I Became The King Of Crusaders [EN]: Chapter 51

Assassin’s Creed (1)

* * *

“Looks like the landlords have come out to greet us. About twenty of them.”

The knights and soldiers drew their swords.

Spears clashed, making a clattering sound.

The sun was slowly setting.

Dusk tinted the rocks red.

“Are you referring to the Hashashins [a secretive order of assassins]? I don’t see anything.”

“The Duke has never been wrong before.”

Gamier said to Joscelin.

A tense silence fell.

“Look over there. Near the round rock, in the bushes.”

I handed Gamier the telescope.

“They’re on the hillsides on both sides as well. They must be Hashashins.”

“Indeed,” Joscelin muttered.

He shouted loudly, “Everyone, prepare for battle!”

I looked back at the bushes.

I could barely see them even when paying close attention.

I wouldn’t have noticed them without my sixth sense.

Gamier shouted in Arabic, “Come out!”

Silence followed.

Joscelin and his knights also drew their swords.

“Here!”

Eyg handed me a crossbow.

I aimed at the bushes.

When I pulled the trigger, the bolt whizzed and struck the ground next to the bushes.

I felt a sense of bewilderment and surprise.

The hostility isn’t strong.

They’re probably not here to attack us.

There’s no reason to kill the Jerusalem royalty.

There’s no profit to be gained either.

‘That would immediately trigger a full-scale subjugation [complete military and political control].’

The men hiding in the bushes revealed themselves.

Hoods covered their entire faces.

They looked similar to how they appeared in the game.

There were about twenty or thirty of them.

A standoff ensued.

Both sides held swords and shields, staring at each other.

Eyg also stood in front, aiming his bow at them.

The man who appeared to be the leader stepped forward.

He bowed.

“Duke Baldwin. We have been waiting for your arrival.”

A natural intonation.

I scoffed and replied, “It’s hard to say you were waiting for us while hiding in the bushes.”

If they hadn’t been discovered, they would have waited for us to arrive near the fortress.

Were they trying to surround and pressure us?

“I came to meet Rashid ad-Din Sinan [historical leader of the Nizari Ismailis], here, he’s called the Old Man of the Mountain.”

“The Elder has been waiting for you for several days.”

“Stop with the pointless talk and lead us to your master,” Joscelin said.

He growled like an angry lion. “He is not one to converse with insignificant people like you.”

“Understood. Please come this way.”

We followed the hooded men.

The hills fell into darkness as the sun set.

Some soldiers held torches and stood on both sides.

Gamier approached.

“Did you know about their leader? The Old Man of the Mountain…”

“It’s exactly as it sounds. An old man who leads the Hashashins. They say he performs miracles.”

Joscelin interjected, “They say he appears in one fortress and simultaneously appears in another.”

“Typical Saracen [archaic term for Muslim] fanatic boasting,” Gamier scoffed.

“False Christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.”

“The Gospel of Matthew.”

“The only real miracle I’ve seen so far is Duke Baldwin.”

Gamier looked at me with awe-filled eyes.

I cleared my throat and pretended not to notice.

This is all too much for me.

We continued to climb hills and mountains.

Soon, a castle came into view.

On a mountaintop overlooking the valley.

Masyaf Castle [a historical fortress in Syria].

One of the dozens of large and small Nizari Ismaili [a branch of Shia Islam] state fortresses.

A natural fortress suited for assassins.

After passing through the castle gate, we headed inside.

The residents passing by glanced at us.

The castle didn’t seem much different from other places.

Guards standing watch and residents going home to sleep.

There were a lot of stairs, though.

‘These damn stairs are endless.’

I quickly became breathless.

I can’t help being physically weak.

There was another unusual thing.

Numerous guards stood throughout the fortress.

At least two stood at every passage.

I could sense hundreds just with my sixth sense.

This is the most heavily guarded place I’ve ever seen.

Even in the game, it took at least several times more troops to capture an Assassin fortress.

At that moment, a man brushed past us.

Ragged clothes.

At first glance, he looked like an ordinary livestock manager.

But something was off.

A familiar face.

An unusually familiar face.

Unless I’m mistaken….

Then Eyg approached and asked, “What’s wrong, Duke?”

“It’s nothing,” I replied with a smile.

