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it, Knight Galceran, get started as soon as possible! We have little time. Remember that the Templar is waiting for us in the citadel.”
    I shook my head helplessly. It was an unrealistic mission, impossible in every way but there was no escape: I had received an order that I could not, under any circumstances, disobey. So I quashed my indignation and gave in.
    “I will need some things to get started, Your Holiness: narratives, chronicles, medical reports, Church documents relating to the death of Pope Clement, as well as permission to interview certain witnesses, to check archives, to ….”
    “That has all been seen to, freire.” John XXII had the exasperating habit of not letting others finish. “Here are the reports, money, and anything else you may need.” And he handed me a leather chartapacium that he took from a chest at the foot of the table. “Naturally, you will not find anything that proves you are a papal envoy and you will not have my support if you are uncovered. All the authorizations that you need will have to come from your own Order. I am sure that you understand …. Do you have any last requests?”
    “None, Your Holiness.”
    “Splendid. I expect you back as soon as possible.”
    And he held out Peter’s ring, the Fisherman’s ring, for us to kiss.
    On the way back to our captaincy, Sir Robert and I remained in absolute silence. The energy of the tiny John had left us utterly exhausted and any further words from him would have been too much to handle; we desperately needing to rest our ears from his dizzying verbiage. But as soon as we entered the patio of our house, with the first lights illuminating the sky, frey Robert invited me to have a final goblet of hot wine in his private quarters. Despite being tired and worried, I would never have refused his offer.
    “Brother of Born. The Hospital of St. John has another mission for you,” began the Commander, when we were settled with our goblets of wine in our hands.
    “The mission entrusted to me by the Pope is difficult enough, sire, I hope that my Order’s mission is not as demanding.”
    “No, no …, they are both related. You see, the Grand Master and the Grand Seneschal thought, seeing as you will have to travel through certain areas, come into contact with certain people and listen to certain things, that you would be in the position to gather some important information for our Order.”
    “I’m listening.”
    “As you know, following the dissolution of the Templar Order, its immense wealth and prosperous possessions were divided into equal parts between the Christian monarchies and us, the Order of the Hospital of St. John. The definitive distribution of its numerous assets has taken three years and tough disputes with the Kings of France, England, Germany and Italy as well as with the kingdoms of Spain. I can assure you that the Hospitaller knights who carried to term the agreements with the various parties well deserve the paradise of the patient and of the meek. I have never seen agreements that were so arduous to reach, or victories that were so unsatisfying. The shares of the Templar treasures were distributed based on the amounts that, according to the documents, were in the possession of collectors, auditors, accountants and royal treasurers, as well as the Lombard and Jewish bankers. However, when we went to retrieve the gold from the chests, we didn’t find a penny.”
    “What!”
    Frey Robert held out his hand to stop me.
    “More in-depth studies were quickly commissioned from eminent officials and auditors,” he continued. “We tried to find out what had happened to the gold, because fortunately, they couldn’t hide the castles, land, livestock, mills, forges, etc. The cartularies with the Order’s economic activities were investigated: donations, purchases and exchanges, loan contracts, bank records, transactions, arbitrations, perception of rights, etc. Well,” continued Commander Arthus, raising his goblet