Temple Sword

Chapter 183

1323, Great Ramadan (February)
Buda, Hungary
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The ferryman brought Antal Bator back from the island. His face seemed to have been peeled off, and there were dark red circles under his eyes.

Simon thought it best for them to go home as soon as possible, and find a village or a farmhouse on the way to spend the night.But the knight didn't want to leave yet, and insisted on going to Buda to see how his father-in-law's inn, who had died many years ago, was doing.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, my lord?" asked the attendant, who had left Istvan Lakfee and returned to Antar since he learned of the knight's return last Christmas. "If we spend the night in Buda tonight, we will waste a lot of money."

"I just want to drink a glass of beer, and then we can go on the road." At this time, the lily knight who was still in deep grief murmured.

Simon shook his head and sighed helplessly. He felt that there was no need for him to argue with this poor man.

So they set foot on the former capital of Charles. This ancient city on the Danube seemed to be able to tell the wars, conflicts, blood and betrayal it had witnessed, but I am afraid that even if the whole world listened, it would be difficult to bear the historical echo.

Antal, who had not been here since they repelled Mate Chak's besieging army, looked around curiously, despite his present gloomy mood, as they wandered among the houses. .

They walked through familiar streets, and those memories that he thought had been forgotten emerged from different corners of his soul. Although his vision of the city was completely different from before, it seemed that Buda had not changed over the years.

God, what had he been through here!
The first time he was brought by poor Umberto, a boy who almost lost his life from the wounds he had received in the forest battle.A few days later, a pair of bright blue eyes greeted him back into this world.

Not long after, he learned that the owner of those charming eyes was Agnes, the daughter of the innkeeper, a few years older than him, and avoided Antal's pursuit.

Agnes...

It was she who kept attracting him back here. For her, he committed many disgraceful things. He betrayed his knight order and even deceived his uncle, but he never regretted it.

But maybe his wife is right: they can never be happy, and the seeds sown by deceit will one day bear bitter fruit.

The two walked in, and there were more and more passers-by, and they soon arrived at the inn that was once built and operated by Mr. Uglin.

The place didn't seem to have lost its popularity over the years: the inn was packed with guests, and there were no vacant stalls in the stables, and the knight and his squire had to tie up the horses just before the entrance.

This is not surprising, after all, no matter who sits on the throne of the kingdom and where the king sits, there will always be thirsty, hungry and tired people in this world.

Antar noticed at first glance that the structure seemed larger and that the benches and tables inside were more closely arranged.

Luckily there were still a few empty tables in the spacious room, so they were able to squeeze their way through the crowd of Hungarians, Germans, Czechs, and other languages ​​to sit in a corner.

As soon as they sat down, a woman with full breasts and rosy cheeks came up to them.

"Whose inn is this?" Depressed Antal asked her without hesitation.

"My husband's," answered the woman politely, "we bought it from Uros, the previous owner of the inn, at a considerable cost. When Urus bought the inn from the former owner, Mr. Still a young girl.

But that guy knew nothing about business and almost went bankrupt, then my husband and I decided to try our luck by buying the inn.Why do you ask this, my lord?Have you been here before? "

"Yes, when I was a child, a long time ago," the knight tried to force a faint smile, but failed, "I knew old Uglin."

"Then you must be able to notice that this inn has changed a lot, my lord, my husband thinks it is necessary for him to rebuild it," the proud woman's eyes sparkled, "and he also said that if you prepare a few special dishes, And after publicizing that there is no such dish as ours in other places in the kingdom, customers will flock to it, you see, he is really smart!"

"So what kind of special dish is it?"

"Well, I shouldn't have told you," she said, leaning closer, as if to reveal a big secret, but she did it to every new guest, "Our beer comes from the king of Bohemia In the capital city of Prague, every month they bring the goods in a big cart, all of which are full of wine barrels.

No one but them knows how to brew this delicious thing, and I swear to you, my lord, there is no better drink in the world than Prague beer, once you taste it, you won't want to drink any other something!

Its foam is rich and full, and its taste is as bitter and soft as breast milk. It is accompanied by tender pork, which is a combination that cannot be surpassed in dreams. "

"Then let's have two cups first!" Antal patted the table, "Let's forget about the pork first."

