Scoke's Treasure

One night passed, and Damian and Mrs. Shayla woke up around five in the morning, listening to the distant church bells.

"If your husband were to find out about last night and make it public, my outcome might not be favorable," Damian held Mrs. Shayla, saying with a somewhat melancholic tone..

Shayla lazily nestled in the covers, returning Damian's banter, "If your temporary wife were to find out about the relationship between us, I'd probably have to run back to my estate. Though there... doesn't matter. Anyway, we've agreed to keep this between us."

"Thankfully, we haven't learned those southwestern monasteries' ways of abstinence and self-improvement," Damian shook his head slightly, lamenting his declining moral standards.

He was hardly any different from medieval nobility anymore.

In matters of adultery, the Church, as a moral compass, has always been anxious. While condemning the aristocrats' indiscretions, they themselves were not clean.

Just like the difference between a permanent employee and a temporary worker, when the cost of doing something is too high, people often look for substitutes.

If a man cannot marry two wives, he will seek mistresses; if mistresses are also prone to societal criticism, then he'll seek prostitutes.

There was once a saint in Augustine who, with Christian double standards, argued that male adultery was natural, while visiting prostitutes was merely fulfilling desires. Therefore, prostitutes were indispensable evils, and compared to adultery, it was more reasonable for men to seek out prostitutes. But does this double standard mean that women can also seek male prostitutes to fulfill desires?

Of course not.

Priests are no different. After the Cluniac movement spread widely, Roman Catholic priests were required to be celibate for life and could not marry.

But in reality, human nature is unavoidable. In 16th century England, records show that less than 2% of the total population, the priests, committed about a quarter of sins including adultery, fornication, and even pedophilia.

At the same time, closed-off monasteries, especially female monasteries, gradually became known as 'brothels.' Those devout nuns who recited prayers and sang hymns during the day would become prostitutes at night, allowing themselves to be played with, creating a stark contrast. This also led to many Christian men having a special interest for nuns.

Suppression breeds perversion, extreme religious suppression leads to the collective perversion of a group or class.

"If we can't defeat Schmalen, we won't even have the chance to lie in bed together," Mrs. Shayla touched Damian's face, "I know you're capable. Those bandit knights operating nearby, they're under your command, right?"

"Oh? You mean Jeffrey?" Damian didn't hide anything from Mrs. Shayla.

In moments like this, a man should show his dominance.

"Exactly. Bring them to the battlefield, gather your soldiers, and then capture Schmalen and lock him up in a monastery. Let him redeem his territory as ransom to you. Isn't this a great heroic script?"

Mrs. Shayla knew how to say the right things in pillow talk, so she didn't directly encourage Damian to go to war, but instead painted a beautiful picture.

After saying that, Mrs. Shayla remained silent, not urging Damian.

Damian didn't immediately respond to her either.

The medieval era was vast, but in Damian's understanding of this period, an ordinary count who could muster over a hundred knights was already a powerful one.

Schmalen's territory was not confined to just one county. Although he controlled a brass mine, the ability to mint coins was possessed only by monasteries, and this layer of profit couldn't make him rich.

If he were to invade Gothingen, recruiting bandit knights would only be one aspect. Apart from that, he would undoubtedly have to gamble all of his wealth.

Currently, Damian's advantage lies in his ability to recruit more soldiers than Schmalen. Whether it's longbowmen, forest hunters, forest axemen, or spearman, their quality is acceptable, and their numbers can be increased with money.

But Damian's disadvantage is his lack of high reputation and the absence of elite knights in his ranks.

In the battle which defeated the bandit knight Henrik a few days ago, a cluster of elite knights charged and quickly broke the enemy's formation.

"Alright, I can try... I have contacts with Grace's friends, as well as Jeffrey's friends. We can also recruit more archers, hunters, and peasant soldiers," Damian said slowly while observing Lady Shayla's expression.

Sure enough, Lady Shayla saw hope and said eagerly, "The knights nearby are all eager to unite."

"That's even better." Damian patted her shoulder, preliminary confirming the plan to unite.

Damian provides soldiers, while the nobles provide knights. Everyone is willing to engage in a grand battle against Schmalen to protect their family's property.

...

When Damian left the room, Marion had been waiting at the door with the maidservant for a while.

"You're really not afraid of being caught." Marion smiled and offered a washbasin.

Damian adjusted his pants slightly, feeling awkward. "In the monastery, I used to wake up at two in the morning every day. Now I can't help but enjoy more sleep."

"Let's go, we'll talk about that matter."

The maidservants mistakenly thought Marion wanted to discuss education with her son. In medieval times, nobles often fostered their children outside to receive better education and build connections.

Even Damian himself didn't expect Marion to bring him to the underground wine cellar in broad daylight.

"If we're caught, our reputation will really be tarnished," Damian joked with Marion.

Lady Marion pretended to be annoyed, "Isn't it just to make you invincible on the battlefield?"

The two pushed open the cellar door.

Soon, Damian found three walls and, under a pile of rotting boards, discovered a hidden space behind them.

After Reaching in and groping for a while, Damian only found a common case. Besides that, there was nothing else.

...Is this Scoke's treasure?

Damian frowned slightly. Could he have been deceived by Scoke?

But when he opened the case, Damian swallowed hard.

At the top of the box were deeds of the monastery!

This means that since Andreas took office, he has relied solely on a façade, and in reality, he hasn't obtained the wealth of the church.

In addition to the church deeds and wealth, there were also hundreds of beautifully crafted gold and silver coins in the box, far superior in value to the currency circulating in the market.

In addition to the church deeds and wealth, there were also documents from Scoke's estates, villages, and workshops scattered throughout the box. However, most of them were useless, as the land and workshops had long been reclaimed by the original owners.

Damian picked up the cloth padded at the bottom.

After lifting it, what was inside was... a letter exchanged between Bishop Matt of Gothingen Diocese and his mistress!

Could Scoke really gather all this thing?!