Temple Sword

Chapter 35
The knights and priests poured into the hall, and Antal now stood in the center of the circle, Zoutermund grinning at him like a fox from his seat.The judges began to ask questions with serious faces, only Vincius had an encouraging light in his eyes.

"I should call Zortmund my master," Antar began, his voice trembling with excitement when he could speak at last. "However, he never seemed like my master. We have heard enough lies from his mouth today. His dishonesty is a mockery of everyone here. Now let me tell you the whole truth. , nothing but the truth!"

"You little bastard!" Zoutermund couldn't help shouting, "Listen, he's already lying! He deserves to be whipped and have his tongue cut out right now!"

"We have heard your story, knight!" Vincius said loudly, "I want to hear the boy's story now, and I believe Father Hector and Dean Ambrosius agree with me .”

The abbot really couldn't help it. Vincius, who was sitting on his right, was right, so he raised his hand and nodded, "Let's listen to what the boy said!"

"I would never laugh at him, never did, I wasn't raised that way," Antar continued, "but Zoutermon took every smile and every movement of mine as a mockery. He I can't read, and neither can our grand master Jacques de Molay, but he is the most respectable man in the world. My master is ashamed of it and keeps threatening me not to reveal him to anyone of this secret."

"Fortunately his grandfather was a scribe!" Someone shouted from behind, causing many people to laugh, and Ambrosius had to pat the table to silence them.

"Master Abbess!" Antar became more daring, "It has been several full moons since I promised to reveal the truth to you. Now is the time, and I will tell you the truth of everything, even if you throw me out Outside the window, I will tell the truth!"

Ambrosius was obviously affected by these words. Not only was he lazy and cowardly, but he was also a curious person who loved to gossip like a woman.And as an abbot, he wanted very much to know what Antal had done that night in Buda, and who had beaten him half to death.

"From day one, Zortmund treated me as his servant, not as apprentice or squire. While my companions were training and learning the ways of chivalry, I had to go to the Buda, Zotmen not only forced me to participate in his crimes, but also prevented me from studying and training."

"He's lying!" cried Zoutermont again.

"Shut up!" This time it was Ambrosius' turn to scold him, and the boy's words were nailed into his head like a nail.

A year and a half ago, the monastery's treasury lost a sum of money inexplicably, and it was not a small amount.Zoutermont's apprentice at the time was accused of instigating the whole affair, and Zoutermont himself was the first to testify that the boy's hands were not clean.The apprentice was whipped first, then put into a confinement room, and died mysteriously the day before he was released.

"Talk about the purse!" Ambrosius ordered, his eyes looking for Zoutemon in the auditorium, but the latter was no longer in his position just now, "How many times have you taken money, go Where, to whom?"

"I had to take the money to two places," Antal answered, "to a woman and to a man, and Zoutermon used gold to silence the woman, because she bore him a child."

A noisy commotion broke out in the Knights' Hall in an instant, and the chaos almost turned into a fight. The two knights restrained Zoutermont, who was rushing towards Antal, to prevent him from attacking the boy.The abbot stood up, slapped the table and shouted for silence, his face flushed.

"I have evidence!" cried Antal, "Zotemon accused me of having an affair with a woman who did not exist, but I can prove that what I said is true! My lords, knights, in the street of the grocer There is a tile-roofed house built by Zoutermont with money stolen from our knights, and the woman of Zoutermont is hiding there! If you don’t believe me, you can go and see for yourself, as long as you tell the woman that Zoutermont is dead, everything will come to light immediately! "

The quarrel only increased, and now there were four men holding the struggling Zortmund. Vincius nodded to the boy, then stood up and drew his sword. on the throat.Everyone fell silent for a moment.

"How dare you disturb the order of the Knights' trial?" The young knight stared at Zoutermont and asked, "We are making a verdict on a serious and serious case, and you act like you are possessed by the devil. Calm down, or you'll be in big trouble!"

Zortmund looked at Vincius' face in silence, nodded after panting for a while, and shook off the hands that were holding him down.

"Go on, kid." Vincius waved his hand, "If anyone disturbs the trial again, he will be imprisoned immediately!" He exchanged glances with Zoutemon, whose face was pale.

"We're going to investigate the woman you mentioned today," said Father Hector in a dry voice, "but now we're going to hear who that man is and why you handed him the purse."