Although Simon wanted to eat something, he kept his thoughts to himself.Compared with hunger, he was more worried that his master would not be satisfied with just a glass of wine, and he didn't dare to imagine what state they would go home in.

Soon, the proprietress put two glasses of beer with foam in front of them, and Antal handed her a silver coin, saying that someone needed to look after the horses outside their door so that they would not be stolen.

Simon rolled his eyes. He was sure that the Cavaliers planned to stay here for a long time, and it would be a difficult night waiting for him.

Antal drank the wine in a few sips, and seeing that Simon didn't drink it, he drank his too, and then asked for another glass.He drank the Prague beer as if with resentment, swallowing gulp after gulp, drinking each glass more and more slowly, but his eyes became more and more confused.

Then after the fifth drink, he turned to Simon, pain written all over his face, and started babbling.

The drunken knight kept complaining amidst his annoyance, including a lot of cursing. Every bottle of wine could only temporarily block his anger and depression. After a while, he continued to attack, and the sky outside gradually darkened.

This is exactly what Simon is worried about. Although as a former apprentice knight of the Knights Templar, he has not taken the oath of chastity, he still attaches great importance to his purity, so that after the Knights were disbanded, he also took the oath of chastity. I never thought about starting a family.

However, he is very clear about the methods a man will use to vent himself after a broken relationship. When he saw Antal coming back from Margaret Island, he knew that the knight in front of him didn't want to do anything, just want to have a good drink, No longer staying awake.

Simon wasn't worried about the money, they had enough to pay the innkeeper, but he didn't want to spend the night with a drunken and unconscious knight somewhere he didn't know, and who knew what dangers there would be?

"Do you understand, Simon?" asked Antal, half-crying, as the servant had just finished his supper.They finally ordered a plate of suckling pig with crispy skin and thick meat, but no matter how much Simon persuaded, the knight still refused to eat a bite, which made his situation worse and worse.

"Of course, my lord," Simon nodded in understanding, and then grabbed Antal, who almost fell over with the stool he was sitting on, "Please wait here, I'll be right back!"

The page got up and went to the front of the inn, where it was no longer the busty woman, but the proprietor himself, suspicious and sullen, the exact opposite of his wife.

At this time, there were not many people in the inn, except for them, only a few drunken passengers propped their elbows on the table and drank slowly.

"How much?" Simon asked the innkeeper.

The man looked first at their table, then at his own little board, and drew a thin line on it with a pen. "Twenty new dinars."

The attendant's eyes widened after hearing the amount, but he didn't think about arguing.He took the purse from his girdle and paid, comforting his bitterness with the best pork he had ever eaten and the best beer he had ever drunk.

"We still need accommodation," he nodded to the boss, "as long as it's a dry, warm room with a roof..."

"There are already people." The boss replied with his head down.

Simon frowned. Compared with the delicious beer in the store, the service quality of the inn was indeed a bit poor.

"It's too cold outside," the attendant continued to try, "It's also getting late, we can't go on the road now."

"There are no vacant rooms, it's already full in the afternoon," said the innkeeper without the slightest sympathy. "It's almost curfew," he added. "It's time for me to close, so..."

"Listen, sir!" Simon snapped at him with clenched fists, "though my master looks slovenly now, he is the king's knight, and if he freezes to death in the streets tonight, it will be your fault!
I don't care where you arrange us to spend the night, even if it's a warehouse to make a bed, I don't care if the price is doubled, I just want you to arrange it as soon as possible! "

A strange mocking smile appeared on the face of the innkeeper.

"Nobles, lords, knights... They are nobler than anyone, aren't they?" he said with undisguised hatred.

Simon didn't know the reason for his bad attitude, and had no intention of speculating.

"Your master is a drunken pig, look at him! In other places people may pay him respect, but here he is the Pope of Rome, or the Roman Emperor of Germany, or five times as much. The price will not make any difference. I repeat, here, there is no, empty, room!"

"Thank you so much!" Simon turned around and returned to the half-dead Antal. "I'll tell everyone what a cesspit this place is! Come on, my lord." He softened his tone and stretched his hands to Under the knight's arm, he tried his best to lift him from the stool.

