Chapter 441: Walk Like a Man!

A month later, a reply came back from the Pope in Roma. He recognised Leon Battista Alberti's resignation as the Emissary, but unexpectedly the Pope sent a request to Antonius at the same time, requesting to set up the Vicariatus Apostolicus Thessalonicensis, hoping that the Caesar is able to officially recognise the growing Catholic population inside the city, as a return appointed his old friend Leon Battista Alberti's  as the archbishop, giving him a nice sum of funding on improving the standard of education of Thessaloniki just as what Antonius has planned, promising that the Vatican shall not seek to spread their influence in to his territory further.

Despite of the many hidden potential danger lying behind this deal, Antonius agreed. Leon Battista Alberti finally settled down in the city turning the what it used to be the hostel for ambassador in to his exclusive residence. At the same time, he began drawing the outlines and graphs for a brand new building group outside the city, the College of Saint Constantine, a project that has been proposed a long time ago by Abdullah but halted due to short of funding. Now it is no longer the issue standing in its way.

According to Leon Battista Alberti, he feels like he has went back in time becoming ten years younger the moment he threw off all the burden of state affairs going back to his area of interest, that is architecture. Within months the blue print for the university has been finished, it is designed in a Romanesque style covering up to four hundred acres of land. According to the original planning of Leon, the university shall be mainly teaching the subjects of Mathematics, Latin literature, history, engineering, arts and of course, religious studies, a must have subject for a school with an outstanding religious back ground.

The phase of Planning and Definition is soon finished under the guidance of a bunch of experienced engineers, allowing the project to be executed as soon as possible just a few days after the harvesting season in Autumn. Hundreds and thousands of farmers from near by villages and towns rushed in to Thessaloniki upon hearing that there are new job opportunities offered inside the city for them to earn some extra earnings during winter when it is unsuitable for them to grow their cash crops. Before winter, the project is already starting to take its shape.

The game of Olympia is initiated just as proposed, with more than forty teams from various city states, political factions and kingdoms accounting for more than three hundred people in to the city of Thessaloniki. Alongside with them came families of nobles, merchants, poets and scholars from the west entering the ancient city of Thessaloniki for the first time in their life. The last time when the city has seen such a large group of westerners coming in to the city was probably still during the times of the last Palaiologan Civil War a century ago.

Although the city does have a Latin quarter in the port area, still it is rare for such a large group of foreigners to be allowed directly in to the most important area of the city. The population of Thessaloniki gathered around the Mese of Galerius to have a view of these supposed infidels from the west, and the visitors looked back with a similar amount of curiosity at these Greek heretics who don't follow the teaching of the Pope and use leavened bread during ceremonies.

Honestly speaking that's the only difference people know when making comparisons between the two Ecclesia. If asked about the deeper theological splits between the two, these tourists would not have a clear answer too unless they are educated in this field.

Abdullah stood there beside a pole, with his senior Anjelo by his side sitting on a wheel chair. By right according to the words given by his physician, Anjelo is not supposed to come out of his room as his lung condition never improved, meaning that he might have a sudden difficulty of breathing outside and might lose his life if he is not rushed to care immediately. But Anjelo could care no less, he told Abdullah to bring him out to spectate the most spectacular and probably, the last event in his life before he is called away by Christ. He told Abdullah that he shall never accept the fate of dying on the bed like a weakling, even if he cannot end his life like Yuri, fighting to his demise, then he must at least die breathing the fresh air from the outside.

"Abdullah, do you some times have this kind of awkward feeling in your mind?" Anjelo huddled his body as the wind is blew on to his fragile aging body, and asked his friend. "We are not native to this piece of land, I am a Florentian, while you are a Saracen. But when we look at these visitors, we have this kind of feeling forming up that they are the foreigners while we, are the natives."

"Ture." Abdullah nodded. "Actually, I have already forgotten some rituals and practise that I used to do back then when I was still that naïve student wandering the vast continent. If my old mentor are to see me like this, he would have knocked me on my head with his stick, and reprimand me for being unfaithful. I have only realised that after a decade of living here, I have been changed by the environment… Environment truly changes people."

"This city, this land is our second home town." Anjelo sighed as he is too soaked in his deep memories. "We fought for it, we drained our blood and sweat on this land, now there is no going back for us. Some times I have wondered brother Abdullah, what if we did not appear in the city of Constantinople at that critical point of time and save it, what would it be like? The city is definitely going to be taken by Mehmet with out our naval support, and with Constantinople lost the Romans shall definitely go on for a flee to the west."

"You might be right." Abdullah tried his best to think about this piece of alternate history that has never existed. "Maybe there is another world where by Antonius never came to aid Constantinople and she fell inevitably, then just imagine the tremendous amount of historical transcripts, artifacts, knowledge and scholars rushing to the west, it is almost certain that they shall drive the academics progression of the so called Renaissance by the West in to a next level. Even I got shocked when I had a peek on how much ancient knowledge and discoveries are being sealed and locked away in those cellars… And if this really happened, these westerners would surely not keep staring at our citizens as if they are looking at aliens."

Abdullah had little idea of what he is talking about at the end of his words, as inside his mind there is another thought forming up. What if he did not come in to Antonius a decade ago when he was still serving the Sultan? What if he was not in charge of that ship carrying loads of medications? What if the concubine of the Sultan was not falling ill in the first place? What if he did not sail in such a rush and waited for his escort vassals to keep up with him? Thinking about it, there was so many crucial turning points that if one of them twisted by a bit, history might have went to a completely difference path, and eventually resulting in a different outcome.

While for Abdullah himself, he might have continued being that petty official inside Edirne, forming up a merry family, then resign from his duty after a few years to continue his travel plans in to the Balkans and Sicilia after he save up enough for his expenses. He shall become the next al-Idrisi, scaling the entire known world in to books marking his achievements in cartography and geography, write a few poems and songs about the heritages of the Arabic world, and when it is finally near the very end of his life, he shall be lying on the couch telling stories about his adventures to his grand children.

But now, nothing can be changed, there are definitely no return now. He has devoted his blood, sweat, time and energy in to this country he created with Antonius, he often looked at himself in the bronze mirror, and with out fail there are another patch of white growing from his dark hair. Abdullah knows that things are also about the same for this fragile old man withering before him, just a few years back Anjelo was still capable of running up and down shooting a quiver of arrows, but now after he has devoted his blood and energy in to this newly formed country that has not even gotten a name yet, Anjelo can barely even stood up firm on his feet again and walk like a normal man.