of the infidels.”

Jericho was the city that Joshua’s army had destroyed.

The commanders of the Islamic coalition felt a sense of déjà vu.

They felt that the Crusaders’ morale was different now.

In the past, the Crusaders were known to the Islamic army as cowards or fools.

The Islamic army had freely mocked the ugly 모습 [Korean: appearance] shown by the First and Second Crusades.

But the Third Crusade launched by those wicked Christians was strong.

The difference was so great from the weak Christian Crusaders they had heard about in the past.

From the Islamic camp’s point of view.

They were dumbfounded by this situation.

‘Why are those guys suddenly like that?’

At first.

Did those guys suddenly take opium?

Opium is a ‘harmful substance’ that the British Empire forced on the Chinese in the 19th century.

But even in the 12th century, opium (poppy) was a kind of stimulant that existed in the Middle Eastern powers.

A stimulant given to the assassins (Hashashin) and the penal units who had to make a vanguard charge instead of being executed.

But now.

The Crusaders, who had not taken a single sip of opium.

Were starting to go wild as if they had taken opium.

In particular, the Caliph, the leader of the Islamic coalition, looked at the front line with a sullen expression.

The Islamic army was fighting well as always.

But the 모습 [Korean: appearance] of the Crusaders today was different.

The Caliph was unfamiliar yet familiar with this 모습 [Korean: appearance].

“Tell me, are those really Christians? That 모습… [Korean: appearance] isn’t it the 모습 [Korean: appearance] of the Shia who used to fight us?”

Of course, that doesn’t mean that the Islamic coalition forces were just standing still and saying, ‘Yes, please kill us~’ to the Crusaders.

But the Crusaders, who were doped up because of Safe John, were too strong.

**

-Acre-

A heavy silence flowed through the Crusader camp.

Of course, the atmosphere could not be good.

Because John, who had taken an arrow instead of the Holy Roman Emperor, had been carried away.

Future medical technology might be different, but if you were injured this badly in the Middle Ages.

You’re really going to die.

Didn’t King Richard the Lionheart eventually die from an arrow in original history?

In this medieval era, even one arrow could send you straight to the River Jordan.

Anyway, a lot of time had passed since Prince John was hit by an arrow and collapsed.

The siege of Acre became more favorable to the Crusaders as time passed.

But the atmosphere among the Crusaders was not good thanks to ‘John’.

Because Henry II, the de facto co-leader of the Western Crusaders, along with the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I!

His most cherished and beloved son ‘John’ was in a critical situation.

John’s vassals, Charles and Robin… and Godfrey, were very worried.

The fact that if John, who was hovering between life and death, were to die, they would become vassals who had lost their lord.

The fact that there was no lord like John.

Those two facts weighed heavily on them.

Just then, Godfrey said.

“Our lord is not such a weak person. Let’s believe. The one who called himself ‘Safe John’.”

Thus, Godfrey, the ultimate bastard, firmly believed in Prince John.

Surely, his lord would be safe again!

But right then, someone came in and said.

“That’s right… John is not such a weak ‘knight’.”

The Holy Roman Emperor said so calmly.

‘That child saved someone who wasn’t even his father.’

The person with the most complicated emotions right now.

Was not Prince John’s vassals, but the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I.

‘John…’

The youngest prince of England, whom he had first taken an interest in and watched in many ways during this Crusade.

John was an interesting child in many ways.

He was also like a child to him because he was the same age as his son.

“For Prince John, who will wake up again, we will destroy Acre. Do you understand?”

-As you say, Your Majesty.

Prince John’s three major vassals, Godfrey, Charles, and Robin.

They were moved by the Emperor’s words.

They also believed that their lord John would surely wake up.

“Your Majesty, new reinforcements have arrived outside the camp.”

“No, is that possible? The entire Anatolian front is in the middle of a desperate battle right now?”

Frederick I asked with a hesitant expression.

Isn’t the main force currently fighting fiercely against the Islamic army in Anatolia?

Then, the Duke of Austria, one of the Prince-Electors [German: a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire], said.

“They are mercenaries hired by the Queen of Ireland.”

At that moment.

Prince John’s vassals from Ireland did not understand.

No, did Eleanor send mercenaries for her son?

Queen Eleanor may seem to be sponging off her son’s territory now.

But from a long time ago.

The fact that she did not give much affection to her youngest son John.

Was a fact known not only to the English but also to the French?

“Greetings to His Imperial Majesty.”

“Who are you?”

“We are a mercenary group from Flanders under the command of Her Majesty Queen Eleanor.”