"It's time to go, my lord, come on! Be careful, walk slowly..."

"Damn cesspit?" the innkeeper's face turned red. "You drank my beer, ate my pork, and saw my wife's breasts! Why? Because you deserve everything in this world, right ?

And when you don't get something, you're not satisfied, you don't like the world!cesspit?I've been living my whole life in this cesspit you're talking about! "

"Go to rest, my good brother, today is a difficult day for both of us." Simon led Antar out of the door and said calmly.

But the boss was not so easily appeased, he stepped out from behind the counter, took off his stained apron, crumpled up and fell to the ground, and started yelling.

"You have no idea how much money I've cobbled together to keep this place going!" he went on to growl angrily. Money bag, let them approve everything!
And you never have to worry about these things, do you?Because you are all one of a kind!You just need to come to an inn, you can enjoy the best wine and food, don't have to think about anything, I'm tired of you people! "

Then, as if by a magic trick, Antar broke free from the hold of the attendant and fell to his knees, vomiting profusely.
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"Water!" The knight groaned in pain, his throat was dry, and his voice almost seemed to crawl out of it.He squinted his eyes to block the sunlight coming in through the small window. "Where am I...?"

He felt a large rough hand caressing him from behind him, and Simon lifted him up and carefully poured him a glass of water from a clay jug.

"We need to be on the road as soon as possible, my lord," he answered. "I promise the blacksmith's wife that we will leave early in the morning."

Antal looked blankly at his squire, not understanding what it meant, and then Simon told him everything.

He told Antar how he had communicated with the innkeeper, how the man had a bad attitude, and because he was tired and worried about his master, he had a quarrel with the innkeeper, and then they were kicked out, walking Antal had vomited on the expensive wooden floor covered with straw before, and Simon had to pay another sum for this.

Not wanting them to spend the night in the cold, he rummaged offensively in Antal's saddlebags for the certificate of arms.

"I have no choice, my lord," he said apologetically, but there was no sign of anger on the knight's face. "There isn't even room for a horse in the inn. I can only think of another way..."

So last night he took Antal to the door of a house that looked okay, and they were greeted by a pale hostess with sunken cheeks. She stood in front of the door that was only a crack open, a little terrified, Simon showed her the certificate of arms bearing the king's seal.

It states that Antal and his entourage can travel freely within the kingdom and stay in all castles, manors or any residences in Hungary. The woman is illiterate, but she recognizes the red seal printed at the bottom of the document.

During the communication with the hostess, Simon learned that the owner of the house was a blacksmith, and he and his son went to the castle of Sitagrom to participate in the winter hunting of the nobles, where they could sell a lot every year. tool.

In the end, though the sick woman was reluctant, she let them live in her husband's blacksmith's shop, where the children slept and there was room for two.

"But we must go now, my lord," repeated Simon. "The rooster has crowed long ago, but I don't want to wake you up so early, but I don't want to cause any more trouble, Lord Barto..."

"You're right, you're right..." The man rubbed his sore eyes and got up moaning, "God, I look like a piece of rag! This is so embarrassing..."

"You need never be ashamed before me, my lord," the squire assured him. "I will tell no one."

"You are a loyal squire, my friend," the knight looked at him gratefully, "without you, I might be dead..."

"Please, my lord, I..."

"I'm telling the truth, Simon," Antar interrupted, "I'll repay your loyalty someday, but you're right, we should go now."

They departed quietly, without seeming to wake the mistress of the house.Outside, they saddled and mounted their horses, trying to get to the road as quickly as possible, but the knight looked back at the little house again and frowned.

"I feel weird," he murmurs, "but I feel like this place is somehow important to me."

"My lord, have you been here before?" Simon looked at him suspiciously, but Antal shook his head.

"It was like someone was pulling me with ten fingernails to stay," he said. "The grass bed I slept on also felt that way. I don't know why, but... there is a familiar smell."

Simon didn't know how to respond, and after a moment of silence, Antal shook his head.

"I'm talking nonsense, I know," he said with a forced smile, "it must be because I drank too much, and I was still a little drunk the next day, right? Well, I must have drunk a lot last night Beer... let's go!" he urged his squire on horseback, "let us leave this sad place and never think of it again!"

(End of this chapter)