"I know his name," said Antal. "Olivier, the meanest money-lender in the whole town, and he has all kinds of gambling business."

After saying that, more eyes in the hall turned to Zuo Temeng, and the surrounding air was about to freeze.It looks like a lot of people here know who Olivier is.So Antal decided to take advantage of this and tell the whole story more vividly.

"For a long time I had to keep handing Olivier purses stuffed with gold coins, because Zoutermont owed him a lot of money for losing bets. Finally, he asked me to bring a A letter to Olivier, not money, saying that I am the best fighting champion in the monastery, and I can beat anyone with my fists."

"Why did you give him the letter?" asked Ambrosius.

"Because my master, my master ordered me to do this, and I didn't know what was in the letter at the time."

"Excuse me, Lord Dean," Zoutermont interrupted, his tone now becoming extremely polite and soft, "I can't write, so how did I write to this Olivier?"

"Don't worry, when we find your child's mother and the lender, we will also find the person who wrote the letter for you." The abbot said coldly, "Go on, William's son Antal!"

"That night I stepped into a trap set by Zoutermont," continued the boy, "and they forced me to fight with my bare hands against a giant called Goliath, who not only beat me, but beat me as I lay on the ground. If I hadn't been taken to Mr. Uglin's inn by a kind and nameless well-meaning person, I'm afraid I'd be dead the next day, and I wouldn't be able to stand before you and tell the truth.

After I recovered and returned to the monastery, I learned that one of my friends had been framed for theft and another had been murdered by robbers with a bow and arrow.In an effort to find peace of mind again and seek God's guidance, I slipped out of the monastery at night and walked around the island to pray. "

Antar pointed to Zoutemon and said sadly: "After returning from a long prayer, this man took me up and locked me in a room, claiming that I had committed adultery. And just yesterday, when he was not committing After finding any evidence during the period, he came to my room and pinned me to the wall, trying to kill me, I don't want to recall these bad things anymore."

"I believe we have heard enough," announced Ambrosius.

Father Hector and Vincius also nodded in agreement, and Zortmund slumped in his seat, motionless.The abbot stood up and cleared his throat.

"We've now heard from both parties," he said hoarsely, "and they've both shared some interesting stories with us, and nobody has seen, heard of, or encountered the one that Zoutermont was talking about." The woman, Olivier and the woman who lives on the Row of the Grocers, we're going to be on errands today. The trial will continue at prayer time tomorrow morning, and I hope we'll be able to get this thing over with by then.

And before that, I ordered Zotmon to be shut up in the old room of William Barto's son Antal, to be given no food, but to give him a drink of water only after sunset, and to arrange Two guards.Now—" Ambrosius changed into a pious soft voice, "let us pray, my brethren! "
-
After evening prayer, Vincius returned to his room with a worried expression.The first day of the trial was an unexpected success. People even toasted Antal. They didn't expect that the boy's words would have such a great impact on the abbot and other people present. changed.

"I have bad news," said Vincius, closing the door. "Zoutermon left his cell in the afternoon."

"What?" Antal jumped up, "Why did they let him out?"

"He had a private conversation with someone," replied Vincius sarcastically, "with the Honorable Dean Ambrosius."

Antal buried his face in his hands, guessing what was going to happen next.

"When Ambrosius opened the door, his eyes were still on fire," Vincius continued, "but an hour later, they were talking and laughing in the corridor, smiling, I should have expected It's going to be like this..."

"He bribed the abbot?" Antal grumbled, "but how did he do it?"

Vincius sat down by the bed, "Apparently he bought into the Knights the same way, he had a wealthy family somewhere in Bohemia, so he either impresses with money or promises Ambrosius, or both, who knows."

"Then what happens now?"

"Now you have to prepare for the worst," Vincius sighed. "The lender and that woman won't go to investigate until tomorrow morning. By then, everything has been prepared by Zoutemont. The situation has changed completely." Now, your story will become a lie, and Zoutermon's will become the truth. I dare not imagine what fate they have in store for you, my friend."

"Will I be expelled from the Knights?" Antal's face turned pale.

Vincius clasped his hands and propped his chin, looking at the boy sadly.

"I'm afraid that would be the lightest punishment."

(End of this chapter)