The solution of such a difficult problem came suddenly and from there, from where it was impossible to expect. Walking in the morning with Morrigan and Valentino around the city and looking thoughtfully at the floating products of the life of the local population, our Baron noticed a curious scene. A small scuffle was going on in the square near the church of San Giacomo di Rialto. Unknown to him, the warrior in chain mail armor with a pair of armed servants fought off a group of guys of gangster appearance, who pinched him, though completely unorganized, but they were many, and they were strong. Local residents hid in the alleys and watched the battle. Looking closer, Eric noticed that one of the bandits kept their distance and shouted something to the others, trying to guide them. Having ordered the girl to retreat back, and the Italian - to get behind that column and to be on the alert, he took off the crossbow from the shoulder strap, cocked it, loaded it with a bolt, aimed and fired. His shot coincided with a blow that cut through the throat of the servant that held the defenses on the warrior's left shoulder, causing the bandits to glow with joy and did not notice at all how their commander fell, having only a part of his head in the presence. Seeing this state of affairs, the baron grunted and began recharging. At the same time choosing the position is more comfortable. After twenty seconds, the bolt blown the head of that unwieldy target that stood in the furthest, back row. Unlike his opponents, the warrior noticed the shots and began to try his best to divert attention to himself. This gave its result - eight corpses with spaced heads adorned the paved ground near the cathedral. But the battle continued and four more bandits fought with our brave "drone", but already alone, as his second servant, lying on the pavement, was examining his own back. As you guessed, in those days such a trick can be done only with a severed head. Eric, after the third shot, located behind a small pile of baskets of food, kept a kind of incognito, because the bandits, although they realized that they shoot at him, but could not yet understand where. A couple of minutes later it was over, and the baron went to get acquainted. The unfamiliar warrior was breathing heavily and sweating all over. Seeing that it was over, he practically collapsed to the ground. The square was still empty, as people were afraid to go to the battlefield. We did not look at a suitable man with a crossbow, and only when he stopped three paces from him, said: "Antonio. " In general - an hour later they were four together sitting in a small cozy tavern. It turned out that our new acquaintance was engaged in a wide variety of cases, which are not always passionately hungry for promulgation. Although, first of all, his income came from a privateer business. Privateering was, of course, not in the form that manifested itself later, in the 16th century in the Caribbean. The fact is that our sailor and his team plundered and drowned ships of specific traders by order and guidance of other traders. Sometimes accompanied by merchant ships. Sometimes they robbed the coast. Nothing special The case though very profitable, but very risky. True, recently there was a disaster - their ship flew to the rocks. So now he and about half of his team of fifty nice and friendly people do not know what to put themselves to. So it was necessary to compete with other factions, representatives of one of which literally one hour ago wanted to kill him. And with every word Antonio said, Eric's eyes flared. Here it is, the solution to the problem! This is a great chance to use. And so, when he finished his sad story, the Baron suggested that he correct his condition by plundering a small castle and killing a man who survived from his mind. He, of course, thought that they were laughing at him. However, after he was given the entire layout of the situation in the stronghold von Lenzburg, they told how best to approach him and so on. In short, the evening the team of privateers moved with mighty cavalry gait to visit Uncle Karl, and our baron went to the nephew of de Chamond, where a small meeting was being held. According to his calculations in three days, his beloved, adored uncle will heroically die, reflecting the attack of the robbers on the family castle.

