The Pechenegs had been at Saxony for several weeks by now. They enjoyed the discussion with these educated men.
Papikaze searched the vicinity of cloisters and abbeys. He was no young man at all and time has left its marks not only on his face but in his soul too.
Kimiko, his sister, walked the same path. They both felt it was now the time to decide for a new god, the god of Christendom.
Until now only the behaviour of some nations and knights, who called themselves Christians, but acted without mercy or valueing human life, had prevented the Baptism of the two.
Learning new things from the monks and abbesses made Papikaze and Kimiko see the whole Christian belief in a new way. They learned, that the Christians on earth have a free will and as they were not perfect at all, they would fail from time to time. But God would give mercy upon his children and their good will is, what counts. God does value life - he gifts it, which is even more. But not everyone of his believers has the same attitude.
But as God, as Christ is the one, who counts and whom Papikaze and Kimiko were about to believe in - and not every single one of the whole Christendom, they could now tolerate the fail of others.

Finally they rode to the Saxon King Wikerus as he and his Bishop should have the honor to baptiste the two siblings once banished from Japan, there home.

Papikaze addressed to King Wikerus and let him knew about their plans and asked him, if he was willing to get them baptised. So the Pecheneg Chancellor and his sister would have a mighty godfather, when Wikerus would witness their Christening.

Saxon army, near the Bavarian castle
Wikerus was surprised when he heard about the Pechenegs impute, to be baptized. Like every Christian, he was happy for them, because now they could move to God in the kingdom of heaven, but it was unusual. What surprised him even more was the request of Bishop Martin, he, the king of Saxony, should act as godfather.

Well I will be God's instrument and serve where I can!
Messenger ride ahead, and tell of our return. Bishop Martin has to prepare everything for the baptized.


After some beers in the lokal beer house, he went back to his tent, lay down and think about the matters of the day.
Another Christian kingdom in the east, the next step to Jerusalem..

Kimiko didn't really realize what she was about to do...
After she had made the decision, all has gone so fast....

And then she had found herself in a preparation talk for her Baptism with the Saxonian Bishop Martin...

"My Lady, you will be anointed with holy chrism - the sign for the divine origin of every Christian.
Then you will be blessed with anointing oil as you have the dignity of Kings and Queens, when you become Christian.
You will be dived under water in the Baptism well, a sign for The Holy Spirit coming into your very heart and soul.
After that you will be given the white dress - as the Baptism takes any previous sin away. You then have a soul bare of all sins.
Finally the baptism candle will be handed out to you by King Wikerus, who has let me knew that he will be your Godfather..........."
Kimiko heard the smart and joyful words of Bishop Martin and hardly could believe it.... The Saxonian King ..... What an honor......
She was looking forward to the day - and it would come soon!

Bishop Martin, into the great Chapel of Nürnberg

Bishop Martin stood beside the altar, when the community came together with two new members into the Christian community to welcome them. Him was aware the importance of this baptism. Not only that he won two heathens in the bosom of the church, it would certainly affect the politics of the known world,when Christianity took its rightful place in this part of the world.
King Wikerus I. personally acted as godfather and underscored by its very presence of the particular importance of this ceremony.
The baptism of the Gentiles, and at least up to this point mercenaries, was not without controversy in the Christian community. Thus he reached a warning letter from a Polish bishop, in which he spoke of intolerable violations against God, without being too specific. But there also was an encouraging letter from the pope him self, that it was brought by a somewhat sinister-looking Cardinal, who also once again explained very clearly, the importance of this baptism for the interests of the holy church.

Despite this attempt to influence his opinion, even if this was certainly in the best interests and with the best intentions, so Martin is a man who relies only on the word of God and his heart. Nobody would be able to force him to a baptism when he was not convinced that the new Christian God truly loved.

He spent many hours with the two and led a long and very frank discussions about God and the world with them. He knew that they have really found to God and to his church and he was happy for them as he take the two into church.

"Yes, this will pleasing God" he thought to himself, and speech of the prayers and sang with the church.

Two new Christians are in the world ...

Papikaze knelt in the first row, praying to the one God of his new confession in silence. The small Saxon Chapel was nearly empry of humans except two old women in front of the Altar of St. Mary.

His thoughts went back. Many thing he knew about his new belief he had learned from a knight Templar - a famous knight, who had become Grand Master of the Order later. His name was Conrad the Humble. He had set Papikazes' heart on fire for this one God of Christianity and Papikaze as well as his sister were very close to getting baptized at that time.
Then Conrad had gone his way and with him the fire of the new belief had gone and doubt knocked on the door.
Papikaze recognized the deeds of the Christian nations - their violence against other human life - be it Pagans or even Christians. So he considered the difference between the words of the Holy Bible and the deeds of the so called Christians. When he had to flee the dust storms at Kazan and found a new home with the Pechenegs, they were attacked by a large number of knights from three nations - and none of them had less than at leadt three times as many knights as the Pechenegs had at that time. They talked about the bad deeds of Pechenegs in the past, but neither Papikaze nor any of his fellow Kazanians had any idea of what these strangers had been talking about. They only found it extremely unjust to lose the lives of so many herders and peasants as a revanche for things that must have happened ages before. They fought their battle and finally they could reach a tie as they had destroyed so many of the enemies shires that this conflict was considered a financial desaster for the other side.
Then came the time of rethinking about the Christian God. Papikaze felt that God, his new God, had to tolerate the sins and bad deeds of humans as well as the good ones. But he - God - was just.
He came to a deeper belief, now convinced that it was too much to desire every Christian as good as their God, but he didn't doubt about the Love of God.
His decision to get baptized was a strong one, one he had taken plenty of time for. He had read plenty of books and had had plenty of talks to monks, priests and all kind of well educated Christians.

"O Lord, lend me wisdom that I can see what you want me to do." - That was the final prayer Papikaze prayed in silence. He then signed the cross on his forehead, got onto his knees and went outside the Chapel to talk to his sister Kimiko who had been baptized too. He was eager to start this talk about their recent experiences and their plans about what to do!

Muirfinn sat on the ground in the Pecheneg camp just outside the town of Nürnberg and thought about the things, which were going on in the great Chapel at the same time. He wasn’t a young man anymore. Many of his friends he knew since he was a little boy were no more. Dead from wars, sickness, starvation and nobody seem to care. People died from evil as long as anyone he ever talked to could remember, so it was commonly accepted an absolute.

However, it appeared Papikaze did not share the common belief. He always talked about responsibility and about how important even the smallest actions were. Muirfinn never thought about such things before and he had his issues with comprehending the full extent of this man’s wisdom. All he ever did was riding, fighting and making his life as pleasant as possible. He was not as bright as men like Papikaze. However, more recently he started to ask himself, if that really were what life was all about. He wondered, whether the meaning of his life include more than he was able to see. He had no aim in his life, no goal to achieve, as great men, kings and sages alike, have it. And now Papikaze and his sister Kimiko underwent some rite of sense far beyond his grasp, giving their lives a new purpose. That made him think even more.

For the rest of the day Muirfinn walked around the camp, meditating about his future and mumbling all the while.