We headed west, despite the calendar spring, it was still mild winter in Podolia. Snow was still on the roads, smaller streams and rivers were covered with ice ... but it was better to travel now than wait until the snow had melted.
After reaching Lwów, we headed towards Przemyśl, where I defeated Khan Temir, and then we headed towards Tarnów, I was going to replenish supplies at my estate and, if necessary, replace the horses with new ones.
I sat in my grandfather's old office and looked at maps from his collection. I was not able to decide what should be my main goal in this war.
I could try to capture or kill Frederick V Wittelsbach, former King of Bohemia and Elector of the Rhenish Palatinate. He was the leader of the Protestant Union, but his death would only benefit the Emperor, not the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ... so his value in my eyes dropped drastically.
The next name on my list was the King of Denmark and Norway, Christian IV Oldenburg. Getting to the Danish islands was almost impossible, and I couldn't kill him, at least not officially, but weakening Denmark... Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth would gain a lot... big risk, big reward.
Ultimately, I bet on the Danes... whoever plays for the high stakes must win ... my goal will be Denmark, even if the Cossacks have to swim there ... and Brandenburg, every side is fucking them in this war, so I can fuck them too.
I also quickly wrote a letter to Graf Ferber in Gdansk to keep my ships ready, hire additional sailors, replenish ammunition, gunpowder and wait for my further orders ... I sent one of Saddat's men with a letter... Two days later, we continued our way west, towards Krakow, then south to Racibórz, then to Ostrava, and then to Moravia, we set up a temporary camp near Brno, and after a week of rest, we headed towards Vienna again.
My optimistic assumptions that we would get there within a month did not work, it was only on May 10, we managed to get to the vicinity of Vienna, we set up a camp a few kilometers from the city, on the banks of the Danube River. Which caused small tensions with the local population and with the emperor's army. The Austrians thought we had come to besiege the city or to rob the area. There was a little bit of my fault in that. I did not send a messenger to the Emperor and did not announce that I would march through his land with an army of almost 4,000, but at first glance it was clear that my army consists of Cossacks and Tatars, and not regular troops. The matter was quickly settled and there were no casualties on the Austrian side ... the next day I was supposed to go to an audience.
We sat by the fire in the evening, the Cossacks caught a lot of fresh fish in the Danube, I also bought a few cows and calves from the local inhabitants ... the smell of roasted food was over the entire camp. I held a bandura in my hand and sang some folk songs that I knew from my past life ... When suddenly there was silence, but it was a kind of silence that could not be mistaken for anything else. You couldn't hear any insects, no sound of water, no gusts of wind. I looked around at my people, they all froze.
I've seen something like this several times in my life ... twice thanks to Weles and several times thanks to Japanese directors from the genre of "Time Stop". I was in the middle of Europe in the 17th century, so it was rather certain that it was the work of Weles, not a Japanese with a large libido and a magic watch.
"Lord Weles ... what a surprise. I would say I missed you, but I abhor lies ... and second, you read my mind anyway." (MC)
The figure of an old man appeared before me, in ragged gray clothes, in a huge hat, with a staff in his hand ... Gandalf?
"I can see that your sense of humor does not leave you ... we'll see for how long. However, I do not come here for a social visit. You must do something for us ... and my emphasis is on the word "must"." (Weles)
"Again, some ungrateful, unprofitable job ... are you sure you're not looking for people to work in Amazon?" (MC)
"Are you finished? Centuries ago, during the attacks of Christians on Slavs, something was stolen from a temple in the north ..." (Weles)
"Jarowit's Shield?" (MC)
I was a history buff, and Weles, despite trying to be mysterious, revealed a lot of details.
"You are aware that I can hear your thoughts? ... But you are right, Jarowit's Shield. I have judged your intelligence and knowledge well ... You need to find this item." (Weles)
"Intelligence and knowledge? Who would have guessed ... All the time I thought you chose me for reincarnation because of my charming personality... What will my reward be?" (MC)
Weles looked at me ... sarcasm and being a wise guy was probably not a good way to communicate with God. Unfortunately, I had a problem with keeping my mouth shut... Just like when I was asked what my view of relationships between women and women was, I answered truthfully ... 4K and Full HD.
"We'll talk about reward when we cross that bridge ... maybe you will die before this task is completed." (Weles)
I didn't have time to say anything more, the figure of Weles disappeared in the air ... I felt a breeze on my face, I heard conversations around. Everything is back to normal ... of course, if a close encounter with the Slavic God of the Underworld can be considered normal.
I drank a few more cups of wine, ate a piece of the calf and went to the tent to rest ... tomorrow I had a conversation with the Emperor, I wondered if he would be more annoying than Weles.