Five days later came the news from Antonio. They were brought by the village headman of the nearest village to the castle, who reported that on the night of August 22, the stronghold of von Lenzburg was attacked. The baron and four, already elderly and completely unhealthy, a retinue, stood up for her defense. And the servants, having learned about the attack, immediately fled, not wanting to fight. Therefore, the attacking robbers let them through without problems, so as not to be distracted by them. Despite the heroic resistance of the defenders, who acted as one against the robbers, they failed to repel not only the attack, but even kill anyone, as they were simply shot from crossbows on the threshold of the dungeon. Also, the elder said that the robbers, having collected some of the movable property in the castle, collected the carts and left in an unknown direction. To the general joy of the peasants, the robbers did not go around the villages, and burned nothing. With this man, Eric went to Pierre. He listened attentively to the report with a very serious face, but only as the headman stopped, laughed, embraced our baron and said that he was a good girl and all that. Next was a week, during which Eric and Rudolph engaged in a fascinating process of settling formal cases with the deceased. The cases were, however, mostly with our hero, who wanted to show the general public a bit of pathos. Therefore, he not only personally participated in the funeral of his uncle, but also found the severely damaged remains of Bertha, who were left to rot under the fortress wall, and solemnly buried her. And after a big subbotnik was held in the family crypt, at the entrance to which, de Chamond promised to keep the honorary post. All cases are settled, all contracts are signed, it's time to move on. However, our hero stopped something, he for some reason wanted to stay in Venice, as if he was looking for something.

Another week passed and autumn came. To pull on there was no sense, because in winter to go by sea is not the best solution. And because Eric spit on his feelings and went to the Templars to negotiate a transfer with their next ship to Greece. In a past life, he was never there, as circumstances hampered, and so here he really wanted to go there. But, alas, not everything goes according to his plans. Two days before the sailing, Antonio's half-dead came to him and, in fact, in his arms, lost consciousness. He was badly beaten and sometimes injured by something piercing and cutting. Here it was - his foreboding. The next day after his appearance, the militant sailor recovered, although he was still very weak. It was completely impossible to leave him here and leave, as new circumstances of the incident arose, and ignoring such things is very dangerous. Therefore, he immediately informed Pierre of the impossibility of sailing. The situation for the pirates was very sad, and this very sadness was the detachment accompanying Thibault III, Count Champagne. On the second day after the night storming and looting of the castle, the convoy of Antonio collided on the road, along which they retreated towards Genoa, with a detachment of knights. Something managed to figure out only their leader. I tried to collect the guys for defense, but it was too late - he ran away by a miracle. His horse was wounded and a few miles later fell. And he himself was not in the best shape. Why they attacked the convoy, which from the side looked like a trade caravan, it was unclear. They broke their heads for a while, they thought. Everything was done unclear. However, it was evening, and our hero went to visit de Chamon, for a small evening gathering. The guests arrived and he collected the nearest circle of communication. These guests were Thibaut and his company. During the meal, he proudly talked about how he chopped a huge gang of robbers into one and a half hundred people, which was carrying a baggage of stolen things. Hearing the threefold increase in the number of people Antonio, our hero was surprised - rounded his eyes and whistled. But the Earl interpreted the cause of surprise in his own way, and therefore - in detail described what a hot fight was with this mob of robbers. And when it came to that, from where our noble Tibo found out that the gangsters were in front of him, it turned out to be a completely funny thing - at first he attacked, everyone who tried to fight - interrupted, and interrogated and surrendered - he was interrogated and hung. And now, on the basis of the result of the interrogation, he concluded that he had beaten the robbers. Amazing luck - his thirst for profit completely inadvertently received a moral justification. In general, they talked for a long time, animatedly discussing the details of this event. About the attack on the family castle and its looting the baron, of course, did not mention. In general, of all those present that evening in the big hall of the farmstead, only two people understood what kind of detachment it was and whose property was captured by de Champagne. But Pierre, well aware of the situation, enjoyed the piquancy of the situation, and so the whole evening with a barely perceptible smile watched Eric, only occasionally inserting phrases. The very same young baron decided to play a little, but for the Templar it was completely unclear what kind of game and for what. The meaning of the game was that von Lenzburg encouraged the bragging of Thibaut. Pierre was particularly amused when the baron expressed his sincere admiration for his courage and skill, for the earl himself had killed a dozen. In general, it would be strange to expect a different reaction from the young nobleman, if not for one detail. The commander of the Venetian farmstead and Jean de Ra had a rather active correspondence, and therefore, in rather interesting detail, he heard about the promising young man.