I need to see how this plays out.

Inside the fortress, we climbed more winding stairs.

“The Elder is in the inner audience chamber. Please come alone.”

“I have a duty to protect the Duke, especially in a place surrounded by heathens,” Gamier said.

“If you cannot accept this, we have no choice but to turn back.”

“….”

The man glared at Gamier.

An awkward silence hung in the air, and finally, he spoke. “Then you may come as well. Guard Gamier.”

Eyg and Joscelin.

The rest of the group remained in the hall.

Gamier and I headed to the inner audience chamber.

“We cannot go any further,” the man said, stopping in front of the room.

He recited an unknown prayer as if this were a sanctuary.

I went straight inside.

The first thing I saw was an old man sitting alone.

The flickering torchlight cast swaying shadows.

The old man was the only one in the room.

But I sensed something else with my sixth sense.

‘This is interesting.’

I barely managed to hold back a laugh.

Such a shallow trick.

The Hashashins weren’t anything special.

“Welcome. Duke Baldwin of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. I have been waiting for you,” the old man said, rising to his feet.

He looked at me with blazing eyes.

“I am Rashid ad-Din Sinan, the Elder of this place. I have heard that you received a revelation from the Archangel Michael.”

“….”

When I didn’t answer, he frowned.

“Like you, I am also one who hears heavenly revelations. I seem to sense a similar divinity in you.”

I couldn’t help but scoff.

Divinity?

“Tell me, why have you, a Frankish [historical term for Western Europeans] royal, come to this remote place?”

“Stop playing games here,” I glared at the old man.

“I have no intention of talking to a puppet like you.”

“Puppet? Are you insulting me?! Me, the Elder of this place?!” The old man’s face turned red.

He trembled and shouted, “Even if you are a member of the Jerusalem royalty, this is our Hashashin land! If you continue to utter such blasphemous words….”

“Duke…,” Gamier muttered with a flustered expression.

I held out my arm to signal that it was okay.

“Since you don’t seem to understand properly, I’ll say it again. You better stop playing games here.”

I stood up and glared at the wall behind the old man.

The old man flinched.

“How long are you going to keep fooling me? Rashid ad-Din Sinan?”

Silence fell….

The wall slid open with a creaking sound.

Behind it stood a man.

Gray hair and an appearance that seemed to be in his early fifties.

With sharp eyes.

Rashid ad-Din Sinan.

The real Old Man of the Mountain.

* * *

“As expected, the Duke never disappoints,” the man said with a calm expression.

“Welcome to Masyaf Castle. Duke Baldwin of Jerusalem. I am Rashid ad-Din Sinan.”

“To put a fake in front of the Duke, how dare you commit such an insult…!” Gamier’s face flushed red.

I stopped him from drawing his sword.

“I did not intend to insult you. Even those in these castles do not know that I am Sinan,” Sinan said calmly.

He turned his head towards me.

Still an expressionless face.

But curiosity and bewilderment were faintly visible.

Did he not expect this situation?

“How did you know I was behind the wall? Unless this man told you something….”

“N-No, it’s not my fault!” the old man shouted, waving his hands.

It was a 180-degree change from when he was shouting loudly.

A suffocating fear was felt.

“I only did as the leader told me!”

“I recognized you from when I saw you below the fortress,” I said with a smile.

Our eyes met in the middle.

“Or do you think it’s a lie that I received a revelation from the Archangel?”

Sinan.

The leader of the Nizari Ismaili state.

Even if he can deceive those who don’t know, it’s different for me.

I’ve seen your portrait enough to be sick of it.

The Assassin leader disguised as a livestock manager, watching us from below the fortress.

And the man behind the wall, sensed by my sixth sense.

There was only one conclusion that came from putting it all together.

“You’ve been using different old men in each fortress to act as you. Making it seem like you’re in all places at once.”

If so, the rumors that Joscelin heard can also be explained.

Sinan scoffed.

“Even if you say that, no one will believe you. No believer will listen to the words of a Frank.”

“By your standards, wouldn’t I, who performed miracles, also be a holy Imam [Islamic leadership position]?”

“How dare you speak such blasphemy with that mouth…do not mistake the power of demons for that of heaven,” he muttered, frowning.

I smiled at him.