The Flemish mercenaries looked like they could handle a sword.

“By the way… I heard that Prince John is in critical condition.”

With those words, the mercenary captain spoke with a chilling expression.

“We will have to accomplish more than what my employer desires…”

The Flemish mercenary corps.

They are a gift from John’s mother, Eleanor.

Of course, they are not just any Flemish mercenary corps, but fully equipped Flemish mercenaries wearing Irish longbows and Irish polearms!

**

-Phew.

Damn it.

It hurts like hell.

I had the experience of being shot in my previous life in the 21st century.

But an arrow hurts more, damn it.

I can’t have a sad ending like this.

Mary.

James…

And my vassals.

I was very worried about them.

I, who had been properly hit by an arrow while trying to save the old Emperor.

Felt real death.

Even when everything became dizzy.

And when a pitch-black darkness enveloped my eyes.

I was experiencing ‘death’.

But at some point, the dark darkness lifted, and I woke up again.

When I opened my eyes, I felt tremendous pain.

Like being shot.

My whole body hurt so much.

But thanks to that pain, I realized an important fact.

The fact that I was definitely alive!

I still felt dazed.

‘How… did I survive?’

Clearly, the arrow that the Muslims of Acre had shot.

Was clearly a ploy to properly kill the Holy Roman Emperor and cause chaos in the command structure.

Anyway.

After being hit by that arrow and collapsing.

While wandering between life and death, in the moment I fell asleep.

I did not have a strange experience.

The original John (the incompetent John of original history) did not come out and say.

‘Actually, it was I who called you.’ or.

Suddenly, the Archangel Michael did not appear and say.

‘You who have reversed time by the Lord’s history, I will save your life.’

Such a thing never happened.

I just lost consciousness and wandered at the crossroads of life and death.

However.

‘Damn it, my memories have returned.’

The memories I wanted to forget and had sealed away came flooding back.

I’m talking about the memories related to the day of destruction.

A feeling of wanting to kill 100 Islamic bastards came up.

Right then.

As if they had heard my presence.

Someone came inside and rejoiced.

“Prince John has awakened!”

Fortunately, in this primitive world.

The most reliable doctor from the Eastern Roman Empire said.

“Your Highness, can you hear me?”

“Ugh… uh.”

At first, I couldn’t even speak.

Maybe it was because I had overcome a near-death experience.

I had no energy.

It was also difficult to move my tongue and lips.

“Your Highness… it is the grace of God. If the arrow had gone even a little further to the left. You would have really crossed the River Jordan.”

Phew.

I think I’m really lucky.

The River Jordan.

I can’t go, leaving behind the people who only look at me.

A few days later, I was able to meet people as my condition improved.

“What happened to Acre?”

When I asked that.

Godfrey said in an emotional voice.

“Acre has already been recaptured.”

It was taken away in vain due to an internal rebellion.

Acre, which had shed an enormous amount of blood to recapture it.

To think that they had taken it back.

“And there is someone I want to show you in person, Your Highness.”

And not long after.

I was able to see one of the Islamic army’s commanders.

“You are… the surviving Zangi.”

Before I could open my mouth, the Arab spoke to me in very fluent Latin.

I asked Godfrey, who was next to me.

“Who is that?”

“It’s a fake Safadin.”

“Then what about the real Safadin?”

I was curious about Saladin’s brother and the commander of the Acre front, Safadin.

“He is missing.”

He disappeared.

Where did he bounce off to?

Well, it doesn’t matter. We’ve taken Acre now!

**

The fall of Acre.

Was like a Crusader’s advance base had been established.

Because we were advancing while receiving maritime supplies through the port of Acre.

The momentum created once in a war has important meaning.

I almost died trying to save the Holy Roman Emperor.

We must ride the good momentum created by the ‘luck’ of waking up again in three days.

I helped the Holy Roman Emperor occupy the area near Acre.

And not long after.

[You helped the Holy Roman Emperor obtain Acre, John, you’ve done a great job! But since your body is not well, go to Ireland for a while and rest.]

I received an order from my father to recuperate.

He was practically giving me a vacation. As expected, my father knows something!

‘Have a good trip, John. Thanks to your courageous actions… you saved my life, so I plan to devote myself more to this Crusade.’

Thus, I left for the sea, seeing off the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I.

Some time later, I arrived safely on the tranquil island of Ireland.

-Slap.

“John, are you crazy?”

I was smacked on the back by my beloved wife, Mary.

Special Vacation (2)