These Nizari Ismaili sects revolved around an Imam who was granted authority by God.

In Islam, they were those who revered mysticism.

“I didn’t come this far to fight you,” I said.

On the contrary.

“I know very well what you Franks want,” Sinan said, folding his arms.

“The supplies you gathered in Cyprus have now been moved to Tripoli. There’s only one place they can go.”

He looked at me.

“You came to give those supplies to Masud, didn’t you? You want to use us like delivery men.”

“….”

Instead of answering, I gave a faint smile.

“I believe that when you ask for something, there must be a corresponding price. Or did you think I would kneel and follow the Duke’s orders?”

“That rude Saracen bastard…!” Gamier exhaled.

“We already know that you pay tribute to the Knights Templar [a powerful Catholic military order]. How dare you….”

“The tribute we pay to the Knights Templar every year is merely a concession for peace,” Sinan scoffed again.

“Even if they bring heavy armor and horses, they cannot occupy our fortresses.”

“We can certainly defeat you, a vile race that only knows how to assassinate.”

“Our Fidai [self-sacrificing warriors], the assassinations carried out by self-sacrificing individuals, are extremely courageous and noble sacrifices,” Sinan frowned.

He continued, “You speak of the Lord’s peace while massacring innocent Muslims and even roasting the bones and flesh of children.”

He raised his arm into the air.

“These are the writings of a Frankish historian, not anyone else, who recorded the tragedy of Ma’arra [a historical event of cannibalism during the First Crusade]. We ate the flesh of Turks and Saracens, and even tore apart dogs!”

“….”

“Our warriors stab daggers directly into the necks of sinners. We do not kill the innocent, nor do we beg for our lives in a pathetic manner.”

Sinan added in a mocking tone, “I know that many Frankish knights have been captured and converted to Islam.”

“How dare you utter such insolent nonsense…….”

I reached out again to stop Gamier.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t wrong.

Their method of assassination was different from that of 21st-century Islamic terrorists.

But that’s not because they have a noble purpose.

‘They were merely taking a rational strategy as a minority.’

They were also trying to expand their power.

The massacre and murder were also one of their methods.

Brainwashing young children to become assassins is not normal either.

“It seems you know very well what we want. But I also know what you want,” I said.

Who is the most feared enemy of the Hashashins?

The Crusaders? The Crusaders were rather benefactors who saved them.

Sunni Islam [the largest branch of Islam].

The mainstream Muslims were their greatest enemy.

And Saladin [a famous Muslim leader] was also a Sunni who followed the Caliph of Baghdad.

Since Saladin is marching north, these guys must be sweating bullets.

If you know what the other party fears, you can use it.

“Even if Aleppo falls into Saladin’s hands, our Crusaders will not perish,” I said.

“We will be on the defensive, but there will still be opportunities. But can you say the same?”

I looked at him straight on.

“A unified Sunni dynasty. There is no greater threat to you Hashashins than that.”

Sinan himself said he had been waiting for me for several days.

That means they are also desperate.

“Since you are so curious, I will tell you what compensation you will receive if you help us transport the supplies,” I smiled.

“It is none other than the favor of me and the Kingdom of Jerusalem.”

“Favor?” Sinan laughed in disbelief.

“Are you saying that you want us to do such a dangerous thing in exchange for mere favor?”

“If you refuse, I will mobilize all the nearby knight orders to transport the supplies. I may even occupy some of these Hashashin fortresses,” I said.

“If we occupy these places, it won’t be a big loss even if Aleppo falls into Saladin’s hands.”

“If that happens, we will both be weakened in front of Saladin. Two sheep fighting in front of a lion,” Sinan opened his mouth.

“You’re bluffing.”

“You admit that Saladin is a common enemy. If you are truly an Imam who can read minds…,” I looked at Sinan.

The situations I mentioned would be the worst-case scenario for the Hashashins.

“You will know that what I said is sincere. And the favor of me and the kingdom is by no means small,” I continued.

“We may even allow the propagation of your sect within the Kingdom of Jerusalem. You will also be safe from Sunni vigilantes,” I said.

The Kingdom of Jerusalem also accepted Muslims as citizens.

Just as Islam accepted Jews and Christians as citizens.

“….”

Sinan was silent.

I could feel that he was flustered.